Travelling across the USA with Amtrak

I was looking for a way to travel from Chicago to Seattle and found myself with two different options, fly or take the train. Although flying was cheaper and faster, I decided to take Amtrak’s famous Empire Builder sleeper train and take in the sights that would be missed from a flight.

Continue reading to see some of the best views possible from a train as well as finding out what the experience was like.

Journey Details

Departure Date – April 5th 2022

Arrival Date – April 7th 2022

Journey Time – 46hours 10minutes

Accomodation Type – Roomette

Price – $527 (£ 427)

Before Departure

The Empire Builder departs daily from Chicago’s Union Station at 14:15. If you are travelling on an Amtrak sleeper service you have access to the Metropolitan Lounge before departure.

In the lounge there is plenty of seating available, however, at the time of travel covid restrictions limited the offering of food and drink in the lounge, however, amtrak will allow you to bring food from outlets in the station to the lounge.

Furthermore, in the station you can check-in your baggage to your final destination, meaning you do not have to carry it around and find somewhere to store it on the train.

Approximately 45 minutes before boarding you will be asked to line up and all passengers will be walked to the platform.

Boarding

Staff are available on the platform to help you find your carriage. Once you are in the correct place, your room attendant will inspect your ticket and show you to your room.

When you arrive at your roomette it is set up for you to sit in. Each roomette has 2 seats and a tray table that fold away. Even though the rooms can hold 2 people, personally I would only recommend a roomette for 1 person.

Pillows are left on your seat and you can easily store these in the small storage area in the room. Due to the size of the room, bags should be left downstairs in the large luggage racks.

Day 1

Immediately after departing Chicago you snake through the city streets in order to leave the city, depending on the weather this offers some incredible views of the city, and views you could not get from anywhere else.

The train trundles through some pretty mundane scenery until Milwaukee, however, from here the views improve dramatically. It is at this point a member of staff will come through the train and ask what time you would like to go for dinner, I selected the first time available which was 17:30.

Dining on Amtrak before covid was different from any train I had been on before. Normally, if you were travelling alone you would be seated with other passengers to fill a table, meaning you would be sitting with complete strangers – this sounds weird, but apparently it is a really nice experience and a great way to meet new people. However, due to Covid restrictions I was seated myself and passengers were kept in groups with the people they were in a room with.

As you can see from the picture above I went for the crab cake starter, this was very nice and a pleasant way to start my meal. For the main course I went for the signature Amtrak steak cooked medium. This was the best course I had on the train and was fantastic, especially considering it was cooked on a train. For dessert I went for the cheesecake, which again was fantastic, and was a great way to finish my meal. It is worth pointing out that you get complementary soft drinks with meals, and alcohol is available for a cost.

After dinner I went back to my room until our first extended stop in Winona Minnesota. This stop provided passengers with the opportunity to get off the train and get some fresh air and stretch their legs. This stop only lasts 5 minutes or, then it was time to get back on the train.

The train continues along its route, however, at this time of year it was dark, so I sat in my room and made some notes on previous journeys on this trip for previous blog posts (which you should read).

Our final fresh air stop was in St. Paul-Minneapolis which lasted 15 minutes, plenty of time to get some fresh air before bed.

Jimmy, our sleeper car attendant showed me where the bedding was kept and helped make up the bed for me on both nights.

Day 2

Day 2 for me began just outside Devils Lake, North Dakota at 06:00. Little did I know just how good the scenery would be today.

Breakfast is included in the price for all sleeper passengers and unlike dinner is offered on a first come, first served basis. When I went to the dining car there was plenty of space available.

I went for the French Toast and mixed berries, which like dinner the previous night was delicious, and like most things in America, loaded with sugar.

Our first extended stop of the day was in Minot, North Dakota, this lasted for 50 minutes and was an opportunity to get off the train and stretch my legs and get some fresh air.

After departing Minot you pass through some incredible places and scenery, however, the one I loved the most was the small town of Stanley.

Between breakfast and lunch you change time zones and go back an hour, so remember that the journey is slightly longer than you think it is.

Lunch was available for all sleeper passengers, and I went for the cheeseburger. It like my previous meals was very nice and was perfect to keep passengers full until dinner later that night.

Between lunch and dinner you pass through some of the emptiest scenery I have seen, but is equally as beautiful to look at, rather than describing it, below is a gallery of some of the best views from the train.

At 1730 it was time for my final dinner onboard the train, and I decided to change things slightly and went for a different main and dessert. I went for the crab cake starter, the salmon main course and chocolate torte dessert all of which were fantastic and a great way to end the day.

After dinner we began to climb through the mountains and glacier national park, and what can only be described as the best scenery I have ever seen. Once again I will let the pictures do the talking.

Arrival into Seattle

We arrived into Seattle 4 minutes late and unlike Lufthansa, we also arrived with my bag. When leaving the train it is courteous to sleep your car attendant for the hard work they have done for the last 47 hours.

Bags can be collected inside the station building from a baggage conveyer similar to those found in airports.

My final Thoughts

I loved this journey with Amtrak and would absolutely do it again. Everyone I interacted with on this journey was fantastic and super friendly.

Reflecting on the price, it is fantastic value for what you get, to summarise for £427 you get;

• Lounge access in Chicago
• Checked baggage
• 2 nights accommodation
• 2 Breakfasts, 1 lunch and 2 dinners
• Access to some of the best scenery in the world.

So yes, if you can do this journey, the absolutely do it, and I cannot wait to travel Amtrak again.