Best way to travel in the US: train or bus?

Buses suck. I would suggest the train. On the train you can get up and walk around, there's a snack bar and it generally moves faster. On the bus you're stuck in your seat. One time I travled from Boston to New York on the bus. The person sitting next to me weiged about 400 pounds. I was stuck against the window for most of the trip as there were no free seats available.

I agree with Nick, though I've never taken extended trips on a bus (school bus not included).

I would remind you that if you take the train, you will still need to budget for bus or cab fare or perhaps a rental car.

I do know a man and wife who came to the US for a couple-few months and they simply bought a car, used it to go everywhere they wanted and then sold it before they flew back to Holland.

GeneralTsao

i was thinking about that buy a car option, but i didn't know how many additional costs would be involved, like, say, registration and insurance and whatnot. i'm assuming there'd be a fair amount of cheap cars available, though. just not sure how reliable a $200-400 dollar car would be. could be interesting, though. and also provide cheap accomodation if i got desperate...

NYC to LA has to be what? 3 straight days on a train? Yoikes!

I once took a bus from Mexico City to New York.
Dumb mistake. Forgive me, I was 19.
Trains in the US do not compare to trains in Europe. They don't run as often. The railroad is not as extensive as it seems in Western movies.

When in Rome, do as Romans do.
You are receiving sound advice.
Buy a used car. They are inexpensive in the US. Resell it at your departure.

just to clarify, i'll be planning on stopping at various locations on my way from ny to la and back again so it wouldn't be like one huge mammoth trip all in one go. probably stop in chicago, detriot, denver maybe, san fran, salt lake city (friends), maybe visit mexico for a day or two...

I'd advise strongly against the bus option. Very unpleasant.

Which leaves trains -- but for many trips, trains can be as expensive as airlines (though I'm not sure how much the 30-day rail pass is). Don't forget how big the U.S. is: you can drive for days without hitting a real city.

My question is: what are you interested in seeing and doing while you are here?

I wouldn't take the risk. If you are going to travel a lot, I would be thinking over the $800 dollar mark for a 10 year old car.

The price also depends on what part of the US do you buy it.

Americans, please correct me if I'm wrong.

30 day amtrak unlimited ticket is $385.

i pretty much just want to see as much as i can... i have to go to new york, and i have friends in denver, salt lake city and LA. but they're not necessities.

i'd fly but i'm thinking new york to LA return flights would be kinda near the price of the train, and it's only two cities sort of thing.

well the train thing probably looks the best bet.

an idea about extending it to 2 months -- i could take out an east pass for a month for $270, visit phili, washington, maybe florida and back, maybe boston, head to chicago and make it as far west as denver (where the east pass finishes), then take out a west pass for another month for the same price, then check out salt lake, LA, san fran and either head north or south (probably south, visit mexico or something), then head back east via the southern route, san antonio, dallas, st louis etc back to chicago (where the west pass finishes)... then just take a singular trip from chicago back to new york ($80 or so). so it'd be like $620 for 2 months unlimited travel and i'd be seeing a lot of the country with more time to spare.

so it'd be $385 for a month or $620 for two, plus transfers, food and hostels and whatever else.

A $200-400 car would be hard to come by. I've had a few in my life, but I was a certified auto tech back then and could easily do any repairs which might have arisen.

If you were to look at a 5 to 10-year-old car for $2000-4000, you could find a pretty decent one which you could probably sell for almost the same money, as the older ones don't depreciate very fast.

Figuring in rail, bus, cab and car rental fares against 100% flexibility, no waiting on train or bus schedules, freedom to leave whenever and wherever you want (even to remote areas where you won't be able to get a bus or car)...

I'd say buying the car is a bigger risk, but a risk I myself would likely take.

Either that or borrow a car from your internet buddies in the States.

General Tsao
PS: I just plain hate relying on other people or other schedules. That's why I drive most everywhere I go--I hate the process of renting a car, I hate being tied down for three hours in an airport, etc. I want to be free.

