I really hope someone can help me with this question, because I’m completely lost.
**The Background: **
Hubby and I are planning our trip to the USA, and as part of that we are contemplating travelling from Boston to Washington DC via the train, stopping for 2-4 days at each of the major stops along the way. We got this idea from looking at the brochure “Your Wold on Track 2006” that the travel agency gave us. It lists railway services in the USA (among other countries), shows the routes and indicates where ‘rail passes’ may be used for travel.
**The Question: **
Now, looking at the brochure, it looks like Boston, NY, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC are all available as part of a ’ North East Rail Pass’ which is a pre-paid pass valid for 15 days for international visitors.
BUT then when I look at the Amtrak website, it seems that these are either part of the ‘Acela Express’, or the Acela Express runs on them. I’m not clear whether it’s the name of a route or the name of the line, only that it’s apparently not valid with the North East Pass.
Does anyone know if the Acela Express is just a single train we can’t use on the pass, or is the whole stretch of line called the Acela Express and therefore off-limits?
And if it does turn out that the entire stretch, Boston-Washington is off-limits for the North Eastern pass, is there an equivalent pass that anyone’s aware of?
The Summary:
I’ve been to two travel agencies so far, and in both instances the staff informed us they did not understand the train system in the US. I’ve been told that all *they *understand of it is what’s in the brochure they gave us, and they don’t know the answer to my question.
When I look on Amtrak’s site, and I go to the ‘Schedules’ page, I see a bunch of different options for travelling between Boston and NYC. A couple of those options are the Acela. It is a little bit faster (3.50 hours vs 4.05 hours), but not very much.
Acela is just a service along the lines. It might have the better cars and hit a couple fewer stops, but it doesn’t look too much more fantastic than the regional.
The Acela Express is a higher-speed train, with first-class accommodations catering to businessfolk, running on the Northeast Corridor lines, But most trains on that line are NOT Acelas, are more like buses, and actually are almost as fast anyway even though they generally make more stops along the way.
The Amtrak site (all US passenger services cross-country are on Amtrak) has all the details you want. You might have more flexibility, and even save money, by just buying your tickets as you need them at the station - it’s normally not a problem getting a seat.
Or just rent a car - weekly rates are usually pretty cheap. the US Northeast is smaller than many think. From Boston, it only takes 4 hours to drive to New York, and 5 more from there to Washington. Plus, you’ll have complete schedule flexibility, and local transportation at each stop as well.
If money is an issue, the cheapest way to get from one of these cities to another is via a Chinatown bus – a very low-rent, but very cheap, bus that runs from Chinatown to Chinatown in the major East Coast cities. (Example: Philly to NYC, round trip, is about $160 for Amtrak – it’s $20 on the Chinatown bus.)
That being the case, we’ll definitely go with the train option. I appreciate that driving from NY-Washington doesn’t faze some people, but we’re both petrified of driving in the big cities and freeways (on the wrong side of the road, no less) so we’re going to give it a miss as much as possible.
(We’re expecting that the cab companies will love us.)
I visited the Amtrak site before posting here and found it very confusing, but to be honest by that stage I’d pored over the brochure I had, been scouring the Lonely Planet guide for a hint on the ‘Acela’ thing… I swear I didn’t (still can’t, honestly) see any explanation of that. The only service I can see that does Boston - New York - Philadelphia - Washington, DC is ‘Acela’.
Maybe it’ll jump out at me tomorrow, when I re-look with a fresh brain. It’s past 1am here and I’m definitely not at my mental peak. :smack:
Thanks so much, **JustAnotherGeek **and ElvisL1ves - it was really great of you to respond so fast and set my mind at rest. I feel quite relived now!
Oh, that’s a good idea! I bet you’d get a better look at the city from a bus route to each than from a train, too.
Cash-wise, if we can do this all on the pass it’ll work out fairly price-efficient as a 15-day pass (unlimited rides, though you have to book the tickets in advance) is $227 in the off-peak season, per person. That goes as far SW as Washington according to this brochure. Or there’s the East Rail Pass that does everything east of El Paso for $314 p/p, but we don’t see ourselves having enough time to get beyond Washington.
If hubby and I were able to stay longer, we would go crazy with the rail pass and go everywhere. It’s a tragedy we’ve only got 2 weeks.
Oh, hey, I finally ‘get’ it with the Amtrak thing. I went back to the site after **JustAnotherGeek **and ElvisL1ves both indicated that they found it pretty straightforward. So I gave it another shot.
We change trains a lot, right?
I confused myself by expecting it to be a direct route, because my experience with trains until now has only been the normal commuter lines. Where I live it’s a straight run to the city and I’ve never had to change trains, buses or anything ever before - so I confused myself because of my preconceptions.
What an idiot. :smack:
It makes sense now! Thanks heaps!
Now…any suggestions for ‘must-see’ things along that Boston-NY-Philadelphia-Washington route are completely off original topic but highly encouraged.
