Festive Holiday Train Rides We Recommend

It’s the season for fun activities and stunning displays that everyone will love

a festive train ornament hanging on a tree

Get into the end-of-year holiday spirit with a holiday train tour.

Credit: Alamy

Robin L. Flanigan,

Updated October 29, 2025

AARP

Published October 18, 2024

/ Updated October 29, 2025

Riding the rails is a magical way to capture the spirit of the holiday season.

Whether continuing a time-honored tradition with grandkids or starting a new one on an adults-only excursion, celebrate the most wonderful time of the year with a festive train trip.

Many offer hot drinks and sweet treats, souvenirs, an opportunity to belt out holiday classics and, for little ones, a trip to the North Pole.

While lots of grandparents bring their grandkids aboard for holiday train tours, Virginia & Truckee Railroad owner/manager Tom Gray says he has noticed that some of the tours, such as the Candy Cane Express, attract those without kids, too. “[E]mpty nesters and couples without children — and single people — sometimes ride to enjoy” the festive holiday season.

According to AARP’s Travel Trends survey, 56 percent of travelers 50-plus plan to travel only domestically this year, and 7 percent of planned domestic trips are for holiday travel. Make the most of the holidays and enjoy a train ride filled with ambiance for the merriest memories.

And act fast — these train tours sell out quickly. Here’s to a jolly journey ahead!

Midwest

a train with holiday lights travels along a snow covered track

The 1880 Train Holiday Express weaves through the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Courtesy 1880 Train

1880 Train Holiday Express, South Dakota

Choose between classic, first-class and adults-only “Spiked!” cars on the Black Hills Central Railroad 1880 Train, considered the oldest continuously operating tour railroad in the nation.

Classic tours include hot cocoa, a sugar cookie and candy canes on the way to the North Pole, a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus and small gifts for children.

“We get to see how happy the grandparents are to have their whole extended family together on the train, and seeing their grandkids oohing and aahing when they see Santa for the first time,” says Nate Anderson, former business operations manager for the Black Hills Central Railroad. “It’s a neat thing to observe.”

First-class riders receive unlimited hot chocolate served in a keepsake mug. Grownups wanting to sit in an adults-only car can get their hot chocolate with a nip of schnapps, served in a souvenir thermal cup.

The authentically restored vintage diesel engine weaves through the Black Hills, offering views of historic mining encampments and rock huts, passing deer and woodchucks along the way.

Dates: Nov. 26 and every weekend from Thanksgiving through Christmas, plus occasional weekdays.

Cost: $46-$79 for adults; $29-$56 for children.

South

a train tour traveling through a neighborhood with houses decorated in lights

The Holiday Sights & Festive Nights Tour travels through Key West’s decorated neighborhoods.

Courtesy Historic Tours of America

Holiday Sights & Festive Nights Tour, Florida

Hop aboard an open-air trolley train for this annual tour of the glimmering Conch Republic, otherwise known as Key West, a micronation that held a mock secession from the United States in 1982. The hour-long Conch Tour Train ride brings you to the island’s decorated neighborhoods of Old Town and New Town. The tour includes a pair of light-up holiday glasses.

Dates: Dec. 8; Dec. 11 to 23.

Cost: $36.28 for adults; $24.53 for children 4-12, after taxes.

East

a packed subway train with a wreath on the front

Hop aboard a vintage subway car during New York City’s Holiday Nostalgia Rides.

Credit: Marc Hermann

Holiday Nostalgia Rides, New York

Perhaps you used to ride a Manhattan subway train car with straps and cushioned seats. Maybe you want to experience a similar kind of vintage ride for the first time.

If plans for a holiday nostalgia ride move forward this holiday season, you’ll be able to travel through time and be a part of a New York Transit Museum tradition.

Dates: Awaiting announcement in November from the New York Transit Museum.

Cost: Free with subway fare.

West

a train traveling past a festive train station

On the Polar Express Train Ride in California, enjoy hot chocolate and a sweet treat served by dancing chefs.

Courtesy California State Railroad Museum Foundation

The Polar Express Train Ride, California

Many cities have their own version of a train ride centered around the Christmas picture-book classic The Polar Express. In California, depart from the Central Pacific Railroad Passenger Station in Sacramento with help from the California State Railroad Museum.

Every holiday season, passengers interact with the book’s characters, then board a train bound for the North Pole, where Santa climbs aboard to gift each passenger a silver sleigh bell. Enjoy hot chocolate and a sweet treat served by dancing chefs in a railcar (tufted leatherette seats and wrought iron accents are among the fancy features) pulled by vintage locomotives from the museum’s collection. Select from coach, enclosed gondola or first-class tickets.

Dates: Nov. 14 to Dec. 21.

Cost: First class: $100-$110 per passenger, or $400-$440 for a table of four. Coach class: $80-$85 per passenger, or $320-$340 for a table of four in the enclosed gondola car.

The Candy Cane Express travels over the 156-year-old Virginia & Truckee Railroad rails.

Courtesy Virginia and Truckee Railroad

The Candy Cane Express, Nevada

Sip on a cup of Virginia City’s hot chocolate or apple cider while cruising along some of the most historic rails in the U.S. via the Candy Cane Express.

Passenger cars travel over the 156-year-old Virginia & Truckee Railroad, which in its heyday was used for hauling millions of dollars in gold and silver ore from area mines. Passengers will hear stories and sing Christmas carols on the way to the North Pole. Because the 50-minute route journeys through mustang territory, you might even spot some majestic horses along the way.

Every passenger receives a gift bag and light stick; children 4 years old and younger can ride on a lap for free.

Dates: Every weekend after Thanksgiving through Dec. 21.

Cost: $32.

Plan far ahead next year for these treasured train rides

Surprising though it may be, some holiday favorites sell out before summer’s end. Here are three train tours to consider getting tickets for long before the air gets nippy.

The Christmas Wine Train, Texas

Make a toast to a cheerful holiday season with locally made wines aboard authentic coaches from the 1920s. Train cars are festively decorated, and Christmas classics and other favorites play in the background of this two-hour adults-only excursion hosted by Grapevine Vintage Railroad, conveniently set along Main Street in Grapevine, the “Christmas Capital of Texas.” In addition to wine, passengers receive a souvenir wineglass and dessert. Santa and Mrs. Claus come along for the ride. For an elegant dinner with fine linens, buy premier tickets.

Cost: $56 per person; $112 for a bench that seats two people.

Christmas Dinner Train, Tennessee

Enjoy a fine meal prepared and served in restored dining and Pullman cars by a dining car superintendent and a team of attentive stewards and chefs. This 2.5-hour jaunt travels through urban East Chattanooga, then reverses direction to return to Tennessee Valley Railroad’s iconic Grand Junction Station.

Cost: $260 to $420.

North Pole Express, Michigan

Passengers are encouraged to wear their favorite pajamas or 1940s and ’50s attire for the Steam Railroading Institute’s nostalgic 4.5-hour excursion from Owosso to a nearby village’s country Christmas celebration. Choose from four different classes of service, leave with a souvenir ticket and “Believe” bell, and don’t miss the institute’s largest locomotive on display: the Pere Marquette 1225, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and starred in the 2004 classic movie The Polar Express.

Cost: $85 to $125 per passenger; private party prices available.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published Oct. 18, 2024. It has been updated with new information.

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Robin L. Flanigan is a contributing writer who covers mental health, education and human interest stories for national publications. She is a former reporter for several daily newspapers, and her work has appeared in People, USA Today and Education Week. She is the author of the children’s book M Is for Mindful.