There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train but I did it anyway (2019)
The long-distance Amtraks are more like a rolling hotel or land cruise-ship in some ways. Highly recommended if you have the time - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amtraktrains.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amtraktrains.com</a> is worth the research, as Amtrak&#x27;s ticketing system is <i>literally</i> a 70s airline ticketing system and if you learn how to play it you can get sleeper car reservations for relatively cheap.<p>You can also find destinations that would otherwise be moderately difficult to reach - for example the Empire Builder stops at <i>East Glacier</i> in Montana from spring to fall - extremely small town with wonderful hiking, etc.<p>Here&#x27;s a song about a similar route in Canada: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=YXcfRlEGJko" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=YXcfRlEGJko</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.viarail.ca&#x2F;en&#x2F;explore-our-destinations&#x2F;trains&#x2F;rockies-and-pacific&#x2F;montreal-to-vancouver" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.viarail.ca&#x2F;en&#x2F;explore-our-destinations&#x2F;trains&#x2F;ro...</a><p>You can also have a quite interesting &quot;explore America&quot; trip in both countries with some planning (a travel agent can actually help here if they&#x27;re knowledgeable) - as you can break the trip up into &quot;daytime travel&quot;, stay in a city like Chicago for a few days, and then &quot;overnight&quot; to the next city.