Crescent With Kids: All 35 Stops, Lake Pontchartrain and Kids Tickets

14 min read

Thinking about the Crescent with kids? It works well if you pick the right direction and the right piece of it: the train runs every day between New York and New Orleans, about 1,377 miles in about 32 hours, with 35 stops in 12 states and Washington, D.C. Kids 2 through 12 ride for half the adult price, though the sleeper room charge stays full price. Our advice is to ride north out of New Orleans, because that train crosses Lake Pontchartrain, Mississippi, Alabama and the Virginia foothills while your kids are awake to see them. Below you'll find all 35 stops, what to spot at each, the rooms that suit a family and three short starter rides.

The short version

• One train each way, every day. The full run from New York to New Orleans takes about 32 hours, so most families ride a piece of it.
• Want the lake? Northbound leaves New Orleans at 9:10 a.m. and crosses Lake Pontchartrain in the morning.
• Atlanta to Birmingham on the southbound train takes about 4.5 hours, all in daylight: a great first ride.
• Sleepers are Viewliners only: Roomettes, Bedrooms and a four-bed Bedroom Suite. There is no Family Bedroom.
• Half fare for ages 2 to 12. Checked bags work at about a dozen larger stations.

From Rally Takes the Train, watercolor by Leslie Dunn.

← All Amtrak routes with kids

Crescent at a glance

Runs between

New York City and New Orleans, by way of Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta and Birmingham

States

12 states plus Washington, D.C.

Distance

about 1,377 miles

End to end

about 32 hours

Trains

One train each way, every day

Train cars

Single-level Amfleet II coaches and cafe, Viewliner sleepers and a Viewliner diner

Four-seat tables

None in coach; booths in the cafe car

Upstairs seating

None, all one level

Food

Cafe car about 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Flex Dining meals included for sleeper passengers

Sleeper rooms

Roomettes, Bedrooms, an Accessible Bedroom and a four-bed Bedroom Suite; no Family Bedroom

Checked bags

Yes, at larger stations such as New York, Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans

Riders

316,213 in fiscal year 2025

Look inside the book

Sleeping on the Crescent? Wake up with Rally.

Rally’s big day starts before sunrise, a lot like opening your eyes in a brand new state on the Crescent. Peek at a few pages here.

Page 1 of 8

Click the page, swipe, or use the arrow keys to turn

Like it so far? See the full book

25 hand-painted pages, paperback, $13.99 with fast shipping from Amazon.

Buy on Amazon (opens in a new tab)

Every page is real watercolor on paper, painted by hand by Leslie Dunn. Nothing in this book was made with AI.

In this post

1. Kids tickets on the Crescent
2. Every Crescent stop
3. What kids can see
4. Where to sit
5. Best first ride
6. Food, bathrooms and naps
7. A train book for the ride
8. Questions parents ask

Do kids need a ticket on the Crescent?

The basic rule is the same as on any Amtrak train: kids 2 to 12 pay half the adult price when they ride with someone 18 or older, and each adult can hold one baby under 2 on their lap for free. No child 12 or younger can ride alone. On the Crescent, though, the real money and the real stress hide in the details below.

The room is the big cost. The child discount comes off the rail fare, not the room charge. If you’re a family of four, ask for a Bedroom Suite: two Bedrooms opened into one space with four beds. The train carries only one or two sleeping cars, so book rooms early.

Look at the day of the week. Northbound train 20 runs a faster Friday and Saturday schedule north of Washington and gets to New York at 5:48 p.m. instead of 6:42 p.m. That’s almost an hour less of “are we there yet.” Starting near BWI? The southbound train doesn’t stop at BWI Airport, so use Baltimore Penn Station instead.

Pack like you’ll be late. Most of the route runs on Norfolk Southern freight tracks, and in 2024 the U.S. Justice Department sued the railroad over Amtrak trains not getting priority. Extra snacks and a charged battery pack can save your afternoon. Our Amtrak with kids guide covers car seats and lap-baby rules.

Kids 2 to 12 ride the Crescent at half fare, but the sleeper room charge stays the same for everyone.