Also, twickster, how does one catch a Chinatown bus? Do you just turn up, or is there a booking system?
The US train system is vastly inferior to pretty much anywhere in Europe - especially in terms of expense - but my experiences on the Northeast line have generally been positive. As said ablove, the Acela is just a speedy train that runs on the same line, but in my experience the Acela isn’t worth the additional price.
I’ve also taken the Chinatown bus from NYC to DC and Philly a few times and it does the job. But for trips longer than 90 minutes, I’d choose the train if you’re not struggling to pay the bills. The trains aren’t much (if any) faster, but they are more comfortable and less likely to be smelly. The WCs on the Chinatown bus are little more than a bucket on the floor, and can get pretty rank, especially in the back of the bus. Also I generally prefer the view from the train, since all you see on the bus are busy freeways.
For the Chinatown busses, there are several companies and you can usually buy tickets online, or just show up and buy them at the bus. They normally don’t have stations - you usually board the bus on a street corner in that city’s Chinatown district. It can be confusing because the companies have similar-sounding names, leave from the same block, and don’t have the greatest signage, so if you’re not paying attention, it is fairly easy to book a ticket and accidentally board the wrong bus. Just make sure you bring your print-out with you if you book online, and ask a lot of people for confirmation that you’re on the right bus. You don’t have to be a genius to figure it out, but the easily-intimidated might not want to bother.
In Boston. Fung Wah Bus uses the main bus terminal at South Station. They were forced off their previous sidewalk pickup spot due to safety concerns. Their problematic safety record on the road has not yet been addressed quite so well.
Bites, I’m not sure what you mean by changing trains a lot - you’d have a good chance of having to do so in New York if you were just passing through there, but typically not elsewhere. Amtrak trains from Boston down the coast all go at least that far, and Amtrak trains from New York south all go at least to Washington. What route are you thinking of? Are you perhaps looking at commuter services instead?
Oh yeah, adding to DVLP’s comment - train service in the US is efficient and frequent *only * in the Boston-Washington and San Francisco-San Diego corridors and in the Chicago area. Elsewhere, distances are so great and traffic density so light that Amtrak just can’t compete with the airlines, and barely pretends to try. It doesn’t own its own tracks outside the Northeast, and has to give way to the freight lines that own the tracks and barely maintain them. Most of those stations on the long lines you see on the Amtrak route map will commonly have perhaps 1 train a day visit in each direction, and in the middle of the night at that. But if you plan to limit your stay to the Northeast you’ll be happy with them.
Regular passenger of the Crescent (NY to New Orleans route) here. NY to Gainesville GA in our case.
True on all counts. The rails themselves are in decent condition, IME, but expect delays, and delays tend to accumulate (freight trains are most definitely not going to change their schedule to accomodate a late-running Amtrak train).
Well, as with the old codger bragging about walking to school “uphill, both ways”, the train can’t be arriving at all those stops in the middle of the night
Gainesville and Atlanta are early-morning eat-breakfast-then-get-off stops. The stops in the Carolinas are the “oh god what time is it” / stumble off the train in darkness while yawning stops. By the time you’re in Alabama and beyond, it’s daytime again. And up-route, Virginia stops are late evening / reasonble-hour-of-the-night stops.
I do pity the folks who get off in Clemson SC. Too late to stay up until, too early to rise and think of breakfast.
From what ElvisL1ves and **Darth Vader’s Little Pal ** it seems that buses are better avoided by the easily confused, fussy and high-strung - ie, me. I’ll stick to the trains!
Nah, the problem here was that I hadn’t, at that point, discovered this fabulous Interactive Atlas on their site, and was making do with the very misleading (to a newb) “Route Summary”.
Now I get it. (There’s a lot to be said for sleeping on things and coming back from a fresh perspective in the morning.)
However, their scheduling page is horrific! Normally I’d expect to see what’s on offer and THEN select a time; having to do it arse-about is counter-intuitive and very, very time consuming. As a tourist, making me have to pick from one of three stations (this is just in Boston) when I don’t know anything about any of them, is crazy. All I want to know is ‘Which schedule do I need to use to get to New York? Where do the trains stop and when?’. I could work out my schedule from that, given some basic overview of things to start with. Like this sort of thing. Instead, it’s just super-awkward.
But since I’m not going till October I guess I have time to work through it.
================ Any suggestions of “Must See” things in the NorthEast zone?
We’re planning to go no further south than Washington, but we’re not completely closed off to the idea either.
Should I make a new thread asking for travel “Things to see and do” advice?
I can help with the Boston question. North Station is for commuter service only, for lines running north of Boston. Back Bay Station is a stop on the main line, it just doesn’t happen to be out of the city yet. Look for *South * Station.
What to see and do in the entire northeast US? Wow. That takes several full guidebooks. Can you help us narrow it down? What kinds of things interest you?
I can only offer some of the basics (that you most likely already know).
