That's how I've always justified the train. When you realize that it's several extra days of all-inclusive meals & accommodations relaxing in a chill, unplugged environment, and not just a mode of transportation, you realize what a bargain it is.
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One rail enthusiast I met on board said "Better a rolling hotel than a flying bus".
sep 1, 2025, 4:59 pm • 3 0 • view
where can I find trains with all-inclusive meals??
sep 1, 2025, 3:01 am • 2 0 • view
Amtrak sleeper passengers get three meals a day from an actual kitchen. At least on the last route I took. "Inclusive" starts falling apart for special dietary needs.
sep 1, 2025, 5:00 pm • 9 0 • view
We had sit down breakfast and dinner included with our sleeper. Some of the busier lines offer all three, and "room" service
sep 1, 2025, 5:10 pm • 3 0 • view
And if you want to get extra fancy, the Rocky Mountaineer has started offering private train tours that are basically cruises on rails.
sep 1, 2025, 5:13 pm • 1 0 • view
Meh. I've also done the Rocky Mountaineer, and honestly it felt more like a tour bus. The food was good, but not significantly better than Amtrak or Via offer their sleeper passengers.
sep 1, 2025, 8:00 pm • 2 0 • view
But the experience of having to line up in the morning with a hundred other people to board the train & then unload at night to go to a mediocre hotel for a few hours just to repeat the line up the next morning was unpleasant. I much preferred sleeping on the train.
sep 1, 2025, 8:00 pm • 2 0 • view
This is good feedback. I might rethink my plans. How were the views? I've considered the Canadian Rockies route just because you sleep through so much on Via.
sep 1, 2025, 8:14 pm • 0 0 • view
We did Via from Toronto to Jasper & then took a tour down to Banff & the Rocky Mountaineer from Banff to Vancouver. I'm glad we tried the RM, because Via doesn't go to Banff & we'd never have gone that route otherwise.
sep 1, 2025, 9:02 pm • 1 0 • view
But someday we're planning to take Via between Vancouver & Jasper to catch what we missed the first time, and we'd happily repeat the rest of that route on Via, but we have no interest in doing any other RM ever again.
sep 1, 2025, 9:02 pm • 1 0 • view
I should also disclose that we were Premier class on Via, which was expensive, but we thought worth the money. RM was similarly priced, but we didn't feel was as worth that price for us.
sep 1, 2025, 9:02 pm • 0 0 • view
For me a big part of the fun was going to sleep and waking up somewhere new!
sep 1, 2025, 8:59 pm • 3 0 • view
I love sleeper trains so much
sep 1, 2025, 9:10 pm • 3 0 • view
One of my favorite Amtrak routes is the Texas Eagle from Chicago to LA via San Antonio. (I've only ever taken it as far as Tucson.)
sep 1, 2025, 9:09 pm • 2 0 • view
Technically, the TE ends in SA, but you can book a ticket that continues west, and in SA, they drop the train cars continuing west from the TE locomotive & put you on the back of the Sunset Limited going from New Orleans to LA & you continue on with them.
sep 1, 2025, 9:09 pm • 1 0 • view
The switch happens overnight, so you go to sleep attached to one train with one layout & wake up to another one. It's trippy.
sep 1, 2025, 9:09 pm • 1 0 • view
I am too old to travel overnight without a bed, so every long distance train I've taken across the US or Canada has been in a sleeper compartment, and in a sleeper, meals are included.
sep 1, 2025, 3:14 am • 3 0 • view
Yeah, we got a roomette on the Empire Builder last year to Portland OR and it included three squares a day. Damn tasty, too Scalzi's not wrong about the length, tho. We just treated it as part of the vacation though. I packed a bunch of books and watched the scenery from the observation car
sep 1, 2025, 10:13 pm • 1 0 • view
This spring's adventure from Detroit to Tucson to DC to Philly involved box meals on a bus bypassing track closures, once each way. And once I got the infamous Dinty Moore stew because our train was 9 hours late. But we never went hungry.
sep 1, 2025, 3:14 am • 2 0 • view
The tickets are reasonably expensive, but are offset by not paying for a hotel or meals when I'm on the train. In fact we usually end up with a stash of extra desserts when we get home. Brownies for days. And usually the meals are fresh cooked and pretty good.
sep 1, 2025, 3:14 am • 3 0 • view
Ah! I’ve never taken an Amtrak route that’s had a sleeper option (was just looking at Baltimore to Vermont, in fact). TIL!
sep 1, 2025, 3:18 am • 1 0 • view
I've also gotten meals in First Class on Acela (the DC to Philly portion of the epic trip). The upgrade was free because of the points I'd accumulated on the earlier legs. And last week I got a meal on a Via Rail trip across Ontario, but that required upgrading to business class (had a coupon).
sep 1, 2025, 3:22 am • 1 0 • view
I am a bit obsessed with trains.
sep 1, 2025, 3:22 am • 3 0 • view