NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Pardon me, boy, is that the Chattanooga Choo-Choo?
Well, it could be. Or maybe it's the Royal Scotsman, or the Blue Train or the Palace on Wheels. It could even be the Shongololo Express. The choice is yours when you take a railway vacation.
From the Wabash Cannonball to the Orient Express, people are just crazy about trains. The wail of a train whistle has inspired generations of travelers to pack their bags and buy their tickets. Poets, songwriters and novelists have found their muse while riding the rails. 
Yes, planes are faster and cars are more direct, but when you want history with your geography, when you want tradition with your travel, when you want to enjoy the ride as much as the destination, maybe you should make the switch -- to the train.
"It's the one way of traveling where you don't feel so packaged," said Jamie Jenson, travel writer and author of the Road Trip USA series for Avalon Travel Publishing. "It's really nice if you have kids. You can all travel together and talk rather than look at the back if each other's heads."
Pick a country and you're likely to find a scenic train route. Norway, Vietnam, Australia or just about anywhere in the USA, if there's enough space to lay down tracks, there's sure to be a conductor somewhere checking his watch and telling passengers to climb aboard.
"It brings people back to a simpler time," said Annie Ray, assistant to the tour director at the Society of International Railway Travelers, "when things were slower paced and more gracious."
So forget about working on the railroad; it's time to play.
Do the locomotion
The Grand Canyon Railway is a favorite among many train enthusiasts. Leaving from Williams, Ariz., the train goes right to the Grand Canyon National Park's historic district and skips the tourist traffic jams.
"It's a great way to get there without having to fly or drive," Jensen said. "This way, you don't have to worry about driving off the edge."
On a progressive note, Amtrak, the national passenger rail service, stops at Williams, making the canyon line available to any city in the country that Amtrak serves. 
Check out the railway Web site for some canyon travel packages, such as the Family Getaway, which includes a round trip train ride from Williams into Grand Canyon National Park, and a one-night stay in the railway's Fray Marcos Hotel. Prices range from about $229 to $289.
Another popular Amtrak trip is the Vancouver-Seattle-Victoria triangle tour. You can travel between Seattle and Victoria aboard the Victoria Clipper; then from Victoria to Vancouver on the BC Ferry. Now a Pacific Northwest expert, you leave Vancouver and head back to Seattle aboard the Amtrak Cascades.
Jensen also recommends Amtrak's Coast Starlight, which starts in Los Angeles and chugs right up to Seattle. Novelist Jack Kerouac was a brakeman on this train, Jensen said, and you if look out the window, you just may see whales swimming out in the Pacific.
Other train rides in the United States to keep in mind are the Napa Valley Wine Train, the Alaska Railway and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.
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Hear that train a-comin'
In Europe, trains are one of the most effective ways of getting around. Travel writer and television host Rick Steves said many Europeans live their entire lives without ever learning to drive a car. Why bother when the trains run so well?
"In Europe, trains are still vital people movers," he said. "And there's wonderful diversity. You step off the train and into an entirely different culture."
While the Eurailpass was once the ruling European train pass, Steves said there is now a variety of different passes and a little research can lead to some nice savings. Steves' Web site lists the types of passes available and recommendations of what kind of pass could be best for you. 
Touring the continent? Try the Eurailpass, which covers 17 countries.
First-class consecutive-day passes range from 15 days to three months and prices run from $554 to $1,558.
The flexipass allows 10 or 15 travel days within a two-month period, so if you don't plan to be on a train every day of your vacation, this could save you some money. A first-class flexipass costs $654 for 10 days' worth of travel in two months and $862 for 15 days in two months.
"It's wasteful to have a train pass just ticking away," Steves said.
If you've got company, you can cut costs with the Saverpass. Two or more people traveling together at all times can save 15 percent or more -- $52 to $234 depending on the pass — by sharing a First Class Saverpass, compared to buying separate first-class passes, according to Steves' guide to European rail passes. You can also get country passes, regional passes, and rail and drive passes, which mix rail travel with car rentals.
"Smart consumers should know what all the options are," Steves said.
Midnight Specials
Douglas Beal has seen a growing interest in train travel. Beal, vice president of Travel Beyond in Wayzata, Minn., said the company offers several train tours around the world, including the Blue Train and the Shongologo Express in Southern Africa. The trains travel to such locations as Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and Kruger National Park in South Africa.
Beal said that, after a dry spell, the number of bookings for the Shongologo — Zulu for "centipede" — has gone up in the last few years.
"It's a history thing for a lot of people," he said. "People travel the world to ride on these trains."
Booking a train vacation shouldn't drive you loco. Just tap into the Web and see what kind of deals come out of the tunnel. For example, you might find:
- VungTau International Tourist Services Co. offers a 14-day rail tour of Vietnam. The "Reunification Express" starts in Ho Chi Minh City and takes in the beaches of Nha Trang, a boat ride on the Thu Bon River, and a tour of Hanoi. The trip costs $1,357 for a single person, airfare not included.
- Trains Unlimited, Tours has train tours in many parts of the world. The China Steam Spectacular, for example, is a 16-day trip to the last steam operations of Northern China. The trip costs $3,295 for a single person, airfare included.
- TEI Tours and Travel offers several train tours. The Trans-Siberian Express starts in Khabarovsk and crosses the Ural Mountains before it ends its run in Moscow. The trip costs $1,935 per person twin share, airfare not included.
- American Oriental Express turns the clock back to the railroad's golden age, offering luxury rail trips in North America aboard vintage railroads. The 10-day Great Trans-Canada tour, for example, takes travelers from Vancouver to Montreal, with stops in such locations as Jasper National Park in Alberta and Thunder Bay in Ontario. Prices range from $4,290 to $7,290.
Americans traveling overseas are advised to take a look at the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, which lists travel warnings and other important information about other countries. 
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