Great Smoky Mountains Railroad

Kids love it, which is the most important thing. Don’t expect to be too excited as an adult. «The North Pole» is a little sketchy, lol. But the idea is fun for kids.
We had servers on our car that were less than enthusiastic. The windows on the train fog up so it gets hard to see and the car gets pretty warm. By the time we were done with the ride, our 3 year old and a lot of other children his age had had enough… lots of crying and screaming.
Not trying to sound like a grinch here, lol. I absolutely love Christmas and our son had a good time. Just trying to be realistic though and put it all out there for everyone.

Maybe I was just so very excited about the potential that the Polar Express ride represented. I really went into this experience with high hopes. As a Unilocaler, I was very careful to read reviews beforehand and do a little homework. Although there were quite a few that talked about travel during the rest of the year, there weren’t many comments about the Polar Express. Most of the comments made referrals to not so scenic rusty and dilapidated trailer parks along the route.
First let me say, this must be a huge tradition for families. It was packed to the gills. Everywhere you looked there were children and grownups alike wearing their pajamas (many of which matched — and yes, even gramma and peepaw). We chose the 5PM departure, so our trip would start out while it was still light and would be able to see lights as the sun set.
We sat in the Palm section (second tier in the price range). The train was clean and decorated nicely but also kind of plain. It was very cold and they may have turned the heat on once, but not for long. There are some nice scenic views, houses with lights and yes, a few trailers, but that’s all part of the landscape up here. Everyone is served hot cocoa in a souvenir/​commemorative mug and given a chocolate chip cookie. Some girls, what looked to be high school aged girls (likely seasonal help) in chef costumes, sang and danced a bit in the aisles. The train stopped at the «North Pole» which although not very grand looking to adults was probably cool for young kids. Christmas music was played and the book was read over the loud speaker while the «chefs» showed pictures from the book. Then Santa came around with his elf for photo ops and to hand out bells for children to ring if they believe in Santa.
It was just okay. It was definitely overpriced for what it was. For three adults and two kids it was almost $ 300. Other than the excitement of my kids (who would probably rate it 3 to 4 stars and could be equally excited with an activity that costs far less money), I didn’t really find any value in it. Between the train, parking and the gift shop, this place is making money hand over fist. Oh, and I forgot to mention the photographer that comes around taking family photos to sell. You know that when they go ahead and print them before even asking if you want the product, that it doesn’t cost them much to produce ($ 2-​$ 3 worth of material and then charge $ 22). I know, I know, I’m being a real Scrooge. My advice is this, if it’s already a family tradition and your kids love it, keep going. If feel you have to go, do it once, and you can see for yourself. You could really have quite the night on the town for $ 300 though…

We cannot say enough good things about this train ride… however spend the extra cash and get the first class, its not worth the monies you save to take any of the other cars! the food was amazing, the staff were great and the whole experience was fantastic!

We love it. We have been twice! Once in October of 2012 & October of 2015. Both times, we opted for the adult cars & both times we had lunch or brunch. The first trip was so much fun, perfect weather and good food. They also serve drinks on board. Alcoholic and non acoholic drinks. We had a nice lunch and some wine on the first ride. On the second trip, it was called the Carolina Shine train. We got to sample 7 different flavors of moonshine which was fun! They also had drinks you could order that had moonshine in them. The train ride itself is scenic for the most part, but sometimes there is kudzu growing on both sides and you lose the view… So, talk to one another if you can’t watch the scenery. You get to see Fontana lake & the houseboats on the lake. It’s a nice train ride. Now, the brunch wasn’t that good. They gave you two choices: quiche or a cheesy ham casserole. They ran out of the quiche, but made up for it by offering a free drink! Oh, almost forgot to mention. The open air cars are COLD, if it’s cold outside. We had some of the people come into our car to get warm… They should have paid a little more to ride inside! If you lIke train rides, you’ll like this one!

