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Updated 2025-05-16T19:12:04Z
- After a dayslong roadworthy trip, I was sick of driving, truthful I hopped on the Grand Canyon Railway.
- The bid departs from Williams, Arizona, and drops travelers disconnected astatine the park's South Rim.
- The thrust took doubly arsenic agelong arsenic driving, but it was a caller mode to research a nationalist park.
By the clip I reached Williams, Arizona, my hands felt permanently bound to my van's steering wheel. My backmost ached, making maine consciousness decades older than I really am, and my legs cramped from being successful the aforesaid presumption for hours.
It was lone time 4 of my 13-day roadworthy trip. I had covered 800 miles and spent acold excessively agelong successful my rented Ram ProMaster van.
Simply put, I needed a interruption from driving.
Thankfully, that's wherefore I was successful Williams successful the archetypal place. The tiny Arizona municipality is location to the Grand Canyon Railway.
Instead of driving different 2 hours round-trip to the nationalist park, I decided to fto idiosyncratic other bash the driving and hopped connected the train.
A fewer days earlier arriving successful Arizona, I bought my bid summons for astir $80.
The Grand Canyon Railway has six antithetic people options. The bottom-tier people is the Pullman class, wherever round-trip tickets outgo $70. The highest tiers are the luxury parlor and luxury dome, wherever tickets outgo $240. These prices bash not see a $35 parkland introduction fee.
When picking my bid class, I was conscionable blessed to beryllium connected a train. I opted for the second-tier manager summons connected the mode to the Grand Canyon and a Pullman summons connected the mode home. Besides design, the main quality I spotted betwixt the 2 classes was that the manager people offers aerial conditioning, portion the Pullman car does not.
Altogether, I paid $82 for the thrust successful October 2023.
The escapade would beryllium an all-day affair. The bid leaves astatine 9:30 a.m., and visitors get backmost successful Williams astatine astir 5:45 p.m.
The bid thrust takes astir 2 hours and 15 minutes, compared to an hr by car.
Passengers person astir 3 ½ hours to research the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.
I arrived astatine the station's ticketing bureau astir 8:30 a.m. to prime up my printed tickets and drawback a coffee.
The bid depot successful Williams was built successful 1910.
Then, I headed to a small arena for a performance. The acquisition includes much than conscionable transportation. Musicians and actors are connected board, creating an Old West consciousness passim the ride.
A radical of cowboy actors lined an Old West-style acceptable and acted retired a cliché shootout.
Sure, it was a small gimmicky, but aft traveling on Route 66 and exploring America's aged Art Deco movement, I learned to clasp it.
After the show, I recovered my manager car and boarded the train. At 9:30 a.m., we were disconnected to the Grand Canyon.
The manager car was lone astir fractional full, truthful each the passengers could drawback a model spot to respect the ponderosa conifer forests and grasslands we were traveling through.
Between stories, the passengers spotted wildlife successful the distance.
Within the archetypal 10 minutes of the journey, idiosyncratic from our bid car spotted a bald eagle. Throughout the remainder of the trip, we besides saw cattle, horses, and pronghorns.
About an hr into the ride, I headed to the bid café, which sold chips, candy, sodas, beer, and different snacks.
I grabbed immoderate pretzels and peanut M&M's for the remainder of the ride.
As we got person to our destination, I waited for the monolithic valleys, reddish rocks, and striking landscapes to travel into view. Instead, each I saw was grassland and forest.
Little did I cognize that you can't spot immoderate portion of the Grand Canyon from the train. Instead, aft disembarking, the canyon is simply a abbreviated locomotion away.
Once we arrived, I had astir 3 hours to research the nationalist park. Initially, I feared it wouldn't beryllium astir capable time.
I've spent full days wandering done Arches National Park and Zion National Park.
But an day was perfect for a archetypal look astatine the Grand Canyon's South Rim.
While I could've easy spent days successful the park, an day offered an perfect sensation of its offerings.
I spent astir an hr walking a conception of the Rim Trail, a paved way that gives visitors a presumption into the canyon. I besides wandered done the visitant center, acquisition shop, and restaurants.
Around 3 p.m., I headed backmost to the train. This time, I was successful a Pullman car.
Though it was the little class, I enjoyed the Pullman car a spot more. The seats were a tad much comfortable, and the full abstraction felt a spot much historic. Plus, I was traveling successful the fall, truthful the aerial conditioning successful manager people was an unnecessary perk. (I wasn't adjacent definite it was on.) If it had been the tallness of Arizona's summer, I would person picked coach.
After settling into the emerald-green bid car, we near promptly astatine 3:30 p.m.
The day thrust was filled with much euphony and different cowboy skit.
Both a violinist and a guitarist played for passengers during the ride.
The time connected the bid was a amusive mode to research the Grand Canyon, and, thankfully, I ne'er had to get successful the driver's seat.
We arrived backmost successful Williams and ended the time with a stunning sunset.
I returned from the daylong escapade energized and nary longer dreading the thrust ahead.
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