The reviews giving this ride anything less than 4 stars are being way too critical. Is the train ride bumpy? Yes, it’s a 100 year old railroad, taking you through the countryside. Are there branches? Yes, the railroad path was hand cut by manual labor and vegetation is often close to the carts. Are there dancers? Yes, for just a couple minutes, and they didn’t “hound us for tips”. They were polite and respectful and shared an important part of Kittesian culture with us. Is there coal smoke? Yes, but you barely notice it, because a pleasant wind usually comes off the Atlantic, blowing it away from you. It’s a fun ride that takes you into nature, with friendly staff, yummy drinks, with panoramic views of the ocean, lots of views of farm animals, and a nice breeze. Jump on board, learn a bit about history, take in the views, and enjoy. The morning tours are usually less busy than the afternoon tours, so if you have a preference for avoiding crowds, show up for the 9am morning tour. Definitely recommend this tour, don’t let the other reviewers convince you otherwise.

I went on this train with my toddler and 3 adults, I'm the only one that enjoyed the ride. Pros: View St. Kitts' culture and way of life (the good and the bad). Enjoy scenic views of the mountains and the ocean and nearby islands. Ride a train that's unlike any others. Have a tour of the towns and explanation of the country's history in an A/C cooled tour van with a local guide driver. See the friendliness of the locals as they all wave to you. See the historic sugarcane infrastructure that still remains. Cons: The train is slow, 10 mph max. It is slow because the track is not maintained as well and the carriages move side to side A LOT, if you get motion sick easily then avoid this train. They tend to pack the train to the point where you will be shoulder to shoulder with strangers. The drinks are smoothies with some rum thrown in, nothing special. If you suffer from back pain then do not get on, very rough ride. It can get hot and muggy. Overall, I enjoyed it because I'm a fan of trains, I wanted a unique experience, I got fantastic views, and I saw the culture and way of life as it truly is. NOTE: If you are on a cruise, you will not have time to do the train and visit the Brimstone fortress. Choose the fortress instead of the train!

Had an awesome morning taking the scenic railway! There was a very nice breeze so went up to the top deck and it did not disappoint. It is very pretty and I learned a lot about the island. Would absolutely do this again.

This was a brilliant experience and a great way to learn a little more about the island. Lovely hosts and very knowledgeable🤓Thank you also to all the locals for being so welcoming especially all those patient enough to wait while the train clattered past their house, school and roadside waving as we passed bye. God bless it’s been a tough couple of years but this was a wonderful way to get your tourist trade going again. Highly recommend this tour!!

What a wonderful ride on an old sugar train! We booked the excursion thru the ship since St.Kitts is currently a bubble port and you cannot explore on your own. The staff on the train was amazing including the guide, refreshment staff and entertainers. Well organized and very attentive. The scenery was beautiful of course. We love St. Kitts! Hope to see you again soon. Lovey experience!

Overall, a great experience and absolutely worth the price of admission. A few small negative points, but they are small, and I'll get to them last. First of all, the tour is half bus and half train (which one is first depends on the time of day), I recommend starting early (by bus), to avoid the crush of the cruise line excursions. You're going to literally circumnavigate the island. Our tour started by bus on the east coast, and our driver / tour guide was extremely knowledgeable, affable, and forthcoming. The roads are narrow, but even close to the cliffs i was never worried. You get to see the REAL St Kitts, not just the tourist spots. So you get to see wealth and extreme poverty, hear about slavery, rebuilt, and freedom, farming and technology, old ways and modernity. We then transferred to the train, and continued our tour of the island on the north and west coast. We went through rainforest and plains, through abandoned sugar cane plantations, and through villages. Sometimes the houses and shacks are literally right next to the railroad, so close that you can almost shake hands with someone lying in their hammock. The poverty is astounding, but surprisingly, the people all seem very happy, and greet the train with a smile every time it goes by. I guess that is the benefit of living in a paradise, but it is also easy to imagine how horrible slavery on a sugar cane plantations would have been. The train also features "masquerade dancers", two young men dressed in festival attire, displaying for the tourists what it would have been like 100 years ago in celebration. And the train also has unlimited drinks, which brings me to one of my small negative points. The car in front of us was filled with a group of obnoxiously drunk and rowdy Bros who took full advantage of the unlimited alcohol and made more noise than the train did. It is people like that that give America a bad reputation. The train is a narrow gauge train, and since it was originally designed as a freight line and not a passenger line, it tends to lurch quite a bit. You get used to it pretty quickly, but I recommend you sit in the upper level of the car. There will be a lot more swaying movement, but there is also fresh air, and the views are much better! Again, overall, it was absolutely worth taking this tour!

