Hotel...
Train station.
I love it!
We're traveling from New York City to Boston by train.
It is our first time taking a long-distance train
in the United States.
[music]
I'm Renata and this is my husband, Gordon.
After landing at JFK Airport, traveling to Manhattan by train,
and discovering this newly inaugurated and beautiful train hall...
So beautiful!
...we were curious about what would it be like
to take a long-distance train in America.
Starting right here.
We had a great time in New York City.
Just check the last few videos to see for yourself.
♪ New york ♪
[laughs]
And now we're about to cross four states
to discover if interstate travel by train is worth it.
Now, there are two services you can choose:
the regular and the fast.
The regular is with Northeast Regional.
That's the one that we're taking.
And the fast, the new high-speed train here in the United States.
It's with Acela.
The difference between New York City and Boston
is about 40 minutes,
and the price difference for us was about $100 for the cheapest ticket.
That's because we were late.
If you buy the ticket at least 14 days in advance,
you get much better deals.
For us, it was a last-minute decision, so it is what it is.
We're taking the regular service. Let's save some money.
So let's see how's the train.
Say hello.
- Olá! [in Portuguese]
Boston, here we come.
- Ticketing and Baggage Check-in, yeah.
- Do you have a ticket? - Yes.
- Which one is it, 172?
- Oh, yeah. - No check.
They don't have the baggage car on that train.
- Where do we put this, this big one? - Take it with you.
- Okay. - Have a seat, straight ahead,
and just wait and relax. - Thank you so much.
- Look at that, don't need to check in your bags.
- That is so cool, huh? - Yeah.
- Yeah, and look at the line. - Take the bags with you.
- Yes, did you know that when you booked? - Of course.
- Ah, you didn't, come on! - I know everything.
- We were right there in line, they took us out of the line,
and told us we didn't need to be there.
- Yeah, they said, "Renata, get out. Get out!"
We got here an hour in advance, an hour before our train,
and do you realize that was not necessary?
[laughs] - Oh, but there's going to be a line.
You get in line.
- Because we bought the tickets online already,
we just go check in, that's it.
- Yeah, but always be early. - Well...
- That's my motto. - Yes, that's right, always be early.
But you don't need to be that early here
when you buy the ticket online.
Here in New York City, the train departs from Moynihan Train Hall,
which is the newest train hall here at Penn Station.
It is beautiful.
That's where we arrived coming from the airport.
And it is great to be back.
Look at that, free Wi-Fi.
There is a nice waiting area here.
It's the only place in the station where people can sit down.
Plugs in every seat, look at this.
There are even some tables for people to work.
But it is kind of crowded right now, so we're gonna wait outside.
The platforms are right here at the hall.
Do you see these numbers? Here, here.
So when your platform is assigned,
you can just go directly there and board.
[music]
Plenty of space here for a regular carry-on.
Our seats.
Look at how spacious.
Wow, look at this.
[music]
There are no assigned seats, so it's whoever comes first.
Glad we could find these two together.
Right on time, huh? - Yes.
- Interesting, no safety belts. - No.
[music]
- Sit on the left for this view. - Yeah, it's amazing.
You don't need to print your ticket.
You can show it directly on your phone, the email that you received,
the PDF, or just install the Amtrak app,
and it's much easier.
[music]
There are two plugs on the wall.
Free Wi-Fi.
Let's see if it works.
Stamford, Connecticut.
Not to be confused with Stanford University, which is in California.
Look at the size of this bathroom.
[music]
I've never seen train restrooms this big.
Normally it's like an airplane bathroom.
The lock here at the door is kind of tricky.
I thought that just by pushing it up, it would be locked,
But, no, it's really here.
And you need to pay attention if the light is on. See?
[music]
There's a dining car,
but it doesn't look like there's full service.
The restaurant car is just behind.
Hi. Can I get the burger, please?
And also a coffee.
- It's gonna be $11.
So here is the cheeseburger.
Well, it's a train burger.
I got hungry as soon as I saw this burger.
It's not bad actually.
I'm going for lunch. And Gordon...
- Coffee. - Yeah, still breakfast.
$7.50 for the burger, $3.50 for the coffee.
The next stop is a very interesting one.
Here's New Haven, home to Yale,
one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
New Haven is about an hour and a half from Penn Station in New York.
[music]
And behind our fifth stop, you'll see, there's an old cemetery.
We're in Old Saybrook.
Two hours into the journey, we're almost halfway there
going through Connecticut.
So after leaving New York, we go through Connecticut,
then there's Rhode Island, and then we arrive in Massachusetts.
[music]
This is New London, in Connecticut. It looks like a lovely city.
Wow, and it appears that the station
is right in the middle of all the action here.
[music]
And just like in the original London,
they also have their own Thames River over here.
But here it's Thames River, not River Thames.
[music]
The train goes through some beautiful areas here in Rhode Island.
[music]
Announcement: Providence, Rhode Island,
arriving in a few short moments, if this is your stop...
Providence is the capital and most populous city
of the state of Rhode Island,
and it's also one of the oldest cities in the United States.
A lot of people left the train in Providence,
including our neighbors,
so here is a better view of the seats.
They are spacious and comfortable.
Look at this, I'm 5'9".
Look at us here, almost there.
Here we are!
[music]
Welcome to South Station.
Ah, that's our train, look at that.
Number 172 coming from Washington D.C. actually,
New York City was just a stop.
South Station is the largest railroad station
and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston.
It's actually the second largest transportation center in New England,
only after Logan International Airport here in Boston.
Here we're in Downtown Boston.
Still right in front of the station.
[music]
That's a first for a hotel.
How lovely.
They give you a bag to use while you're here.
If you take it home, it's $50.
It was about four and a half hours from New York City to Boston.
Now you may think, well, flying would be less than an hour,
but think about this:
there's the trip to the airport, you need to be there way in advance.
And then when you arrive in Boston,
there's also the trip from the airport to your hotel.
And when you travel by train,
it's basically from city center to city center.
It is really, really convenient.
We could have walked also to our hotel. It would be a 12-minute walk.
But because we have luggage, we decided using the ride-share service.
And it was amazing, just $9.
The best thing about traveling by train is that you can get work done.
You know there's Wi-Fi in the train.
It works.
The signal just gets weak in a few parts
where there is no cell phone signal either,
so the internet also doesn't work,
but for the most part, it was really good.
Now, people can be a little loud inside the train.
And then I discovered there's something very interesting in these trains.
There's a quiet car, it's normally in the back of the train.
And there, you should not speak loud or you just whisper,
and you cannot use your cell phone.
So it should be perfect if you want to focus on work
or if you just want to have a snooze.
Now, if you're not planning to snooze or to work,
remember to bring some entertainment
because there's no entertainment in the train.
Bring something to watch, bring one of my videos...
- Whatever, yeah, I'll agree. - [laughs]
...or a book to read, and then you'll be good for the ride.
but definitely very, very worth it.
I'm very happy.
And that was coach that we traveled.
It was very, very comfortable.
I can't imagine business class or first class,
the newest Acela trains.
Next time, hopefully.
[music]
And now that we're in Boston, what can you expect?
New videos here in Boston.
So make sure you activate the notifications,
and I'll see you in the next one.
Oh, my God, they're taking tipping to a whole new level here.
It's the first time that I see a suggestion of 30%.
Will everywhere in Boston be like this?