Public transport in ND

Next May we hope to travel through North Dakota stopping off at places of interest, using trains and buses.

Is this a practical proposition? We%26#39;ll be coming from Chicago probably by Amtrak,then on to South Dakota and Nebraska.

Any help please with things not to be missed and good places to stay.

Thanks for any ideas.

Public transport in ND

Hey I was married in Scotland last year....love your country! Our public transport is not real good, especially compared to Europe. Amtrak arrives in the middle of night into Fargo and then heads north and goes across the state there. So I%26#39;m not sure how you plan on getting to South Dakota and Nebraska from here? Greyhound bus just restarted service to some of our towns but it is limited (www.greyhound.com/locations/routemap.shtml).

We have beautiful areas, especially out west. The badlands are breathtaking with lots more color and less people than the ones in South Dakota. Medora is a little western town with a delicious pitchfork fondue and a great musical as well as other entertainment like a play about Teddy Roosevelt and the Chateau de Mores. www.medora.com is informative. We have buffalos (including 3 white buffalo which are very rare) right off the Interstate at Jamestown, Fargo has a very nice air museum and great shopping. We have very nice casinos with some great entertainment that also comes in. Depending on the time of year, the International Peace Gardens on the border with Canada are lovely too. It%26#39;s all a matter of what you%26#39;d like to see and do. Frankly, if you do have a drivers license a car rental is fairly cheap and gas (while not cheap is not as bad as the UK). One way car rentals are easy with only a small extra charge so you don%26#39;t need to circle back you get your car from. So it will all depend on what you%26#39;d like to do and where you%26#39;d like to go to determine where to stay. Our state takes about 6 hours driving 75 miles per hour to get across and 3 to 4 hours up and down so its a fairly big state but with lots of open spaces and not tons of traffic to worry about. Good luck!

Public transport in ND

Thanks for your reply which has been very helpful.We hope to visit Bismarck and from there go to Dickinson %26amp; Medora or from Bismarck to Rapid City by the North Shuttle Bus service!

We can get off the Empire Builder at Fargo, Grand Forks, Devils Lake Minot and Williston.Do any of these places merit a visit more than the others?

Glad that your wedding was a success in Scotland and that you enjoyed our country!

I think it depends on what you%26#39;d like to see. Fargo is our largest city (which really isn%26#39;t that large) and it has the Hjemjost Center which is an interesting boat/museum. Right next to it is a pontoon boat to ride on the river during the summer. It also has an air museum, art museum and largest selection of shopping/dining choices in ND, just because its a big city. Lots of nice parks as well. Grand Forks has an art museum, butterfly garden and some nice state parks but those are out of town so tough to get to without transport. They also have a nice amount of shops/restaurants. You might also want to check the calendar of events for both towns for the time you are there...they have big event centers and might have concerts and such you might enjoy. Devils Lake has a lake with good fishing, if you like that. Minot is OK...they have events up there the State Fair and NorskHost Fest, again depending on when you go there. Bismarck and Medora have things to do but I don%26#39;t think you were asking about them.

Yes, we loved Scotland. Beautiful place and my hubby is starting his MBA programme at Robert Gordon in the Fall online.

Thanks again!

I think we%26#39;ll probably get off the train at Fargo or Grand Forks and go from there to Bismarck, Dickinson and Medora by bus and then to Rapid City. How does that sound?

The only problem about the train in Fargo is that it gets in at about 3am !Would we be able to get a taxi and get into a hotel at that time in the morning?

We have tried Car Hire places and very few offer a One Way Rental and one company charged an extra $500 for that!So,we%26#39;ll keep looking but i think if we can manage it will be the bus!

Hope that Robert Gordon will mean a trip to Aberdeen for you!!

Yes I have seen taxis when I%26#39;ve dropped Mom off or picked her up at the train station in Fargo. Try www.avis.com. I put in random dates for 10 days and it was $600 total with the one way charge of picking up in Fargo and dropping off in Rapid City. Just make sure you rent from the non-airport locations, if possible (its not in Rapid City) as its an added tax to rent from the airport.

Yes he has 2 weeks in Aberdeen midway through his programme and I fully intend to go with him. We rushed through to catch a plane out of Aberdeen and would love to go back and poke around that area too. Everyone was very friendly in Scotland. You personal email me if you%26#39;d like and grab my email so if you encounter problems or need help over here, we can maybe help you out.

Thanks again.

We would probably pick up in Rapid City and drop off in Lincoln NE as we can get buses between Fargo,Bismarck,Dickinson, Medora and Rapid City!Anyway, we%26#39;ll have to make some definite decisions soon and try to get dates sorted out.

Your e mail might be handy so thanks for that offer.

You will enjoy Aberdeen and the North East of Scotland.

Thanks again for your help

I%26#39;m not sure what the %26#39;North Shuttle Bus Service%26#39; is, but I%26#39;ve never heard of it and couldn%26#39;t find anything on-line about it. Where did you find out about it? Any maps I%26#39;ve found showing bus routes have nothing going north and south except along the Minnesota and North Dakota/South Dakota border on I-29. Medora %26amp; Dickenson are in the west end of the state as is Rapid City in western South Dakota. There%26#39;s not much to see in Dickenson that I know of, either.

As far as I know or have seen, Greyhound is the only bus that goes by here on I-94 in Valley City.

I would recommend you take a 2nd look at renting a car in Fargo and driving yourself from there. You won%26#39;t get to see the badlands from a bus as they don%26#39;t go there.

If you%26#39;re going to try using just train %26amp; bus, you will also spend at least a day in Fargo as I think the westbound bus also leaves in the middle of the night, but before the train gets into town.

Good luck with your planning %26amp; have fun while you%26#39;re here! Please keep us posted.

Greyhound runs across the state but there was a shuttle bus service started last year between Bismarck and Rapid City, SD. bismarcktribune.com/articles/鈥?30216.txt

I have no idea if its still running or not but you can take the bus back through Fargo to Sioux Falls and over to get to Rapid City as well.

I found out about the North Shuttle Bus Service from the Discover Bismark Mandad Tourist Office.They said that the bus leaves Bismarck at 6am on Monday %26amp; Thursday arriving in Rapid City at 5pm.The phone number she gave me for it was 701 223 6576.

I have just looked at the Tribune Article and it seems that it is the bus route that the Tourist office told me about.Whether it will still be running in May 2009 I don%26#39;t know! They also told me about a company called Satrom Travel who run tours to the Badlands and Medora.I have sent them an e mail asking for information but they haven%26#39;t replied.

Planning is half the fun of the holiday!

Thanks for your help.

blackheads