Experience the most advanced red wine chateau, and taste the world’s best red wine by Napa Valley Wine Train; 

Unforgettable romantic place - Wayfarer Chapel, with panoramic view of the mountain and sea scenery; 

Release of inspiration - The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps in San Francisco, comprising bright 163 steps with colorful mosaics, gathering inspiration and art passion;

Napa Valley Wine Train - Including Train Lunch 

Napa Valley, with only a history of more than 100 years, has become the most famous wine country in the United States, where American and even global most luxurious and top level wine chateaus are gathered, therefore, Napa Valley has become the aristocratic representative of new world wine country. Cabernet Sauvignon made by Napa Valley enjoys a high popularity and good reputation in the world, and is one of the top classic red wines in the world. 

Wine Train Lunch

VISTA DOME CAR

In 1952 Pullman Vista Dome with Glass Roof, you will have the most private dining experience. Looking out from the upper seats of the double-layer car, the scenery of Napa Valley is so beautiful; you will taste a glass of California sparkling wine we present first, and then enjoy a relaxing meal. Your seat keeps unchanged on the whole journey. You are welcome to visit the train after the main course. 

Vista Dome is a good place for romantic dates.

The meal fee is included.

Price Per-Person, $189.00

GOURMET CAR 

These renovated 1915 Pullman vintage cars are suitable for relaxing and sharing happy time with family and friends. During the trip, you can view the scenery in a comfortable leisure car for part of time. You enjoy the freshly cooked meal in the dining car for other time. Gourmet Cars is a classic wine train journey, and also our most popular car. You are welcome to experience this extravagant journey of 100 years’ history.

Price per person: $159.00 

Menu:

Use local fruits and vegetables 

Cook with vegetables and lettuce planted with hydroponics 

Use fresh California local fish and shell seafood 

Use fresh fish caught by fishing 

Use meat cultured in a humane way 

Do not use products containing chemical additives 

Do not use meat containing growth hormone 

Lunch train timetable :

10:30 Registration 

10.35 Wine seminar 

11:00 Take train

11:30 Train departure. 

14:30 Train return 

Station wine tasting is only open to passengers over 21 years old. 

Additional cost for wine tasting during lunch: $10 per person 

All meals need to be booked in advance. 

Napa Valley Wine Train, set off immediately! 

The United States is the fourth largest wine producing country in the world, and California, located on the west coast of the United States, makes lots of wines, accounting for 90% of the whole country. Among many areas in California, Napa Valley, which is reputed as Bordeaux in the United States, is the most famous high-quality producing area. 

Napa Valley Wine Train, running on the track initially built in 1864, seems to be a treasure chest, that gathers the long history, romance and excellence cooking skills. The train began operation 26 years ago, which solved a local problem. The original rail line was abandoned by Southern Pacific Railroad in 1984, but local residents managed to keep the track, so that they went to Vincent DeDomenico, inventor of Rice-A-Roni, and asked him to invest. 

Vincent agreed to buy the entire train business of this segment. In the next few years, the company bought various antique trains, transformed them as elegant dining trains and officially opened them in September 1989. In 2014, Napa Valley Wine Train welcomed the 25th anniversary’s celebration. The train is still run by the family, to provide the most unique food and wine in the United States. 

The train departs from a station in downtown Napa, California, where cafes, bars and gift stores are set, and heads for St. Helena, California, where the locomotive is replaced and reversed to the original route. Passengers can choose from long lunch and dinner menu: they can stay on the train all the time and sit down in any of the three dining cars, to enjoy a leisurely meal, or enjoy extra appetizers or desserts in the rest car; they can also choose to take a VIP tour of visiting wine chateau and then return to the car for a big meal. 

Sarah and Alan Montague arrived in Napa just three months after they took Napa Valley Wine Train for the first time, and Alan said that “we really enjoyed the food, the wine and the scenery. To be honest, we were shocked by the delicacy of the lunch. They are all so fresh, colorful and aromatic, with so many drinks for choosing. Wine and our dishes match very well.” Trenice and Jason Noelke from Kansas City, Missouri take the Wine Train every year when visiting Napa Valley. Jason explained that “we first traveled here about five years ago and were fascinated on the whole course: from the match of food and wine to vintage dining cars and beautiful valley scenery; slow pace of the train allows you to really appreciate the scenery of the vineyards and the magnificent mountains, that you can’t see when you are driving.

