Under normal circumstances, train travel in the U.S. conjures up images of Amtrak cars not leaving the station on time (if at all). Hop aboard Grand-Luxe Rail Journeys' Mexico tour, though, and you will start to think that you're Cary Grant or Eva Marie Saint.

The line's fully restored vintage train includes a glass-roofed dome car, three gourmet meals served daily, cocktails by the piano in the lounge car, and rooms outfitted with couches, convertible beds, and private lavatories and sinks (suites have private showers; other rooms have a shower compartment at the end of each car).

You will have to fly a bit for this one - a charter from San Antonio to Monterrey, where you will spend your first day and then board the train in the evening. Following that, you will stop in four other cities:

Zacatecas, with its colonial architecture and silver mine; San Miguel de Allende, notable for its art galleries, restaurants and ornate gardens; Teotihuacán, the site of 2,000-year-old pre-Aztec ruins, including the Pyramid of the Sun and the Temple of Quetzalcóatl; and Mexico City, which is not only the largest city in North America but is also the continent's oldest.

Length of trip Jan. 22-29, 2007
Cost $2,945-$4,145, with discount for tickets purchased before Dec. 15, 2006
Web site americanorientexpress.com