Walking Boston can be done in one day (if you don’t dwadle). Or you can take a Duck Tour on an old amphibious vehicle. My folks have been on one, and they thought it was neat.
In Boston, the Museum of Science (MoS) is still hosting Body Worlds 2. If you’re not familiar, this is a display of plastinated corpses in various poses and various states of tissue removal. Although some people are “squicked out” by this, most are fascinated and moved by the beauty of the inner body. (I haven’t gone yet, but I am going to in the near future.)
If you get the chance, and have the transportation, Salem, Ma is the site of the infamous “Salem Witch Trials.” The Peabody Essex Museum (in Salem) has a very cool exhibit with a tradtional Chinese house (brought over piece by piece and assembled in a courtyard in the museum). If you’re going to b up in October, Salem, is quite neat. They like to celebrate Halloween like nobody’s business!
As for NYC, I’m sure you’ve got tons of good guides. One thing to keep in mind: the only person I know of who really thought that New Yorkers were friendly was a Parisean. (IME, shopkeepers will help, but don’t bother asking ‘the man on the street’.) Every time I go, I try to visit The Natural History Museum. There’s almost always something happening in Central Park, and even if there isn’t, it’s a good break to walk around. Once in a blue moon, I will break down and get a ‘dirty-water dog.’ (Hot dog from a street vendor.)
One of the things that always amuses me about NYC is how trendy everyone tries to be. (Did I mention that I have family there?)
As far as Philly goes - you need to get a cheesesteak from either Pat’s or Gino’s. Make up your mind while you’re in line. If you don’t order right away, you may get bumped to the back of the line. (No I’m not kidding. Yes, they are right across the street from the other.)
There’s also quite a number of museums around Independence Hall that deal with Philly as the Birth Place of America.
If you can rent a car for a day, you should go out to Longwood Gardens - and plan on spending most of your day there. These are some of the best gardens I have ever seen. I was impressed way back when I was a snot-nosed little kid.
Lastly (cause I don’t know diddly about DC), if you have a pretty firm idea about when you are going to be in Philly, you absolutley must MUST MUST go to the Barnes Museum. This is one of the best kept secrets in Philly. One of my friends (an art teacher) lived about 15 miles from it and had never heard of it. They have some of the premier collections in the world. For instance:
To get in, you must have advance reservations. They are all of $10, but they can only allow so many people in for any one given day. (There’s an interesting backstory about a doctor who collected art and set up a trust in his estate that the museum tried to honor for as long as possible. They’re going to move in the future, but they’re not sure when. Their collection is worth something in excess of several billion dollars, but are going bankrupt because they can’t raise enough funds given the restrictions in the will and zoning restrictions in the town where they’re located.)
Anyhoo, I’ve gone on for a long time. Hope this helps. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them here or you can email me at egv (at) jokeaday (dot) net.
I second all of JustAnotherGeek’s suggestions for Philadelphia. Note that Duck Tours are also available there. You could also go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and do the Rocky thing on the steps. Boathouse Row, a well-known landmark that’s lit up at night, can be seen from the Art Museum/Waterworks area. Be sure to check out the Reading Terminal Market. If you can overcome your aversion to driving in the States, take a ride out to Lancaster County - “Amish Country.” The countryside is very pretty, the food is good, and if you’re there at the right time in October, the fall colors will make it even better. Do not leave town without trying a cheesesteak, a soft pretzel and an Italian water ice.
There’s a lot to do in DC. You can visit all of the big monuments on the Mall and around the Tidal Basin: Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Memorial, etc. The White House is in the same area. You can do all of that on foot in a day, but it’s a lot of walking. I would not miss seeing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution at the National Archives. The Smithsonian is cool. There’s also a separate Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. I’ve heard that the new facility out by Dulles Airport is worth the trip.
Whatever you wind up doing here, I hope you have a great time! If I can answer any questions for you, send me an e-mail.
Post your itinerary when you have one – we can probably rustle up a few Philly Dopers for dinner, and I’m sure the other cities have similarly friendly groups as well.
I take the commuter train here in DC and know a bit about the trains from here to NYC. I don’t think Amtrak owns any of the tracks it uses in the DC area, they rent them from CSX and other companies so you’ll see a lot of freight trains.
The Acela is just a high speed train that doesn’t make all the stops. They use the same stations and tracks the rest of the trains do. My wife has taken them a couple of times to NYC and she likes them. She’s also taken the regular train and doesn’t mind that either.
There are plenty of other trains that run from Boston to DC, so if that’s the way you wanted to travel then you could with no problem. I think they run trains ever hour to hour and a half between DC and NYC.
I would almost suggest getting a car, learning to drive on the other side of the road isn’t that hard, and the highways would be the easiest because everyone is going the same direction. Plus you can see a bit more of the country. But there are more then enough trains to get you between the larger east coast cities if that’s how you want to travel.
I’ll stick to the trains!