My Weekend on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief

I am all about the bucket list vacations. Steve has always wanted to take a cross country train trip on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief, so for his birthday, I surprised him with this trip from Chicago’s Union Station to Los Angeles’ Union Station and we took the trip this past weekend. There are a few ways you can travel with Amtrak. You can do one of their trips where they stop in various cities and you stay in hotels, sightsee and get back on the train to the next stop. You can use the train as a hop-on, hop-off train where you take a route and decide where you want to spend more time and then catch the train again and keep on going. We decided to take the train the entire route without getting off, except for a few short “fresh air” breaks.

We arrived in Chicago on Thursday and after spending the day visiting with some friends and a good dinner, we stayed overnight and the next day went to Union Station to catch our weekend ride. Since we had bedroom accommodations, we were able to go to the lounge and relax and have priority boarding when it was time to board.

The route of the Southwest Chief is Chicago, Kansas City, Albuquerque, Flagstaff and ending in Los Angeles. There are many smaller stops in between.The Southwest Chief runs through the vast expanse of the fabled American West. You'll be mesmerized by this region's beauty and allure. It takes you across the mighty Mississippi through eight states — past wheat fields and ranches, missions and pueblos, mountains and deserts. Carving through curving canyon passages only a few feet wider than the train itself, you'll see spectacular landscapes and pristine vistas not visible from interstate highways.

Bedroom made up for sleeping with upper and lower berth

There are a variety of accommodations for the Southwest Chief. You can travel in Coach Class with reclining seats with ample legroom, no middle seat option and at-seat trays, reading lights and electric outlets. Restrooms are located in each car. This is perfect for someone who is using the train to hop-on, hop-off or going to a shorter destination. You can use the train’s cafe for food and beverages but do not have access to the dining car. The cafe has packaged and microwave meal options as well as soda and alcohol. Another option is a roomette, which offers 2 day seats, upper and lower berths at night, access to private restroom and shower in your car, Sleep Attendant (who makes up your beds each night), lounge access and fresh meals in the dining car. Since we were spending 2 nights on the train, I opted for a bedroom, which has 2x the space of a Roomette, sofa and armchair by day, upper and lower berths by night, in-room sink, restroom and shower, dedicated Sleeping Car attendant, Complimentary lounge access, priority boarding and 3 fresh meals a day in the dining car. For families traveling with children, there is are Family Bedrooms span the width of the car with ample space for two adults and two children (aged 2-12) and feature seating for 4 by day and 2 upper and 2 lower berths at night, access to private restroom and shower in their car, dedicated Sleeping Car attendant, complimentary lounge access, priority boarding and fresh meals in the dining car.

The ride was beautiful and we watched most of the scenery from our bedroom, as there was not much space in the observation car. We took advantage of the “fresh air” breaks and briefly got off the train. There was an unexpected delay in Albuquerque, which forced us to change our return flight home. After 46 hours, we arrived in Los Angeles and caught our plane back to Washington.

Here are a few tips when booking an Amtrak Vacation:
1. Check the luggage policy of the train. Ours only allowed 2 pieces of carry-on luggage and we only brought backpacks. Honestly, there would have been no more room for anything more.
2. Bring cash for tips. Our meals were prepaid, but it is nice to tip the servers. And we tipped the Sleeping Car attendant for making up our beds each day. However, he only made up the beds. He did no other clean-up in the room.
3. There is no entertainment on the train and the day and night can get long. Bring books, games and download movies for the trip. And there were areas with very little internet, so be prepared for that as well.
4. If you are spending the night on the train, meals are only included in the sleeper cars. If you are in coach, you can purchase food at the cafe but it is packaged and microwaved and not included in the price.
5. The rails can get very bumpy so be prepared.
6. Be sure to get off during the “fresh air” breaks to get some fresh air.
7. Decide whether you want to use the train as transportation and make stops or if you want to use the train as a getaway. The next time we do this, we will definitely plan a trip where we get off to see the sites.
8. If you are staying overnight on the train and decide to get a private room, like the one you are with, because the rooms are small and the top berth offers very limited movement. And when the beds are open, it is hard to get around the room.

I am happy we crossed another thing off a bucket list and had another fun adventure. Is there a train trip in your future? Contact me to discuss.

I did it!

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