Great way to see a big part of the island of Saint Kitts in about 3 hours. The train runs from the north along the northeast coast only, but you get beautiful views of the old sugar plantations, pass through villages, go right along the Atlantic Ocean and have excellent views of Sint Eustatius island as well. You also cross 3 or 4 bridges along the route. The western part of the island is done on a small bus with commentary by the driver. Complimentary mango daiquiris and piña coladas (water, sodas, too) on the train are a nice touch. It was a bit expensive ($79 USD when I went) and "touristy," but as a fan of any and all forms of rail travel, I was happy to support it, and I enjoyed my time. I went on July 7, 2023, and all the wagons except the first one were filled with local children and their teachers from St. Kitts day cares and primary schools. Nice to see them enjoying their island's beauty. The front car was for independent travelers, and there were only about 12 people, so there was lots of space. But I could see how it would be bad if overcrowded with folks from cruise ships. If traveling independently like me, just contact them via their website to check for upcoming dates and make your booking. You can pay the morning before you depart at the train station (next to the airport). American Express accepted as well as all other major credit cards .

A really great trip and excellent value for money. The bus ride to get there was quite short which was nice and the return journey was longer but you got to see more of the island with the driver giving you commentary on why you were seeing, our driver was very entertaining. The train journey was quite long but enjoyable, we sat upstairs and you were offered a number of drinks that were included in the price. The rum punch was very decent!! The tour guide was very knowledgable and kept you entertained on most of the journey and some dancers also joined a couple of times to do some short dances for you.

Fun ride. Clint on the Bus ride was the best thing going! He needs a raise! His knowledge of the Island was on point. As far as the train ride goes, between the squealing of the train cars and the swaying of the car the views were amazing. It did however show the absolute need of support this tiny island needs financially. Truly heart breaking. Covid did a number on these amazing people and the economy. We hope for a full recovery to these amazing people!

The Scenic Railway is a great chance to see a lot of the island. The drinks are plentiful and they have some light entertainment that moves from car to car. They lost a star because they talked 90% of the time instead of letting us just enjoy the activity.

Nice relaxing way to see the Island. Drinks included and friendly staff.

We didn't go on the railway due to scheduling and hearing about the price from one of the locals. I'm putting in a review to warn people on here since neither the website nor WhatsApp chat is up front on pricing, and I think this is not a good practice for business. It's currently at least $89 USD per person to go on the excursion. The train itself is packed with tourists from the cruise ships and not always made comfortable. For us, this didn't seem worthwhile since we rented a car and had a whole week to explore the island ourselves - if this is still interesting to you, reserve through your cruise line or by emailing them through their website.

Staff was knowledgeable and the alcoholic drinks were good. However the seats on the train are brutally bad, and very uncomfortable. If you suffer from motion sickness, then you best take drugs, a lot of rocking back and forth.

What a great little train ride. We saw all kinds of scenic stuff. The tracks followed the coast line for 18 miles. Then we got on board a bus ride the rest of the way back to the ship nice little villages along the way well worth it.

Staff are very nice and entertaining, and the complimentary drinks were pretty good. The train was like nothing I'd ever been on or seen before and was very interesting. However, the nature of the train, as they will explain before you set off, is very wobbly from side to side. It is perfectly safe for passengers, but it may induce a bit of motion sickness if you are prone to that. However, there's no better way to see the island in an afternoon.

Great little rickety historic railway that goes around the entire island of St Kitts. Definitely not for kids under 4yrs old.

This was the favorite thing that we did while on a seven day birthday cruise. What made this activity especially memorable is the friendliness of the people. At every crossing, every household and every school yard, the children and adults would come out and wave to the train. It gave a warm feeling that you would want to return to this island and that the people would want you to. This is in stark contrast to St. Lucia, where we felt like the natives wished we weren’t there. The train trip was fun, historical, and informative about sugar cane in the islands. The rum drinks were good and plentiful with warm and courteous locals serving constantly. It was unique, scenic, relaxing and just plain wonderful. Do this!

It is sold as providing a seat in the open air top and also in the closed, windowed car below that you can move back and forth between. They admitted to overbooking and that is an understatement. When we arrived as many as could possibly squeeze into the top was already there and we were forced to sit below without any refund or discount, paying the same amount as those up top. Much of the time, albeit not all of the time, the view was of tall grass and shrubs but we got to listen to the guide's description of what the people above could see. We got to pass the time killing the multitude of mosquitoes that liked the inside cab. We still did get served drinks by a less than enthusiastic server so it earned a 2nd star for still providing the drinks as promised. Once the announcement was made advising people it was their last chance to use the restroom I did get to sit in someone else's seat up top for a bit. If they were upfront about their booking practices and didn't make promises they didn't intend to fulfill, it would allow customers to make a more informed choice and there'd be no issue.

We took this excursion from our cruise ship, we were bussed to the station where the train awaited. The cars are double level, open on top and air conditioned below. Complimentary drinks were served by helpful staff. The journey was about an hour and a half through countryside and villages. The scenery bar the central mountains was nothing spectacular and there was much evidence of abandoned cars etc. Quite how the locomotive made the journey I’m not sure as it appeared very dilapidated.

So worth doing. A full tour of the island with a great guide. We had unlimited drinks (lots of rum!) … booked through P&O. Such a fun few hours!

Good views and a good introduction to st. Kitts history. Frozen drinks were tasty, rum and rum punch not so much. A bit expensive for what you get. Only shows half the island then it's a bus ride back to the station/cruise ship depending on where you want to be dropped off.

Must do when in St. Kitts - you get almost a full Tour around the Island, view is incredible and they are serving drinks for free.