3 Amtrak getaways from NYC: Montreal, Brattleboro, Virginia Beach

Long-distance train travel has come a long way since the opening of the Penn Station Moynihan Train Hall in Manhattan. Under the modern, high-tech transit hub’s soaring skylights, Long Islanders can purchase tickets from Amtrak, the national passenger railroad company, to more than 150 destinations on 17 routes spanning New England, Canada, Miami and Chicago.

Looking for a summer escape from New York? Here are three Amtrak trips to whisk you off on an international, outdoorsy or beachy adventure.

International escape: Montreal, Canada

• The line: The Adirondack; Travel documents such as a U.S. Passport or New York State Enhanced Driver's License are required to cross the U.S./Canadian border. If you need to exchange USD for Canadian dollars, the rate was recently $1.42 Canadian for $USD (bankofcanada.ca).
• Duration of trip: 12 hours
• Leaves: Daily at 8:15 a.m.
• Tickets: Starting at $79/one way

You don’t have to speak French to enjoy Montréal, a center of Gallic culture, cuisine and charm 40 miles from the U.S. border. (English is spoken, too.) But it helps to have an adventurous spirit in a city known for its joie de vivre. 

You’ll arrive at Montréal’s Central Station around 8:15 p.m. after a  daylight through Hudson Valley wine country, Lake Champlain scenery and the idyllic Quebec countryside. From there, connect to almost anywhere in the city via Montreal Metro’s four subway lines (mtl.org, $3.75 per trip).

Next stop: Parc Jean-Drapeau (parcjeandrapeau.com), a public space spanning two islands in the mighty St. Lawrence River. Park fun spots include a casino, an aquatic complex, a river beach and a pedal boat rental station. For a taste of that joy of living, the Piknic Électronik music festival has emerged as a summer Sunday ritual and "a really great place for every community to be free and dance," says Martine Venne, U.S. media manager for Tourisme Montréal . (piknicelectronik.com).

You can spend another whole day exploring the Space for Life, a four-museum complex built at a former site of the 1976 Summer Olympics. It features a planetarium, a botanical garden and a biodome where animals live in five ecosystems (and a new exhibit plunges viewers into a humpback whale’s underwater world). In the new Insectarium, butterflies and moths roam ($25.50, $13.50 ages 5-17 per museum; 4101, rue Sherbrooke Est, espacepourlavie.ca/en).

Celine Dion fans, history buffs and everyday tourists will find much of interest in Old Montréal and Old Port, where cobblestone streets wind past vendors, restaurants and several cathedrals, including Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal, where Dion married in 1994. At Old Port, board St. Lawrence sightseeing and dinner cruises setting sail daily. Dion fans can make a pilgrimage to the McCord Stewart Museum, where the dress the singer wore when she sang at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris is on display ($20; 690 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, 514-861-6701, musee-mccord-stewart.ca/en).

Now that you’ve seen the sights, time for a taste of Montreal. Dine on seasonal cuisine from Jean-Talon Market in Montreal’s Little Italy. Savor the traditional table d’hôte lunch ($43) or swirl and sip at the new wine bar at the ITHQ Tourism, hospitality and restaurant services institute (3535 rue Saint-Denis, 1-855-229-8189, ithq.qc.ca). Or just stroll rue Saint-Denis’s eclectic restaurant row for the perfect bistro or brasserie.

End your day with a romantic view of Montreal after dark atop natural park, Mount Royal, at 764 feet the city’s highest point (free; open daily from 6 a.m. to midnight; mtl.org).

The Hyatt Place Montreal — Downtown offers rooms and suites near Old Montreal, cafes, shops and restaurants (room rates starting at $271 per night; 1415 Rue St-Hubert, 514-842-4881, Hyatt.com).

Great outdoors: Brattleboro, Vermont

• The line: Vermonter
• Duration of trip: 5 hours, 23 minutes
• Leaves: Daily
• Tickets: Starting at $62/one way

The historic New England town (est. 1753) and former hippie haven nestled in the Connecticut River Valley boasts a new Amtrak station that opened in June featuring an extended platform and accessible waiting areas. For a primer on local historic sites, download the Brattleboro Words Trail app to map out visits to Abenaki Native American petroglyphs, a marker honoring Lucy Terry Prince, one of the first known African American poets and Dummerston, where Nobel Prize-winning author Rudyard Kipling wrote "The Jungle Book."

Stoke up for exercise with veggie, vegan, meat and gluten-free buffet options at the Brattleboro Food Co-Op (2 Main St., 802-257-0236, brattleborofoodcoop.coop). Fill your backpack for the road with macaroons, dumplings, pastry, raw milk cheeses and other goodies at the Brattleboro Area Farmer’s Market (Open Saturdays May to October, 570 Western Ave./Rte. 9,  brattleboroareafarmersmarket.com). Adjacent to the market, the Creamery Covered Bridge, open only to foot traffic, has spanned Whetstone Brook since 1879.

