4 Most Scenic Train Rides

There’s nothing like scenic train rides to get all your Instagram followers excited. While we think all of our routes are special, there are a few that really take our breath away. Here are the four most beautiful Amtrak trips in the U.S.

Coast Starlight
The Coast Starlight connects Los Angeles and Seattle and goes through some pretty amazing terrain. When you travel on it, you’ll see the snow on the Cascade Range and Mount Shasta and some of the West Coast’s coolest cities (Portland, Seattle, Bay Area). Did we mention this awesome photo opp just north of San Luis Obispo, CA?

Maybe the coolest part about the Coast Starlight is the Pacific Parlour Car. Trust us, this ain’t your grandma’s parlour.  It’s got WiFi, comfy couches, tables for games or laptops and it’s own cafe.

California Zephyr
The California Zephyr is one of our most popular trains even in the summer heat! It runs daily between Chicago and San Francisco, making its way through the plains of Nebraska all the way to Denver, across the Rockies to Salt Lake City, and then through Reno and Sacramento into Emeryville/San Francisco. It’s pretty much the trip of a lifetime.

While onboard, you can see Donner Lake, a 300-foot-deep fresh-water lake just inside the California state line where summer temperatures are a beautiful 75 degrees! Sounds refreshing, huh?

Pacific Surfliner
Amtrak’s scenic Pacific Surfliner route runs right along the beautiful beaches of Southern California between San Luis Obispo and San Diego, where the average temp is a perfect 68 degrees this month.

To get better views than the ones this train offers, you’d have to be on a surfboard, which, believe it or not, you’re welcome to bring onboard, since the Pacific Surfliner has special racks to accommodate the bikes and boards of our more adventurous customers.

Cascades
From Vancouver, British Columbia to Seattle, Portland and Eugene, Ore., past Mount St. Helens and across the Columbia River Gorge, you’ll witness some of our continent’s most distinctive cities and most spectacular natural attractions.

To truly experience the luxury of travel on Amtrak Cascades, book a seat in the Business Class. You’ll enjoy priority boarding and deboarding, wider seats with more legroom, a quieter car with fewer passengers, complimentary newspapers and (of course) wonderful views!