California Zephyr Here We Come!

My husband has always wanted to take a train trip, so, after finding ourselves in Colorado, we decided to explore our options with Amtrak. To book a room all the way home would have really stretched us, so I looked into coach. I actually had read somewhere that coach seating on the California Zephyr was better than a room. After checking the price for our return home, I saw the price of the USA Rail Pass and it was almost the same cost and would allow us to make another trip. The catch, you have to use your pass within 30 days of purchase. I purchased our Rail Passes and booked our first leg from Denver Union Station, Colorado to Chicago. We decided if we hated it, we would fly home from Chicago and if we did okay overnight in coach, we would book the remainder of the trip while enroute. Well, it was not bad. The coach section was not crowded, and we were able to stretch out and sleep during the night while the lights were dim. The only downside was that the bathrooms were downstairs which wasn’t too bad, but it would have been nice if they were upstairs with the coach seating. When the cafe car opened for breakfast, we made our way and enjoyed a nice quiet breakfast. Breakfast was good but understand that it is $20 per person for a sit-down breakfast. For us, it was worth it to have a nice breakfast and enjoy the scenery as we traveled the rails. After breakfast we stopped at the observation cart and enjoyed the views. The observation cart only had a few other passengers, so it was very comfortable enjoying our coffee and enjoying the scenery. Later we went back to our seats and napped on and off as we went through the different states on the way to Chicago. There were several stops along the way, but I rather enjoyed seeing all of the different rail stations on the route. I know I’ve seen others online mention the towns that were best to stop at for overnight visits and I think we’ll look into it before our next trip, because there were several very pretty small towns on the route.

While we traveled, we decided that we really were enjoying the trip, so I began looking at the next leg of our journey home. Instead of spending the night in Chicago, we decided to continue our journey. Understand, the rail pass is only for coach travel. We asked about upgrading but were told traveling on the rail pass did not allow for upgrades. We then had one employee suggest that we book a room for the next leg and not use the rail pass. So that is what we did. There was only a roomette available because the trip from Chicago to Washington was completely full. So, roomette was what we booked.

Now for the Pros and Cons:

Pros:

• It was new and exciting.
• Train travel allows you to sit back and enjoy the sites without the worries of traffic.
• The California Zephyr was comfortable for coach travel, allowed coach travelers to enjoy the dining car, and had a fabulous observation car.
• Travelers are able to stretch and walk around.
• The scenery was great, as we traveled through several states and saw some beautiful sites.
• The Amtrak employees were all very nice and helpful.

Cons:

• The bathrooms were on the bottom floor and honestly were gross, but it was still nice to have available.
• The coach seating reclined and had a footrest that extended so that passengers can sleep. Honestly, during the night it didn’t feel very comfortable, but the next morning you kind of forget about that as you enjoy the trip.

I would definitely travel on the California Zephyr again because it really was a fun, somewhat comfortable, ride. The observation car was great and allowed us to really enjoy the ride. I’ve read that the scenery from Colorado to California on the Zephyr is better, so it would be nice to do that section next time.