Gilded Age in the Smoky Mountains

Departure Info:

Yankee Trails, Rensselaer - 7:00am
Pet Smart, Crossgates Commons - 7:30am
*Catskill, Exit 21 Park & Ride - 8:15am
Kingston Plaza, Kingston - 8:35am

Saturday, April 26:

With spring in full swing, we begin our tour south with our first night stop over in Winchester, Virginia at the Hilton Garden Inn (or similar). Dinner is on your own at one of the nearby restaurants.

Sunday, April 27:

Breakfast is included this morning at the hotel. Welcome to Asheville, North Carolina! We will check into our hotel, Hampton Inn (or similar) for our two-night stay. Dinner is on your own at one of the nearby restaurants.

Monday, April 28:

We’ll start our morning with a hot breakfast at the hotel before a full day at the Biltmore Estate. The luxurious family home of George and Edith Vanderbilt is a marvel of elegance and charm, as magnificent today as it was more than a century ago. Faithfully preserved and filled with original furnishings and masterpieces of art, no other residence in America offers a more authentic and inspiring view of Gilded Age life while suggesting that the Vanderbilts and their guests are still at home. Enjoy a self-guided visit, with audio headset, to the Biltmore House exploring grand spaces filled with masterpieces of art and stunning antiques, into private family quarters, indoor pool and bowling alley, and kitchens and servants’ areas. Lunch is included at the estate at The Stable Cafe. Satisfy your appetite for house-smoked meats, Carolina barbeque, grilled burgers, and other southern favorites in a historic setting that was once the estate’s horse stable. Enjoy casual dining in a bright and airy restaurant where converted stalls hold cozy booths. At Antler Hill Village, step into the everyday lives of families who lived on the estate raising livestock, tending crops, and working at Biltmore Dairy in the 1890s. The Barn in Antler Hill Village – once the social and work center for these families – is alive again with blacksmiths, woodworkers, and other craft demonstrations; The Barn Door featuring a unique selection of American made arts and crafts items; and a Smokehouse offering Carolina barbeque, quick sandwiches, and other Southern favorites. Dinner is on your own tonight at one of the nearby restaurants.

Tuesday, April 29:

After breakfast (included), it's "All Aboard" for a scenic train adventure through the fertile valleys and rolling river gorges of the Great Smoky Mountains. This area of Western North Carolina offers a vast array of ever changing, beautiful landscapes. Spring brings a sweet fragrance of flowers in bloom, summer offers a cool mountain breeze and autumn’s fall foliage sets the mountains ablaze. Truly spectacular! Your excursion on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad is a 4 1/2 hour, 44 mile round trip ride along the Tuckasegee River and over the impressive Fontana Lake Trestle into the Nantahala River Gorge and back again arriving at the Bryson City Depot. Your excursion also includes a boxed lunch. This afternoon we’ll continue on to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. This evening we’ll head to Dolly Parton’s Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show. Join Captain Blackbeard, the most famous pirate to ever sail the seven seas, and his quartermaster Calico Jack as they lead the Crimson and Sapphire crews in an epic battle for lost treasure on land, on deck, in water and high above full-sized pirate ships in a 15 foot deep indoor hideaway lagoon! Ye will thrill at the swashbuckling excitement of spectacular acrobatic competitions, aerial feats, sea lions, tropical birds, beautiful mermaids and much more! Which camp takes the treasure may be up to you as ye cheer me buccaneers to victory, all while ye enjoy a fabulous four-course feast! Ahoy! After dinner we’ll check into our next hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn (or similar) in Pigeon Forge for a two-night stay.

Wednesday, April 30:

Breakfast is included at the hotel this morning. After breakfast, we’ll enjoy a fully-guided Great Smoky Mountains Experience, enroute to a mile-high location with epic views, The Newfound Gap! The group will acquire a knowledge of the area plants, animals, pioneers, Native Americans, and of course, hear all the fun-facts about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited national park in America. Once at Newfound Gap, the passengers will be at a very important historic spot where a national park dedication took place in 1940, right at the North Carolina / Tennessee border, on the Appalachian trail. On the way down the mountain from the Newfound Gap, back to Pigeon Forge, there will be more spectacular photo opportunities, lots of history and local lore stories. After our tour, we’ll have free time, shopping and lunch on your own at The Island. The Island in Pigeon Forge boasts 23 acres of entertainment in an inviting setting perfect for groups trying to escape the everyday. With over 80 shops, restaurants and attractions, this location combines all things fun, in a safe environment where you can eat, shop and play. We’ll head back to the hotel for some time to relax and freshen up before our unique dinner experience. Later, we’ll head to the Titanic Museum for a fascinating self-guided tour. The Titanic Museum opens the door to the past in its one-of-a-kind way letting “passengers” experience what it was like to walk the hallways, parlors, cabins and Grand Staircase of the Titanic while surrounded by more than 400 artifacts directly from the ship and its passengers. As visitors touch a real iceberg, walk the Grand Staircase and third class hallways, reach their hands into 28-degree water, and try to stand on the sloping decks, they learn what it was like on the RMS Titanic by experiencing it first-hand. Each guest entering the ship will receive a boarding pass of an actual Titanic passenger or crew member. Feel their spirit presence in the galleries where over 400 personal and private artifacts are on display. Many are on display for the first time in the world. Discover your passenger or crew member’s fate at the end of your tour in the Titanic Memorial Room where 2,208 names line this historic wall. After your tour you'll be transported to the 3rd floor for an evening of elegance and fine dining in Titanic's Secret Dining Room. Tonight you'll experience a 1st class Captain's Meal, just as they had that very night aboard the ship! We will return to the hotel after dinner.

Thursday, May 1:

After breakfast at the hotel (included) we will head back towards home with a stop over in Winchester, Virginia at the Hilton Garden Inn (or similar). Dinner is on your own at a nearby restaurant.

Friday, May 2:

Breakfast is included at the hotel this morning. With stops made along the way we will arrive back to the Capital District around 6:00pm.