$213 Train Ride Coast To Coast The Most Beautiful Spots In America

Traveling across the United States by train is one of the world's ultimate travel experiences. Incredibly, it is also one of the world's supreme travel bargains, the 3,400-mile trip can cost as little as $213.

The train does not technically depart from San Francisco but in Emeryville. The train, California Zephyr begins its journey running alongside the serene waters of the San Francisco Bay Area for some magnificent coastal views. At Sacramento, you will pass the Donner Lake, with a haunting story of the Donner Party who were stranded in the place in the winter of 1846. Several of the 87 members resorted to cannibalism and only 48 survived. From Sacramento, the train will climb into the Sierra Nevada, a few hours later, the landscape turned into an immense, barren desert. If you fall asleep and wake up, it is almost as if you were transported to a diverse planet.

With a gleaming casino in the distance, the train crossed into Nevada. The train calls at Reno, the Biggest Little City in the World. During the night, the train crossed from Nevada into Utah. Entering a new time zone, with the clocks are adjusted an hour forward. At three in the morning, the train pulls into Salt Lake City.

The trip between Utah and Colorado is considered to be the most remarkable train ride in all of the United States according to Derek Low. The train follows the southern rim of the astonishing Book Cliffs. The California Zephyr climbs into the Rocky Mountains and snakes for hours through beautiful Colorado canyons. The train trails the path of the Colorado River. The train eventually appeared from the Rockies onto the Great Plains as it approaches Denver. The next trip includes Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois. The California Zephyr completes its journey at Chicago's Union Station, a historic landmark in its own right. The California Zephyr gets you as far as Chicago.

To complete the trip to New York, you need to transfer to the Lake Shore Limited. The train travels through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, before entering New York State. The train finally pulls into New York Penn Station, ending the journey on the east coast of the United States.