So this summer, I opted out of going on my family vacation. I love my family, but I get one vacation a year and want to do something different and cool. This trip doesn't necessarily have to be a week long summer vacation, it could even be a weekend trip, but I wanted to get some advice from here.

 

I've never used Amtrak, it seems easy enough, but the service out of Cincinnati seems pretty limited. The Cardinal arrives in the middle of night.

 

Some destinations I had in mind:

Chicago - Been there many times, all by driving. Love the city and always park once and use public transit. Only drawback is how long it takes the train to get there. The estimated time is 10 hours, I can drive in five.

 

Indianapolis - Been here a few times, never experienced the city very much. Estimated time is three hours which isn't too bad of timing and I could spend the day there and catch the train on the way back.

 

Huntington, WV - Never really experienced the city, but there's a great little amusement park there that I could go back to and check out. Could be a fun trip.

 

White Sulphur Springs, WV - Train ride is about three hours longer than driving, but I could catch a train on the way back to Cincinnati the same day. White Sulphur Springs is home to the Greenbrier museum (the one where they have the awesome underground bomb shelter, but is there anything else to do in this town?

 

Washington, DC - Estimated time is 14 hours via train. It'd have to be a weekend/longer trip. I wouldn't mind going back to D.C. Haven't been there since the 6th grade (2001 (before 9/11)).

 

A few concerns I have are obviously the amount of time it takes. I support rail transit and such, but I gotta admit it's pretty hard to swallow how long some of these trips take when I can drive there much faster. Chicago for example - It feels like I'd be adding five hours of novelty train riding time. Then again, I don't mean to characterize it as a novelty, I've never experienced Amtrak. However, I've heard that the trains are rarely on time (pardon me if that's an incorrect assumption).

 

I still think it would be a cool adventure. I want to travel somewhere new, somewhere urban and experience a new city or something you know... just new.

 

When the trains stop along the Cardinal line, do you have time to get off and see what's around or do you just stay on the train?

 

Any advice/recommendations would certainly help and I appreciate anybody's input.

 

To throw some credit out there: Robert Pence, if you're reading this, your posts and photos have inspired me to check out Amtrak.

 

Edit: Is it possible to bring a bike along?

Be prepared for very long delays, up to 10 hours.  It doesn't happen all the time, but  every once in a while the Cardinal gets caught up in a freight traffic breakdown or gets delayed by an accident.

Yeah, delays are inevitable on almost every trip on the Cardinal. 14 hour train ride? Plan for 18.

 

Huntington: Station is near downtown, which has a lot of great stuff to explore. Very much vibrant, and worth checking out the Keith Albee. Camden Park (the amusement park) is quite a bit west, and it's closer to the Catlettsburg, KY station. It's not really walkable and it sucks to bike out that way, so taxi is your only choice. The amusement park was terrible when I was a kid and has only marginally improved. Still worth visiting.

 

Charleston: A nice stop, and much more dense. Go for the Capitol Market, the Capitol tours (which are nice), and to explore the downtown. Much to see.

 

White Sulphur Springs: It's okay. Lewisburg has more charm and more of a downtown and vibrancy. WSS is just for rich folk, and the Greenbriar makes you feel poor real quick. The bunker is fun to see but you CANNOT take photos. I can't stress that enough.

 

DC: Go for the Cherry Blossom Festival around late March to early April.

I took the Cardinal to NYC last year. Kind of a rough trip, due to length and delay. Only go to DC if you plan to get a sleeper car.

 

I took my folding bike, in a bag I put in the carry-on rack above my seat. You cannot bring a full size bike on the cardinal, unless maybe if you box it. Then probably only if you're traveling to a station which has baggage service -- check the website for bike and luggage rules.

 

There is no time to get off the train at stops, except Indy, where the train stops on the way to Chicago for a couple hours in order to make the train times more reasonable for riders originating in Indy. This is why it takes so long to go to Chicago. (The train in the other direction may be faster, if it doesn't have the layover.)

 

Consider traveling in segments and stopping in a couple different places ultimately staying a few days in DC, NYC, or Chicago. Then splurge on a sleeper for the long ride home.

