Kauai Plantation Railway

What an excellent experience! We went for the last tour of the day, with Tiny as our guide. He gave us so much fun and interesting information about the local animals, plant types and uses and very family friendly humor. We are really acquainted with Hawai’i and all of the tourist traps etc being over to Kaua’i from Big Island and the train is such a fun trip we would pay to enjoy it again!

I loved this place from the train ride to the luau (which I heard is the best one on the island). it was great! We will definitely be back here on our next trip to Kauai.

What a fun train ride for children! My husband and I took our 4 year old to ride this train and learned all about tropical vegetation. Everyone enjoyed the trip. There is also a stop to do some animal feeding. It is not a petting zoo so please don’t try to pet the animals. They have goats and boars in the same pen so it’s easy for a greedy boar to attack your hand when feeding a goat. The plantation itself is a lovely property, great place to take pictures. On the property there is a rum tasting room and where they hold a luau. We did not attend the luau on this property, we opted for another one.

Hmm. But touristy. They take you on a train ride around the plantation and stop to feed the pigs. Kids loved it.

Went on the extended tour as part of a gift from my dad. Very, very pricey and not something we would have done had it not been a gift. The train and grounds are beautifully kept and lots of fun for families. My husband and I and our three boys went on an (almost) private tour along with a single lady. It was a nice ride to the pig/​goat feeding area, along with all the other riders doing the 40 minute tour, where we were all given pieces of bread to throw over the fence. The kids really enjoyed seeing the piglets and hungry goats/​boars. At this point our little group stayed off the train and got water from the tour guide and bug spray before beginning our hike. This is a hike and not something you should do in flip flops, new shoes or heels. There was mud, bugs, creek water, sweat and humidity where we went to on the short 2 mile (approx) hike down and up hill. The scenery was beautiful and something we would not have seen otherwise. After the hike, we ate lunch (as part of the tour) which was a turkey wrap with chips and POG or a salad (which you pre-​order before the whole thing starts). It was decent food, not anything special. Unfortunately for us, the weather was very hot and humid but we continued on with the guide through the property to look for fruit on all the various trees, which the guide was very knowledgeable about. My favorite fruit was definitely the Eggfruit. So, so good! My kids enjoyed all the oranges, mangos and lychees they could stuff themselves with. Besides sweating profusely, this was a fun day, but felt a bit too long to me. It would have been perfect had it been about thirty minutes to an hour less time, especially since we had three kids that were exhausted too.

We took the 40 minute train ride and it was really fun. It was $ 18/​person and you pay in a small office/​shop right outside the train. There were two cars in our train and everyone chose the back one which was open air. Our guide was great, he made jokes and was obviously very knowledgable. He explained all about the plantation, the fruits that they had and was very detailed.
We were surprised when the train stops halfway through the trip so we could get off and feed chickens, pigs and goats. It was a lot of fun and made for some great pictures. You then get back on the train and finish the tour.
40 ‘minutes was a good amount of time and we had a lot of fun.

should really inform people if they’re down for maintenance. so disappointing. they should say on their website or something.

had a great time, the staff is fabulous and the overall experience was great. Great tour of all the fruit trees and the animals on their property. I highly recommend the plantation railway to everyone (young & old) who visits Kauai! Oh and we had so much fun feeding the pigs :)

This was so much fun! It’s a great thing to do with the kids! We went on the 40 min tour which was the perfect amount of time. They have a 4 hour tour also. Feeding the pigs was the best part! The plants are neat too especially the pineapple ones!

Five stars. Fun railway trip on a old fashioned style train. Larger train than its counterpart at the Dole Plantation in Wahiawa on Oahu. Great tour guides, who explain the fauna and flora of the climate that the ride is in. Plus, about halfway through, the train stops and you get a chance to feed the wild board and billy goats (domesticated & in a fenced area). Good family fun!

Took the 40 minute train ride. Cost $ 52 for 2 adults & 1 child (we have an additional child 2 years old that was free). Wasn’t to hopeful based on the reviews, but it certainly exceeded our expectations. The tour guide was very informative and even though I feel I know a quite a bit about Kauai since it is my 5^th visit and I have read the guide book almost cover to cover, I still learned some new very informative facts about the island. The kids loved the pigs, goats & chickens and feeding them was a real treat. Our train was not very crowded, in fact, we were just past the start time, but the train was still there and they very nicely held the train for us and 1 other family. The property is very nice. Cost was a bit pricey, but the kids really enjoyed it, so I can see maybe doing it again if the kids wanted to. It was also nice to see all the orchards. We were not able to get off the train and pick from the orchard, I think that is for the longer tour, but it was a good use of 40 minutes. We didn’t want to use a whole day on this, so it worked for us. The kids had fun, so happy kids = happy parents.
Since they talked about their rum on the tour, we wanted to stop by the bar/​restaurant for a mai tai and try out their rum. I would not recommend that. Waste of time. I will post that review on the Gaylords review, but basically bad customer service, we felt very uncomfortable with the kids (felt weird about bringing the kids to the bar, but the restaurant didn’t want us either since we were not ordering a full lunch… they had PLENTY of empty tables), in the end we didn’t even like the drinks.

