Arizona , New Mexico and Texas.

I'm planning on Travelling from LA into Arizona through New Mexico into Texas then over to Mexico.

I am travelling with my boyfriend and neither of us drive! If anyone has done this by Bus or Train etc... I would love to here how you did it/How long it took.

Also any good places to stop at along the way. This is idealy what I would love to do but have\'nt got any info on how to travel within these states.

Thanks

Kirsty :D Reply to this

Thanks you 😊 . Have you been to any of these states?

Kirsty Reply to this

Hi Kirsty - I've always driven across the states's your visiting but it is possible to travel by train and bus (although I'd probably recommend the train for longer distances and only the bus if you want to travel to smaller local areas). Driving straight through, you can get between L.A and Texas in....a day and a half (roughly - to the Texas border)

Amtrak has stations in L.A, and service to Tucson, Santa Fe, Pheonix and San Antonio, as well as stations in between those cities. The Southwest Chief goes between L.A and Albuquerque and the Sunset Limited goes from L.A to San Antonio. Greyhound is the main bus service in-between cities, but larger cities also will have their own bus system.

Good places to stop along the way - well not sure your exact route, but New Mexico has some neat wineries around Deming, and in Albequerque. Sante Fe is really an artsy type town. In Arizona there are great national parks where you can see the cactus' - Saguaro National Park is the largest (you could take a train to Tuscon and then a bus/taxi to the park). Grand Canyon is do-able by mass transit, but not the easiest (and unless you plan on spending some time there, you might be disappointed on the amount of time you spent traveling only to take a photo - otherwise it's excellent, just very out of the way).

Unless you're in one of the cities, the southwest is pretty rural, but I wouldn't let that deter you from trying to do your trip using mass transit. Reply to this

Greyhound has a "discovery pass" which gives you unlimited travel for 7, 15, 30 or 60 days. Amtrak does offer different rail passes which are valid for a set period of days/segments, which would allow you get on/off the train a certain number of times. There's a 30 day/12 segment pass. Here's the website. Ther'es also multi-city tickets, which would allow you stop at various stations along the way, but you'd already have your on-ward travel booked. Which one is the better/cheaper option will depend on your travel style and how many stops you want to make, etc. but definitely worth checking out.

Here is the N.P website for Grand Canyon listing all the public transportation options. You'll have to get to Flagstaff, AZ for most of them, but Flagstaff is serviced by both trains (from L.A) and buses (from Phoenix).

If you're making your way up to Grand Canyon as a day trip, I would recommend camping a night there (or right outside the park in the national forest), which would actually make it longer than a day trip, but it's a loong way up there only to turn around and head back. Plus, sunrise and sunset are the nicest times to be on the rim.

There are lots of budget hotels/motels in those cities, but not very many hostels. Hotels like Super 8, Days Inn, Motel 6, at the like (cheap, clean, basic road-side inns) will run around $50-70/night. If you can book in advance you can get cheaper rates (even booking online the day before gets you a better rate than a walk-up). Camping is nice in that area almost year-round - it can get cool at night in the winter/fall. The U.S has beautiful natural areas, so I always encourage visitors to take advantage of them whenever possible.

I actually haven't done a ton of camping in the lower section of the U.S along your route, but state or national parks are always great options. There is camping at the Saguaro Wilderness Area outside Tuscon...that's the only one I can think of along your route off-hand. Some places have city-parks which allow camping - those are great for budgeting purposes as city hotel prices are usually higher ($80-100/night).

Each place is rather diverse, so it's hard to pick the "best," also considering I haven't spent as much time in the southwest as other areas. And I've never been to Big Spring, TX. But when I think of visiting that area, I think of the desert landscape and the architecture (tiled roofs and stucco).

If you budget wisely you could make the trip last a month with 1500 pounds. Hard to say what the exchange rate will be. And your route sounds reasonable to me. Reply to this

I would definitely recommend sedona for you to stop by. There's a lot of activities too choose from and the price comes very affordable. I have tried hiking there once and is planning to do it again maybe next month. Check for some over the net for you to choose. Goodluck to your trip

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