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Rolling Around the USA: A Christmas Train Tour

Start at the stop closest to you — we plan the rest. One pass, ten tracks, thirty days. Amtrak’s USA Rail Pass becomes a rolling Christmas tour of America’s great city lights — one full loop of the country. Shown from New Orleans, the Crescent carries you to the National Christmas Tree in Washington, DC, then it’s on to the Rockefeller Center tree in New York and Chicago’s Christkindlmarket, west across the Rockies through Denver and Salt Lake City to San Francisco, down the coast to Los Angeles, and home through Tucson and San Antonio. And because it’s a loop, you don’t have to start in New Orleans — start and finish at whichever stop is closest to you.

Hotels — $3,120 for 23 nights per room.

Complete packages from about $69 per person per day — $2,059 per person ($4,118 for two people) — premium packages available. Planning estimates — see Packages & pricing below.

See the Christmas route Is the pass worth it?
$499One flat price
10Rides (segments)
30 daysTo use them
500+Destinations
Under $50Per ride

How much Christmas is left to book?

Less than you’d think — and December trains are the first to fill their pass seats. The famous lightings happen fast: the National Christmas Tree and the Rockefeller Center tree both light in late November / early December, and Christkindlmarket runs from late November to Christmas Eve. If this Christmas is your Christmas, the move is to start now: let Travel Magic Network secure your pass and reserve every segment and hotel while the good dates are still open. Reading this after the season? The same tour books beautifully a year ahead — and early birds get the pick of the trains.

How the pass works

The USA Rail Pass is one fixed-price bundle of train rides. You don’t have to ride our Christmas loop — any 10 segments, anywhere Amtrak goes, count the same. Here’s the rhythm of it:

1

Book your pass with us

$499 per person — secured through Travel Magic Network. Every traveler needs their own pass — including kids. Contact Tiffany to reserve yours.

2

Start within 120 days

Buying starts a 120-day window to take your first ride. Nothing is locked to a single train until you reserve each segment.

3

Ride 30 days

Your first ride starts the clock: 30 days to use your 10 segments. Reserve each ride in advance — the pass alone isn’t a ticket.

What counts as one segment?

A segment is one boarding: every time you get on a train (or scheduled Amtrak service), that’s one. Try it:

That’s the whole game: connections spend segments. A well-planned route leans on Amtrak’s long-distance trains — one boarding can carry you 2,000+ miles — instead of burning rides on short hops and changes. Our Christmas loop below is built exactly that way: stopping in every city on the loop uses exactly 10 segments — all ten of the pass’s rides, none to spare. Every hop is a direct long-distance train, so not one ride is wasted on a connection.

The Christmas loop, mapped

It’s a loop — there’s no fixed start or finish. We show it from New Orleans: board the Crescent straight to Washington, DC — up through Atlanta and the Carolinas, one train the whole way — then roll on to New York City and take the Lake Shore Limited direct to Chicago. From Chicago the California Zephyr crosses the plains to Denver, climbs through the Rockies to Salt Lake City, and crosses the Sierra to San Francisco (Amtrak’s station is Emeryville, just across the bay). The Coast Starlight runs down the coast to Los Angeles, and the Sunset Limited carries you home through Tucson and San Antonio to New Orleans. Start and finish at whichever stop is closest to you — the loop is the same circle from any city on it. Stopping in every city uses exactly 10 segments — all ten of the pass’s rides, none to spare. Every leg shows its estimated time on the train and how many days we’d give each stop — a sample pacing that lands inside the pass’s 30 days with room to breathe.

