Vacations By Rail offers a 10-day motor coach and rail tour, which includes a train ride through the Smoky Mountains. The trip begins in Atlanta, Georgia, where guests can enjoy a downtown tour before traveling by motor coach to Asheville, North Carolina. Planned activities in Asheville include a city tour, a visit to the Basilica of St. Lawrence and a Biltmore Estate tour. On the fifth day of the journey, guests board the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad for a scenic mountain ride. The sixth day features a motor coach tour of the Cades Cove valley region in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with highlights including pioneer homesteads. Traveling from Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Nashville via motor coach, guests can end the day with accommodations at the Opryland Hotel. After departing Nashville, the tour travels to Memphis, where scheduled activities include a tour of historic Beale Street and the Peabody Hotel, a trip to Graceland and dinner at the Rendezvous Barbecue Restaurant. In Memphis, guests climb aboard a train for the final stop of the journey, Chicago, Illinois, where accommodations at the Drake Hotel await. The Vacations By Rail package departs in October 2011 and includes transportation, hotel accommodations and scheduled meals.
The Mystery Train Ride Vacation Package, offered by the Charleston Inn, includes lodging at the Charleston Inn in Bryson City, North Carolina and a three-hour excursion aboard the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad. The train, which departs from Bryson City, includes first-class seating, a three-course gourmet meal, a mystery performance and wine and cocktails for an extra charge. Accommodations at the Charleston Inn include breakfast, queen or king beds, Wi-Fi service, private bathrooms, cable televisions, Jacuzzi tubs, air conditioning and private decks. Available activities near the Charleston Inn include hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains, on the Appalachian Trail and in Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest.
The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad offers a vacation package that includes accommodations in the American Heritage Railways Presidential Suite in Bryson City, North Carolina and a round-trip train journey through the Smoky Mountains. The loft-style accommodations feature a full kitchen, two bedrooms with queen-size beds, a dining area, Wi-Fi Internet service, laundry facilities and a plasma television with satellite service. The suite overlooks the Bryson City Depot, where guests depart for an excursion through Nantahala Gorge. The vacation package include accommodations for two people and coach seating aboard the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad. Travelers can also choose from other vacation packages offered by the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad, which can include hotel accommodations and white water rafting adventures.
