4 Reasons You Should Experience Amtrak's Coast Starlight Train from LA to Seattle
Experience the United States in a new way!
In our 8 years of full-time travel, we’ve had the opportunity to travel on overnight trains all over the world from the Trans Siberian in Russia to a First Class overnight train in Bangladesh. However, until a couple of years ago we never had the opportunity to take an overnight train in our home country. Truthfully, we didn’t even know overnight trains existed in the United States!
Once we heard about Amtrak’s Coast Starlight train, which travels from L.A. to Seattle, we knew we had to test it out and see how it compared to our international train adventures. So, we booked the largest private room on the Coast Starlight and embarked on the 35-hour journey all the way up the West Coast.
We weren’t sure what to expect from this adventure, but it turned out to be one of our favorite overnight train journeys. Here are 4 reasons we’d recommend booking your own trip on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight train.
1) Scenic Views For Hours
From the time we left Union Station in Los Angeles until our train pulled into Seattle, the views from the train were stunning. We had no idea what to expect from this ride, but we were pleasantly surprised at how much time the train spent driving right on the Southern California coast. Seriously, we were so close to the ocean that we could see the surfers out in the water.
As we traveled further north, our views of palm trees and sunny cliffside beaches turned into pine trees and snow-capped mountains. Since we didn’t have to focus on driving ourselves, we were able to relax and soak in the breathtaking views from our private room, the dining car, and the observation car.
2) Comfort in a Private Room
After experiencing a lot of uncomfortable, cramped journeys on other overnight trains (ahem…our “First Class” train in Vietnam) we were thrilled to travel in Amtrak’s Coast Starlight Family Room which was the largest train room we’d ever had to ourselves.
The Family Room spans the entire width of the train and has enough space for two adults and two children. It features 2 full windows, a large tray table, and drink holders so everyone will have room to comfortably enjoy the scenic views (and maybe a snack too). With a booking of a private room comes a First Class attendant who will assist with luggage, welcome you on the train, and perform a turndown service when it’s time to go to bed.
A couple of downsides were that the whole room only had one outlet and there wasn’t a lot of storage space. The overall vibe was that the train had been built like 100 years ago and was never updated, but everything in the room seemed reasonably clean and the service was good, so we couldn’t complain too much.
3) The (All-Inclusive) Onboard Amenities
Outside of our private room, there were a number of onboard amenities that made our Amtrak trip even more comfortable and convenient.
One of the best perks was that the price of the ticket included all of the meals for our journey. We won’t claim that the Amtrak meals were the best meals we ever had, but it was nice not to have to worry about purchasing any food while on the train. For lunch, we had chili with baked potatoes and dinner was a crab cake appetizer with a choice between mains like salmon or pesto tortellini. In addition to the 24/7 free coffee onboard, Starbucks coffee was served with our French toast breakfast!
Our room didn’t have its own private bathroom, but our train car had 4 communal bathrooms to share with everyone. The bathrooms were clean and well stocked with everything we needed and even included a warm shower, which was a train first for us! If you don’t want a shared bathroom, there are other room options available that have private bathrooms.
One of our favorite parts of the train was the Sightseer lounge, an observation deck where you can buy a drink or snack and relax as you enjoy the views through panoramic windows. An amazing plus about this train is that everyone on the train has access to the lounge even if you book the cheapest available ticket.
4) A Unique Travel Experience
The reason we love train travel so much is that it provides us with the unique opportunity to travel through a place in a new way.
It would be such a fun vacation to spend a few days in L.A., relax on a 35-hour train ride up the coast, and then spend a couple of days exploring Seattle (and all those nearby national parks!). We know a completely stress-free 35-hour travel day sounds like a fantasy, but with Amtrak, it’s not only a reality, but a fun memory you’ll reminisce on for years to come.
Booking your own Amtrak Trip
Have we convinced you to book your own Starlight Coast Amtrak trip? Check out FareDrop to find the best flight deals to L.A. or Seattle so you can check something new off your bucket list and make your wallet happy too!
And check out the video below to watch our full review of our L.A. to Seattle train journey.
Hi! We're Kara and Nate. High school sweethearts from Nashville, TN whose shared love of travel has led us on the adventure of a lifetime. In 2016 we quit our jobs to spend one year traveling around the world. Seven years later, we still haven't stopped! We quickly fell in love with life on the road and capturing our travels on video. We've visited over 100 countries, and have been fortunate enough to build an awesome community of subscribers on our YouTube channel and newsletter Daily Drop. We're so grateful to do what we love everyday and we hope our story and our content might inspire you to travel somewhere new!
