Have you ever taken a long train ride? If so would you recommend it and if not

1. 78

   Charluposted 12 years ago

   Have you ever taken a long train ride?  If so would you recommend it and if not would you like to?
   
   

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2. 66

   Nils Visserposted 12 years ago

   Chicago to San Francisco, Vic Falls to Harare via Bulawayo. Both highly recommendable.

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      Charluposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Nils for the recommendation it sounds like a nice (not to lengthy) trip

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3. 75

   Cardiaposted 12 years ago

   I'm not sure if 3 1/2 /4 hours is considered 'long', but that was the length of time it took for the Eurostar train to get to France from England. I absolutely enjoyed it! I loved watching the countryside rush by through the windows, and I also had a stack of books to keep me company when I wanted to see something else.
   Maybe it's because in my home country we don't have trains, and it was a bit of a novelty for me, but I definitely enjoyed it, and would recommend it.

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4. 85

   Life and Luxuryposted 12 years ago

   Yes, I have taken  a few very long train rides -- once to Georgia (14 hours), and once to Montreal (12 hours).
   
   I would not recommend going on such long rides unless you REALLY love trains. I only enjoyed my train trip to Montreal because it was incredibly scenic and I loved the destination so much.
   
   Is there someplace you want to go via train?

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5. 73

   relacheposted 12 years ago

   I took Amtrak's Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago and back.  Each leg of the trip is 2 and a half days.  And then I wrote a Hub about it.
   
   http://relache.hubpages.com/hub/Amtrak-Empire-Builder

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6. 0

   BethDWposted 12 years ago

   I absolutely love the train, and have used it on several occasions to travel from school to visit family (about 5 hours for me). I've never taken an overnight trip by train though. At some point, I would love to take a trip across Canada by train...I've heard from several friends that those trips are incredible!

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      Charluposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I would love to take a train ride across Canada I'll bet the scenery it awesome.

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7. 69

   anusujithposted 12 years ago

   Yes.I like long journey in train, I am regular traveller in train.Railway provides cheapest ticket rate and comfortable journey.

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8. 78

   Charluposted 12 years ago

   Wow what great answers.  I didn't realize train trips were still so popular. 
   
   I would love to do a ride across Canada like Beth stated and include Montreal like Life and Luxury talked about.  Then after reading Relaches hub about the Empire Builder and watching the videos, that sounds like so much fun.
   
   If I'm ever in France or England (hopefully one day) Cardia that trip is on my list or maybe if the funds are limited even a short Chicago to San Francisco as Nils embellished on.
   
   At any rate as Anusujith stated it's a cheap ticket and a comfortable journey.
   
   Thank you all for such intriguing answers and keep them coming my brain is working on overtime

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9. 67

   Bretsukiposted 12 years ago

   Yes. I have ridden on many long train journey's/
   
   I have travelled across Europe by train several times. I have also ridden around the US on trains. The longest single journey was on The Sunset Limited from Miami FL to Los Angeles, 3 and a half days.
   
   Travelling by train can be a great experience, but you need to be able to be confined for a long period of time. You do get to meet people more than you do flying, and I have always enjoyed good company from fellow travellers.
   
   One drawback is that trains in the US that carry passengers come way down the priority list for travel when it comes to speed so you can spend an hour waiting in a siding waiting for a long slow freight train to pass your train.
   
   But as a bonus, one morning as I sat in the dining car on the Empire Builder train near Glacier National Park. A white tailed deer and her faun came out of the tree line and walked within feet of my window. Now that doesn't happen at 30,000 feet.

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10. 61

    Jeff Gambleposted 12 years ago

    Rail travel is still very popular. While regular trips are handled exclusively by Amtrak in the U.S., there are tourist railroads, historical societies and railroad museums that run regular excursion trains and in some cases, have daily or weekly tourist runs. In Canada, you have options outside of Via that include Canadian Pacific's Empress, which is a gorgeous vintage steam locomotive and vintage passenger cars. One popular location in the U.S. is the Durango & Silverton which has regular tourist runs through the Durango, Colorado area. http://www.durangotrain.com/ A trip that I'd recommend, if you had the time, is on Amtrak's Silver Star or Silver Meteor from New York City to Miami. Depending on the service, the trip can take just over 30 hours one way, but sleeper accommodations are available. It is a very neat way to see the country.

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11. 60

    LaThingposted 12 years ago

    I love train rides, and would highly recommend it for anyone who has the time to travel. It's just that, now a days people are in such a hurry that they don't want to take time to enjoy the ride, they just want to get there and get it over with!

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12. 78

    Eric Calderwoodposted 12 years ago

    The longest train ride I've ever had was only about 70 miles.  But I would love to take a long train ride, especially through scenic territory.

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13. 57

    Kallaikoiposted 12 years ago

    I rode Amtrak from Colorado to Chicago, a 21 or so hour trek and even with just the regular seat that allegedly "reclined" I wasn't at all displeased.  Awake for about 16 of the 21 hours, I spent a lot of time in the viewing car taking advantage of the best reason to travel by train.
    
    As long as you pack a water bottle and plenty of snacks, or don't mind getting market deli food at one of the couple of hourish stopovers victuals will not be an issue. 
    
    That being said don't buy the train food, it costs more than small housewares should and tastes about as good.  Think movie theater food but more expensive.  At least this was the case on the Superchief. 
    
    Short answer: I would recommend it, but bring your own food and prepare to see a lot of scenery that is more interesting than you would think, especially when talking to the gregarious mennonite who also frequented the viewing car.

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    1. 78

       Charluposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks Kallakoi for the great advice especially about the bringing your own food. I think we all like to save money and it sounds like that might be a pretty scenic trip. Take Care

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    freecampingaussieposted 12 years ago

    I love traveling by train , some of my longer trips include from Auckland to Wellington North Island NZ , Christchurch to Picton , South Island NZ, Taree to Brisbane Australia + a couple of trips in Britain .
    I hope to do a train trip in Canada next year .
    I reccommend train trips , make sure you take snacks with you to save money , something to read and relax - enjoy the view !

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    1. 78

       Charluposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Sounds like fantastic trips and one to definitely look forward too.  Thanks for the tips on the snacks.

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