Had a near perfect experience with our toddler today on her first train ride to and from the Peanuts themed pumpkin patch. Events like this don’t always go well for us and go be frank our toddler wasn’t on her very best behavior while on some of the attractions in the pumpkin patch. However, I was delighted to see how helpful the staff was when they could see our toddler was upset and even more pleased with the quality of backdrops put out for the Peanuts theme.
We even had a delay coming back from the patch, but the staff was on top of it and made sure all passengers knew what was going on and even let people back off the train to enjoy the pumpkin patch for an extra 40 mins.
Highly recommended this to anyone looking for something to do with their children!

The ride over all was a nice trip. My train loving son has a great time. The facilities were clean and kept clean throughout our trip.
When we purchased our tickets we were told that they were for the open air car and that they were first come first serve. We were directed to the end of the train to board and told to get in line early to get a good seat. We did all of the above and even got my son excited for the open air car.
It is at this point that things went downhill. The systems that are in place are totally disorganized. After we went where we were directed the train began to move to ready itself for our journey. This ment our group and a few others that had been waiting about 45 mins to board were now at the end of the line. Then once we were able to board our tickets were not for the open air cars but for a closed passenger car. This ment our group of 5 (3 adults and 2 children) had to split up.
Once to the gorge we only had about 30 or 45 mins to eat and look at sights. It was not nearly enough time because you really only have time to eat at a quick service BBQ restaurant. Most of your time is spent walking to and from the train and standing in line for food.

We bought tickets for this and were super excited. We did the gorge with no add ons. Maybe that was our mistake.
First, ordering isn’t super straightforward. Calling is hit or miss if you get someone to answer. Then it is difficult to coordinate with others.
Second, we sat in the general seating not realizing it is a first come, first serve for seating… and there aren’t enough seats for everyone they sell tickets for. It is a little ridiculous. We had singles of our group squeezed into half seats at the end of benches.
Third, you get NO time to eat or see at the NOC. They could have dropped everyone not rafting off on the way by but you drive past it and then hit it on the way back. So your meal has to be to go just to make it back in 50 mins to the train. And getting off the train takes forever bc they had one door open for several cars of people to exit.
Overrated and over priced. I wouldn’t recommend this. And they charge you for parking.

What a great train! My fiancé’ and I rode the Carolina Shine train and had a blast. It’s an overall 4 hour ride that included moonshine sampling along with some of the best pulled pork I’ve had in a while. With it came a couple souvenir mason jars as well as shot glasses.
The moonshine selection was pretty good but me not being a huge moonshine fan I stuck with the beer selections they had on board (IPA and blonde ale). The car we were in was extremely comfortable and the views were great seeing as how the weather really cooperated with us that day.
There is a layover on the turnaround trek that allows about an hour at an outdoor center with a general store, bar/​restaurant and some general outdoor gear shopping available.

A group of us came up to Bryson City to do the Nantahala Gorge train ride. One of the best times all of us have ever had! The ride was so relaxing and the scenery was great. Hearing the stories and music on the train was a great touch. We did the adult only car (MacNeil). The food was great and the cash drink selection was quite good. Service was top notch. Big shout out to our server Renee. The stop at the Nantahala Outdoor Center was also pretty good. Too bad it wasn’t a bit longer. The whole experience was way over our expectations. So much fun. We will be doing this again.

The train ride was great! We had excellent service. The cups they give you are really nice. The museum was great. The limited food we could buy from the concession cart (see below) I felt was reasonably priced. The museum was great as well. We plan on going back soon
If you have special dietary needs such as gluten free which we were you need to bring you own food. The website does not mention that they do not allow coolers on the train. They however have signs posted in the parking lot and at the ticket counter about this. We had already packed a cooler not knowing this. We explained out situation and were allowed to bring our food own.

We took the Polar Express train to the North Pole on Nov. 25. We rode on the Piedmont Car our Santa Helpers were Tink and Tiny Tim, they were awesome! We had a great time, yes the «North Pole» could have been alittle more «North Poleish» but our grandchildren believed and that is all that matters… It was well worth the money spent. Like anything else it is what you make it, wear your Christmas PJ’s, bring your Polar Express book and have Santa sign it, enjoy your awesome hot chocolate and cookie and sing the Christmas carols loud!

