Yet the first leg to Jasper doesn’t start well.
The mountain ranges fill the near horizon, white-capped peaks ringed by clouds, rivers of snow streaming down their sides. The forests are thick with all manner of enormous trees creeping right up to the edge of the train tracks, while rivers of frigid glacial water rage beside the train making its way along valleys and over mountain passes.
John from Edmonton, a fellow passenger riding the Vancouver to Jasper leg with his wife and two kids, tells me it’s not a cheap journey but one they often take in preference to flying. “It’s about appreciating what we have around us,” he says, a knowing look on his face. “We see elk and bear along the route, sometimes eagles and moose. I want my children to understand what we have on our doorstep and I want to take the stress and hassle out of trying to get home. This train ride allows us to do both.”
Now we talk. Laugh. Learn about each other.
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| Photo credit: Maurice Li Photography |
She goes on to say that they often get requests from folk who climb onboard with kayaks and canoes and who ask to be dropped off at any number of locations along the Canadian National railway, only to disappear into remote bush on their quest for an outdoors adventure in the middle of absolutely nowhere.
It’s so very Canadian.
Why shouldn’t you be allowed to stop off wherever you want along the train line?
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| Photo credit: Maurice Li Photography |
The Canadian is frequently delayed – CN, not VIA, own the rail line and so freight trains in the vicinity take precedence while our own train sits waiting patiently in a local siding. The one and two-person rooms are on the small side, but it’s fair to say they’re perfectly formed. And the ticket price is high, although we were fortunate to be sponsored by VIA for this particular travel blogging trip.
Crossing a country as vast as Canada by the most basic of means and being privileged to witness some of the greatest natural sites on the planet makes this one of the world’s great transcontinental travel experiences, up there with the likes of the Orient and the Ghan.
It is a journey from another time, when the romance of train travel was a deeply alluring thing, but it still has its place firmly rooted in modern times albeit at half speed and far, far away from the madding crowd.
If you want to follow along on my journey across Canada, either check in regularly on In Search of a Life Less Ordinary to read my blog posts or jump onto my personal page on the Keep Exploring tumblr site here. The Canadian Tourism Commission and VIA Rail hosted me for the train portions of this cross-Canada journey.
Beautifully described, Russ! I started with the same skepticism, but came to love the long and slow discovery of Canada.
Quite some rail journey. Beats the 8:30 to Liverpool Street!
Sounds wonderful – and far removed from the St Albans Thameslink experience 🙂 Canada’s own Orient Express, ‘cept not Oriental and, not… fast. You’re a lucky guy!
This sounds absolutely amazing! I am a lover of train travel and prefer it to flying but flying often wins out because of time constraints. I doubt I would do this journey until I move back to Canada but I can live it through your eyes for now. I’ve travelled from London to Cornwall via train, my bf insisted actually as he said it would be a scenic journey and he was right it did not disappoint. The longest train right I’ve taken in Canada was Toronto to Montreal and that is fairly boring with not much to see.
I love train travel. I’ve gone up and down the East Coast of the US three times by train – twice from upstate NY to Orlando, FL, once from Orlando to Washington, DC. It’s a wonderful way to travel, and I’d love to do more of it. (Especially in Europe and Japan where it’s anything but slow!)
Sounds great, Susanna. Is this with Amtrak? It’s not the fastest way to travel but it is the loveliest – you get to see so much and slow right down. One of our group is a train enthusiast and blogs about great train journeys – she was in train heaven on this trip 🙂
Yep, time constraints often win over, don’t they? I’ve never really travelled in the UK by train further than the south coast to London and, again, it’s not a very interesting ride. To start this one by passing out of Vancouver, through the Rockies, and into the heart of Canada was breathtaking. Two days into the journey and we’d all taken hundreds and hundreds of photos, there was just too much to see and capture!
Wow, you would have been not too far behind us, David, as our train journey into Toronto was ending on the 30th. The domes were a fantastic part of the whole set-up – the ability to climb up into the car and get a 360 degree uninterrupted view of your surroundings. Quite magical. Our train was quite busy and we made slow progress but it didn’t matter. I agree that the food was much better than I expected, the attendants friendly and helpful, and we stayed in a variety of accommodation – bunks at first, then 1 bedroom, then 2 – so we got to experience the range on offer. Some great memories from my time onboard.
I once planned on taking the train from Vancouver to Toronto. I’m wondering, did you happen to be on the sleeper cabin ? I’m planning to travel but only in Economy. Do you happen to know if people travelling in Economy have access to showers ? (lol funny question i know)
Cool. Maybe one day for me 🙂
Hi Daniel, we tried all three sleeping options – the bunks and sleeper cabin (for 1 and 2). I did go to the front end of the train to check out the economy seats but I’m not sure if they had access to showers. I’d check out the VIA Rail website for deals because I saw some really cheap offers for the sleeper cabins. Let me know how you get on.
When I rode the Canadian I was in a Cabin for 1 but I went up to check out the economy seats as well. They seemed nicer than what you might find on a regional train in other parts of the world but for the long haul it wouldn’t be a very good time. They do not have showers nor do they have access to any of the train behind the first dome car, so you’re only allowed to walk around the two coaches and one of the dome cars which has a small cafe, everything behind that is sleeping passengers only. I feel like if you want a really positive experience on the Canadian you should go for a cabin. You get to experience the whole train that way and have more room to move around, plus gourmet meals in the dining car are included. I think VIA mainly offers the economy class for locals who are hopping the train in the daytime to get from one town to another in the same region.
Agree with all this. For a fuller experience, go with sleeper. Thanks for sharing your insights, David 🙂
I took the train in the early 80’s from Ottawa-Toronto, Toronto-Calgary, Jasper to Vancouver. Initially traveling alone, but met up with friends in Toronto. We shared the cabin between 6 of us!!! If you didn’t have a cabin you did not have a shower!!!!!!!!!!! the train seats did recline quite well, some slept there at night some in the day! (There was a Student car, had to be really cheap as they sat on bench seats, lay on the floor always lots of laughter in that car. That was roughing it.) You get to know almost everyone when you’re on a nonstop journey as you walked through most if not all cars daily. Nothing but books, crochet hooks and conversation in those days!!! I made 2 baby blankets, read 3 books in the long haul across this vast country! We made it a rule to sit and eat breakfast & dinner in the dining car, remember it being quite reasonable? Lunches we ate sandwiches from the snack car. Think it would be a completely different journey today? WiFi, Laptop, movies to occupy yourself! I loved the Panoramic train, made you feel like you were outside, unfortunately there was only one car on our train. Definitely the way to see the Rockies. Glad you had a good group of passengers to travel with, as always your blog/photos are brilliant. Keep up the great blogging work. Come back to Canada soon! x
Oh, bench seats don’t sound like fun. They took away the Panoramic car after we crossed the Rockies which was a shame but understandable. I think I loved every thing you mention – the journey, getting to know my neighbours, the slower pace, the food. I am thankful that the group I toured with were without doubt fantastic. It certainly helped with the amount of time spend together. Thanks for the lovely words about the blog and photos. I’ll be back in Canada soon – I have no doubt about that 🙂
I should have asked what the prices were then? Would be interesting to compare.
I’m interested to know if you would’ve paid the high ticket prices, had it not been comped by VIA?
Hey Kate, good question. Going on a one-off train ride like this as a tourist, I’d probably pay it for the experience, but I couldn’t see anyone paying regularly to travel by train across Canada like this as it is expensive. That said, people told me that deals could be had online if you searched around, which gave the impression you might not always be paying such high prices.