Help me find somewhere to go this winter!

[Carno]

Basically I'm just looking for somewhere neat/interesting in the northeastern states to go to this winter. I am going to be doing some snowboarding in North Carolina after Christmas, and I thought I'd use that as a springboard to somewhere further north.

I'd like to get some more snowboarding done, so I kinda want to go somewhere that is close to a mountain. My last day of snowboarding is December 30th, and I want to take an Amtrak train out of Charlotte, NC.

I don't need any other mode of transportation ideas, I have to use Amtrak... so with that in mind, where should I go? I don't mind taking a bus to somewhere else either, as long as it isn't too long of a drive... I hate riding on busses.

One of my buddies goes skiing in Pennsylvania, but I don't know where. I think he mentioned a place called Wisk(sp?) though.. Anyways, any ideas/help would be greatly appreciated!

Oh yeah, I am a college student on a very limited budget so I can't really go anywhere that costs a lot...

Thanks!

[alpha phi]

I loved West Virginia
Very inexpensive
Amtrak does limit you a bit
The station list would be a good place to start
Google the town the station is in

Does Amtrak let you buy an open ticket
so you can get off where ever you want
and get on the train a day later, like Greyhound?
It would fun to stop and explore
at your leisure!

[snowy]

For a history buff, Harpers Ferry, W. Va, is both beautiful and interesting. The National Historical Park there is very cool: http://www.nps.gov/hafe/

The Amtrak does stop there and there is a hostel: http://www.hihostels.com/performLoca...iliateID=97060

It's really a nice spot in West Virginia, and the Shenandoah is beautiful. The park has lots to explore and if you like the outdoors, it's especially wonderful.

[Orchrist]

Lots of choices for ski/snowboard areas the farther north you get. Living in NJ the closest I can think of(not counting the ones in NJ, not worth going to) are...

PA: Jack Frost/Big Boulder, Camelback http://www.skipa.com/
NY: Hunter, Windham http://www.onthesnow.com/NY/skireport.html

Then the best areas are going to be up in the Vermont area, at least as far as the NE goes. Can't help you as far as train access goes, but if you check out indiviual sites I'm sure you can find the info you need.

[simonrex22]

Maybe not for winter or snowboarding, but I saw something on the internet about Mammoth Cave Park in Kentucky. It looked interesting and hopefully i can go there someday. Anyway, I have a ski magazine with a top ski spots review. I'll check it and see if theres anything in there.

[cellophanedeity]

Hey look... there's a stop in Toronto!

I suggest that!

[simonrex22]

Ok, heres some stuff from my Ski magazine in Top 20 in the east:

Whiteface, New York: New lodge in Lake Placid

Holiday Valley, New York: New nightskiing on Fiddlers Elbow.

Hunter Mountain, New York

Seven Springs, Pennsylvania


Most of everything else is way up in Vermont and Maine. Let me know if you wanna know whats on the list up there.

[redsfan11]

Lake Placid. There is an Amtrak that goes there and Whiteface has awsome skiing. You can even ride the bobsled track from the Winter Olympics for a small fee.

[Carno]

Wow, thanks a bunch yall. I really appreciate this. That hostel looks like a pretty good deal. From what I could find, there's a mountain not too far north that I could snowboard at also.

I don't know much about Amtrak, I'll check if they let you get on and off as you like.. That would be pretty awesome if they did.

Heh, I originally was going up to Canada and several other states, but that fell through so now I'm stuck with Amtrak..

[Poppinjay]

I used Amtrak quite a bit to commute from NC to DC until finally moving here. You can't beat the price, but the tickets are pretty much the same as airline tickets, destination to destination.

If you travel single, they'll likely tell you to sit in a certain seat, even if there are open seats. I don't know why they're so picky about this.

Take a lunch. The lounge food is expensive and not all that great, plus there's nobody to clean the tables in the lounge so you'll be sitting at a dirty table.

If you go north of the Mason Dixon line, then you'll probably change trains at Union Station in DC. If you don't want to take a bag lunch, hold out until then. There's a huge range of eateries at Union Station, from a $2 burger to Sbarro's pizza buffet.

[snowy]

Originally Posted by Poppinjay

If you go north of the Mason Dixon line, then you'll probably change trains at Union Station in DC. If you don't want to take a bag lunch, hold out until then. There's a huge range of eateries at Union Station, from a $2 burger to Sbarro's pizza buffet.

Union Station is one of the most beautiful train stations I have seen on all my travels. I enjoyed how they had redeveloped it into something beyond just a train depot. As I recall, my family ate a very good meal there whilst we were in DC. I enjoyed it very much.

And poppinjay is right--Amtrak really only sells tickets for destination-destination travel. However, they do sell rail passes of varying kinds, depending on how much travel you're doing. If you're not doing much, or only going to one or two destinations over a short period of time, the destination-destination ticket is really the only option.