Before I talk about the ride, let’s talk about the museum/​gift shop.
It kept my children entertained for hours with Grandma while the rest of us went white water rafting.
We reserved the train/​raft combo offered by the Nanthalaha Outpost Company.
Which means we rode the train up to the outpost and departed there. The train stops there for an hour anyways before then returning back. We just rafted back instead.
Had we done the train ride back again it might have, perhaps, been a little boring to have seen the same stuff twice.

An organization I belong to, the French Broad chapter of Mensa, reserved the caboose for a trip from Bryson City to the Nantahala Outdoor Center on October 25, and it turned out to be an enjoyable experience from start to finish.
We parked in the railroad’s parking lot ($ 5) and lucked into a space near the Depot. We were early, so we spent 45 minutes walking Everett Street and spent a little time in the wonderful little Swain County Museum in the old Courthouse building. It just opened this year, and they’ve done a great job with it. It’s free, though you can make a donation.
Then we headed back to board the caboose, which happened to be at the most convenient possible spot for us. The caboose is reserved for groups of up to 15, and to get the date we wanted our group had to reserve back in January.
The caboose has only one disadvantage: Although you can stand outside and enjoy the fresh air, you can’t move to any other part of the train, so you have to bring your own snacks. The caboose has its own restroom and a variety of seats — living room-​style chairs, a table or two and a small upstairs observation area.
I’ve done the Bryson City-​Dillsboro trip but prefer this route into the Nantahala Gorge. You pass part of Fontana Lake (which is drawn down this time of year) and for part of the trip follow the Nantahala River so you can watch rafters on the river.
The whole trip is about 4 ½ hours, including a one-​hour stop at NOC. That may appeal to some but not others. We took the opportunity to go to one of the NOC restaurants, Rivers End, and have a frosty cold Nantahala microbrew.
The best part of the trip was standing at the end of the caboose in the fresh air and sunshine. The ride is a little rough, due to the condition of the railroad road bed, and you have to be careful walking around the caboose even at the 30 mph speed of the train. Getting on and off the caboose requires walking backwards up and down a couple of steps on a steep ladder (this might pose difficulty for someone with a lot of mobility challenges.)
As others have stated, the railroad does not take a particularly scenic route, either this one or the Dillsboro trip. It’s at a low elevation and in places you pass a lot of kudzu and junky mobile homes. But it’s nice to see Fontana and there was some good fall color.
Bryson City has really boomed with the move of the railroad depot from Dillsboro to Bryson City. Yes, it’s a little touristy, but there are some interesting old buildings in and near Bryson City if you know where to look. For example, Horace Kephart, author of the classic Our Southern Highlanders and one of the main forces behind the Great Smokies Park, lived for a time in an apartment above Bennett’s Drug Store, which building still stands at 32 Everett St.
Plus the local entrance to the Great Smokies Park is one of my favorites, with the tube floating and nice picnic area, plus you do the drive on the «Road to Nowhere.»
The Cork and Bean and The Filling Station are good spots to eat, though on an October weekend expect long lines at meal times. The Sleep Inn motel is the best of the few motels in Bryson City, but there are several classic old inns nearby, such as the Freyemont Inn on a hill above Bryson City and the homey Hemlock Inn out in the country. The original co-​owner of the Fryemont Inn, Lillian Regina Rowe Frye, was the first female graduate of UNC Law School and the first woman admitted to the NC Bar. The Fryemont Inn is worth a visit, even if you don’t stay there. Note the poplar bark on the outside and the chestnut paneling and large stone fireplace inside the original part of the inn
The only small negative is that you have to pay for parking, on top of the rather steep fares on the train (though our group paid part of our members’ fares, so this trip cost us just $ 25 each, a real deal.) Anyway, the parking fee feels a little like grubbing the tourists for that last few dollars.
To enjoy the railroad trip, Bryson City and the Great Smokies park, I advise getting a good guidebook and reading up on the area before you go. In the past year, I’ve written three guides to the area myself, including Moving to the Mountains, the WNC sections of Fodor’s Carolinas & Georgia and Amazing Asheville, but there are some other good guides, such as the Insiders’ Guide.

