Hotels: yes, cheap during the week if you can avoid the temptation of gambling
Tourist Office: I got a very good map somewhere and I don't think that I got it at the hotel
Safe at Night: There are no night trains, but the area should have lots of pedestrian traffic at all hours. The station itself is well-designed, pedestrian-oriented without spooky corners.
The first time I took the train from San Francisco to Denver, I stopped in Reno. I like trains, but I don't like to spend days on a train. The California Zephyr has started to run on time lately, but in 2007 you never knew when you were likely to get to your destination.
Hotels.com has gotten much more accurate in the last couple of years, but at the time the website told me that the Sands was the closest hotel to the Amtrak station. They are not, but they are cheap and they have a really great traditional diner on site. The station is in the middle of the casino area which is like a little Las Vegas. One of the fancier casinos is right across the street from the train station.
Reno is cool because you can walk out of the little Las Vegas to the downtown of a nice Western town or to a funky university area. Everywhere I went was very walkable. The Truckee River runs through downtown Reno and is accessible to bikers and pedestrians.
If the California Zephyr ran a little faster and more than once a day or if the Capitol Corridor extended out further, Reno Station would be a good transit center for people in the area.
As it is, one west-bound and one east-bound California Zephyr stop in Reno each day. All trains are scheduled to stop during the day. Sacramento is five hours away to the west. There are also thruway buses that connect to the Capitol Corridor. Those buses get to Sacramento in three and a half hours. (The crappiest trains in Korea go about the same speed as cars and buses if not faster.) The route continues on to the coat of the San Francisco Bay area and ends at Emeryville.
Salt Lake City is ten hours away to the east. In that direction, the train continues on to Denver, Omaha, and Chicago.
You can check recent on-time performance of the California Zephyr at Amtrak Delays. Train 6 is eastbound; train 5 is westbound. If the train is running on time, it is a cheap and pretty trip coming from the west, and cheap and saves you a hotel night coming from the east.
The first time I took the train from San Francisco to Denver, I stopped in Reno. I like trains, but I don't like to spend days on a train. The California Zephyr has started to run on time lately, but in 2007 you never knew when you were likely to get to your destination.
Hotels.com has gotten much more accurate in the last couple of years, but at the time the website told me that the Sands was the closest hotel to the Amtrak station. They are not, but they are cheap and they have a really great traditional diner on site. The station is in the middle of the casino area which is like a little Las Vegas. One of the fancier casinos is right across the street from the train station.
Reno is cool because you can walk out of the little Las Vegas to the downtown of a nice Western town or to a funky university area. Everywhere I went was very walkable. The Truckee River runs through downtown Reno and is accessible to bikers and pedestrians.
If the California Zephyr ran a little faster and more than once a day or if the Capitol Corridor extended out further, Reno Station would be a good transit center for people in the area.
As it is, one west-bound and one east-bound California Zephyr stop in Reno each day. All trains are scheduled to stop during the day. Sacramento is five hours away to the west. There are also thruway buses that connect to the Capitol Corridor. Those buses get to Sacramento in three and a half hours. (The crappiest trains in Korea go about the same speed as cars and buses if not faster.) The route continues on to the coat of the San Francisco Bay area and ends at Emeryville.
Salt Lake City is ten hours away to the east. In that direction, the train continues on to Denver, Omaha, and Chicago.
You can check recent on-time performance of the California Zephyr at Amtrak Delays. Train 6 is eastbound; train 5 is westbound. If the train is running on time, it is a cheap and pretty trip coming from the west, and cheap and saves you a hotel night coming from the east.
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