Orlando - Miami by train

[*cath*]

We are travelling to orlando next September and we are going to visit Miami and probably stop overnight. I thought it might be nice to go by train to Miami rather than DH having to drive(i'm a non driver), plus he's a bit of a spotter as he works for the railways.
So, how easy is the US train system?
How far are the stations from the main parts of orlando/Miami?
Is it easy to get about in Miami without a car?

And any other advice appreciated :D

Thanks

[Octal]

You could try Amtrak (http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/Page/Routes_Index_Page&c=Page&cid=1080072922209&ssid=4)

I've never tried that route, but a few years ago we travelled from Oakland in California to Merced to catch a bus to Yosemite park. Those American trains are unbelievably fast! I'd didn't realise till I was actually on one, I think it must be their size, we plonked ourselves on the upper deck, great fun :thumb:

[tonio]

I came back on sunday, and we drove to miami, it was so easy, the route was just straight all the way, it took us 3hr 40 minutes, sorry I cant help with what the train journey would be like, we stayed at the best western thunderbird which was on the beach, I booked it through air line network, it cost £120 to two nights, the rooms had everything in it. We did enjoy our stay, tell your husband to drive, and then take the train (it looked like a monorail through the town centre) he will see quite alot then. Good luck

toni

[Bozza]

It's not a bad drive at all. Just make sure you don't get caught speeding. Unlike, errrrrrm, a "friend" of mine...

[ukdiva]

The Amtrak station in Orlando is on John Young Parkway, i think the train station in Miami is somewhere downtown. Personally i wouldn't recommend the train from Orlando to Miami, it's quite pricey, takes just as long as going by coach (6 hours), and can be quite unreliable. We were planning on getting the train from Orlando to Miami a few years ago, got to the Amtrak station, it was delayed by at least 2 hours, so we ended up getting a refund, hiring a car instead and driving down to Miami. There's not really anything to gain by going by train IMO, hire a car, get onto the Florida Turnpike and you'll be there within 3.5 hours, it takes twice this time by train.

South Beach is relatively easy to get around by foot and/or bus. This is the predominately tourist part of Miami, there isn't really much downtown. Also check out Bal Harbour for high end shopping, people watching.

[Alvin]

Bit spooky this as I was looking at this very journey on the Amtrak website just last week, I gave it up as a bad idea because the journey time was horrendous, More than seven hours if I recall correctly. the fare was about $32 per person.

[*cath*]

Thanks for the replies guys. I think we've given up on the idea now. $182 for 2 adults and 1 child lus over 7 hrs to get there!!!

[ukdiva]

If you do really want to visit Miami, and really don't want to drive, then you could always get the Greyhound - www.greyhound.com , it's about 6 hours from Orlando with one 30 minute rest stop. The cost is approx $70 per adult for a round-trip.

[Mortgage Jason]

Just a quick note for my 2 cents..........The train would be fun but it sounds expensive from the posts above...........The coach service on Greyhound is bound to have a few "characters" and I dont mean the kind at Disney. Greyhound is notorious for running late and it's used by many a dodgy fellow.......not like coach service in Europe....especially the UK which I've used many times.

I'd say drive and take I-95 instead of the turnpike. (most of the drive you can see the turnpike running parallel to Interstate 95 and vise versa) this will save you some cash as the turnpike is a toll road.

I made the drive from south beach to downtown Orlando on Sunday in 3hrs 15min. It's really a pleasant drive, even if there are accidents they are generally cleared quickly.

Have fun in Miami and bring your spanish dictionary!

Jason

[*cath*]

Thanks for that :D I think we'll be driving

[ukdiva]

Just a quick note for my 2 cents..........The train would be fun but it sounds expensive from the posts above...........The coach service on Greyhound is bound to have a few "characters" and I dont mean the kind at Disney. Greyhound is notorious for running late and it's used by many a dodgy fellow.......not like coach service in Europe....especially the UK which I've used many times.

Jason

Have you used the Greyhound before, Jason?

I've used it several times in the past, before i could afford to fly/hire a car, and so have a lot of my friends. It does have a tendency to host various of America's more colouful characters, but i've never had any problems and neither have my friends. It's very safe in my opinion, and i would probably prefer to use that late at nite than several national rail services over here and some European National Express services. I've never experienced delays using the Greyhound and i think that if it's the only thing you can afford, it's a very good, value for money service. If it's not for you, then fair enough, but i don't think it's fair to make it sound so undesirable as you did.

[Mortgage Jason]

Sorry if I've offended you Tracie. :blush: Our differences could stem from the area of the country you travelled in or pure luck.

My point was to make Greyhoud sound horrible as it is, and yes I've used the Greyhound service in my younger days:spin: both in Texas and Florida, with pretty rough journey's all around.

I can tell you both from my experience and from many national news stories of dreadful things occuring on Greyhound. I dont mean to be unduly protaganistic but in the National news just in the last few years has run stories about a passenger knifed a driver on Greyhound in Tennessee causing a bad accident and killing several people, a man shot himself and his girlfriend aboard a greyhound in California, a bus caught fire in Dallas due to improper brakes installed on a greyhound......etc etc...

When I was travelling on Greyhound I was young and not concerned with my personal safety. I can't remember ever arriving on time, not even once. I would never use greyhound now, no mattter the cost. I'm sure there are problems with buses / coaches all over the world but I know that in 12-15 times I was on National express (other than one drunk man Bournemouth to Gatwick) I've always experienced a pleasant ride in the UK.

Don't take my word for it on Greyhound there are plenty of blogs and sites that reverberate my opinion............. read epinions.com for many commentaries on Greyhounds delays and safety issues.....

It was not my intent to bash Grayhound but simply to express my experiences and opinions. As far as $70 per person on the bus being inexpensive....... I dont think thats exactly cheap to get to Miami in 6 hours. You can drive a car load of people to Miami for $70 round trip and get there in less than 4 hours.


~jason

[ukdiva]

Sorry if I've offended you Tracie. :blush: Our differences could stem from the area of the country you travelled in or pure luck.



When I was travelling on Greyhound I was young and not concerned with my personal safety. I can't remember ever arriving on time, not even once. I would never use greyhound now, no mattter the cost. I'm sure there are problems with buses / coaches all over the world but I know that in 12-15 times I was on National express (other than one drunk man Bournemouth to Gatwick) I've always experienced a pleasant ride in the UK.

Don't take my word for it on Greyhound there are plenty of blogs and sites that reverberate my opinion............. read epinions.com for many commentaries on Greyhounds delays and safety issues.....

It was not my intent to bash Grayhound but simply to express my experiences and opinions. As far as $70 per person on the bus being inexpensive....... I dont think thats exactly cheap to get to Miami in 6 hours. You can drive a car load of people to Miami for $70 round trip and get there in less than 4 hours.


~jason

Some people don't or won't drive in the States, or some people aren't older enough, so if that is the case, then i still stand by the fact that travelling by Greyhound is a cheap alternative. As you said, it was years ago when you used the Greyhound, so things have more than likely changed since then. As for the opinion websites and blogs - it's a given that people always post their bad experiences, and hardly ever their good ones. I've used the Greyhound in NY and Florida, and i have friends who have used them in California and Oregon and they haven't had any problems either.

I've used National Express in Europe and on one particular journey we had the coach stormed by the French police at the borders and they took off a couple of aslyum seekers. I've never experienced this on Greyhound!

Anyway, each to their own opinion, i still think if you want to travel in the USA and don't drive, then the Greyhound is a good option.