5 Best Scenic Train Rides In Vermont

1. Green Mountain Railroad

Green Mountain Railroad offers various train tours–from fall scenery, dinner, murder mystery, and prohibition-inspired train journeys. Most offer snacks, unassigned seating, and special ticket discounts for seniors and the military during rides ranging from one to three hours in length. During the fall, passengers can hop on board to enjoy the spectacular reds, yellows, and oranges of deciduous trees from Rockingham to Chester as well as the Conneticut River, Brockway Mills Gorge, the Green Mountains and historic town river towns.

Green Mountain Railroad

Website: Green Mountain Railroad

2. Vermont Railway Inc.

The lounge 91 route offers passengers a chance to be taken back to the American prohibition era when alcohol was under ban. Sit back in the leather seats in the vintage lounge car while listening to live music and indulging in delicious hors d'oeuvres and cocktails. As your car passes by the beautiful, enjoy artists performing folk, rock, jazz, and various other music genres during your journey from Burlington to Middlebury. During the summer months, passengers can enjoy watching the lush meadows in full bloom with a colorful array of wildflowers, green mountain range, green forests of deciduous and coniferous trees, and stunning pastel sunsets over Lake Champlain from their windows during this three-hour train ride in Vermont.

Vermont Railway Inc.

Website: Vermont Railway Inc.

3. Ethan Allen Express

Running daily trains from New York’s Penn Station to Montreal, the Amtrak Adirondack route gives passengers amazing scenery to behold during a comfortable ten-hour journey through the Northeastern states. Enjoy views of Hudson Valley’s lush wine country and views of the majestic Adirondack mountain range as you venture through New York state. En route to Montreal, the ride stops at stations in New York to make connections to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. Visitors looking to travel to Vermont have the option of getting off at the Ticonderoga Ferry stop which offers seasonal service to Shoreham or Port Kent. Otherwise, the train only stops on days when there is seasonal ferry service to Burlington. During the summer months guests can enjoy views of fields full of wild flowers, and spectacular scenery of the trees clothed in reds, oranges, yellows, and browns during the autumn as they travel through various states on to Montreal.

Ethan Allen Express

Website: Ethan Allen Express

4. Vermonter

Offering daily service between Washington, D.C. and St. Albans, Vermont, Amtrak’s Vermonter service journeys through Washington, New York City, Connecticut, Massachusettes, New Hampshire, and finishes in Vermont. The route allows passengers to experience the scenic vistas of lakes, rivers, small historic villages, and the Vermont green mountains during an almost 14-hour train ride. During the ride, guests can enjoy full service meals or snacks while reclining in their blue leather seats. On the evening trains, passengers can enjoy the privacy of sleeping in their own car with bedrooms arranged in various configurations and take advantage of private and public bathrooms and showers so they can arrive at their final destination feeling refreshed.

Vermonter

Website: Vermonter

5. Champlain Valley Dinner Train

Editor's Note: Photo taken from the establishment's official social account

Experience one of the best Vermont foliage train rides, get into your best dress or suit for this tour and board the Green Mountain Railroad’s Champlain Valley Dinner train for a romantic journey across the rails through Champlain Valley, from Burlington to Middlebury. Once onboard you will be able to enjoy a three-course meal: a salad; chicken piccata crusted in panko crumbs in a white wine herb butter sauce and rice pilaf; or steak au poivre sitting atop garlic mashed potatoes covered in a brandy-peppercorn sauce; and a stuffed portobello tower with sauteed spinach, white beans, and ratatouille. During the three-hour weekend evening round-trips during the summer and fall months, passengers can enjoy watching the beautiful forested and mountain landscapes of Vermont rolling past their car windows. Finish off the evening by ordering a glass of champagne to sip while indulging in one of the chef’s weekly dessert creations as you behold the majestic sunset of pinks and blues setting over Lake Champlain and its surrounding islands.

Champlain Valley Dinner Train

Website: Green Mountain Railroad

Exploration of Vermont by train travel

Samuel de Champlain, who explored a majority of northeastern Canada and the United States, would be envious of today’s explorers who can merely take the train and see the scenery through these regions without having to fell trees, combat neighboring tribes, canoe across great lakes and rivers, and hike across majestic mountain ranges. Today passengers can take a day or half-day tour of the state of Vermont while enjoying the historic villages, green mountains, and magnificent Lake Champlain passing by their windows. During evening dinner tours passengers can sit back and indulge in a three-course dinner consisting of the Samuel de Champlain salad, a steak dinner, and dessert prepared by a chef instead of having to hunt it in the surrounding forests. Passengers also have the upper hand in that they can enjoy air-conditioned cars in the summer and heated cars in the fall as they take in the stunning scenery on their Vermont scenic train ride.