Wednesday 2 December 2009

Train Trips from San Francisco

By Colin Jones

One of the greatest things about staying in San Francisco is the being near to some fantastic attractions. You can stay in one city yet visit several. You get not only the conveniences of the city, but the beauty of nature is not far away from almost any spot within the city. In fact, a short train ride will take you quickly to some nearby attractions that are definitely worth checking out.

One of the first train tours I want to talk about is not only a train tour but a bus and train tour. This trip goes from San Francisco to Yosemite Park. This trip involves transfers back and forth from bus to train but offers some stunning scenery and the ability to get pleasure from it without the anxiety of driving, rest stops and the need to stretch your legs.

Sometimes a little inconvenience is worth a lot more convenience later in your trip. The train portion of the tour lasts about three hours and you get to spend three hours in Yosemite. For some it is not worth the hassle and for others it is just what the doctor ordered - time to rest and relax while on the way. This is by far the most complicated of the train tours heading out of San Francisco.

The second tour is to wine country. The advantage of these tours lies in the fact that you can enjoy your wine tasting event without the anxiety of who is going to drive. Everyone in your party can get pleasure from the outing equally. Even more than that however, is that many tour groups have made the train ride itself more the event than the wine tasting.

With offerings such as four course meals and Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre for your entertainment it is no wonder that this has turned out to be an event of choice for many visitors to San Francisco. While this may be a more than moderately pricey option, it is well worth the expense. You can always cut overheads elsewhere in San Francisco to make up for the expense.

Roaring Camp Railroads provides two train rides that are both equally tempting in hugely different ways. The first is a excursion back in time. This is probably my favorite. On this excursion you travel to the top of Bear Mountain while listening to yarns about Roaring Camp's part. This train trip lasts for an hour and is great fun, especially for the little ones.

The second offering by Roaring Camp Railroads is the Beach Train, which will take you to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The round trip from Roaring Camp to Santa Cruz and back is about three hours and well worth every penny if you have a budding engineer among your children.

Maybe the most magical of train excursions is the Christmas Train tour from Oakdale. This trip includes Santa, his elves and a little Christmas magic. What more could you ask for? Well, I guess that that depends on whether you made the naughty list or the nice list. This train ride is magic for everyone that partakes, young and old alike will enjoy the magic that only Christmas can bring.

Whether you are a big kid, a little kid, or somewhere in between, I am ready to wager that the magic of a train ride has not been totally lost over the years. In fact, I am willing to bet that if you allow yourself to sit back and just enjoy yourself, you will enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

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