Be prepared for very long delays, up to 10 hours.  It doesn't happen all the time, but  every once in a while the Cardinal gets caught up in a freight traffic breakdown or gets delayed by an accident.

 

10 hours? That seems quite a bit unlikely. Everywhere seems to post that it does have some delays, but how often is it ten hours late?

 

Sherman, thanks for the info. I've been to Camden before. It's a far cry from the likes of places like Cedar Point/King Island etc, but it's got a lot of character. However, for some reason I had it in my mind that it wasn't far from the Amtrak station Seems to be an hours walk from 8th St. in Huntington and 3 hours walk from the Cattlesburg station. I don't mind walking, gives me a chance to explore.  I've never been to Charleston, but a friend of mine who is currently working there describes it as "Not Wild and Wonderful (like the state's marketing motto says), but Tame and Terrible."

 

What's the deal with Greenbrier not allowing pictures? That's pretty lame. As for D.C., I'm kind of turned off by the 14 hour ride possibly becoming an 18 hour ride or longer. Although I wouldn't mind spending some time in the nation's capital.

 

Natninja, any idea how long that layover is in Indy? Checking out Indy for a bit before going to Chicago could be cool. How long did it take you to get to NYC? I've never been to the actual city, just in the burbs and once on Long Island when I was too young to remember it. Taking the train and then public transport seems a lot less hectic than driving and more cost efficient, but again - time. Seems like the novelty would wear off quick.

 

Thanks again everyone for the advice!

GB, here is the Amtrak timetable which shows which stations offer checked baggage, how long the layover in Indy is,  etc: http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249233274357&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-disposition&blobheadervalue1=attachment;filename=Amtrak_P50.pdf

 

Yes, the trip from Cincy to Chicago is slow, but most of it is at night when you're not going to be driving. Multi-tasking (traveling while sleeping) is always a time-saver and makes 79 mph trains time-competitive even with flying. If you want to splurge, get a sleeper. There's a lot to be said for having a bed while traveling, although Amtrak coach seats offer a lot of leg room and they give you a small pillow in coach.

 

To see prices, start the booking process at amtrak.com.

 

As for travel to the east, once you get east of Charleston, you will be seeing beautiful scenery, including the New River Gorge, that cannot be seen by any road as there is no parallel road here. In this area, the train is a destination. Do some Google searches to see if there bike rental places near some of the train stations.

 

Oh, and the odds of being delayed much more than one hour are rare. It does happen, but so does being stuck on airplane parked on the tarmac for many hours. If we based our travel decisions on extreme examples, we'd lock the doors and stay home.

 

My suggestion? Take the train to the New River Gorge area for an active vacation -- Thurmond, Hinton or Beckley. Take a backpack. Look for a bike rental. Consider lodging near train stations: http://www.hotelplanner.com/Hotels/2134-NEAR-Hinton-Amtrak-Station

I wonder if the Greenbrier doesn't allow pictures because of the nuclear bunker.

 

Also while it is longer on a train, you can't drink in a car.

I don't remember super well, but I think the delay to NYC was roughly 2 hours. The delay to Cincy was maybe half an hour more because we hit a car that slid on ice into an on-grade crossing near Charleston. (No one was hurt but it took seemingly forever.)

 

KJP is right about the view being awesome. I went in the winter so the daylight hours were short. Summer would be much better. For as long as there was daylight, the time flew. Once it got dark, I just wanted to GET THERE! (I'm not good at sleeping in odd places.)

 

The legroom is nice, and you can get up and walk around, go to the dining car, etc., so it's way more comfortable than a plane or bus. That being said, traveling for such a long time is draining. If you do decide on a long trip, I really really encourage you to get a sleeper car if you can afford it. That would make the trip totally painless. Though they are pricey! If you could travel with someone and split the cost, that might make it more affordable.

 

I am glad I had the experience, though I would not really look forward to doing it again without a sleeper.

 

Oh, and since it's such a long trip, I'd suggest making it a week trip if you go to DC or NYC. Otherwise you will be completely trained out, and feel like all you did the whole weekend was sit on a damn train.