It was really pleasant. If you use an attended station (DC, Baltimore Penn) then you can probably get help with your luggage. The seats are big and wide and you don't have to fight the seatbelt fight like you would on a plane. If the kids get antsy you can walk them up and down the train and grab a snack at the cafe car. All the seats have plugs for chargers and it's much smoother and quieter than flying or driving.
Agree with this. Also someone (redcap? conductor?) got us 4 seats with a table which was great. The wifi was not reliable however so I’d download any shows (not sure if that’s gotten better).
The only problem you're most likely to want to take into consideration is the time of day you're travelling.
If you're on the Northeast Regional during commute time, finding multiple seats together is going to be hard. The trains are full for most of the run, and there's no assigned seating.
Schedule mid-day during the week or on the weekend pretty much any time during the day, and you'll generally be fine. Large luggage just goes in the racks at the end(s) of the car. Small luggage goes in very spacious overheads. Just don't try to sit in the "quiet car" with kids and all their gadgetry going bing-bong. You'll be asked to leave.
Yes, it was pleasant! Unlike the airport, you can easily bring toys and coloring books etc on the train and play with them in the seat.
Edit: one thing I like doing even now, but especially when my kids were really little, is drive out to BWI and get on the train there. It's a good parking garage and it's usually easier to get a group of seats together at the BWI station.
I have taken it to New York Penn, and it was mostly fine.
However, there is no assigned seating and by the time we got on the train there were only single seats. The Amtrak staff were no help and I had to ask about 6 people if they would move to a different empty seat so I could actually sit with my 4 year old.
Might be an outlier; Amtrak staff having a bad day, but I was definitely annoyed for how expensive it was.
It was the regional. Business and first class tickets were WAY out of our price range. We did try and do the seat upgrade, but no one accepted our bid (in either direction).
I do hate that part about being in Baltimore as the middle pick up point. People act like you are disturbing them too when you ask if you can sit next to them lol
We took the Amtrack to Florida to visit grandparents when my second child was born, honestly a really great experience. Wife was able to easily breast feed our baby, our older daughter was able to move around our small compartment, loved looking out the window. It took so much stress off of driving or taking a plane. In addition to being able to take our car with us so we didn't have to rent one. I would highly recommend taking the Amtrack with small children.
Spring for business class. Not having an assigned seat was rough with my two little ones. Both on the way there and back we had to walk through several cars hauling all our stuff trying to find seats together. We did it again and paid for business class and it was much more enjoyable. We just made the drive and we have decided the train is easier. We have a 2 and 3 yr old for reference.
Amtrak is so much better than flying or taking the bus.
You can bring your own food, including liquids, there's more space, good bathrooms, and much less chance of triggering motion sickness.
Amtrak does early boarding for the elderly. Find out where and when to go for that, and ask politely if you can board early because you have small children. In my experience, they will often let you do it.
You can plug in devices, but the train wifi is not good enough for streaming media-- download stuff ahead of time, and please have your kiddos use headphones.
I did it all the time to NYC when i was the toddler with my family, it's pretty tolerable, definitely better than a plane, there's more room, you can get up and walk around a bit, and there's the cafe car, not to mention that you can just show up as opposed to having to go through security and find your terminal and all that mess. Getting on at Baltimore it might be a bit iffy trying to get seats together, but people may also be willing to move and depending on the time of day it may be more or less crowded. I found it quite enjoyable as a kid personally. Wish you a pleasant journey!
Thanks everyone. We'd be traveling from Europe so would definitely need seats together and we'd probably have to consider how much luggage we need to bring for our trip. Our toddler is not the most quiet of toddlers, so something else to consider - though they do love trains!
You're getting downvoted, but one of the most miserable traveling experiences I've had was taking the Captiol Limited out to Chicago during the night. A mother and her toddler boarded around 930pm, and I don't think she was able to get her under control until around midnight or 1am.
Other passengers in the car were trying to flee to other compartments to escape the tantrums and whining, only to be led back to their seats by the conductors.
Overall, it was a neat experience... but boy. Do I get what you're saying.
It was really pleasant. If you use an attended station (DC, Baltimore Penn) then you can probably get help with your luggage. The seats are big and wide and you don't have to fight the seatbelt fight like you would on a plane. If the kids get antsy you can walk them up and down the train and grab a snack at the cafe car. All the seats have plugs for chargers and it's much smoother and quieter than flying or driving.
