A Taste of the Old Frontier Holiday

The railroads were once the embodiment of the bold spirit that pushed America's frontier ever westwards. But in a country now in love with the automobile America's train network has been restricted to a bit part player. But don't let the obsession with gas guzzlers fool you – whilst on holiday in the States the train is a great way to get around.

America is a popular holiday destination for gap year student and families alike, with its sheer vastness appealing to people with time on their hands and a yearning for adventure in their bellies. How to get from city to city is perhaps the biggest challenge given that doing so will involve covering hundreds of miles in a limited period of time.

The Greyhound bus network is both cheap and reliable but lacks the class of the huge double-decker Amtrak trains that thunder through urban sprawls and the wide-open spaces in between. Travelling by train can be a holiday in it's own right. If your budget will stretch to a cabin, you can have the privacy of your own room, the social hub of the dining car and the scenery flashing past your window as your wind your way from state to state.

If you're looking to save money though, as most gap year travellers and cash strapped holiday makers will be, coach seats are comfortable enough and you can easily get to sleep during the twilight legs of your journey. The food in the dining car costs extra, but it is reasonably priced considering Amtrak has a captive market. Mealtime is also a great time to meet some of your fellow travellers and exchange stories.

The observation car has wall to ceiling windows that enable you to take in the view outside. This has to be one of the major plusses of taking the train. Faster than a Greyhound and more laid back than driving, you can watch the scenery evolve from featureless desert to smoggy suburb, sun-bleached orange mountains to foggy coastline.

Trains are nowhere near as numerous as they are in the UK or throughout Europe. Most Americans rarely use the train and might not even know where their local station is (that includes some police officers). That said all cities and most large towns on the train route are served by an Amtrak service although looking at the map on the company's website you will notice that there are some states that are bypassed altogether. In the UK, train stations are among the busiest public places you're likely to come across. But in the US, stations in major towns might not even see one train per day.

If you're planning a holiday to the US, have an open mind about what you see, it might be an idea to take a look at the special routes Amtrak runs. And make sure you book your flight well in advance to get the cheapest deals, travelling half way around the world need not be expensive.Take the Sunset Limited for example. For a mere $233 you can get on at Orlando in Florida and see eight different states on your way to Los Angeles. With a travelling time of almost three days (68 hours) it's probably best not to do it all at once, but for a bit more you can get a rail pass, which allows you to hop on and off as you please. If you stretch out your three-day train journey over a month, you can take in Jacksonville in Florida, Biloxi in Missouri, El Paso in Texas, Tucson in Arizona, Palm Springs in California or any other of the 39 stations along the route. When you've seen all that, it sure beats flying.