RevCon West Tourist Activities

[Richard Gaskin]

Jeffrey Reynolds wrote:
> yep, there is usually a connecting amtrak bus from salinas to monterey. 
> I have had folks tell me they booked a train reservation from oakland or 
> san jose to monterey only to be directed to the bus in the parking lot 
> instead of a train... its a nice train ride, but probably 3-4 hrs from 
> oakland with train salinas then bus. bout 2 hrs by the bus. Im sure 
> Amtrak will tell you if its just direct bus connection or train and bus.

I took the train from Los Angeles last year, and just yesterday made my 
reservation for this year.

When you make your reservation you can specify any of several stops in 
Monterey, and they'll transfer you to a bus in Salinas for that last 
leg.  It's a brief bus ride (30-40 min?), and since it goes through some 
of the heavily-wooded areas surrounding Monterey it's about as pleasant 
as an Amtrak bus can be.

The train on that route is the Coast Starlight, and while it's no Orient 
Express it's not a bad train by US standards.  There's an observation 
car with great seating, a modest dining car, and many of the coach cars 
have electrical outlets (but not all, so if you're travelling with your 
laptop ask the attendant to get you a seat next to one).

The one thing to remember about travelling on the Coast Starlight is 
that it's notoriously late.  Passengers are second-class citizens on 
America's rails, after freight.  So anytime there's a scheduling 
conflict on a track it's the Coast Starlight that pulls over on the 
nearest passing track and waits for the other train to go by.

So as long as you don't plan anything time-sensitive after your arrival 
you should have a pleasant trip.

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
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