Travel Magic Network Christmas lights loop map: a gold string of Christmas lights circling the United States in a loop — from New Orleans up to Washington DC and New York City, west to Chicago, Denver, and Salt Lake City, on to San Francisco and Los Angeles, then east through Tucson and San Antonio back to New Orleans. The ten stops are numbered 1 to 10 in order, and because it is a loop, travelers can start and finish at any stop.
The Christmas lights loop, in order. The gold line is a string of Christmas lights: shown from New Orleans, it works its way around the whole country city by glowing city — up the East Coast, across the Rockies, down the West Coast, and home across the Southwest — and arrives back where it started. It’s a circle, so your start is whichever numbered stop is closest to you.
New Orleans→ Washington, DC→ New York City→ Chicago→ Denver→ Salt Lake City→ San Francisco→ Los Angeles→ Tucson→ San Antonio→ New Orleans

Pick the stop closest to you — the loop below re-orders itself to start and finish there, same trains, same order, same 10 rides. Every stop gets at least 2 days.

Sample pacing: fits in 30 days

Days at each stop, with the train time rolled in as we go — shown from New Orleans. No stop gets less than 2 days. All leg times are estimated from published Amtrak schedules.

The math, from any start: 23 days in stops (New Orleans 2 · Washington, DC 3 · New York 2 · Chicago 3 · Denver 2 · Salt Lake City 2 · San Francisco 2 · Los Angeles 3 · Tucson 2 · San Antonio 2) plus about 6½ days aboard = ≈29½ of the pass’s 30 days — with about ½ a day of slack. The riding uses all 10 segments — one direct train for every city-to-city hop — and the totals are the same whichever city you start from. Want a stop longer or shorter? We’ll re-plan the pacing around you.

Planning note — the Sunset Limited: the train out of Los Angeles toward Tucson, San Antonio, and New Orleans runs only three days a week, departing Los Angeles on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. That’s why Los Angeles gets three days in this pacing: the stop is built to land you on a departure day without rushing the city. Starting in Los Angeles? Your very first ride is that Sunset Limited, so your start day has to be a Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday.

The fine print that matters

None of this is a deal-breaker — but it’s exactly the stuff that surprises people, so here it is up front, straight from Amtrak’s pass terms:

Coach class only

Wide, reclining seats, a big picture window, ample legroom, and no middle seat. Upgrades to Business Class or a private room (roomette/bedroom) are not available with the pass.

Two clocks running

Start travel within 120 days of purchase, and finish everything within 30 days of your first ride. All travel must be complete inside both windows.

Saver & Value fares only

If a departure is selling only Flexible fares, it can’t be booked with the pass — even if seats are still for sale. Popular trains fill their pass seats first, so reserve early.

A few services excluded

No Acela (ride the Northeast Regional instead — same stations), no Auto Train, no Canadian stations on the Maple Leaf, and no Thruway buses numbered 7000–7999.

Same pair, max 4 one-ways

Travel between the same two stations is capped at two round trips (four one-way trips), including stops in between. A loop like ours never comes close.

One pass per person

Passes can’t be shared, and travel companions book on separate reservations. Traveling with kids? Each child needs a pass too, and children’s bookings are made by phone with Amtrak.

Is it worth $499?

Simple math: the pass wins when your rides would otherwise average more than about $50 each. Long-distance coach fares — New Orleans to Washington, Chicago to Denver, Los Angeles to San Antonio — regularly run well past $100 bought one at a time, which is why the Christmas loop is such a good use of it. Try your own trip:

Count every boarding, connections included.

Short hops can be $30–$60; cross-country coach legs are often $110–$200+.

Paying per ticket$1,200
USA Rail Pass$499
You keep$701

Estimate only — real fares move with dates and demand, and pass seats are limited on each train. Before you buy anything, we price your exact route both ways.

Is It Too Late to Book for Christmas? Not Yet — But Here's What's Running Out

1

Sleeping-car space goes first

On the overnight trains, roomettes and bedrooms are the first thing to sell out in December, while coach seats last longer.

2

December hotel rooms

December is the priciest, tightest hotel month of the year in several of these cities, New York above all. The rooms in the package tables below are planning estimates, and real availability shrinks week by week.

3

Holiday event tickets

The big Christmas shows and concerts on the stops — Radio City, the Nutcracker performances, and similar — sell out their best seats early.

The $499 rail pass itself doesn’t sell out — the beds, rooms, and tickets around it do. Request your free quote while the pieces can still be put together.