That's a hell of a lot of ground to cover.

January/February - on the road crossing North America. You've got to be pretty sure of your vehicle given some of the weather you'd be running into - especially in the Colorado, and west, portion of the trip. I think I'd feel safest taking the train. Less likely, though not impossible, to get stranded in a frozen drift. You need to be very comfortable driving in bad conditions - and unless you're going to invest in 4 good snow tires for the temp vehicle, I wouldn't recommend it. (speaking here as a former road adjuster, who covered territory up to where the roads end in Northern Ontario)

hi from australia re trains
Hi guys,

Thanks for the information,

Well i am going to be in usa next year at this time not sure about April, or May and i was also thinking of bus (greyhound) or train.

I would be flying to Los Angeles and then hope to go to a place called Bakersfield to go onto Lake Isabella.

Another trip would be going from california down to Arizonia to see Phonix,fort defiance, and another place there, also to go to texas, and to okoholomia and prehaps Wymong.

I am not able to drive due to eye sight problem and i do not want to fly as it is enough flying from Australia to America and back to Australia

Any ideas to get to these places.

Chickabea

Hey Chickabea. If I am free I would be happy to escort you. Of course, I would charge a stipend but I could drive if you rent a car.

No bus in America. Think of riding in a Porta Potty with wheels.

$385 for a 30 day Amtrak pass is an exceellent deal. It's great fund riding the train because of the mobility on the train. However, connections are terrible, and trains are often full. Check on the Amtrak website to see if there are train routes where you want to go and the connections.

Bus travel is not bad so long as you have two seats to yourself; otherwise, it's impossible to sleep because the seats don't recline enough. Busses go virtually everywhere and there are many trips on every route per day. Connections are easy.

I prefer trains two to one for pure comfort and enjoyment, but busses go everywhere. Either way you go take a small pillow and a light blanket for sleeping.

I went on holidays with my father to the US back in '88, and we travelled by train and bus. I far preferred the train, actually liked it pretty much. Of course, it's true, it's not like in Europe - much fewer trains, much fewer places they go to. But for straightforward treks from one big city to another they're fine - found them very comfortable in fact.

What we did was fly from Detroit/Toronto to NY, take the train to DC, no problem; took the bus from DC to New Orleans, oh god - a long, uncomfortable ride, and the A/C was on so "well" that I caught a cold. From there we took a train to El Paso, a great ride, watching the intimidatingly empty but, in its own way, beautiful landscape through panorama windows ... From El Paso by bus to Santa Fe, Taos, Denver - again, no fun in the bus. From Denver by train to LA, overnight trip - man, some gorgeous views on that train ride!

Yeah, trains were fine - it's just that there's a lot of places you can't easily reach by train.

The purchasing of a car and then selling it before you leave idea sounds great at the onset, but in the big picture could be more hassle than it is worth. The previous mentions of registration, insurance, breakdowns, inclimate weather conditions don't seem worth it to me. Not to mention getting an international drivers license, the outrageous price of gas, learning to drive on the "other side of the road" and the sheer fact that it would be too darn easy to get lost and could be one very lonely trip for a solo traveler. Plus....what if you couldn't sell the car right away before you had to leave?

I'd nix the bus and opt for the east/west train deal myself. Busses just seem cold and impersonal. On the other hand, the train sounds much more comfortable, you don't have to stop in every little hodunk town along the way and just the sweet rhythm of the rails beneath you brings a bit of magic to the trip. I am such a sucker for the romance of it all though and trains seem very romantic to me. Probably because I grew up with a daddy working for an airline and every darn vacation we ever took, we had to fly. I feel like I missed so much of the "in between" sites.

Go for the train....enjoy the beauty of the country without having to worry about your next fill up or which exit you should have taken. Every big city you plan to visit has good inner city transportation systems once you get there.

Go train, go train, go train! And even if you don't, have a wonderful time!!