Train and History

Each car of the Wine Train has its own history. Several Pullman-style cars from 1915 to 1917 have been carefully restored to the original exquisite and gorgeous appearance: rosewood, brass and etching glass; these cars are used as dining cars and kitchen cars. A well-preserved 1952 Vista Dome is used as a high-end dining room. A freight car (known as the Grappa power car) has been renovated as a power car, which may be the only power car with passenger walkway in the world. Finally, the locomotive is worth mentioning- 3 diesel locomotives and 1 using compressed natural gas. 

Gastronome

With the excellent cooking skills of chef Kelly Macdonald, delicate meals are presented on Napa Valley Wine Train, and this makes enjoying lunch and dinner on the running train an unforgettable memory for travelers. There are three kitchen cars on the Wine Train, and a spare kitchen at the train station. A panel in the kitchen allows travelers to see the cooking process of food. 

“Fresh and sustainable” is the mantra of executive chef Kelly. Ingredients are mostly selected from local raw materials. Fresh agricultural products are harvested from local farmland; poultry, meat and fish are raised ecologically, and pastries are baked on trains every day. All dishes are cooked on the train according to the order on the very day. 

Local People 

Napa Valley Wine Train has been a part of the landscape over the past 26 years. It runs slowly at a top speed of no more than 30 kilometers per hour. The leisurely pace allows passengers and locals outside the train to wave to each other. Alan and Sarah, who live in Napa Valley at present, have learned a lot about the southern part of the valley. They plan to take the train again. Alan said that “we may attempt the journey including a trip to Grgich Hills. The last trip to Raymond Vineyards impressed us deeply, the wine was great, and the people on the train were friendly.” 

Tourists 

For Trenice and Jason, the specialty of Wine Train experience is more than the scenery, the food and the wine. Trenice said that “we really enjoy making contact with other passengers on the train, and it's really fun to meet people from all over the country.” For the couple, the special Wine Train experience came from a two-week vintner luncheon, “the chef matches each dish on the menu with a Napa Valley wine. It's so great,” Trenice recalled “surely, we will take the train again.” 

Family 

Napa Valley Wine Train has been a family business since its first operation in September 1989. Kira Devitt, director of marketing and public relations, is Vincent DeDomenico's granddaughter. She said, “2014 has the milestone type significance for us. This is our silver celebration as well as the 150th anniversary that we operate and retain the railway.”

Heaven on the Mountain- The J. Paul Getty Museum 

Driving west from downtown Los Angeles to California's 405 Interstate Highway, you can see the stretching Santa Monica Mountains. On the 881-foot cliff of the mountain stands a group of strange buildings, which is the famous J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. It includes a very modern art museum, an art research center and a beautiful garden. The J. Paul Getty Museum is owned by the famous American Gatty Foundation, founded by J.Paul Getty I, who was once the richest oil tycoon in America. J.Paul Getty I. He, known as American richest and meanest man, used two-thirds of his $3.3 billion fortune to buy Greek and Roman artworks and built the Getty Villa accordingly. He deprived his son Paul Getty’s right of succession because of estrangement, and only left him $500 in his will. After his death in 1976, Paul Gatty II, after multiple setbacks, obtained the family's enormous wealth and inherited his father's fascinating love for artworks. The original Gatty Museum in the Malibu area could not accommodate progressively increasing collections. In 1983, the Getty Foundation bought 110 acres of hillsides in Western Los Angeles to build a new Getty Art Center, which is The J. Paul Getty Museum. 

After a year’s rigorous selection, Richard Meier, a famous American architect, stood out from many competitors and was entrusted to design the Gatty Center. After 13 years’ design and construction, the Gatty Center with total cost of $ 1billion was finally completed in 1997. The Gatty Center is located on the hillside between two peaks and extends to the cliff at both sides. Surrounding residents were worried about being disturbed by the future traffic flow from visitors, therefore, Meier specially designed a tram to enter the center. All visitors were allowed to park their vehicles in the underground garage under the mountain and then transfer to the tram to the Gatty Center with a five minutes’ journey. The main part of the Gatty Center is the art museum composed of a hall and a group of independent exhibition halls. Exhibition halls taking advantages of the mountain are tactfully divided into two groups of asymmetrical buildings. 