Planning estimates — not final quotes

Packages & pricing

Amtrak USA Rail Pass — $499 per person · 10 rides in 30 days · 500+ destinations

Hotels — $3,120 for 23 nights per room.That’s the Value tier — Moderate and Premium hotel tiers are in the tables below.

Complete packages from about $69 per person per day — $2,059 per person — premium packages availablePlanning estimate — that’s The Rail Pass Package with Value hotels: $2,059 per person, $4,118 total for two people sharing one room, before hotel taxes. Step up to The Sleeper Package or The Premium Package below for roomettes and upgraded hotels.

What does the whole loop actually cost? Here are worked-out planning estimates for the December / Christmas season — the numbers we use to start a quoting conversation, built from the hotels at every stop and three different ways to ride. They are planning estimates, not final quotes: your final price depends on your start city, your exact December dates, and availability when we book.

How to read these: each package pairs a way to ride with a hotel tier — Value, Moderate, or Premium — for the same 23 nights at the ten stops, and the train cost is shown on its own line under each package. The pass is coach-only and its segments can’t be upgraded, so a roomette leg is booked separately as a regular ticket. A roomette ticket includes that leg’s rail fare and all meals aboard for both travelers in the room — one room price covers the two of you.

The three packages

Headline prices lead with the per-person per-day rate, then the per-person total at double occupancy — two people sharing one room (and one roomette, where a package has them), before hotel taxes. Totals for two and solo-traveler totals are shown smaller under each headline — one traveler in the room alone carries the full room cost. Each package’s train cost is shown on its own line.

Value hotels · all coach

The Rail Pass Package

The Amtrak USA Rail Pass covers all ten rides in coach, paired with Value hotels at every stop — the full 23 nights. One flat rail price, no per-leg fares to chase: the best value on the page.

Train cost
$499 per person

USA Rail Pass — all ten rides, coach class.

Per person, per dayabout $69
Per person$2,059

About $69 per person per day — $2,059 per person ÷ 30 days, at double occupancy.

Total for two people$4,118
Solo traveler$3,619
Moderate hotels · roomettes + coach

The Sleeper Package

No pass — ticketed leg by leg. Private roomettes on all six overnight legs, coach tickets on the four daytime legs, and Moderate hotels at every stop. A roomette price covers both travelers in the room, that leg’s rail fare, and all meals aboard.

Train cost
about $2,165 per person

Double occupancy. The six roomettes run about $3,800 per couple, plus $265 per person for the four daytime coach tickets. Single: about $4,065.

Per person, per dayabout $145
Per person$4,345

About $145 per person per day — $4,345 per person ÷ 30 days, at double occupancy.

Total for two peopleabout $8,690
Solo travelerabout $8,425
Luxury hotels · everything included

The Premium Package

The everything-included tier. Luxury hotels at every stop — luxury-class properties at the Four Seasons / Ritz-Carlton level (the exact property at each stop is confirmed when we book; no specific hotel is promised here). On the train: a private Bedroom on the two longest overnight legs — New Orleans → Washington, DC and Tucson → San Antonio — the larger room, with an in-room shower and toilet; a private roomette on the other four overnight legs; and the best seats available on the four daytime legs — Business class where the train offers it (Washington, DC → New York on the Northeast Regional, and San Francisco → Los Angeles on the Coast Starlight), and coach on Denver → Salt Lake City and San Antonio → New Orleans, since the California Zephyr and Sunset Limited carry no class between coach and a private room. Also included: a Disneyland holiday day during the Los Angeles stop (Park Hopper ticket + transfers), Radio City Christmas Spectacular tickets in New York, and private station transfers at every stop.

Train + experiences cost
about $3,375 per person

Double occupancy. Covers the Bedrooms on the two longest overnight legs, roomettes on the other four overnight legs, the upgraded daytime seats, the Disneyland holiday day, Radio City Christmas Spectacular tickets, and private station transfers at every stop. Single: about $5,975.

