All aboard for Southern adventures! Amtrak’s Mardi Gras Service train is your ticket to New Orleans, Louisiana, Coastal Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama. Settle in for the whole route, which will take just under four hours,…
All aboard for Southern adventures! Amtrak’s Mardi Gras Service train is your ticket to New Orleans, Louisiana, Coastal Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama. Settle in for the whole route, which will take just under four hours, or stop along the way to explore friendly Southern towns and beautiful shores. On your ride, you’ll enjoy roomy seats in business or coach class, refreshments in the Café Car and panoramic views of Gulf Coast communities — all you have to do is climb aboard and relax.
The western end of the Mardi Gras Service train puts you in New Orleans, Louisiana, a city world-famous for jazz music, colorful culture and Mardi Gras celebrations. Amtrak trains arrive at and depart from Union Passenger Terminal, located a short walk from Caesar’s Superdome with easy access to city bus and streetcar lines. Take the Rampart-Loyola streetcar into the city for quintessential New Orleans fun, like Mardi Gras season parades in the French Quarter, MICHELIN-recognized dining in Marigny and live music on Frenchman Street.
From New Orleans, the Mardi Gras Service continues to Coastal Mississippi. In Bay St. Louis, the Old Town neighborhood’s galleries, antique stores and lively community events lend an artistic touch to your adventures. Be sure to spend some time exploring the Alice Moseley Folk Art Museum located inside the Historic L & N Train Depot. Just a short train ride or drive away, Gulfport is home to family attractions like the state-of-the-art Mississippi Aquarium and the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, Mississippi’s oldest children’s museum. Be sure to spend some time lounging on the beach: Enjoy peace on the quiet shores of Bay St. Louis and savor fresh-caught Gulf seafood at beachfront restaurants in Gulfport.
Continue your journey along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast by train or car to reach the cities of Biloxi and Pascagoula. Waterfront casino resorts like Biloxi’s Beau Rivage and Hard Rock Hotel offer fun and relaxation just steps from the shore. Explore the work of Mississippi potter George Ohr at the Frank Gehry-designed Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of art, then catch a Biloxi Shuckers baseball game at Keesler Federal Park. Pascagoula’s Amtrak station is just steps from waterfront Lighthouse Park, the trailhead for the Pascagoula Historic Bike Trail. Rent a bicycle for a round-trip route through time, stopping to see curiosities such as Mississippi’s oldest standing building and the childhood home of singer Jimmy Buffett. For a fun detour, take a short drive over to Ocean Springs to explore its walkable downtown. This friendly district is packed with decadent dining options and lined with storied oak trees.
At the Mardi Gras Service’s eastern end, Mobile is home to the USA’s original Mardi Gras celebrations. Join in on parades and events during Carnival season, or enjoy a taste of the festivities any time of year at the Mobile Carnival Museum. Find even more history in Africatown, where the Africatown Heritage House’s award-winning Clotilde: The Exhibition tells the story of the neighborhood’s earliest Black residents. When the sun goes down, head to Dauphin Street. This stretch of downtown Mobile is home to local bars, restaurants and live-music venues that keep the fun going well into the night.
