Explore America’s National Parks
Jul 14, 2020 · By Vacations By Rail
Learn about popular destinations included in our national park tours as well as the iconic trains, cozy accommodations and authentic experiences.
Read more2024 Tour code: RM-GPSR-24
About the tour
Your 7-day round-trip itinerary from Seattle includes travel aboard Amtrak's scenic Empire Builder, accommodations in historic lodges and visits to breathtaking natural attractions including the famed Going-to-the-Sun Road on board the Red Jammer buses.
Highlights
What’s included
Itinerary
Board Amtrak's Empire Builder at Seattle's King Street Station and prepare for your 4:40 pm departure. Chat with fellow travelers, read, or listen to music as you travel east, leaving majestic Mount Rainier, the looming Space Needle and the glistening waters of Puget Sound in your wake. Watch the sunset from the Sightseer Lounge or enjoy a presentation about the area through which you're traveling given by volunteer park rangers as part of the Trails and Rails program. Overnight train.
Additional information
Hotels
Train
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Reviews
4.3 / 5 · 19 reviews
YVONNE ENG
Submitted 10/Aug
Timing is everything and when your train is 3 hours late leaving Seattle, the rest of the schedule gets thrown out the window. It didn't help that the toilets in our car stopped working about four hours before we arrived at our final destination. The activities that were included in the tour package where great and with some adjustments on timing, we enjoyed both the boat ride on St Mary's Lake and the bus tour through Glacier was fantastic. The one thing I would change is the "lodge hopping" from the Great Northern lodge to St Mary's. All of the tour activities did have transportation services from both lodges, so if we ever consider this trip again, we would prefer to stay all four nights in one or the other lodge.
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KATHLEEN TURNBULL
Submitted 26 Sep 2022
Our trip was cancelled because of potential railway strike. We are waiting to hear about reimbursement.
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KATHLEEN HENKEL
Submitted 08 Sep 2022
Would have been perfect but we were downgraded to a roomette on the train back to Seattle.
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GARY CARL BARTHOLOMEW
Submitted 30 Aug 2022
The initial trip from Seattle to park the BATHROOM STOPPED WORKING at EVERETT station and the door handle broke. Waiting for refund information. The BATHROOM on the return trip to Seattle DID NOT WORK. Was instructed to use roomette#20 for the return trip.
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PAIGE DURAN
Submitted 28 Aug 2022
Had a very bad train ride from Seattle to Glacier National Park. Train was 3 hours late, didn’t feed us the dinner that was already paid for, toliets wouldn’t flush, shower water cold. Staff was irritated and rude. Bought food from snack bar and staff wouldn’t let us eat it in the dining room. We were in a roomet and nobody showed us how to set up the bottom bed so, my husband sat up all night. The next morning there was no coffee in the kiosk next to our room so I went to the dinning room. I was told by staff that I needed to get my coffee from the kiosk. They told me I couldn’t be in the dinning room and ran me out. I want a refund.
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MARTIN KEEGAN
Submitted 31 Jul 2022
All the accommodations and transportation was spot on. However, we were very disappointed with the stops after the train ride. The first night at East Glacier Lodge was fine as there could be possible delays that day (and Greer was a 7 hour train delay from Seattle to East Glacier). The transfer to St Mary’s lodge went smoothly. Unfortunately arrived hours before check in. Vacation by rail gave us no indication we would be without a room for 3+ hours. However, both lodges were beautiful. The worst logistical problem was the arrangement to take us back to East Glacier Lodge early in the morning before our train back to Seattle the next day. Our train did not leave till 8 pm the following day! So we were a captive audience from 11am we arrived back to East Glacier until the following evening at 7 pm or 32 hours with nowhere to go. That was an unproductive 32 hours. A more logical approach would have been to stay one more evening in St Marys and enjoy the National park! Then shuttle back the day of the train departure. Very disappointing. Other than those logistics, everything else was spot on.That scheduling snafu was painful though
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