Per person, per dayabout $259
Per person$7,763

About $259 per person per day — $7,763 per person ÷ 30 days, at double occupancy.

Total for two peopleabout $15,525
Solo travelerabout $14,750
Make it yours: every package above is a starting point, not a fixed bundle. Mix and match — pick a different hotel tier, add a roomette or a Bedroom to any overnight leg, or add the extras (a Disneyland day, Radio City Christmas Spectacular tickets, private station transfers) to any package. Tell us what you’d like, and your free quote tailors the final price to your choices. The loop as shown uses all 10 rides, but you can also shorten the trip — ride just part of the loop, with fewer stops and fewer rides; a two-week version with five or six stops is one easy example — or add stops, up to the pass’s limit of 10 rides in 30 days, since every boarding counts as one ride.

Hotels by tier

Each package comes with its own hotel tier. The rates below are per room per night, before taxes, for the same 23 nights at the ten stops, matching the sample pacing on this page. Each tier’s total is one combined figure — it covers your room at every stop, all 23 nights together, not a price paid at each stop. Hotel taxes and fees add roughly 13–15% on top of that total.

Value hotels — The Rail Pass Package

New Orleans2 nights × $110$220
Washington, DC3 nights × $140$420
New York2 nights × $300$600
Chicago3 nights × $130$390
Denver2 nights × $120$240
Salt Lake City2 nights × $95$190
San Francisco2 nights × $110$220
Los Angeles3 nights × $140$420
Tucson2 nights × $115$230
San Antonio2 nights × $95$190
Hotels total — all 23 nightsOne combined total, before taxes$3,120 for 23 nights per room

Hotel taxes and fees are not in the combined $3,120 — plan on roughly $420 more across the trip on this tier.

Moderate hotels — The Sleeper Package

New Orleans2 nights × $150$300
Washington, DC3 nights × $200$600
New YorkDecember is New York’s most expensive month — this is the budget-buster of the trip.2 nights × $425$850
Chicago3 nights × $185$555
Denver2 nights × $170$340
Salt Lake City2 nights × $125$250
San Francisco2 nights × $150$300
Los Angeles3 nights × $195$585
Tucson2 nights × $165$330
San Antonio2 nights × $125$250
Hotels total — all 23 nightsOne combined total, before taxes$4,360 for 23 nights per room

Hotel taxes and fees are not in the combined $4,360 — plan on roughly $590 more across the trip on this tier.

Premium / Luxury hotels — The Premium Package

Luxury-class properties at every stop — the Four Seasons / Ritz-Carlton level of hotel. These are December planning rates for that class; the exact property at each stop is confirmed when we book, so no specific hotel is promised here.

New Orleans2 nights × $300$600
Washington, DC3 nights × $400$1,200
New York2 nights × $850$1,700
Chicago3 nights × $375$1,125
Denver2 nights × $325$650
Salt Lake City2 nights × $250$500
San Francisco2 nights × $325$650
Los Angeles3 nights × $400$1,200
Tucson2 nights × $315$630
San Antonio2 nights × $260$520
Hotels total — all 23 nightsOne combined total, before taxes$8,775 for 23 nights per room

Hotel taxes and fees are not in the combined $8,775 — plan on roughly $1,230 more across the trip on this tier.

Roomette planning ranges, leg by leg

Planning ranges per room (per couple). Roomettes are booked as regular tickets — pass segments can’t be upgraded — and one room covers both travelers: the price includes the rail fare for that leg and all meals aboard for both of you. Actual roomette prices move with demand and how early we book, which is why these are ranges. The list below is the six overnight legs — the roomettes in The Sleeper Package and The Premium Package.

The six overnight legs

New Orleans → Washington, DC$700–$950
New York → Chicago$550–$700
Chicago → Denver~$660
Salt Lake City → San Francisco$550–$700
Los Angeles → Tucson$300–$400
Tucson → San Antonio$450–$600

Want a roomette on some legs but not others? That mix is exactly what The Sleeper Package does — and we can mix and match any combination of these legs when we quote your trip.

