X Wine Railroad
DETAILS:
Location: Los Angeles to Santa Barbara area. All transportation provided. You have the option to depart from Union Station (DTLA) or Burbank AMTRAK Station.
Union Station: 800 N Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Burbank Amtrak Station: 3750 West Empire Avenue, Burbank, CA 91505.
Hours of Operation: Select weekends. Please see their website (under “resources”) for available dates, current pricing & itinerary. What follows is a general itinerary of the day.
8:45AM - Boarding at Union Station. (gourmet breakfast buffet & drinks provided, including bottomless mimosas)
9:03AM - if boarding at Burbank Station.
11:41AM - Arrive at Santa Barbara Station.
1PM - Arrive at opening winery stop, transportation provided. Complimentary wine tasting & hors d’oeuvres provided.
2:35PM - Depart for Los Olivos. Transportation provided.
2:50PM to 5:30PM - Arrive in Los Olivos for self-guided wine crawl.
6:40PM - Return to Santa Barbara (transportation provided) and board train for return to Los Angeles. (gourmet dinner buffet & drinks provided, including more wine!)
Parking: Pay parking lot at both stations. Please visit their respective websites below for current pricing.
Cost: $389/person
Time Commitment: All Day. This wine experience last approximately from 9AM to 10PM.
Miscellaneous: X Wine Railroad typically operates once a month, please see their website below for available dates & booking. Or you can call (702) 234-4124.
If you’ve lived in Los Angeles long enough, you’ve most likely paid a visit to Santa Barbara at some point. It’s a Southern California right of passage, every bit as much as Disneyland and braving the drive-thru line at In-N-Out. But how many of you have ever made the journey by rail? If you haven’t had this fortunate opportunity yet, I think it’s about time to treat yo self because whether it’s to Santa Barbara or anywhere else along the coast, you’ll be riding one of the prettiest routes in the county. So sit back, relax, and enjoy!
To call the X Wine Railroad a mere train ride would be a grave injustice. Offering an all-inclusive experience that features stops in Santa Barbara wine country, it’s a luxurious day-cation that you’ll be hard pressed to forget. So if you’ve ever wanted to pretend like you’re a passenger on the Orient Express before all that murdering nonsense, then all aboard! The classic and classy tone is set the moment you step onto the vintage rail car that you’ll be traveling in. Harking back to a bygone era, you could easily imagine Jay Gatsby sipping on a glass of champagne in one of the car’s opulent booths. Don’t worry, you’ll get to do likewise since it’s bottomless mimosas all the way up to Santa Barbara along with a solid breakfast buffet to build yourself a strong base for all the wine you’ll be consuming throughout the day. The views from this main level will keep you more than satisfied, but should you care for the piece de resistance, you can head upstairs to domed compartment that offers the sort of panoramic view that you almost don’t want to leave the train for.
But you’ll eventually have to depart the train for your excursion into Santa Barbara wine country. X Wine Railroad provides transportation the entire way so you won’t have to worry about your growing inebriation, and it will definitely grow. You’ll start your day in Santa Barbara at a pre-arranged winery selected by X Wine Railroad for a complimentary wine tasting that is paired with various cheeses, fruits, and snacks. Once you wrap up here, you’ll be shuttled to Los Olivos where you’ll be left to your own devices until it’s time to head back for your return to Los Angeles. Once on board again, you’ll be treated to a dinner buffet with even more complimentary wine, if you can stomach it. But there’s always room for more wine, right?
