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Get on track Welcome to the Great American Rail Trip

FEW holidays are as evocative as the Great American Road Trip. Whether we imagine ourselves as James Dean, Jack Kerouac, Thelma or Louise there’s an unmistakeable, old-world glamour to the open road. Add big cities, dusty towns, Route 66 signposts and classic American diners to the mix and the result is always enticing.

And this year there’s good news if you’re dreaming of a trip but can’t face renting a car and doing the drive yourself. It’s the Great American Rail Trip. Let the train take the strain and you can see the sights, eat up the miles and enjoy the ultimate American holiday in comfort.

SELLING FAST

Travel agents say American rail trips are set to be one of the holiday hits of the year. Demand has run consistently ahead of the expected schedule since booking began last autumn. Some summer tours have already sold out.

The holidays are a mix of escorted, independent and bespoke trips across America and Canada. Flights are normally included in the price, with north American experts such as Trailfinders, Travelbag and Dial-aFlight able to find good deals if you’re booking independently.

Most trips include at least one night in a hotel at the start of the tour, as well as plenty of comfortable hotel stays along the route. If you do get to take an overnight train – the highlight of many trips – you’ll be in two-berth or single compartments with stewards making up the beds, working in the dining car and bringing early morning coffee. A few trains have en-suite couchettes, but most have shared facilities at the end of each carriage.

All your tickets, timings and train reservations will be arranged in advance as part of the package – and guests on escorted tours with the likes of Great Rail Journeys will have friendly tour managers with them from start to finish.

SLOWLY DOES IT

An unexpected joy of an American or Canadian train trip may be the speed at which you travel – because it won’t be fast. Neither country has tried to rival Japan with its bullet trains or France with its sleek TGVs. Instead North American trains travel at what old-timers call ‘Kodak speed’ – leisurely enough for passengers to take plenty of photos.

Another nod to the golden age of travel comes in the names of the trains themselves. Depending on your route you can board the likes of the California Zephyr, the Rocky Mountaineer, the Coast Starlight, Pacific Surfliner and the Maple Leaf.

TOP CHOICES

Great holiday choices include the 13-day Highlights of the West Coast and the 10-day Highlights of the East Coast train tours with Great Rail Journeys. Fully escorted, the former begins in San Francisco, includes coach tours to Yosemite National Park, heads to Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam, Route 66, the Grand Canyon, Los Angeles and coastal Monterey. Excursions include a trip on the heritage Grand Canyon Railway and trips on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight as it follows the Pacific Coast Highway back to San Francisco. From £2,595pp. (greatrail.com)

Want more? Great Rail also has a New England in the Fall train tour and a classic America Coast to Coast trip, each taking guests on scenic train trips by day and retiring to comfortable hotel rooms at night. A high-adrenaline alternative rail holiday is American Sky’s 6-night Rockies to the Red Rocks Discovery trip. The holiday begins in Las Vegas before you join a low-level ‘flightseeing’ air transfer to Moab in Utah, home of rich red rocks and ancient stone arches. You’ll dine in the glass-roofed Rocky Mountaineer train on the way to your hotel in Glenwood Springs then re-join the train to cross the continental divide to Denver. From £3,899pp. (Americansky.co.uk)

GO-IT ALONE

Independent travellers who want to follow their own route – and travel on their own choice of trains – can get advice from specialists such as Freedom Destinations. The template for one of its biggest trips – a coast to coast adventure across Canada – includes a mix of luxury hotels and at least three nights on trains. These are the nights you’ll drift off to sleep as the wheels turn beneath you – and be woken with fresh coffee in the dining car. From £3,695pp. Or two-night trips on sleeper trains trundling along America’s Pacific coast can be added to Californian holidays from around £350pp. (Find out more at freedomdestinations.co.uk).

Other well-reviewed experts such as Audley Travel, Saga, Hayes & Jarvis, Insight Vacations and Railbookers are further good sources of rail-based holiday ideas, inspiration and advice in America, Canada and beyond.

“Let the train take the strain and you can see the sights, eat up the miles and enjoy the ultimate American holiday in comfort

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2023-05-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

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