Napa Valley Wine Train

The Napa Valley Wine Train is the easiest way to see the length of Napa Valley in a single sitting, and the only one where the whole party gets to drink. Trains leave from the station at 1275 McKinstry Street, a few minutes on foot from the Oxbow Public Market and downtown Napa, and run a 36-mile round trip up the valley floor to St. Helena and back along a rail line whose roots go back to the 1860s. The cars are the show: restored Pullman dining and lounge cars in polished mahogany, brass and etched glass, plus a two-story Vista Dome car with a glass roof for the premium experience. The core product is the Gourmet Express, a lunch or dinner journey of roughly three hours with a multi-course meal cooked on board, coffee and dessert, and a welcome glass of wine, with more wine available by the glass or bottle from a list built around the valley. Longer packages add winery stops — the Grgich Hills tour pairs a two-hour ride with a tour and tasting, and the full-day Legacy Experience strings together several estates by train and coach — and the calendar fills out with seasonal runs, from murder-mystery dinners to the Santa Train in December. The view is the honest headline rather than the food: Highway 29's famous names slide by one after another — Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford — with the Mayacamas on one side and the Vaca range on the other, which makes the train an excellent first-day orientation. It is not cheap, the menu is banquet-style rather than destination dining, and the train does not stop for photographs, but for couples, celebrations and anyone who wants a designated driver built into the ticket, it is the valley's signature day out.

The line itself is a slice of valley history. Napa's first railroad was laid in the 1860s, when Sam Brannan — the entrepreneur who also founded the Calistoga resort — wanted visitors carried up the valley to his hot springs. Passenger service faded in the automobile age, freight hung on, and in 1989 the Wine Train began running restored early-twentieth-century Pullman cars on the old right of way. Several decades and multiple upgrades later, the train is one of the most recognizable sights in the valley; you will see its burgundy-and-gold cars from tasting-room terraces all day.

Choosing a journey. The Gourmet Express lunch is the default and the best value; dinner trains run in the evening and are more atmospheric in summer, when the light lasts the whole ride, than in winter, when the second half is in the dark. The Vista Dome upgrade gets you upstairs under the glass with a more refined menu, and it is worth it for anniversaries. Winery-stop packages such as the Grgich Hills tour suit first-timers who want one guided tasting without driving; the full-day Legacy Experience is a big commitment and best for people who want the whole day handled. Children are welcome on select journeys such as the lunch train, with children's rates only on some packages, so check before booking. You can bring your own bottle for a corkage fee, which is reduced if you buy wine in the train's shop.

Practicals. Check in about an hour before departure, give yourself time to find parking near the station, and dress smart-casual — it is a dining room on rails, not a costume party. Tickets bought through Tiqets cover the journey, the multi-course meal and a welcome glass of wine; cocktails, extra drinks and gratuities are separate, and those tickets are nonrefundable, so book once your dates are fixed. Pair the train with a morning at the Oxbow Public Market, a few minutes away, or end the day with a stroll along the Napa River downtown. Because the train turns around in St. Helena, it does not reach Calistoga or Castello di Amorosa; plan those for another day.