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Amtrak California Zephyr from Chicago to Denver

The full route of the California Zephyr runs from Chicago in the east to Emeryville, California in the west. During our overnight sleeper journey on the California Zephyr as part of our USA Coast to Coast holiday, we travel on just a section of this route - from Chicago to the 'mile high' city of Denver, a 17-hour 1,038 mile (1670 km) trip.

Chicago to the Mississippi
As we leave Chicago, the California Zephyr follows the Chicago River and we catch glimpses of the Willis Tower, which dominates the city's skyline. We travel through the state of Illinois, stopping at Princeton and Galesburg, before reaching the Mississippi River. The Illinois/Iowa State Line runs down the centre of the Mississippi: we cross the river into Iowa and, moments later, make a stop in the city of Burlington.

Across Iowa to Nebraska
We travel right across the Midwestern state of Iowa from east to west, reaching the Missouri River and the Iowa/Nebraska State Line just after we make a stop in the city of Council Bluffs. Our first stop in Nebraska is Omaha, the birthplace of a number of famous names including Fred Astaire, Marlon Brando and Malcolm X.

Through Colorado to Denver
The California Zephyr takes us through Nebraska, passing through cities such as Lincoln and Hastings. On reaching the Colorado/Nebraska State Line, we change from Central to Mountain Time: clocks go back one hour at this point. We continue across Colorado, making a stop in Fort Morgan, the hometown of Big Band musician, Glen Miller, until we finally reach our destination, Denver.

On some of our USA tours we travel this route in reverse, beginning in Denver and ending in Chicago.

1 result matching: Amtrak's California Zephyr

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USA Coast to Coast
4.5 stars(77 reviews)
2024SepOct
2025AprMayJunSepOct
18 days from
£4,995 pp
View Details
18 days from
£4,995
per person
View Details
Tour map
  • DestinationUSA
  • Starts / EndsLondon Heathrow
  • AccommodationRail, Hotel
  • TransportFlight, Rail, Coach
Map and accommodation
Our customers love our California Zephyr from Chicago to Denver tours
Iconic America - Cities, Canyons & Valleys
2/Jul
Paul Griffiths
4 stars
“Just returned from the Coast to Coast USA trip. My wife and I found the holiday was fantastic, it was a great way to see and experience some Iconic places in the USA! Our tour manager, Chris Read was great, he was always available to us, very knowledgeable and generally made things easy for us, so we just spent our time enjoying the experience. The days were full of coach, river or rail travel, but filled with stunning Vista's of ever changing landscape or Iconic architectural buildings steeped in history and character! The tour guides that we had, during the journey, were very knowledgeable in the areas we visited, which added so much more onto the experience. The coach drivers were very friendly, especially Frank! The overnight train journey was an experience!! We had a roomette on the upper floor, views were great, I got some lovely shots of the sun setting and rising the next morning, food was great, but me and the top bunk bed didn't get on, but like I said, an experience! So many places we loved, too many to mention, but we think Chicago was our favourite. We did the history tour of the City, architectural river cruise and experienced the 360 view tower of the City and, most importantly, tried a Chicago deep pan pizza ?? and sampled a cheese cake from a famous deli there. We were accompanied by a great bunch of people on the tour, from all different walks of life, but all got on well together, which added to the experience. We would like to thank Karen & Mark, who added to our experience, so many laughs, great friends, hopefully keep in touch! The only negatives we found with the trip were some of the 3* hotels we stayed at had paper plates and plastic knives and forks, in fact, on one occasion they didn't have any plastic knives left, it sounds a bit 'rash' but I had to cut my bacon ?? with a fork, hardly 3*! We would like to thank GRJ for giving us the experience of a lifetime, thanks!
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