Step on board Amtrak's Southwest Chief to see what the American West is all about. The train travels from Chicago to Los Angeles, following along much of the same route that the famous Santa Fe Railway wagon trail used to travel. The train ride takes about 40 hours with frequent stops so you can get off the train. Once you've spent a day or two in some of the Western towns along the route, you can re-board the train to head further west. Once you reach Los Angeles, you can extend your trip with another rail tour to Seattle. Or, take the Texas Eagle train from Los Angeles back to Chicago to see the Southwest.
Amtrak's Coast Starlight railroad tour, considered one of Amtrak's most scenic routes, takes you from Seattle to Los Angeles. The train meanders along the Pacific Ocean, so you'll get spectacular views of coastline, mountains, forest that meets the sea and plenty of crashing waves. The train travels through part of the Cascade Mountains with snow-topped peaks and thick cedar forests. You can buy a ticket that allows you to stop and wander around some of the sights, including stops in the Sierra Mountains, Big Sur along the coast or Northern California's Monterey Peninsula. Along the way, the train makes stops in Oakland, Calif., Eugene, Ore., and Portland, Ore.
Traveling by train through the Canadian Rockies offers one of the best ways available to experience the mountains. The trip starts in Vancouver, British Columbia, on VIA Rail Canada. You'll see the spectacular scenery of several of Canada's largest national parks, including Jasper, Banff and Yoho. Along the way, you're likely to spot some of the abundant wildlife that calls the area home such as grizzly and black bears, elk, moose and bighorn sheep. The trip ends in Edmonton, Alberta, where you can get off and fly back to Vancouver, or add another train segment to head further east to Saskatoon or Winnipeg.
For adventure in Mexico, the Sierra Madre Express travels across the Chihuahuan and Sinaloan high desert area of Mexico. Along the way, the train travels through 87 tunnels and across 35 bridges before reaching Copper Canyon. One of the most spectacular points along the route is Barranca del Cobre, one of the deepest canyons in the world at 5,770 feet deep. Your trip starts in Tucson, Arizona, where a shuttle bus takes you across the border into Mexico and aboard the train. The eight-day round-trip train ride includes several nights at hotels along the way before bringing you back through the Sonoran Desert to a shuttle that takes you back to Tucson.