Free for train families

Print the free Crescent activity book

A stop tracker for all 35 stops, a word search full of Crescent stops, window bingo, a maze, a ticket to fill in and a page to draw the view. It fits in a folder with a few crayons and weighs nothing in the diaper bag.

Get the free Crescent activity book

Every Crescent stop, from New York to New Orleans

Here are all 35 Crescent stops in order, from New York down to New Orleans. One quirk to know: BWI Airport is a stop on the northbound train only.

New York

1. New York Penn Station (Moynihan Train Hall)Look for: Have them look up in Moynihan Train Hall, opened in January 2021: the big central atrium sits under a glass roof.

New Jersey

1. Newark Penn Station
2. Iselin (Metropark)
3. Trenton

Pennsylvania

1. Philadelphia (30th Street Station)Look for: In the main hall, find the tall bronze statue of the archangel Michael lifting a soldier. It went up in 1950 to honor railroad workers lost in World War II.

Delaware

1. Wilmington

Maryland

1. Baltimore Penn Station
2. Linthicum, BWI Airport (northbound only)

Washington, D.C.

1. Washington Union Station

Virginia

1. Alexandria
2. ManassasLook for: Point out the red-brick Victorian depot. It was finished in 1914, after a fire burned down the one before it.
3. CulpeperLook for: The 1904 depot is more than a station: the Museum of Culpeper History and the visitor center are inside.
4. Charlottesville
5. Lynchburg
6. Danville

North Carolina

1. Greensboro (J. Douglas Galyon Depot)Look for: Inside the 1927 depot, hunt for the mural map of the Southern Railway network, then take the tunnel under the tracks out to the platform.
2. High Point
3. SalisburyLook for: Look for the gargoyles on the tall center tower of the 1908 Spanish Mission station.
4. Charlotte
5. Gastonia

South Carolina

1. SpartanburgLook for: The 1904 station holds the Hub City Railroad Museum. Big kids may like this part: after a 1996 fire, a 16-year-old led the push to save it.
2. Greenville
3. Clemson

Georgia

1. ToccoaLook for: The 1915 wooden depot has the Currahee Military Museum in its addition, and out back there is a small rail museum inside a train car.
2. GainesvilleLook for: A map fact for this stop: Lake Sidney Lanier wraps around the city on three sides.
3. Atlanta (Peachtree Station)

Alabama

1. Anniston
2. BirminghamLook for: Getting off here? Railroad Park downtown is 19 acres of green space built on old industrial land, and it opened in 2010.
3. TuscaloosaLook for: Spot the castle-like corner with a cone-shaped roof on the 1911 brick depot. The city sits on the Black Warrior River.

Mississippi

1. Meridian Union Station
2. Laurel
3. Hattiesburg
4. Picayune

Louisiana

1. Slidell
2. New Orleans Union Passenger TerminalLook for: Right out front, the Loyola Avenue streetcar stops at the station and runs toward the Superdome. A streetcar ride makes a fine reward after a long train.

What kids can see from the Crescent

Pick the daylight direction

Here’s the timing that decides everything. Southbound train 19 leaves New York at 2:00 p.m., passes Charlottesville around 8:50 p.m., rolls through the Carolinas overnight and reaches Atlanta at 8:43 a.m. Northbound train 20 leaves New Orleans at 9:10 a.m., stops in Atlanta at 11:29 p.m., then wakes up in North Carolina and crosses Virginia in the morning.

If your kids want to see things, go north. You get the lake, the Deep South and the Virginia hills, all while they’re awake.

Lake Pontchartrain

The northbound morning opens with New Orleans cemeteries and the skyline, then the train heads out across Lake Pontchartrain, the stretch many riders call the best part of the trip. Out on the bridge there’s water on both sides, so nobody has to fight over the window. Slidell, on the far shore, comes 52 minutes after you leave New Orleans.

