The Café Lafayette Dinner Train, North Woodstock, New Hampshire

A five-course dinner aboard restored 1950s rail cars, rolling twenty miles along the Pemi River Valley near Lincoln — a genuinely special, only-here night on a White Mountains foliage trip.

The short version

• A two-hour dinner train out of North Woodstock, just outside Lincoln, serving a five-course meal in lovingly restored 1950s dining cars.
• The route runs about twenty miles along the Pemi River Valley — over trestle bridges, past a Christmas tree farm — and it’s especially lovely in foliage season.
• It’s the “one signature experience” of a Kancamagus weekend: book it, dress up a little, and let the scenery roll by.

What is it?

The Café Lafayette Dinner Train pairs a scenic two-hour rail journey with a five-course, cooked-to-order meal, all aboard vintage 1950s cars restored with stained glass and brass. It departs from North Woodstock, a few minutes from Lincoln and the western end of the Kancamagus, and runs roughly May through October — so leaf season is prime time.

Why go?

Because it’s the kind of only-here experience the Five-Star Math framework says to spend on: memorable, rooted in the place, and impossible to replicate. After a day of driving the Kanc, a slow dinner with the foliage rolling past the window is a near-perfect night.

Good to know

• Where: departs North Woodstock, New Hampshire (near Lincoln).
• Season & booking: roughly May–October; book ahead — check the official site.
• Cost: a special-occasion experience — a real splurge, and worth it.
• Pair with: the Kancamagus Highway.

Featured in: Fall Foliage Is a Luxury Trip Where the Best Part Is Free →