American train tours present unique opportunities for exploring many of the most interesting, historic, and scenic places in the United States. Train travel in itself is an experience unlike any other transportation method. What you can see when riding the rails isn’t anything like scenery from a plane, a bicycle, or even a car. Many American and Canada rail tours travel to places no other vehicles could ever get to. With rail lines blasted through mountains towering thousands of feet into the sky, there is simply no other way to see some of the most rugged places on earth but by train, but beyond that you have the option of traveling sometimes in luxury trains, sometimes on historical trains, and always in style.

Everyone has their own idea of what a perfect train ride equates to. Some feel the best railroad tours are weeks long, traversing plains, valleys, and mountains, revealing passing scenery at a leisurely pace. Others prefer shorter rides aboard historic US railroads or abbreviated versions of raw alpine avenues in Canada. The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has long-been one of the most favored American train tours since 1881, when the train hauled both freight and passengers along winding lines through San Juan National Forest. The Rocky Mountaineer offers Canada rail tours on a two-day excursion through the dramatic Rocky Mountains, departing from Vancouver and ending in either Jasper or Banff.

Another of the best railroad tours integrating sightseeing in both the United States and Canada is the Northwest Passage via Amtrak, traveling from Oregon to British Columbia over a twelve hour stretch. Mt Rainier is just one of the many attractions seen on the way north where agrarian backdrops, misty mountains, stunning cloud formations, abundant wildlife, and neverending trees come into view. Harbor seals in Puget Sound, cloud-cutting bald eagles, historic railway stations, and much more come to life along the laudable route. For shorter yet still exciting American train tours, head to West Virginia and hop aboard the Cass Scenic Railroad. Enjoy the eleven-mile jaunt slicing through its namesake state park along West Virginia’s east border. Up the mountain and over restored rails used in 1901 exhibits a feeling of nostalgia as open-air train cars offer splendid views.

Humbling travel along the best railroad tours in North America reminds the masses of all the little things missed each and every day that amount to some of the most stunning natural scenery on the continent. Alaska Railroad tours summon some of the most breathtaking vistas ever seen from a train window. Monumental landscapes pop before passengers as a testament to what’s ahead. Rough, raw, and wild landscapes stretching more than 500-miles can be seen via these American train tours. Leave Anchorage and traverse the Kenai Mountains, careen along the Turnagain Arm coastal stretch, see vivid beryl glaciers, and keep a keen eye for an abundance of bears and graceful moose.

Some of the best railroad tours in the United States are perfect for day trips or short tours from major tourist areas including several in California. Yosemite Railroad trains barrel on over a four-mile stretch on narrow gauge track on a historic tour near the south entrance of Yosemite. Niles Canyon Railway is another great testament to historic railways in the U.S. presenting all things rare and unusual in railway operations on the country’s Pacific Coast. The three-hour sojourn is the perfect accompaniment to sightseeing in San Francisco and the Bay Area.

Canada rail tours come in many exciting options and offer visitors the chance of exploring the rugged, natural beauty Canada is famous for. A multitude of Canada trains travel the Trans-Canada Route for one and two-week journeys with sleeper cars. Both east and west coast train tours broadcast the best of coastal life and scenery on Canada’s furthermost shores. Combination tours presenting train travel, bus journey’s, and plane rides whisk away to some of the hardest-to-reach places exposing striking backdrops in every season.