Usa Travel Forum

My friend and I are two males both over 60 years of age and we would like to travel around america getting to meet people and visit interesting places we have been considering moving from place to place by Greyhound/Amtrak can you give us advise on where to go and which is the best method of travel.
I should add that we are getting to old to rough it for the whole of our journey.

I haven't used Amtrak, but I would advise against using Greyhound. We used them a few times and every single time was terrible. One time they even left us stranded at 10pm at night (the driver decided to end his route before we got to our destination). We only got to our destination because we persuaded a driver of another route to go by where we needed to go. My family in the US has recommended Amtrak, so I would suggest that is perhaps the best way to go. Flying is generally pretty cheap, so you might like to consider that too. There are also some private buses that can be quite convenient. For example, we took a private bus from Las Vegas to Anaheim (also goes to LA). It was fabulous. Cheaper and quicker than flying. Anyway, that's just my 2c. Hope that helps. :)

Thanks for that this is my first attempt to get information and you were the first to answer I think perhaps based on your comments Greyhound is out, we are not keen to fly as we are coming from the UK and are keen to meet people and stuck on a train or coach for hours we are hoping will lead to conversation and a bit of a laugh.
Cheers Dave

Dave have you posted this query on the American formum site?? I am sure you would get more responses that way.

Agree you could post this on the USA forum but if you want to get fellow aussies experiences then it can makes sense to ask in the Aus forum as well

I have travelled extensively over the USA both by Amtrak and Greyhound. I really prefer Amtrak if I can. Only word of advice ? their food is terrible in the snack / cafe type bar area. If you can, pack your own snacks / lunches. Not sure if there are any food restrictions between state to state like there is here in Aus. but you can always ask them at the depot / or online

I liked it because the seats are huge, you have plenty of leg room and on most of the longer routes there is [ or was] a glass top viewer car. Also a bar in a viewing carriage. I could stretch out and if it was quiet put the armrest up between seats and have a decent kip

The restaurant was not bad if you are doing a long haul - but then again you have to realise they are restricted on what they can provide just like an aeroplane. Its microwaved and overpriced but hey its edible and a good chance to catch up with other passengers in the dining car. Due to limited space you are seated whereever there is a spare chair. And that could include a family Though I have to say I found everyone really pleasant and polite on my travels over there. They love to ask about Australia so you wont be short of conversation partners

I didnt mind Greyhound - hey its a coach. Same as coaches here. I found them to be on time and clean and cheap- its just on a long trip some of their stop-offs could be in dodgy locations. Amtrak doesnt run everywhere - sometimes you just dont have a choice if you dont want to hire a car

ps You can get sleepers on Amtrak also but warning - these are expensive and tiny as!! they cost something like USD $200 a night. but you might be able to get a deal of some kind. I broke my trip across the country with 2 nights in a chair and 1 night in a sleeper so that I could have access to a bathroom etc [ you dont get one obviously with a seat booking]then I went back to a chair for my last night. The bathrooms for seat travellers are largish and you can have a decent wash up in them anyway. all in all I loved it though- great big windown, really relaxing watch the States roll by. Its definitely not 5 star or luxury by any means - but its clean and comfortable great way to travel across a country -I would recommend it.