Rivers and pine woods

In Mississippi the train runs through the Pine Belt around Laurel, a city founded in 1882 that grew on timber. Ask the kids to count trees for one minute and see how far they get. In Alabama the train crosses the Tombigbee River at Epes, a river about 400 miles long, and reaches Tuscaloosa on the Black Warrior River.

Trains in a trench

Two North Carolina cities dug the railroad below street level. In High Point, a late-1930s project cut a trench about a mile long and up to 35 feet deep. In Gastonia, people call the 30-foot-deep cut “the ditch.” Tell the kids to watch the walls rise up beside the windows.

Virginia foothills and the Potomac

The Charlottesville area, at the edge of the Blue Ridge foothills, has some of the best daylight scenery on the train. Closer to Washington the train crosses the Potomac River, with the Pentagon on the Virginia side and Arlington National Cemetery just beyond. Save a window seat for that last stretch.

Where the name comes from

The Southern Railway ran the Southern Crescent until February 1, 1979, when Amtrak took over and shortened the name to Crescent. It fits the last stop, since New Orleans is known as the Crescent City. That makes a good riddle for the final hour.

Northbound families get an easy start: the train leaves New Orleans at 9:10 a.m., after breakfast and before anyone gets cranky.

Where to sit with kids on the Crescent

Every Crescent car is one level, so once you are up the boarding steps, the stroller never meets another stair.

Good news if you’re bringing a stroller: every car on the Crescent is one level, so there are no stairs inside the train. Coach uses Amfleet II cars that seat 59 people two by two, with bigger windows, extra legroom and folding legrests that help on the overnight stretch. You’ll book one of two things here: a coach seat or a sleeper room.

Coach has no four-seat tables. When your kids need to face each other over a snack or a coloring book, head to the cafe car. It has booths, and anyone on the train can sit there.

Sleepers are Viewliners, and the train has been carrying one or two of them. You can pick a Roomette, the smallest room; a Bedroom with its own bathroom and shower; an Accessible Bedroom with room for a companion; or a Bedroom Suite with four beds. There’s no Family Bedroom, since that room only exists on the two-level Superliner trains out West.

Potty training? Read this part twice. Roomettes vary by car: the older Viewliner I cars have a toilet in each Roomette, while the newer Viewliner II cars use two shared restrooms instead. A Bedroom is the safer pick when a toddler gives you ten seconds of warning.

A Quiet Car is another thing we couldn’t pin down for this train, so ask the conductor, and pack headphones for any tablet.

Split up in Crescent coach? Here’s the fix

Book the whole family on one reservation. A Crescent coach ticket holds a seat for each of you, not a particular seat, so reach Moynihan Train Hall about 30 minutes early. Staff at big stations like that often wave families with little kids aboard ahead of the crowd, so hover close to the boarding area.

Getting on mid-route is harder, especially at night in Charlottesville, when riders from New York may already be spread out and asleep. If the car is full, split across the aisle or front and back for the moment, then walk the next Amfleet coach for an open pair.

Hoping a stranger will swap? Ask before they settle in, say it plainly (“We’ve got a 3-year-old with us”), and offer an equal swap: your window for their window, your aisle for theirs. If they pass, thank them.

Grab a car attendant or the conductor while you’re boarding, or when tickets get scanned, and say there are four of you with a toddler and a 5-year-old. They can steer you to free seats and clear luggage off them, because every ticket buys one seat, not two, but nobody gets bumped from a seat they’re sitting in. Never park a young child alone a few rows away, even for the 50-minute run to Slidell.

The best first Crescent ride with kids

Not ready for 32 hours? Start small. These times come from Amtrak’s current Crescent timetable and recent schedule checks, so confirm them in the app before you book.

1. New Orleans to Slidell (about 50 minutes). Northbound train 20 leaves New Orleans at 9:10 a.m. and reaches Slidell at 10:02 a.m., right after the Lake Pontchartrain crossing. It’s short enough for a toddler who won’t sit still. Have someone meet you there, because the next southbound train doesn’t come back until evening.
2. Atlanta to Birmingham (about 4.5 hours). Southbound train 19 leaves Atlanta at 9:08 a.m. Eastern time and reaches Birmingham at 12:45 p.m. Central time. That’s a full daytime ride with Railroad Park waiting downtown. Warn the kids that clocks go back an hour at the Alabama line, which older kids think is a great trick.
3. Charlottesville to Washington (about 3.5 hours). Northbound train 20 leaves Charlottesville at 10:59 a.m. and reaches Washington at 2:35 p.m., or 2:12 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The Potomac crossing comes near the end, just when attention starts to fade.

