A trip to the Grand Canyon has always been a bucket list item for my husband. But even more than him wanting to go, he wanted to experience it with all three of our girls. Since our oldest is 19 this year we know that we are on borrowed time with how many more family vacations we will have together. So, we decided this year would be the year. We started planning about 7 months in advance with our travel agent, who was a God send I might add. I don’t think I could have pulled off a vacation like this without her. There were so many details I never would have thought about or considered. She was truly invaluable.
During our planning process we kept talking about the long drive from Michigan to Arizona. There was a lot of debate over how long it would take us to get there, stopping to sleep vs driving straight through. And flying wasn’t an option for us. My husband really dislikes flying and the idea of doing that with all three girls stressed him out. But driving straight through the night without sleeping made me anxious. So, I asked our travel agent if taking the train was an option, and guess what, it was a totally feasible option. So we decided to go for it.
Along the whole trip I asked my Instagram friends if they had any questions about our trip and the train ride and so many questions came in. So I’m going to share them all here! This will be a two part post. The first will be me sharing about our train experience and the second will be about the vacation itself and the Grand Canyon experience. If you have any other questions don’t hesitate to ask! Either drop your question in the comment box below or DM me over on Instagram.
What made you choose to take the train?
We had a few factors to consider when planning this trip. The first was our budget. We weighed the cost of driving, flying, or taking the train. We added the cost of gas to drive and even consider renting a vehicle or taking our own. The cost to fly our family of 5 would have been out of our budget. When we looked into taking the train, we were surprised how comparable the cost to take the train vs drive was.
Taking the train would mean not putting those miles on our vehicle. It also meant not worry about having to navigate traffic or worry about directions. We would also be able to enjoy the scenery of parts of the country we’ve never experienced. Also, flying just wasn’t a realistic option for us. I don’t really love to fly, but my husband hates to fly. So, the thought of flying the whole family really caused him a lot of stress, so that was quickly dismissed.
What was the distance you traveled and how long did it take?
We traveled by train from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Flagstaff, Az. That’s a distance of over 1,700 miles. Plus, then a shuttle to our hotel in Williams, Az. that was an additional 30 miles. Our total travel time one way was 40 hours.
There was some debate about the decision to take the train vs driving, since the time to drive was a bit shorter. But we decided once we figured in the time we would lose to stop and sleep and then bathroom and gas stops we calculated the time would be comparable within a few hours.
Are you in a sleeper car?
We did not take a sleeper car. The cost of the sleeper car would have been considerably higher and out of our budget. We also would have needed to get multiple sleeper cars to fit our family of 5. We spoke to a couple who had a sleeper car that fit two people, but they spent a lot of time in the observation car because the sitting space in their sleeper car was limited. So, it may or may not be worth the cost. That being said, the sleeper car does include meals, that priced alone would have ranged from $20-$40 per person. So there is an added benefit to the sleeper car.
Are they assigned seats?
Seats are assigned as you board the train. You don’t really have much say into where you sit. People are assigned based on where they will be getting off and how many people are in your group. Our family was always assigned in front and back or across from each other. They were always very mindful not to split up our family. You may have empty seats near you for part of the ride.
I was asked if you could move seats if there are empty seats near you. You cannot (you could ask and see where that gets you). The trains we rode both ways were fully booked. That doesn’t mean that there were people in every seat during 100% of the ride. But there were people who would be boarding throughout the ride, and they were already planning for where they would sit. Like I said before, they seat you based on where you will be getting off. The staff is very mindful to make sure people don’t miss their stops, especially the people who may be getting off during the night. They want to know where you are seated so they can make sure that you are up and getting ready to get off the train at your stop and don’t miss it because you are sleeping.
How is sleeping on the train?
First off, sleeping while traveling is never the best. Whether you are in a car, on a train, or on a plane, there is always limited space. That being said, comparing those three options, sleeping on the train was the most comfortable sleeping accommodations we have ever experienced. There was plenty of leg room and extended footstool. The seat also reclined further than any car or plane I’ve been on, and it was also wider.
They also lowered the lights in the train car at 10pm and you could close the curtains for your window, so it was nice and dark. The people on board our train were very mindful of the time and that people were sleeping.
There were a couple of things that were challenging about sleeping though. I mentioned that lights dimmed at 10pm. that was 10pm for the current time zone. So, at that point we had traveled through 2 time zones. So, for us it was midnight, and we were beyond exhausted. I wish I would have known this, I would have purchased eye masks for each of us so we could have gone to sleep a bit earlier.
We were also assigned seats right next to the end of the train car and our car was next to the observation car. Durning the day that was great because we would walk back and forth all day, we could even see the girls if they were in the observation car without us. But at night people would walk into the observation car and the door opening and closing was pretty loud. The ride home we were back a few more rows and it was much quitter.
Did you have to get off and change trains at all?
The only time we got off the train to change trains was when we were in Chicago. We took the Pere Marquette from Grand Rapids to Chicago. The Pere Marquette is a commuter train that most people use for day or weekend trips. Once we arrived at the Chicago train station we boarded Amtrak’s Southwest Chief. The Amtrak Southwest Chief travels cross country making multiple stops each day picking up and dropping people off.
The only time we got off the Amtrak between Chicago and Flagstaff was when the train stopped for extended breaks. There were a few times that the train stopped for 10 minutes or more and you were able to get off and stretch your legs. But if you decide to do this don’t go far. They don’t give you much notice that the train is leaving, and they will leave without you.