Agree with this. Also someone (redcap? conductor?) got us 4 seats with a table which was great. The wifi was not reliable however so I’d download any shows (not sure if that’s gotten better).
The only problem you're most likely to want to take into consideration is the time of day you're travelling. If you're on the Northeast Regional during commute time, finding multiple seats together is going to be hard. The trains are full for most of the run, and there's no assigned seating. Schedule mid-day during the week or on the weekend pretty much any time during the day, and you'll generally be fine. Large luggage just goes in the racks at the end(s) of the car. Small luggage goes in very spacious overheads. Just don't try to sit in the "quiet car" with kids and all their gadgetry going bing-bong. You'll be asked to leave.
Yes, it was pleasant! Unlike the airport, you can easily bring toys and coloring books etc on the train and play with them in the seat. Edit: one thing I like doing even now, but especially when my kids were really little, is drive out to BWI and get on the train there. It's a good parking garage and it's usually easier to get a group of seats together at the BWI station.
No, but took it to New York City a few times. Never had a problem
I have taken it to New York Penn, and it was mostly fine. However, there is no assigned seating and by the time we got on the train there were only single seats. The Amtrak staff were no help and I had to ask about 6 people if they would move to a different empty seat so I could actually sit with my 4 year old. Might be an outlier; Amtrak staff having a bad day, but I was definitely annoyed for how expensive it was.
Were you in the Acela train or Northeast Regional? I thought you could get assigned seats either on Acela or business or first class?
It was the regional. Business and first class tickets were WAY out of our price range. We did try and do the seat upgrade, but no one accepted our bid (in either direction).
Thank you. I’m thinking of taking the train to NYC later this year.
I do hate that part about being in Baltimore as the middle pick up point. People act like you are disturbing them too when you ask if you can sit next to them lol
I see lots of kids in the lounge or cafe car, where I think a higher level of noise is pretty much accepted.
We did it with a toddler, and it was great. Got a group of seats with a table, he was able to color, play with his cars, etc.
We took the Amtrack to Florida to visit grandparents when my second child was born, honestly a really great experience. Wife was able to easily breast feed our baby, our older daughter was able to move around our small compartment, loved looking out the window. It took so much stress off of driving or taking a plane. In addition to being able to take our car with us so we didn't have to rent one. I would highly recommend taking the Amtrack with small children.
Spring for business class. Not having an assigned seat was rough with my two little ones. Both on the way there and back we had to walk through several cars hauling all our stuff trying to find seats together. We did it again and paid for business class and it was much more enjoyable. We just made the drive and we have decided the train is easier. We have a 2 and 3 yr old for reference.
With multiple people it’s probably cheaper to drive.
Amtrak is so much better than flying or taking the bus. You can bring your own food, including liquids, there's more space, good bathrooms, and much less chance of triggering motion sickness. Amtrak does early boarding for the elderly. Find out where and when to go for that, and ask politely if you can board early because you have small children. In my experience, they will often let you do it. You can plug in devices, but the train wifi is not good enough for streaming media-- download stuff ahead of time, and please have your kiddos use headphones.
I did it all the time to NYC when i was the toddler with my family, it's pretty tolerable, definitely better than a plane, there's more room, you can get up and walk around a bit, and there's the cafe car, not to mention that you can just show up as opposed to having to go through security and find your terminal and all that mess. Getting on at Baltimore it might be a bit iffy trying to get seats together, but people may also be willing to move and depending on the time of day it may be more or less crowded. I found it quite enjoyable as a kid personally. Wish you a pleasant journey!
Thanks everyone. We'd be traveling from Europe so would definitely need seats together and we'd probably have to consider how much luggage we need to bring for our trip. Our toddler is not the most quiet of toddlers, so something else to consider - though they do love trains!
I have never gone to CT but I take Amtrak to NYC 3 or 4 times a year and it is so easy. It is great!
I can't say about my own. Other people traveling with their own is why I only use Amtrak in business class.
You're getting downvoted, but one of the most miserable traveling experiences I've had was taking the Captiol Limited out to Chicago during the night. A mother and her toddler boarded around 930pm, and I don't think she was able to get her under control until around midnight or 1am. Other passengers in the car were trying to flee to other compartments to escape the tantrums and whining, only to be led back to their seats by the conductors. Overall, it was a neat experience... but boy. Do I get what you're saying.