Travel Budget: Amtrak Midwestern US Train Trip
Why Travel Budgeting?
Traveling is a fundamental part of my life, and probably yours too! When we think about our overall financial picture, we need to consider budgeting for our fun, but also allowing ourselves to unwind and enjoy the moment.
By using blog-style these posts as resource, our goal is to inspire you to travel and give you an idea of how much money to earmark for your next vacation.
And, it’s just FUN. Finance doesn’t have to be boring, friends.
Trip Recap
For our first wedding anniversary, we decided that we wanted to use some of our Amtrak train points, and explore more of the beautiful US. During the trip, we visited several different cities across the Midwest over the course of 13 nights.
We each had about 30K train points by travel hacking, and signing up for the Amrak Rewards Platinum Mastercard.
While the bonus rewards change, right now Amtrak is offering about $300 in free train travel if you spend $1,000 on this no-fee card within the first 90 days of opening your account.
We took advantage of our points, and spent about 10,000 of them to book FREE train travel! It was a lot of fun, and a huge budget saver.
Our Itinerary
We started in Nashville, visiting my family for a few nights. From there, we drove a little over an hour to Mammoth Cave, KY. We explored this National Park and had a nice night at the Grand Victorian Inn Bed and Breakfast in Park City, KY.
Our highlight on this leg of the trip was our 4 hour kayak adventure along the Green River. We packed some snacks and beers, and enjoyed the leisurely float. We even found a mini cave along the way!
The next stop was St. Louis, MO. The 4.5 hour journey there was easy and scenic. We stayed with my brother-in-law and saw the highlights of the city, including the epic arch and the Budweiser campus and beer garden.
After St. Louis, we headed on our longest travel day -- a 7 hour journey up to Milwaukee, WI. We took Amtrak’s Lincoln line for about 4.5 hours, did a 1 hour stopover in Chicago, and then boarded the Hiawatha route for a quick 1.5 hour ride up to Wisconsin.
In Milwaukee, we loved exploring the riverfront and lakefront. Our highlight was renting the city ride-share bikes and biking alongside the river to Estabrook Beer Garden, the first German style beer garden in the US. So cool!
After Milwaukee, we took the train back down to Chicago, and enjoyed 4 nights exploring the city and eating all of the delicious food. Our Chicago highlight was a DIY food tour through the Swedish neighborhood, Chinatown, and Pilsen (their Mexican neighborhood).
We also loved our Architecture Riverboat Cruise, which was an awesome first introduction to the city.
After our time in Chicago was over, we boarded the Lincoln line back south, and stopped in Springfield, IL. We were blown away by how well done the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum was, and Springfield was the perfect 4-hour stopover.
Pro Tip: We were able to check our bags to our next destination, St. Louis, for free. That means, we didn’t have to haul them around while exploring Springfield.
We boarded the train back to St. Louis, where we reunited with our car and drove back to Tennessee the next day.
Our Budget
To try and keep this trip affordable, we set a budget of $110 per day for two people. This budget did not include accommodations, as much of our accommodation was with friends and family or using points.
That being said, our normal travel budget is much lower -- but the US is often more expensive, and we didn’t want to put too many constraints around our experiences.
Our Actual Spending
Here’s how we ACTUALLY did. For two people and 14 days, we spent $1,658.27 or $118.45 per day. Overally, we came in over budget by $8.45 per day, not too bad!
Trip Takeaways
Overall, the trip was AMAZING, and I can’t wait to do more train travel within the US. One of the huge benefits of train travel is being able to see more of the country than you normally would, and have the flexibility to stop for the day in a new town, like we did in Springfield.
Another amazing thing about train travel is that most of the stations are right downtown. So you can get off the train, and walk directly to your hotel or destination.
Pro Tip: Travel with just a backpack, not a rolling suitcase. It makes navigating the city streets on foot much easier.
One thing I would change is the pace at which we traveled. Eventually I will learn, slow travel is always the best! Because we traveled very quickly, it was much harder to work. Also, it was harder to rationalize “down time” because, when you only have 48 hours to see a city, you want to make the most of it.
That being said, I highly recommend a US train trip to anyone who wants a unique, relaxing travel experience-- and wants to leave the car at home.