Is there food on the train?
Yes, there are few options for eating on the train. One is the cafe car located on the lower level of the observation car. You can go down there throughout the day and purchase snacks, packaged meals, and drinks. We ate the packaged meals our first day on the train and chose not to buy them again. They were premade packaged food that the cafe attendant heated in the microwave. Really just not the best for you or very tasty.
There is a restaurant on the train where you can order a meal, and it will be cooked fresh for you. We were told by others on the train that it was very good and a nice variety of option. We opted not to go this route just because of the cost per meal and how much it would have been to feed the whole family. Meals are a flat rate between $20-$40 depending on if it is breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
The last option is to bring your own food on the train. We brought an entire luggage of food along with us the entire trip. We had snacks, sandwich items, meat and cheese. We had a good variety of items and would definitely choose to do that again.
Is there WiFi on the train?
The train we took from Grand Rapids to Chicago was a commuter train. That train did have Wi-Fi available. But the Amtrak we took cross country did not have Wi-Fi. If you have a good cell plan that might be enough Wi-Fi for what you need. If I would have realized that Wi-Fi was not available on the train, I may have gone to my local library and rented a hotspot. This would have come in handy for the girls tablets and for streaming movies. If you’re doing any sort of traveling with kids, I always recommend seeing if your library rents out hotspots. They have been invaluable to us in the past.
Tell us more about the observation car.
The observation car was probably our favorite part of the whole ride. The fact that we could get up and stretch our legs was wonderful. The observation car has windows that cover the entire wall and part of the ceiling. Getting that much sunlight was so good for our moods and didn’t make us feel like we were so stuck in one place. There are options to sit at a booth style table or in chairs that face the windows. Which is nice if you want to sit and have a meal or look out the window and sight see. There are also lots of outlets throughout the observation car for charging your devices.
How did you pack your whole family to travel by train?
Before our trip we bought each of our girls their own carry-on luggage. They were absolutely ecstatic to have their very own luggage in their favorite color. We pscked light and the girls toys, books and a tablet all fit in their luggage along with their clothes Each girl was responsible for their own luggage for the whole trip. They did fantastic. I wouldn’t have tried this without good quality rolling luggage, but they were each able to manage their own luggage easily.
Keith and I each had our own luggage that was medium and full size because we knew that we would end up bringing home some souvenirs. My husband has a habit of buying a sweatshirt everywhere he goes. Traveling cross country, I had no clue how many sweatshirts we may come home with. We also had one luggage just for food. Eating out was definitely in our vacation budget, but eating out for every meal and snack was not. Having one luggage just for food was essential and helpful. I also brought one backpack for bringing along on day trips, so we had a place for water bottles and snacks.
In all, we each had one luggage, I had one backpack., plus one extra luggage for food. I also purchased these straps so we could attach a backpack or luggage to the handle of a luggage so we would have less to carry. They were VERY helpful throughout our whole trip.
Would we take the train again?
Absolutely yes! If we do a short distance trip we will drive. But if we decided to go on another long-distance vacation trip as a whole family this is definitely an option that we will consider again. The fact that we were able to get up and move around was very helpful. It’s hard being stuck in a car for hours at a time. Moving around and being able to transition from our seats to the observation car made this a positive experience. The seats had more room that what we have in our vehicles. Overall taking the train was a great experience for us and we would do it again.
The one thing we would do different would be to drive to Chicago and take the train from there. We had about a 3-hour layover from when we arrived in Chicago to when our next train would be leaving. Our plan had been to pay the fee to store our luggage for those hours a the train station and walk around the city and get lunch. Well, when we arrived, we found out that they weren’t storing luggage at the time. It was a paper form you had to fill out to do this and they were all out of the form. It was a bit frustrating actually. So, since we didn’t have a place to leave our luggage and didn’t want to bring it with us around the city, we just stayed in the train station for those 3 hours. That wasn’t a huge deal.
But on the way home we also had a 3-hour layover in the train station, and the ride home was 4 hours instead of 3 like it was on the way into Chicago. At this point in our vacation, we were just ready to be home. So, if we do it again, we will just opt to take the train out of Chicago and store our car there.
Other random thoughts and things we learned.
The train is essentially public transportation. You will encounter all kinds of people. On our trip to Az. everyone was pleasant, and we met some really nice people. Everyone was very courteous, and it was a great experience. With the exception of the gentleman sitting in front of me who I’m pretty sure just loved the sound of his own voice and was a pathological liar (Maybe not actually, but he had some far-fetched stories) because he never stopped talking once someone was seated next to him.
On our way home was a bit different, we didn’t spend at much time in the observation car because there were a few men in there that were not super self-aware and didn’t care what kind of language they used or what they talked about with kids around. That was a little unfortunate.
The bathrooms were pretty tight and only cleaned at the end of each cross-country trip.
One thing I would bring along next time would be eye masks for sleeping for myself and the kids. Because of the time change and sun rising I think we could have gotten a few more hours of sleep if we had eye masks and were able to cover the light.
Phew, that was a lot. I know the train isn’t for everyone, but we looked at it as part of the whole vacation and an experience that our girls had never had before. If you have any questions about the Amtrak or traveling by train leave a comment below. I did lots of research when planning this trip and I found others experiences so helpful. I’m also going to include links to items that we found helpful during this vacation below. Happy travels!
What do you think?