Exploring Brattleboro’s natural world runs the gamut from rivers deep to mountains high. Stride over the Connecticut River bridge to Hinsdale, New Hampshire, to hike 1,335-foot Wantastiquet Mountain. Cycle country lanes past red barns and grazing cows on scenic Route 30 along the West River or the West River Trail, both beginning about a mile from the station, says Peter "Fish" Case, owner of Burrows Sports (105 Main St., 802-254-9430). On a hot day take a cool dip in the "swimming holes in the West River along Route 30," says Kate Trzaskos, executive director of the downtown Brattleboro Alliance. Rent a kayak, canoe or standup paddleboard at the Vermont Canoe Touring Center, located where the West and Connecticut Rivers converge on the north end of downtown ($25-$35 per hour; 451 Putney Rd., 802-257-5008, vermontcanoetouringcenter.com). Or hook into bass, trout and pike in Brattleboro’s rivers with guidance from Brattleboro’s BrattleFly fly fishing shop and guide service (45 Linden St., 802-266-0075, brattlefly.com).

One of Vermont’s iconic red barns calls you to Retreat Farm, a 500-acre community-based agricultural and educational nonprofit located at the edge of downtown (45 Farmhouse Sq., 802-490-2270, retreatfarm.org). Meet the piglets, bunnies and oxen named Cortland and McIntosh and other farm animals at the Open Barn event ($6.50). Sample area cuisine at the Thursday Food Truck Roundup ($9) or in daily tastings of locally made cheese, beer and wine at the farm shop (retreatfarm.org/roundup). Or just stroll through The Green Mountain State’s natural beauty on 15 miles of trails including ½ mile and interpretive loops.

The Latchis Hotel boasts a centrally located downtown location and a movie theater on its street level (room rates starting at $130-$240 per night; 50 Main St., 802-254-6300, latchis.com).

Beach vacation: Virginia Beach, Virginia

• Amtrak line: Northeast Regional
• Duration of trip: 8 hours, 18 minutes. Transfer by Amtrak Thruway connecting bus from Norfolk Stationto the Virginia Beach Oceanfront
• Leaves: Daily
• Tickets Starting at $178/one way

A trident-wielding, 34-foot-tall, 12-ton bronze statue of the Roman sea god King Neptune welcomes visitors to Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront Beach and its three-mile boardwalk, the central tourist hub of the city’s 38-mile coastline.

For a Virginia Beach day breakfast, try a stack of maple syrup-smothered flapjacks at Pocahontas Pancake and Waffle House (3420 Atlantic Ave., 757-428-6352, pocahontaspancakes.com). Then hop aboard the city’s air-conditioned trolley line ($2, free ages 17 and under; May through September, gohrt.com/mobile) to see the sharks at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center ($30-$35; 717 General Booth Blvd., 757-385-3474, virginiaaquarium.com) or take a free self-guided tour of local African American History sites (visitvirginiabeach.com).

Virginia Beach's 40-block-long boardwalk invites more than a stroll with bicycles, tandems, family-size surreys and beach cruisers available at Cherie’s Bicycle & Beach Rentals (one-hour rental: $12-$40; 10 boardwalk locations, 757-437-8888, cheriesbikerentals.com). Wanna shred some waves? The surf’s always up at Atlantic Park Surf’s blue water wave pool with lessons for beginners ($119-$129; 365 18th St., Suite 154, 757-974-8198, atlanticparksurf.com). Ride real waves on a board with VB Surf Sessions ($79 for group lesson, $109 for private; 2100 Mediterranean Ave., 757-633-5330, vbsurfsessions.com) or on a jet ski from Rudi Inlet Jetski Rentals ($130 for half hour, $180 for one hour; 300 Winston Salem Ave., 757-428-4614, beachparasail.com)

Cap the evening with the city’s signature Orange Crush cocktail (orange juice, vodka and a splash of Sprite) on Atlantic Avenue’s bar and restaurant scene, which parallels the boardwalk. Another local delicacy, She Crab bisque, arrives rich and creamy at Waterman’s Surfside Grille (415 Atlantic Ave., 757-428-3644, watermans.com). Then it’s back to the golden sand for free special events including The Beach Blanket Movie Series on Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. through Aug. 20 and oceanfront concerts such at the long-running Virginia Beach Funk Fest Beach Party on Aug. 28-29 (beacheventsvb.com).

The Marriott Virginia Beach Oceanfront Resort offers a panoramic view of the city from its roof garden (room rates starting at $387; 4201 Atlantic Ave., 888-228-9290, cavalierresortvb.com).