Worried about the first night aboard? Southbound, the quiet hours run from Virginia to Georgia, and morning brings Atlanta.

Food, bathrooms and naps on the Crescent

Anyone on board can use the cafe car, usually from about 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., with short closures for crew breaks. Packing your own food is allowed as well. On a 32-hour train with freight delays, a bag of the snacks your kid will actually eat is worth more than any menu. Slip a few free pages to color and trace in with the snacks for booth time.

In a sleeper, Flex Dining meals come with your fare. They’re made ahead, warmed on board and often brought right to your room. The Viewliner diner works as a lounge for sleeper passengers only. These diners are named for state capitals east of the Mississippi, so give the kids a job: find the name on the side of the car.

For sleep, coach families should claim seats early and get the legrests up. In a sleeper, your car attendant makes up the beds at night. Southbound, the quiet hours fall between Virginia and Georgia; northbound, they fall between Atlanta and North Carolina, so plan bedtime around those stretches.

Diaper duty: we couldn’t confirm changing tables in the Crescent’s coaches or sleepers, so carry your own pad and head for the larger accessible restroom.

A train book for the ride

On the Lake Pontchartrain bridge there is water on both sides, so every window seat on the Crescent is a good one.

Rally Takes the Train opens with an early wake-up: everyone is up before the sun because it’s a train day. The Crescent hands your kids a real version of that page. Fall asleep somewhere in Virginia on the southbound train, and you wake up to a Georgia morning with Atlanta due at 8:43 a.m.

Read Rally at bedtime in your seat or room, then again over breakfast; it only takes about five minutes. Print our free Rally activity pack too, so there’s something to color while you wait out a freight train.

Bedtime and breakfast reading for the CrescentRally Takes the Train is a five-minute rhyming picture book about a corgi’s first train ride, from the early wake-up to the happy hello at the end, painted by hand in watercolor. $13.99 on Amazon, ages 0 to 8.

Buy on Amazon (opens in a new tab)

Freight delays and all, the Crescent gets you there, and New Orleans meets you with a streetcar stop right out front.

More for train families

• Every Amtrak route with kids: find another train by city or station
• The complete guide to Amtrak with kids: tickets, car seats, changing tables, family tables and what to pack by age
• Free Rally activity pack and coloring pages to print before your trip
• Mardi Gras Service with kids
• Cardinal with kids
• City of New Orleans with kids
• Northeast Regional with kids

Sources

• Amtrak: Crescent timetable
• Amtrak: Passenger discount for children
• Wikipedia: Crescent (train)
• Wikipedia: Viewliner
• Wikipedia: Amfleet
• Wikipedia: New York Penn Station
• Wikipedia: 30th Street Station
• Wikipedia: New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal
• Travels With Kev: Amtrak Crescent guide
• Amtrak Guide: Crescent
• American Rails: Crescent route guide
• Hawkins Rails: Crescent route
• Hawkins Rails: Crescent central states
• Hawkins Rails: Crescent southern states
• Hawkins Rails: Virginia stations (shared with the Cardinal)
• Amtrak Cardinal route guide, Potomac crossing (juckins.net)
• City of Toccoa: Passenger train service

Checked against Amtrak and partner railroad pages in October 2026. Schedules and policies change, so confirm on amtrak.com before you ride.

Crescent with kids: questions parents ask

Do kids need a ticket on the Crescent?

Yes. Any child from 2 through 12 rides for 50 percent off the adult rail fare when they share a reservation with someone 18 or older. Their age on the day you board sets the price, which matters on a train that spans two calendar days. Booking a sleeper? The room charge stays full price no matter who sleeps in it, so the kid discount only trims the rail fare part.