Six exhibition halls have similar architectural styles but each has its own characteristics, the direction and the form are well-arranged. In the middle of the buildings is open-air courtyard and pool, exhibition halls are connected by the overpass, stairs and aisle, the space conversion is natural and smooth, and the visitor can intermittently return to the outdoor environment after visiting a hall to adjust themselves. 

At the request of the Getty Foundation and local people, Meier gave up his consistent design style focusing on white and metal materials,and mostly adopted Travertine from the Mediterranean coast, to meet the environmental requirements of reducing the brightness of building appearance. The light brown surface of the Travertine was deliberately treated as knife-cut concave-convex, which seems rather antique, and visitors can even follow the guidebook to find shells and other organic fossil remains on its surface. Travertine tallies with the characteristics of the gallery, which mainly collects ancient European artworks, but also forms a rich texture contrast with the clear glass and aluminum plate. In the garden terrace of the gallery, several tall and concise pillars remind people of the Acropolis, whose spatial treatment is bold, strange and amazing. Meier's masterpiece, integrating the modern style and classical tradition, received unprecedented praise. In the same year, he won the Gold Medal of American Institute of Architects, the highest honor in American architecture.

From a pathway in the west of the center to the bottom of the hill, there is a huge circular central garden at the end. More than 400 rhododendrons form a plants maze, which is inspired by typical European gardening tradition, and more than 300 different plants grow in the Gatty Garden, totaling more than 10,000.

The Artwork Preservation and Restoration Center of the Getty Center is the most authoritative Greek and Roman artwork restoration and research institution outside Europe. Visitors can see how badly damaged fragments were restored and eventually restored to a fine Roman statue through real objects, models and videos. Scholars and researchers from all over the world are studying the protection and restoration of cultural relics here. The center also participated in the protection of murals in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes of China several years ago.

Unforgettable Romantic Place -- Wayfarers Chapel

Wayfarers Chapel is located on the cliff of Palos Verdes Peninsula, south of Los Angeles and west of Long Beach.

As a part of the Swedenborg Church in North America, it shows a great respect for Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish religious mystery philosopher in the 18th century. The small church is supported by wood with glass as wall, perfectly representing the transparency of the soul. When candlelight, starlight and moonlight penetrate the glass, it forms a unique scene together with the church. It is also famous for its unique modern architectural style and its special position on the Pacific cliff. Inside the church, you may have a panoramic view of the mountains and seas through the glass wall. The redwood trees are tall and straight, forming natural arches over the church, which are as wonderful as the arches built in the Gothic cathedrals. The church is not a heavy Roman style, a tall Gothic style or a changeable Baroque style, but the artistic appeal of modernization and fashion is originally and perfectly highlighted. 

The Wayfarers Chapel in Los Angeles is not as solemn as other famous churches, but is ingeniously integrated with the picturesque natural scenery around. Every design fits the natural concept. It is built on a cliff beside the coast, with a panoramic view of the mountains and seascapes. It is stacked by a pile of large stones and supported by wood; exterior walls and roof are made of glass, which allows the sunlight shine in through the roof.

Release of Inspiration- The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps

The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps, at the intersection of Moraga Street and 16th Avenue, comprises 163 bright-colored mosaics to salute Brazil's famous Escadaria Selaron Stairway. Porcelain artist Aileen Bar and mosaic artist Colette Crutcher worked with more than 300 community volunteers to complete the project with two and a half years. More than 2,000 hand-made tiles and 75,000 tile fragments, lenses and stained glass were used to outline beautiful patterns. The primary vision is the colorful ocean waves, enriched with flowers, plants and animals, flowing up into the sky, in which stars and the huge sun are embraced. The strength of the masses has been consolidated in this splendid achievement, which impresses people deeply and significantly.