If you're unused to rail tours, the Rocky Mountaineer is a good start. It puts you on a train only two days out of seven and only during daylight hours. As with traditional tours, you sleep in hotels at night and take buses as needed. Itineraries center around the Canadian Rockies but can reach out as far east as Niagara Falls and Halifax.
You can book two levels of comfort. Red Leaf Service puts you in a standard rail car with large picture windows. You get chilled breakfast and lunches at your seat as well as free non-alcoholic beverages and snacks. The higher-priced Gold Leaf service offers a two-level coach. Upstairs, you watch the forests and fields through a glass dome. Downstairs, you enjoy a gourmet hot breakfast and lunch in a dining room. Different itineraries cover Toronto, Jasper, Banff, Calgary, Jasper and Vancouver, among other cities.
Rocky Mountaineer
(877) 460-3200
rockymountaineer.com
If you'd rather tour independently and sleep on board, travel with the country's national passenger service, VIA Rail. Excursions of different lengths bring you coast to coast or within individual provinces. Tours can include skiing, fishing, wine, theater and spas. Or you can add cruising, driving or air travel for greater range.
Economy class gives you reclining seats with pillows and blankets at night. You can also buy full-course meals. Sleeper class grants you a single berth, a cabin for one, or a full suite with fresh flowers and breakfast in bed. This class also includes sinks in the room and access to a shower in each car.
VIA Rail
(888) 842-7245
viarail.ca
Return to the 1920s in the heritage business cars of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The period environment surrounds you with antique furniture, walnut-paneled walls and brass accents. You spend most of your days in the Mount Stephen Observation Car with its open tail end. Or take meals among the silver place settings of the Craigellachie Dining Car. At night, you retire to a stateroom containing a three-piece bath, hairdryer, bathrobe, safe and internal phone.
Two tours are available, each lasting six days, and starting and ending in Calgary, Alberta. The Rockies Experience passes through Banff, Lake Louise and the Columbia Valley wetlands. The Fly-Fishing Adventure sends you fishing at the Oldman, Elk, Saint Mary or Bull Rivers, depending on weather and water conditions.
Royal Canadian Pacific
(877) 665-3044
royalcanadianpacific.com
