SilverLeaf cars are on one level with glass dome and a small outdoor viewing area.The glittering stainless-steel cars of The Canadian are sensitively refurbished period pieces dating from the Fifties, redolent of a time when the aspiration of a girl like Marilyn Monroe was to find a man with his own railroad car, as she tells Tony Curtis in Some Like It Hot. Skip to main content Update: Read about COVID-19 travel and health advisories. Temporarily suspended due to flood damage.We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.Do what I did – try them both! Great Canadian Railway Journeys is a BBC travel documentary series presented by Michael Portillo and aired on BBC Two. Besides dining cars and various categories of sleeping accommodation, the train includes a Skyline car with observation dome and a Park car with vista dome and observation lounge at the rear of the train.
Winding along the water’s edge of Anderson and Seton lakes during Rainforest to Gold Rush, with monumental masses of rock on each side, is a sublime stretch.A four-and-a-half-hour journey from Cochrane through forest to Moosonee.During daylight there are longer stops at Hornepayne, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Jasper – with time in Winnipeg to admire the Beaux-Arts station designed by the same architects as Grand Central station in New York, and in Jasper to stroll to the shops and buzz of Connaught Drive.After Edmonton’s oil refineries, the climb into the Rockies begins, and the route provides some spectacular moments as the railway clings to vertiginous slopes through river canyons that become cauldrons with snow melt. There is no better way to appreciate the size and diverse landscapes of Canada than aboard this long-distance train, with its rhythm of meals in the dining car and conversations with people from all over the world – it has become a favoured “bucket list” train journey, with good reason, but that isn’t to say you won’t feel the need for a book when you’ve had your fill of spruce trees.Seats in the observation domes are at a premium once west of Edmonton as the train climbs into the foothills of the Rockies, which fill the views for the next 24 hours. Choose between excellent and extraordinary. Here you can learn more about how to experience the Canadian Rockies by rail. The Canadian Shield covers half of the country, and the dense boreal forest growing in its thin soil can seem unending after half a day, even though it is broken up by rivers and thousands of lakes.
Soon after leaving Jasper the train passes close to Mount Robson, at 12,972ft the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies and so massive that it has its own micro-climate.The trains cover four shorter routes, but 169 packages are offered to cater for the many visitors who combine a Rocky Mountaineer journey with a cruise from Seattle or Vancouver up the Inside Passage to Alaska.The shortest is the five to six hour Coastal Passage route between Seattle and Vancouver, designed to link with cruises through the US port and one of the other trains. Sign up for our newsletter and be the first to learn about new Rocky Mountaineer promotions.The majesty of the Canadian Rockies meets the comfort of luxury train travel.Get 4 free perks with our best offer of the year: 2X Hotel Nights, 1X Airport Transfer, and 1X Dinner when you book a qualifying 2021 package of 8 days or more.View and download an e-brochure.Get 4 free perks: 2X Hotel Night, 1X Airport Transfer and 1X Dinner when you book 8+ days with us.Complimentary beverages and snacksFor a limited time, secure our best offer of the year with only a $25 CAD deposit.Delicious breakfast and lunch served in the comfort of your seatOur most popular route through the Canadian Rockies, famous for uniting Canada’s East and West.Gourmet breakfast and lunch served in a lower-level dining roomCarve through extreme landscapes like BC's coastal rainforest, the rugged Fraser Canyon, and the historic Cariboo gold rush region on your way to the Canadian Rockies.Choose between excellent and extraordinary. If yes to 3, 5 and 6, the Rocky Mountaineer would be a better fit.