Ok, so this is like a kiddy ride but I actually liked it! Yes, yes the best part is getting out and feeding the pigs but I also liked how our tour guide was pretty knowledgable. I learned about their plants, animals, etc. The train needs new brakes, haha, but would def go if u have kiddos :) Enjoy.

We rode the train, but didn’t take the extended site tour in the fields. The train was nicely restored, the audio quality was excellent and «Tiny» the tour guide/​conductor was very knowledgeable and kept the riders engaged throughout the 40 minute trip.
The plantation is quite impressive in the diversity of foods growing, much of which is consumed fresh onsite at their restaurant, Gaylord’s. We sat in the open car which was covered to protect from the sun but provided great visibility. The pig/​goat feeding stop was a highlight, as most folks haven’t gotten «up close and personal» with a boar.
Ride was a bit pricey but the Kilohana Plantation is a worth a stop and it is great to see these historic trains are preserved, both here and at the Grove Farm Homestead & Sugar Plantation Museum. Definitely worth the time invested.

I was on the «Kauai Plantation Railway» in Lihue, HI on 12/​14/​2011. It was my first time on it. I was with a tour group from my cruise ship. The loop around the plantation lasts about 40 minutes. Besides the ride thru the fruit trees which you would expect they stop and feed some pigs and goats which you might not expect. It was a nice diversion on the island of Kauai.

The train ride is more like a kiddy ride, but the train guide explains about the fruit trees planted on the plantation and we got to hand feed the goats. We took the hike and the orchard tour and we were the only hikers. Our hiking tour guide was extremely nice and well knowledge about the plantation history as well as all the fruit trees. Tasting the exotic fruits was fun but rain poured down on us and we were walking on muddy and somewhat slippery trail.

$ 18 per person for a 40 minute train ride. Ouch! This is definitely for the kids. During the trip they stop the train so you can feed the pigs and goats. That was kinda fun. There is a narrator that points out the different types of vegetation which is cool but it was very hard to keep track of what was what. All in all, glad we can say «been there done that». If you like trains (like me), just visiting without the need to ride will probably suffice for you.

so many of my friends have recently visited kaua’i. i don’t think any of them visited the plantation railway. i think my wife n’ i were the only ones amongst our friends. that’s because it’s probably nothing really special for couples like us. it’s mostly for families with small children. they’ll definitely get a big kick out of the train ride. i’m sure my dad would’ve taken me here when i was a kid if we had traveled to kaua’i. if he were to travel with our future grandkids, he would want to go here. he’s a big fan of trains.
since my wife is pregnant, the local tour companies banned her from boat rides. as she got motion sickness from the blue hawai’ian helicopter tour, it was probably good she didn’t take those boat rides even though she really wanted to. well, i don’t think anyone will get sea sick on the train ride. you might breathe in some bad diesel fumes, but you probably won’t throw up.
as advertised; the tour, which costs $ 18 for adults but 15% off with the online coupon (not on their site… google it up!), takes about forty minutes. you get a great view of lots of farm plants and trees and farm animals. the animals _​are_​very cute. they show you this one old, blind horse named geranimo. i really believe he heard our tour guide say his name from the train cos his ears perked up. since my wife and i missed the tropical botanical gardens, i think this was a good way to see some of the flora of kaua’i.
the tour guides are just a couple of young fellows like college. age blokes. they’re pretty casual but nice and friendly enough. they’ll ask for a tip at the end, and i think they deserve it.
the absolute funnest part of the tour is definitely feeding the pigs. we got to see some one-​month old piglets. those piglets weren’t interested in us though. i guessed that maybe they don’t yet eat solid food. they were _​very_​cute though, chasing each other around the mud!
the train ride was fun and rather relaxing, but i kind of wish we could have just taken a walking tour for better exercise. i think they have more expensive tours that include the train ride, some walking, and lunch. it’s really funny that you would take a train this short distance, but eh… as i said earlier, i think kids like it.
there are some really scary spiders hanging from the roof at the visitor center and gift shop by the train station. if you are yao ming, watch your head. the staff said that the spiders are harmless and are very afraid of humans.
oh, another very cute thing at this venue is the gray cat. i’m a dog guy and don’t love cats, but this cat is pretty cute. it hissed at hen. then the hen’s posse came and took over its spot. wow! the hen had a total streetgang! they totally bullied the cat n’ took its cat fud. (do you know where the term «cat fud» came from? do you remember the _​far_​side_​comic strips?)

Took the 40 minute ride on the railway. There is a narrator that explains all you see. Mainly all types of producing trees, vines, etc, along with horses, cows and wild pigs. Yes, wild pigs.
The train stops so that passengers can feed the wild pigs with old bread or dog food. Great fun!
Bad news is that on all days except Sunday, the price is steep at $ 18 per person plus tax.
On Sunday, the price is only $ 10 per person. Good day to go.
Has regular gift shop, and there are several other shops on the large plantation.