Do babies ride free on the Crescent?

Yes. Under-2s ride free as lap babies, one per grown-up who pays the full adult fare. A second infant with that same adult, or an infant you'd like seated separately, gets billed at the kids' fare. Over 32 hours that matters: a lap baby can spill onto a spare seat only when nobody holding a ticket needs it, so a sleeper room is the surest way to get your baby a real bed.

Can I use a car seat on the Crescent?

Nope. No Amtrak train, the Crescent included, lets you fasten a car seat to a seat. You can rest one on an empty seat when no paying traveler wants it, but your under-2 might end up on your lap with the seat in a baggage area. There's no fee to bring it, and it can replace one of your regular bags, so pack it only if you'll be driving after Atlanta, Birmingham or New Orleans.

Are there changing tables on the Crescent?

We couldn't confirm changing tables on the Crescent's Amfleet II coaches or its Viewliner sleepers. Amtrak doesn't have a formal diaper-changing policy, so it's hit or miss by car. Pack a fold-up changing pad and look for the bigger accessible restroom. If you book a Bedroom, it comes with its own bathroom, a private spot for the 3 a.m. change on the overnight leg.

What are the bathrooms like on the Crescent with kids?

Look for at least one restroom per car, where a little light tells you when it's taken. The Crescent is all one level, so a potty dash never means stairs. Go in together with a preschooler, and tell them the flush is going to whoosh. Sleepers differ by car: older Viewliner I Roomettes hide a toilet in the room, newer Viewliner II cars share two restrooms, and Bedrooms have their own.

Can I bring a stroller on the Crescent?

Yes, and the Crescent's one-level cars make it easy to wheel to your seat. Parents of a child under 2 can add a stroller or diaper bag without it eating into the usual allowance of two carry-ons plus a personal item. Want it out of the way? Check it free, but only between Crescent stations with baggage service, like Charlotte, Atlanta or Birmingham. Oversized all-terrain strollers may have to be checked.

Can I breastfeed or make a bottle on the Crescent?

Yes. Every U.S. state has a law protecting breastfeeding in public, so your coach seat or sleeper room is fine. Amtrak says dining car crews can help with bottles, though the Viewliner diner on the Crescent serves sleeper passengers only. If you're riding coach, pack formula, clean bottles and water ready to mix, plus a spare, since freight delays can stretch the trip.

What food is on the Crescent for kids?

Anyone aboard can buy food in the cafe car from about 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., with short crew breaks, and it has booths. Sleeper families get Flex Dining meals in their fare, made ahead and often brought to the room. Bring your own food either way. Over 32 hours, the crackers and fruit pouches your kid already trusts will rescue more moods than anything on the menu.

How do I keep kids busy on the Crescent?

Give the window a job. Riding north, there's Lake Pontchartrain in the morning, a one-minute tree count in Mississippi's Pine Belt, the trench walls at High Point and Gastonia, and the Potomac near the end. Between sights, pull out our free train coloring pages, share Rally Takes the Train, and stroll to the cafe car for a booth and a new view.

What are the best seats for a family on the Crescent?

In coach, the Amfleet II seats run two by two, so a family of four ends up across the aisle or in two rows, with no four-seat tables. When you want to face each other, the cafe car booths are open to anyone. Everything is on one level. For real together time overnight, book a Bedroom Suite: two Bedrooms opened into one space with four beds and two bathrooms.

Is there a Quiet Car on the Crescent?

Nothing we found confirms a Quiet Car on the Crescent's current lineup, so look at your booking or ask the conductor when you board. If there is one, skip it with chatty kids: talk stays soft, calls are off-limits and devices stay silent. In any car, pack headphones for the tablet, which counts double on the overnight stretch when neighbors are trying to sleep.

What should I pack for a toddler on the Crescent?

Pack for the whole 32 hours, plus a cushion. Southbound train 19 leaves New York at 2:00 p.m. and reaches New Orleans at 9:12 p.m. the next day, so plan dinner, breakfast and lunch even if the cafe is closed. Add pajamas, a small pillow, a blanket from home, more diapers than the math says, wipes, a changing pad, headphones, a charged battery pack and our maze and word search printables.