Included on board

  • Access to the Sightseer Lounge viewing car on the western trains (California Zephyr, Coast Starlight, Sunset Limited) — wrap-around windows, open to everyone aboard at no extra charge, coach included.
  • A café/lounge car on the eastern trains (Crescent, Lake Shore Limited) instead, and a café car on every long-distance leg for snacks and drinks.
  • Dining-car meals included with roomette tickets — on the legs where you have a room, your meals aboard are part of the ticket.

What’s not included

  • Meals off the train — meals aboard are included on roomette legs; in coach, café and dining-car food is pay-as-you-go, and all your meals in the stop cities are your own.
  • Hotel taxes and fees — roughly 13–15% on top of the hotel totals (about $420 / $590 / $1,230 across the trip for the Value / Moderate / Premium-Luxury tiers), as noted above.
  • Station transfers — getting between stations and hotels (including the short hop into San Francisco from Emeryville) is not in The Rail Pass or Sleeper Package estimates; private station transfers at every stop are included in The Premium Package.
  • Travel insurance — not included, and we recommend it for a trip of this size; we’ll quote it alongside your package.

Get your free quote

Tell us the stop closest to you, your December dates, and which package sounds like you — the Rail Pass Package, the Sleeper Package, or the Premium Package. We’ll price your exact loop and send back real numbers for your dates, with no obligation. Personalized planning from first call to final itinerary, with a pinch of pixie dust.

Email us for a free quote travel.magicnetwork.studio

Travel Magic Network · tiffany.hern@fora.travel · travel.magicnetwork.studio

Not the full loop? Shorter Christmas rides

The Coast Starlight hugging the California coastline above the Pacific
2 segments · ~1 week

East Coast Christmas

Washington, DC → New York City → Boston on the Northeast Regional: the National Christmas Tree, the Rockefeller Center tree, and the Boston Common tree in one easy week — three headline lightings, two short train rides, zero airports.

An Amtrak train crossing the red-rock desert of the American Southwest at sunset
1 segment · one epic day ride

Rockies & Temple Square Lights

Denver → Salt Lake City on the California Zephyr: the Moffat Tunnel, Glenwood Canyon, and red-rock Utah in full daylight, then Temple Square’s Christmas lights that evening. One boarding, one of the great scenic rides in America.

An Amtrak train in mountain country with snow-capped peaks behind it
1 segment · one epic ride

To Christkindlmarket by Train

Ride into Chicago on the Lake Shore Limited from the east or the California Zephyr from the west and spend two days at Christkindlmarket, the Magnificent Mile, and ZooLights — then let the train carry you home through the winter countryside. One boarding each way.

Sleeping in coach: the honest version

  • The seat is genuinely good: wide, deeply reclining, legroom like the old days of flying, a footrest, and an outlet — but it is a seat, not a bed.
  • Bring a small pillow and blanket (or a big scarf), an eye mask, and earplugs. Cabins dim at night; stations and sunrises don’t care.
  • Western trains have a Sightseer Lounge car with wraparound windows — open to everyone aboard at no extra charge, and the best seat in America on the California Zephyr, the Coast Starlight, and the Sunset Limited.
  • Pack for December: warm layers for evenings in Chicago, New York, Denver, and DC, and pack rain gear — the Gulf Coast, the Northeast, and the Pacific coast can all be wet in winter. Markets mean walking: comfortable shoes earn their space.
  • Food: a café car sells snacks, drinks, and simple meals; traditional dining-car service is offered when space allows. We’ll tell you what your trains carry.
  • Download before you board: Wi-Fi is spotty to nonexistent on long-distance western routes. Movies, books, and offline maps are your friends.

Questions we get asked

Can I get off and explore a city, then keep going?

