Amtrak to Boston

I’ve been to Boston a few times with family when I was young and we always went for a day in the area around Harvard and MIT so I never got to explore Boston outside of that. This is the first trip that I got to explore more of this historic city and this time I was bringing Chloe with me ^_^.

https://youtube.com/shorts/7IRM7QAnFAA

Since car rental prices were so much more expensive (even more expensive now!) when we visited back in October 2021, we explored other transportation options during our travels in the US. I grew up in the States and I only ever took local trains and buses so this was really the first time that I used the regional rail system like Amtrak.

We have used the trains in the other countries and although Amtrak isn’t the best on the list, it did exceed our expectations. We were surprised to find that seats were quite large and comfortable. All the seats had power outlets. There was free WiFi on board. We were happy to see a dining car with reasonable priced food and drinks. It was great to see the country by rail and there were some really scenic views! The ticket prices were quite reasonable compared to the alternative options, especially compared to car rental prices.

One of the convenience of taking the Amtrak was a luggage check in system. This was a huge plus for us since we were on a 6 months trip through the US and always had a large check in luggage, 2 carry-ons, and 2 backpacks we were bringing around, and not having to worry about the large luggage was great!

There were a variety of train options that offered different amenities and we never took a long enough trip to merit a private room (would love to try that in the future). Not all of the trains we took were always clean and some were more rundown than other. One of the trains we took during our East coast travels ended being delayed for hours. Even though you can find power outlets basically at every row, not all of them worked. The free WiFi was great, but the speeds were usually slow and if we went through the back country, it often didn’t work.

Have you ever used Amtrak before? Curious to hear about your experience.

Here’s the full vlog of our first day in Boston.