Whether it’s escap­ing from cabin fever or enjoy­ing all the sea­son has to offer, Amtrak has a way to have fun and save money with 20 per­cent dis­counts on sev­eral Midwestern trains from now through April 30, 2010.

Amtrak intro­duced a new Web site designed to show trav­el­ers how con­ve­nient it is to travel by train to visit the country’s national parks.

With the theme “Parks in Your Backyard,” Amtraktoparks.com allows users to see the near­est Amtrak route to fea­tured national park sites, each of which can be reached using pub­lic trans­porta­tion from an Amtrak station.

On Santa’s annual sojourn away from the North Pole, his favorite pas­times are lis­ten­ing to children’s gift wishes and sat­is­fy­ing his pas­sion for vin­tage trains. Lucky for us his December sched­ule prior to Christmas includes Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday after­noons rid­ing the rails of the Verde Canyon Railroad’s Santa Claus Express. Eagle-decorated FP7 engines pull coaches filled with glee­ful pas­sen­gers away from the sta­tion at 1:00 p.m. for a round trip through the won­der­land of Verde Canyon to the old Perkinsville Ranch, return­ing at about 5:00 p.m.

As the weather changes and glimpses of the hol­i­day sea­son begin to appear, cre­ate mem­o­ries that will last a life­time with a win­ter escape to Colorado. Perfectly groomed ski slopes, free lift tick­ets and fun-filled train rides to the North Pole are just a cou­ple rea­sons to plan a win­ter vaca­tion in Colorado. Now through the New Year, trav­el­ers head­ing to this win­ter won­der­land can take advan­tage of a mul­ti­tude of holiday-inspired pack­ages and events. Below are just some of the ways to cel­e­brate the hol­i­days in Colorado this year. For a com­plete list of travel pack­ages, vaca­tion val­ues, itin­er­aries and more, visit www.colorado.com.

Our fam­ily loves trav­el­ing by train. We often take the sub­ur­ban Metra trains into Chicago when we visit muse­ums or go sight­see­ing with out of town vis­i­tors. When it comes to trav­el­ing greater dis­tances for extended vaca­tions via Amtrak, it’s been more of a con­tentious issue. The cost and time fac­tors often leave us lit­tle choice but to travel by car, for con­ve­nience, or by plane, for the sake of time.