Does the Crescent have a Family Bedroom for sleeping?

No. Family Bedrooms are only built into the two-level Superliner cars out West, and the Crescent uses single-level Viewliner sleepers. The closest fit is a Bedroom Suite with four beds, and your car attendant makes up the beds at night. In coach, kids sleep in the reclining Amfleet II seats with the folding legrests up. Book rooms early, since the train carries only one or two sleeping cars.

What is the best first ride on the Crescent with kids?

For a real daytime ride, take Atlanta to Birmingham: southbound train 19 leaves at 9:08 a.m. and arrives at 12:45 p.m. local time, about 4.5 hours with the clock change. For the shortest taste, ride north from New Orleans at 9:10 a.m. to Slidell at 10:02 a.m., about 50 minutes with the lake in between. Have someone meet you in Slidell, since the next southbound train comes in the evening.

Can kids ride the Crescent alone?

Not at 12 or younger, ever. For ages 13 to 15, Amtrak allows solo travel only under its unaccompanied minor program: a parent calls 1-800-USA-RAIL to set it up at the adult price, and the trip must run in daylight, between staffed stations, with no connections. The Crescent's overnight stretch is out, so ask about a daytime piece like Atlanta to Birmingham. Once they turn 16, teens may ride on their own.

How early should we get to the station for the Crescent?

Plan on about 30 minutes early. At a big station like New York's Moynihan Train Hall, staff often wave parents with strollers and small kids onto the train first, so hover near the gate and listen. Checking bags? Give yourself extra time. Starting near BWI? The southbound train skips BWI Airport, which is a northbound-only stop, so board at Baltimore Penn Station instead.

What if my child gets scared on the Crescent?

Talk through the loud and strange parts before they happen. The horn is loud, and in High Point and Gastonia the train drops into a deep trench where walls rise right up past the windows, almost like a tunnel. Read Rally's tunnel page together first, where the dark ends in bright light, and hold a hand. If the coach feels crowded, a walk to the cafe car resets everyone.

Is the Crescent safe for kids?

Yes, with the same habits you'd use on any train. Hold hands on the platform and keep back from the edge line. Once the Crescent is rolling, kids should sit down or grab a handhold. Walking to the cafe car means crossing between cars, so carry a toddler or hold a hand there. Keep shoes on, even in a sleeper, because a midnight bathroom trip down a moving aisle needs grip.

What if the Crescent is delayed with kids?

Plan as if it might be. Most of the route runs on Norfolk Southern freight tracks, and in 2024 the Justice Department sued the railroad over Amtrak trains not getting priority. Watch the little train icon move on the Amtrak app's map, check Amtrak's travel advisories, and stash a spare meal, extra diapers and a charged battery pack. A fresh sheet from our printable Rally activity pack makes a freight wait feel shorter.

What should we do if the Crescent coach is too full to sit together?

Grab the closest seats you can, side by side across the aisle if possible, so a hand can still reach every kid. Then one parent checks the next Amfleet II coach for an open pair while the other stays put. Coats and bags never earn a seat of their own on Amtrak, so a seat with a backpack on it is fair to ask about. Overnight, a sleeper room ends the problem entirely.

Will the Crescent conductor help a family find seats together?

Yes, and earlier is better. Find the conductor while boarding or when tickets get checked, then explain who's in your group, like two adults, a preschooler and a baby. They can hunt for empty pairs in other coaches and have riders pull bags off seats, though no one already sitting will be forced out. Riding with a free lap baby? An empty seat beside you may go to a paying passenger.

When does the Crescent cross Lake Pontchartrain?

Going north, right after you leave New Orleans at 9:10 a.m. The crossing comes in morning light, before the 10:02 a.m. stop in Slidell, with water on both sides of the train. Going south, the Crescent crosses the lake on its way into New Orleans in the evening, often after dark. If the lake is the point of the trip, ride north out of New Orleans.