A friend just went from Palm Springs to Tucson on Flix. Only problem he’s reported was a flat tire that caused an unplanned roadside sit-and-do-nothing for four hours.
Long-haul buses can and do stop at truck stops (What do they call them now to see family-friendly? Travel centers?) for meal breaks. Check the schedules - you might have enough time to scoot over to the showers, but never having used a truck stop shower, I have no idea what’s provided other than water. (e.g.: Do you need to bring soap and a towel?)
On-board wifi is a neither here-nor-there for me. Unless I’m at home, I just use cellular data.
I’ll second all that but I was Pittsburgh to Wilkes-Barre in July. It really was really pretty darn pleasant. The last time I needed to bus it there I tried one of the more regional companies and it was faster by a couple hours but horrible. Dirty bus, no comfort at all, just a nightmare. The Big Dog was way better than flying in all respects except time and since the train doesn’t go there ------ I would do it again in a heartbeat if the need arose.
Speaking of the train, if I were doing a cross country trip in a ground based conveyance, I would splurge and get a sleeper compartment on Amtrak, but that’s just me. But I highly doubt Amtrak can beat Greyhound’s $200 price, even in Coach.
And speaking of that, does Amtrak have showers for sleeper car passengers? I’ve never thought about that before. ETA: They do!
After reading this thread maybe I’ll try again. In the late 70s/early 80s I took a Greyhound from Montreal to NY and back a number of times. They had something they called the BusPlus and it had a stewardess and box lunches. It took about 6 1/2 hours and border patrol got on the bus and spent less than a half hour clearing us.
Then about 8 or ten years ago, my wife and I took a RT between Montreal and Boston. It was awful. The seats were horribly cramped and one of them partly broken. We had to get off at the borders and schlep our luggage through the customs house, not they they ever open it. Of course Greyhound had no control over the border patrol. Anyway we said never again. But maybe I should try, although the border is daunting.
As a European, I’m always surprised at how unpopular the train seems to be in the US. Here, it’s the go-to solution for longish trips, then the bus. Flying is only for travelling abroad.
Well if you wanted to go from Paris to Moscow, would you fly or take a four day train journey. The distance is similar to the trip the OP is planning. I’m always amazed at how Europeans seem to have no idea how large the US is. I work in the US for a European company, so I work with Europeans a LOT. It seems to take expats a while to figure out that even NYC to Chicago isn’t doable as a day trip except by air.
We have an Aussie co-worker (now a US resident) who reports the same issue with Pommie expats in Oz.
One time I took a long trip by train because my ex-wife hated flying. 22 hours from Orlando to New Jersey. She wanted a sleeper car because we had little kids. It was much more expensive than a 1.5 hour flight. Never again.
When I lived in Philadelphia, I looked into taking Amtrak to NYC.
Put down any cups or glasses of liquid you’re holding, please.
$144 for a one-way ticket. Taking the Philly subway from Philadelphia to Trenton NJ and there switching for the NYC subway from Trenton to NYC was $12. Those subways are pretty much the area’s version of our “short-distance trains”, but Americans never think of them as “trains”. So, on one hand we have really high prices for the company they think of when they say train, and on the other we have a language difference.
When you went from Trenton to NYC I’m going to assume you went NJ Transit. I know it’s semantics but I can assure you that we call NJ Transit trains “trains” and not subways. The difference is that NJ Transit runs commuter trains with many stops and Amtrak runs long range train service with much fewer stops.
Also I don’t know if you are misremembering or if prices were higher then.
Amtrak Philly to NYC is about $55. It may change a bit depending on date and time of date. It takes about 90 minutes.
NJ Transit from Trenton to NYC is about $18 but it’s 90 minutes for that leg alone. To go from Philly you would have to take a SEPTA train to Trenton. I’m not sure the price but I think that the trip will be about 45 minutes then you have to transfer. So you are adding about an hour to your trip.
SEPTA/NJ Transit slightly cheaper but longer trip with more stops. Probably more departures per hour.
Amtrak slightly more expensive but quicker trip with much fewer stops.
And nothing is called a subway until you get to NYC and switch to their subway system.
I’m always amazed at how some Americans seem to think that Europeans have no idea how huuuuuuuuuuuge the US is. I’m perfectly aware of the distances involved, thank you very much.
1 - I mentioned Amtrack because, the OP was thinking of going by bus, which seemed to me uncomfortable considering the distance. I was seriously curious as to why the train is not seen as a better option considering the OP’s specific question.
2 - Of course, I’d take the plane to go to Moscow (which I did once as a matter of fact). This is specifically why I wrote :
:smack:
But again, thanks for reminding me how huuuuuuuuuuuuge the US is. It…
I have fond memories of taking the night train to Southern France for the summer holidays when I was a kid (early-mid 80s) and more recently to Italy, but in both cases, it was a mere 12-15h. I’d love to that in the US, in part precisely because of the distances involved. I like that idea of being somewhere on a long journey, with fantastic landscapes all around. That’s something definitely missing from the airplane experience.
There are some notable exceptions particularly out west, but my experience is that trains tend to go through the worst and ugliest parts of wherever you are going. Some of those exceptions do look very nice.
Nit pick: Philly has a subway system as well. Not as extensive as NYC but otherwise the same in that it’s separate from Amtrak/[del]SEPTA[/del] IneptA regional rail.
Not really interested in what train prices were when we was kids, or what train travel is like in Europe, or what subways are or where they are. Any thoughts about long distance travel by bus or rail from Virginia Beach(or even Norfolk) to Portland, Oregon?