Train trips are a great way to spend time with grandchildren – it’s structured and scheduled, there are fun stops along the way, and you don’t have to worry about driving. I recently took my two grandchildren – Eric (11) and Stephanie (9) – on a 4-day Colorado train tour. We met at the Chicago Union Station and boarded the California Zephyr for a 2:00pm departure to Denver
We paid up a little bit for a bedroom to share because I wanted the kids to have a little bit more privacy than offered in the reclining coach seats and everyone was given 2-3 hours alone in the room if needed. We spent most evenings siting together in the lounge car watching the scenery pass.
We woke up to a view of the Rockies – pulling into Denver just after 7. We spent the day at Rocky Mountain National Park. We then checked into a hotel where the three of us had a suite. The next day we spent at the Garden of the Gods and Georgetown Loop. The Georgetown Loop Railway was so much fun – a narrow gauge train traversed the true wild! The kids were simply gleeful about it!
All this and we still had the train trip back to Chicago to look forward to. This was a great trip, the kids had so much fun. When we weren’t playing cards or other games, they were reading or just gazing out the window.
I highly suggest this kind of trip just for the bonding and togetherness of it.