All Aboard! Train Travel +/- River Cruise

Many of you know that Bob grew up in Canada. He was born in Vancouver, but his mother’s family was from Banff. Every summer, Bob’s mom would take him and his brothers on the train to Banff to visit her family. Only the extraordinarily wealthy would travel by airplane in those days, so train was the way normal Canadians got around.

Bob laughs now, because travelling those same tracks he rode on as a child is now a luxury train journey (on the Rocky Mountaineer – see below), while it’s routine to travel the same route by plane.

There is no doubt that many train trips harken to a bygone era and evoke feelings of nostalgia and elegance. Here’s a quick guide to some of those special rail journeys:

Canadian Rockies on Rocky Mountaineer

This is quickly becoming one of the worlds “must-do” rail trips, and it’s easy to understand why. The scenery and wildlife viewing has few rivals anywhere else in the world. There are several different rail routes and packages, but if you’re unfamiliar with that corner of the world, then here’s what you do:

Fly to Vancouver and spend a few days there if you haven’t been previously.
Board the Rocky Mountaineer, choosing the “First Passage to the West” itinerary, and ride to Banff or Lake Louise. In reality, these two destinations are only a few miles apart, so you can easily see both.
You DON’T sleep on the train (you’d miss all the scenery!), so Rocky Mountaineer packages include your hotel nights between days on the rails.
3-night packages (Vancouver-Kamloops-Banff/Lake Louise) start at $1850 per person.
Fly home from Calgary OR ride the alternate routing back to Vancouver. 8-night round trip packages (Vancouver-Kamloops-Jasper-Banff/Lake Louise-Vancouver) start at $4164 per person

Rockies to Red Rocks in the USA

After 25 years in Canada, Rocky Mountaineer finally expanded to the US three years ago. Again, they have several packages, but they are all based on one rail routing between Denver and Moab, Utah. Denver is always well worth a visit, and Moab is the perfect jumping-off point to explore several of America’s National Parks.

Just like the Canadian Rocky Mountaineer, you disembark the train at night.
3-night packages (Moab – Glenwood Springs – Denver) start at $1900 per person.
4-night packages between Denver and Las Vegas with a flight-seeing connection between Moab and Vegas start at $3323 pp.
4-night packages between Denver and Salt Lake City start at $2232 pp

Belmond

If you don’t know Belmond, they offer unique experiences all over the world, and some of those experiences are on the rails:

Royal Scotsman

As the name would imply, this is in Scotland, and is completely sold out for 2023, so you’ll need to plan ahead if it’s of interest. There are several different itineraries, but here’s an example:

5-days round-trip Edinburgh. Visit Kyle of Lochalsh, Boat of Garden, Rothiemurchus.
Accommodation is on the train, and includes all meals, drinks, as well as some local excursions off the train.
Prices from $9300 per person depending on prevailing exchange rates.

Venice Simplon Orient Express

The famous Orient Express has a number of itineraries in Europe:

Paris to Rome.
Amsterdam to Venice.
There are also itineraries that include Budapest, Prague, Florence, Istanbul, Innsbruck, Vienna
Prices from $4300 per person depending on prevailing exchange rates.

Europe River Cruise + Rail Combination

Uniworld offers combination river cruise and rail packages that makes it easy to experience both:

Zurich to Venice. 7-night river cruise in Italy AND 4-night package on the Golden Eagle Express.

Visit Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Slovenia, and Italy.
Depart in July or September 2023 from $10,398 per person.

Passau to Budapest. 7-night river cruise AND 4-night Rail Package:

4-nights in Hungary and Romania and a 7-night Danube River cruise.
June or October 2023 from $11,398 per person

Alaska Rail System

Alaska is far bigger and far more remote than most of us can conceive. For that reason, rail is a far preferable option than renting a car. You also get to see WAY more. Most of our clients find themselves in Alaska pre- or post-cruise, and most of the cruise lines offer extensions with some portion on the rails. Be aware those cruise lines also move you around by motor coach as well. For this reason, some of our clients prefer to do their pre or post on the Alaska Rail system (where you’ll maximize your time on the train). For example, you can do 7-nights from Anchorage to Fairbanks from $2299 per person:

2-nights Anchorage, 1-night McKinley, 2-nights Denali, 2-nights Fairbanks.
Includes hotels, and transfer by rail between destinations.

Southern Africa River Cruise + Rail Combination

Yep… there are trains down that way, and you can take a combination river cruise and rail journey with AMA Waterways:

12-nights between Capetown and Johannesburg
Visit Capetown for 3-nights, then fly to board the Zambezi Queen for 4-nights to do a Safari in Nambia, 2-nights in Victoria Falls, then a 3-day rail journey.
Departures in September and October from $15,395 per person.

Amtrak

There’s no denying that Amtrak is not as exotic as the rail experiences above, but it might still be worth considering. Here’s a few trips we have taken on Amtrak, that were certainly better than flying or renting a car:

Seattle to Vancouver, Canada – Yep… Amtrak does dip its toe into Canada in a few places. If you’re taking a cruise out of Vancouver, but would rather fly into Seattle, then Amtrak goes a few times a day between those two cities. It’s incredibly scenic – most of the journey is on the ocean, and when you consider the airport hassle and or the border line-ups, it’s faster than flying or driving between the two cities.
Memphis to New Orleans – We took a river cruise between these two iconic cities and had to get back to New Orleans. The train took about 7 hours, but it’s during the day, so we got to enjoy the scenery of the Mississippi River Delta, as opposed to the seat back in front of us if we had flown.
Northeast Corridor – If you’re going anywhere between Washington and Boston, it’s worth considering the train. The Interstates are fine in the Northeast, but it’s kind of boring. If you fly, then consider the unreliability of the airlines, as well as wait times at airports if you think it’s going to be faster than the train.

If you’re looking for something a bit different, then rail journeys offer a different perspective. You see MUCH more than you do from the highway (particularly if you’re the one driving). You can also get up and wander around on the train – something not possible if you’re in a car or motorcoach.

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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley