• GST exempt
• Complimentary pre-tour hotel accommodation and complimentary return ground transportation to Vancouver is provided for Vancouver Island & Okanagan Passengers. Please inquire at the time of booking.
• Tour cost includes private, cozy roomette accommodation & all meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) onboard Amtrak both ways. For more information, please visit www.amtrak. com and check the ‘Traveling with Amtrak’ section for detailed accommodation information.
• All Branson shows and time schedules in the itinerary are subject to change without notice. Some Branson shows are seasonal. If the advertised performer is not available during the tour time, another performer of equal calibre will be substituted for the advertised show as per our booking terms & conditions.

Welcome Aboard! A warm welcome onboard our luxury charter coach this morning by your professional tour director. Our leisurely travel through the Canada/U.S. border brings us to the Seattle Amtrak Station in the early afternoon. Upon arrival to the Seattle Amtrak Station, kindly identify your suitcase and carry it to the baggage check-in counter inside the station. While your tour director confirms the group on the train with the group check-in counter, please line up yourself with your luggage and checkin for the next 2 nights at the check-in counter. Please make sure you obtain a baggage check claim to claim your suitcase in Minneapolis, MN. The train is scheduled to leave Seattle at 445 PM. The Empire Builder features double-decker Superliner equipment. Relax in your selected private accommodation. All meals onboard the train are included. Enjoy a full course delicious dinner in the dining car as the Empire Builder climbs and winds through the Cascade Mountains. Be sure to visit the glass-walled lounge car to view Washington’s abundant natural beauty, from the extensive trails of Mount Rainier National Park to the dramatic Mt. St. Helen’s National Volcanic Monument and then into “Big Sky Country” in the state of Montana.

Awake to the aroma of coffee prepared for you by your car porter. Look out at the panorama of snow-covered Rocky Mountain peaks as you prepare for a hearty breakfast in the dining car. Beverages are available for sleeping car occupants in their car. Settle back in your comfortable seat as our relaxing train journey continues through North Dakota past the rugged towns of Rugby and Devil’s Lake and into Minnesota, where we pass several hundred of the state’s 10,000 lakes. The romance of rail travel is alive and well as stunning vistas greet your every gaze. Life as a traveler includes stylish surroundings, personal service, culinary pleasures, and a relaxed pace that allows you time to enjoy every mile.

Early rise and shine as our arrival into Minneapolis is scheduled for 730 AM (subject to change). Please prepare early to have a hearty breakfast in the dining car. We get off the train and identify our checked baggage to transfer to our motorcoach. We are welcomed onboard our luxury coach by our professional driver. Sit back, relax and enjoy the comfort of our modern motorcoach. Of course it is air-conditioned and washroom equipped for your comfort and enjoyment. We arrive to Kansas City, MO late afternoon and check-in to our hotel. Enjoy a full service hotel, as the rest of the evening is free to do as you wish.

We welcome onboard our fellow fly/coach passengers joining the tour in Kansas City, MO. Enjoy the scenery and rolling hills as we travel south to Carthage, MO to visit the home of Precious Moments. Later on, our sing-along drive continues to the Mecca of Country Music, Branson, beautifully nestled in the wooded area of Lake Taneycomo. Be prepared for an exciting three-day stay as entertainment is the name of the game in this town! Join your tour director and driver for a delicious dinner prior to the show this evening. Enjoy the Andy Williams’ musical variety filled with wholesome family entertainment.

Everybody’s favourite Branson activity is scheduled for this morning after enjoying a Full American Breakfast at the hotel. “Ride The Ducks” and see famous Country Music Boulevard, a spectacular scenic view of Ozark natural beauty and an exciting splashdown and cruise on Table Rock Lake, all in one amazing vehicle. The restored World War II amphibious is considered Branson’s “Best Show on Wheels… and Water!” More excitement is reserved for the afternoon. After an included lunch, enjoy explosive laughter at the Yakov Smirnoff show as well as be amazed with the Russian Dance Ensemble and Boris the Horse. After a delicious buffet dinner you will finish this most memorable day at the Mickey Gilley show. Jump right in as Mickey takes the audience through a musical medley of his string of Number 1 hits along with his top-rated, award-winning eight piece band.

This morning will take a whole new meaning after you enjoy the Bobby Vinton’s show as his songs are recognized as standards throughout the world and this music has retained its vitality and relevance through our changing times (Bobby Vinton performs only in November in 2008). After lunch, we say goodbye to Branson and enjoy a sing-along journey back to Kansas City for the night.

We say goodbye to fly/coach passengers this morning as our further journey takes us from Kansas City back to Minneapolis. This evening we enjoy a scattered lunch and browsing at the Mall of America before we board Amtrak this evening for our return journey home. Once again, stretch out and relax, take a nap, read a book, play a game, enjoy a leisurely meal, or just watch the views glide by and daydream. Enjoy the same accommodations and amenities you experienced on the eastbound trip, including a signature item of regional cuisine each night of our journey, with skilled attendants on hand to see to your comfort. Enjoy the freedom to go at your own pace and move about as you wish.

The glass walled lounge and dining car are an excellent vantage point as stunning vistas greet our every gaze. We trace the paths of pioneers and intrepid explorers amidst Midwestern prairies, the vast plains of North Dakota and Montana and Idaho’s crystalline lakes. Relive explorations of 200 years ago as we follow portions of the Lewis & Clark expedition trail through North Dakota and Montana. Find alpine meadows, lakes and over a million acres of forests in spectacular Glacier National Park, Montana. The sights you see when traveling by train are unmatched by any other mode of transportation. Tracks were laid in the wilderness, along rivers and streams, up and down, and through mountains.

This morning enjoy a final dining car breakfast. We thank Amtrak dining car staff and room porters for their warm hospitality. We take the opportunity this morning to say a fond farewell to our fellow passengers as our Branson by Rail & Coach tour comes to an end in Seattle, WA. We cross the Cascade Range by way of the seven-mile Cascade Tunnel, through forests of fir trees, and alongside the Puget Sound before arriving in Seattle, WA at 1020 AM. Our journey on the Empire Builder comes to an end. We disembark Amtrak in Seattle, WA and board northbound Cantrail charter coach to return to Vancouver, BC. Welcome to Canada!

PACIFIC GOLD TOURS
1977 to 2008
“31 Years of Service”

The Difference is in the Details!!

B.C. Registration # 2594-4

Toll Free     1-800-667-8122 (Canada & U.S.A.)
Phone          604-943-3200
Groups        604-943-3163
Fax               604-943-5559
E-mail          info@pacificgoldtours.com
Web             http://www.pacificgoldtours.com