Yes — that’s the point of the pass. Every time you get off and later board again, it’s a new segment, so a stopover costs a ride. The Christmas loop is built that way on purpose: a new city of lights at every stop, using all 10 segments with a stopover in every city — 23 stop days (no stop under 2 days) plus about 6½ days aboard, paced to about 29½ days so the whole tour fits inside the pass’s 30-day window, with about half a day of slack to spare, whichever city you start from.

Do I have to start in New Orleans?

No — it’s a loop, not a line. The route on this page is shown from New Orleans, but you can start and finish at whichever stop is closest to you — Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, any of the ten — and ride the same circle from there. Your 30 days and 10 segments work exactly the same from any starting city.

Can I make the trip shorter or longer?

Yes. The full loop on this page is the 30-day version. A shorter version rides fewer segments and skips some stops, and a longer version adds stops, as long as the trip stays within the pass’s rules — 10 rides in 30 days, with every boarding counting as one ride. Either way, we tailor the pacing to fit your trip.

What about sleeping on the train?

Some legs on this loop run overnight. If you’d like a bed for those, any of them can be booked separately as a regular ticket in a private roomette, with meals aboard included — just mention it when we quote your trip.

Does the pass guarantee me a seat?

No. Each segment still needs its own reservation, and each train sets aside a limited number of seats for pass holders (Saver and Value fare space). On popular summer trains those go first — booking the whole route early is the single best tip we can give you.

Can two of us share one pass?

No — passes are personal and non-transferable, and companions travel on separate reservations. The good news: at $499 each, a couple doing the loop is still usually far ahead of per-ticket pricing.

What about luggage?

Carry-on allowances are generous by airline standards, and many stations offer checked baggage on long-distance trains. We flag which of your stops have checked service when we build your itinerary.

Do I earn anything on the purchase?

Amtrak Guest Rewards members earn 2 points per dollar on the pass purchase, added after your first segment. Points can’t be used to buy the pass itself.

When should we travel for the best Christmas lights?

Most displays across the loop light from late November through New Year’s. The headline moments cluster early: Christkindlmarket opens in late November and closes Christmas Eve, and the National Christmas Tree and Rockefeller Center tree light in late November / early December. Mid-December weekdays are the sweet spot — everything is lit and crowds are kinder than the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Tell us your window and we’ll aim the itinerary at the lightings you care about most.

Do trains run on Christmas Day?

Yes — Amtrak runs through the holidays, on adjusted holiday schedules for some trains. Plenty of our favorite moments on this tour happen aboard: Christmas Eve dinner rolling through the desert, or waking up on the train on Christmas morning. We build your plan around the actual holiday timetables, not the regular ones.

What should we pack for a December train tour?

Think layers: a warm coat, hat, and gloves for evening markets in Chicago, New York, Denver, and DC, and pack rain gear for the Gulf Coast, the Northeast, and the Pacific coast. Add comfortable walking shoes, a small pillow and blanket for coach nights, an eye mask and earplugs, and a small first aid and medicine bag with blister care and muscle-ache remedies — market days are walking days. We send a full packing list with your itinerary.

How do I get the pass, and what do you handle?

Your pass is secured through Travel Magic Network. We handle everything around it: choosing the routing, sequencing segments so none are wasted, reserving the right trains, booking the hotels between rides, and pacing the 30 days so the trip feels like a vacation — not a commute.

Travel Magic Network compass logo

Start at the stop closest to you. We’ll plan the rest.

Start at the stop closest to you — we plan the rest. Tell us your December dates, the lightings you don’t want to miss — the National Tree, Rockefeller, Christkindlmarket, or all three — and how you feel about sleeping in a (very comfy) seat. We’ll send back the full plan: segments, stopovers, stays, and pacing that fits the 30 days. Personalized planning from first call to final itinerary, with a pinch of pixie dust.

Email us for a free quote
Step 1

Tell us your dates and must-see list — email or DM, two minutes.

Step 2

We plan the itinerary: segments, connections, stopovers, and hotels.

Step 3

We secure your pass; we line up every reservation before seats go.

Step 4

You ride, with the full itinerary in hand and us a message away.

Email copied: tiffany.hern@fora.travel