We had a great time! We rode in the first class car on the morning route. There were only 6 people in the whole car! They said the afternoon trip would be much more crowded. We had the Carolina Shine experience which is only for adults. We had lunch, and sampled 7 kinds of moonshine. The food was great. The service was great. And, the train car was incredibly comfortable. We’ll be doing that again.

While on vacation my husband and I took an enjoyable ride in first class. For $ 94.00 ea. we got an adult only car with lunch, dessert and cocktails. While we were on the train a banjo player came in and sang for us and our server was fast on his feet!

Cool ride thru the mountains

Enforced Idleness
The thing about trains is that there is nothing to do but sit and look out the window. In this world of hustle and bustle, this enforced idleness is a rare commodity that I treasure. The first class accommodations in the McNeil Car that we had were wonderful. Renee, our server was down home wonderful and we had great seats to view the passing forest. No matter what class of service you choose, however, I am sure you’ll have a great time.

Our party of 12 took the Tuskasegee River train ride. We were expecting scenic views but only saw RV parks, dilapidated houses and mobile homes. The views were actually pretty depressing. We stopped in a little town called Dillsboro around lunchtime. It was a quaint small town with over priced keepsakes and chocolates for tourists buy could not support the amount of people on the train in terms of food venues so we were forced to go back to the train and order their overpriced hotdogs and pulled pork sandwiches and grab size chips, The train staff was nice but the train itself could use some cleanup and definitely re-​think the route. Not worth the amount of money

Way too expensive for what you get. Very unorganized. Ordered open air seats online, received enclosed seats at the ticket window. When we boarded the train, there were very few seats available and those that were open were being «saved» by other passengers. The on train staff was very accommodating and found us a few open air seats after the train started moving.
Like most other posters have commented, if you like to look at miles of kudzu and junky mobile homes this is the trip for you. The views from ride over Fontana Lake, however, were beautiful.
We stopped at NOC for lunch but once the train was parked and everybody was shuttled off there was about 30 minutes to shop and eat. Not the hour we were promised. This led to a mad dash for the restaurant and is shoveling down our food on the train. Thumbs down.
It’s a fun ride for kids if you have the money to burn but you’d be better served by spending the money in Bryson City at the many shops and restaurants.

My husband and I took the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad trip to the Nantahala Outdoor Center this past weekend and it was a really good experience. I tend to get motion sickness and took medication prior to the trip so that I didn’t have any issues. I don’t know if it was the medication or if the type of movement of the train — it did not bother me a bit. The train moved slowly and gently rocked as it meandered along the tracks.
We went first class and I would highly recommend that for others that can do it. The staff were very friendly — we were visited by several people giving us information about the railroad and the area. We had a banjo player stop by for a few songs and a sing along. There was a nice fellow taking pictures of everyone (for purchase before the ride ends). The meal was really good and the service was very friendly. The stop at the Outdoor Center was beautiful. I’m sure they were trying to drum up business for the outdoor activities… but the area was relaxing and scenic.
The only reason I didn’t rate this a 5 is because of our seats. We were sitting on the side of the train that was away from the river. We did not know when we booked the tickets and picked the seats that there was a ‘better’ side to sit on. Both sides had nice views of Fontana Lake and the lake views, but the river runs along one side of the train for much of the ride. We did not have a good view of that. The side you want is the side that is closest to the Depot… We were in the MacNeill car and it’s the side that they have tables for four (makes sense now, they sit the most people on the side with the best view)… we were on the side that had 2 people to a table.
We enjoyed ourselves and would recommend this excursion.