How To: Travel the US by bus or train

If you don't want to travel the US by car or plane, take a bus or a train. This is not only cheaper, it is also the perfect way to get to know the country and its people up close.

The Greyhound/Trailways bus lines operate nationwide. The company offers round trip tickets (Ameripass) for one or more weeks, valid for unlimited travel, which are sold on the same conditions in Europe and the US. While traveling by bus is cheap way to travel, you have to keep in mind that costs for accommodation and food will be higher than if you travel by camper. In addition, the bus routes don't go through the national parks, which means in case you want to visit one you will need a rental car or a local bus. Traveling from New York to Los Angeles by Greyhound Bus will, for example, take two days and 18 hours. The advance purchase price is $139, the regular fare $194. If you have an international credit card, you can buy your tickets online. A service hotline for information on prices and time tables is available between 5:00 and 1:00am under 001-214-849-8100. From Germany, it is easier to contact the German Greyhound office Kilroy Travel, Hardenbergstrasse 9, D-10623 Berlin, tel: (030) 310 00 40. fax: (030) 312 69 75. For more information, please refer to www.greyhound.com.

TRAVEL THROUGH THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SCENERIES
Traveling by train is one of the nicest and most exciting experiences for your vacation in the US. Especially if you are traveling the West and the Rocky Mountains, you will feel like one of the old pioneers. Many railroad lines pass through the most beautiful sceneries you never see when you're traveling the highways. On the East Coast, trains offer a comfortable and stress-free way of seeing the big cities with their skyscrapers, historical buildings, famous museums and cultural institutions. Almost all the important cities, and also many holiday destinations and some national parks are connected to the railway network, or there will be buses going from the train stations to those destinations. However, compared to former times, the railway network has been kind of sidelined lately. Traveling by train is usually not just used for getting from point A to point B in the US, it is rather something to be enjoyed, an opportunity to watch the scenery from the diner or observation car without having to focus on traffic or maps. In addition, you will always meet some other friendly travelers and get to see the land of opportunity in completely new light. The low-priced rail passes are great for exploring a region or even all of the US without having to spend thousands of miles in the car. The cheapest ticket is coach class, in a saloon coach with comfortable recliner seats and a lot of legroom. Superliner Roomette compartments have rather limited space, but they have comfortable reclining seats which convert to a bed. The spacious bedrooms hold up to four people and some of them have their own bathrooms, which is why they are about as expensive as a medium class hotel. One example - depending on the season, a ticket for a Superliner Roomette compartment between San Francisco and Chicago is roughly $400, including all meals during the three-day journey. The simple coach class ticket starts at $168. Every week, last-minute offers for single routes can be found on the Amtrak homepage, at very favorable prices. For most trains, you will have to purchase your tickets in advance. You can do so online on www.amtrak.com or via a travel agency in Germany, Austria or Switzerland, for example at the following Amtrak offices: Germany: North America Travel House, CRD International (tel: (040) 300 61 60), MESO Amerika-Kanada Reisen (tel: (0180) 525 43 50). Austria: Austria Reiseservice (tel: (01) 310 74 41). Switzerland: Kuoni Travel (tel: (01) 277 45 80), SSR-Reisen (tel: (01) 297 11 11) and Travac (tel: (01) 267 57 57). For more information, please refer to: www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/HomePage