Wild West Day Trip to Virginia City from Tahoe with Train Ride

Overview

Available languages

English

7 hours

Mobile ticket

Delve into Nevada’s Wild West mining history on this tour from South Lake Tahoe to Virginia City, a mining boomtown listed on the US National Register of Historic Places. With a knowledgeable guide, travel along part of the Pony Express on the drive to Virginia City, where you’ll take a ride on the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. Then explore the town however you wish, checking out museums and visiting the saloon.

Additional Info

Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller

Service animals allowed

Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap

Suitable for all physical fitness levels

It is recommended to bring comfortable walking shoes, sunscreen and a reusable water bottle

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

What‘s Included

Train ride

Transport by air-conditioned shuttle bus

Hotel pickup and drop-off (selected hotels only)

Lunch

Admission to attractions (optional)

Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

What To Expect

Virginia & Truckee Railroad

7 mile train ride from Virginia City to Gold Hill and back.

1 hour • Admission Included

Comstock Lode

Comstock Lode - Silver City, Gold Hill, Virginia City

3 hours • Admission Not Applicable

Options

Wild West Tour from Lake Tahoe with Train Ride

Pickup included

Reviews

4.19

142 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

Great experience
Alan B,
Oct 26, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
First off this is not a train ride to Virginia City. This is a 90-minute narrated bus tour from South Lake Tahoe to Virginia City where you then take a 30 minute train ride. That said, it was a great day! Our guide on the bus, Nevada Smith told us all about the area and its history. We rode through a spectacular mounatin pass, through the historic town of Genoa and on through the desert to Virginia City. There we took a short train ride out and back, learning more about the history of the Comstock Lode and the railroad itself. The conductor, Don was equally informative. After that we had three hours in Virginia City for lunch, shopping and to experience a real "old west" town. There is a great museum, The Way It Was, with artifacts going back to the pioneer and mining days... a lot of cool old stuff and a video. The town has several saloons that serve pizza, burgers and drinks. I recommend the Red Dog Saloon. There's also Hi Me Cafe which serves the most amazing iced coffee! And there's plenty of gift shops, ranging from simple souvenirs to unique clothing, artwork and jewelry. All in all I definitely recommend this excursion for anyone who wants to step back to the 1800's without leaving the present day. A perfect day trip from Tahoe.
Carson city and Virginia city
Pamela B,
Oct 17, 2025
- Review from Viator
4.00
Great tour guide! Learned lots of info. A little too long in Virginia city . Great little church to see.
It was interesting and...
Ronald C,
Oct 17, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
It was interesting and informative, the driver/tour guide was extremely knowledgeable. Well worth the money.
Very informative!!!!
Lionna S,
Oct 16, 2025
- Review from Viator
2.00
Overall, the experience was very “informational”. The driver was very knowledgeable about the tour as well as keeping people on the bus entertained with the trivia questions he was giving us. But I must say, I thought the tour would be different than what we envisioned. I thought the train ride was going to be several hours as we overlooked Lake Tahoe and other significant landmarks. Instead, we has roughly a 1.5 hour tour by bus (both ways) and a roughly 30 minute train ride. We got dropped off to visit “old school” markets and stores which was kinda refreshing. We made some homemade candles which was pretty fun and we also had a good time speaking to the locals.
Great for a family trip
Gilbert A,
Oct 9, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
The trip was awesome. The driver kept us up on the history on the way. Pretty cool Got us to our location on time. The train ride was cool.
Great trip
catherine G,
Oct 3, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
Our driver was so informed about the area and made the bus ride so much fun . We even sang ! Our adventure in Carson city allowed plenty of time to see everything and shop and have lunch
Do not recommend
Misty P,
Sep 29, 2025
- Review from Viator
1.00
The tour had too much down time and people were sitting on benches waiting for the bus to load and leave. We waited at a the Golden Nugget for a gentleman who was in line at Starbucks for a bottle of water. The tour guide dropped us off across the street as he didn’t want to turn the bus around. Never again.
Underwhelmed excursion
129kandacem,
Sep 27, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
3.00
The trip was a little deceptive. We thought we were gonna get to have a sightseeing train ride and it was only about 5 miles back and forth and then we were dropped off at Virginia city for three hours.
Virginia City, Nevada tour and train ride experience.
wandasO317EI,
Sep 26, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
My husband and I were delighted with our trip on the Train Ride experience in Virginia City, Nevada. The emcee was very knowledgeable and personable. If we are ever back in this area, we will definitely take this outing again! And the price was a great value. Also, we really enjoyed touring Virginia City!
Virginia City Fun
lorifR3010JA,
Sep 21, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
4.00
The trip to Virginia City was fun however I think the description is a little misleading! We thought we were going on a longer train ride. It .9 miles not 9 miles. With that being said the shuttle driver was great and knowledgeable. And Virginia City was cool! We saw wild mustangs. Lots of mines! Bucket of Blood Saloon was my favorite!