Toronto to Vancouver by train
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Saga Canada
Saga's 'Great Canadian Train Journey' gives you a lot more than you might expect: luxury hotel in Montreal (3 nights) with sightseeing and trip to Quebec city, in Ottawa and Toronto with city tours, the latter also including Niagara Falls. On the last evening in Toronto, you board the 'Canadian' train to Vancouver for 4 nights in a private cabin but there are breaks along the way, in Winnipeg and Jasper (2 nights each) with plenty to explore before boarding the next train. The trip ends in Vancouver, with a city tour included plus optional excursions.Day 1
Union Station in Toronto, it's 8 pm and we
have just checked in. Now it's a 2 hour wait until departure, plenty of time to
reflect on Ontario's capital, the heart-stopping panorama from the top of the CN tower, the
trip to the islands, the Niagara Falls and more. But tonight a new adventure is
about to start.
We leave an hour late -nothing unusual as freight trains have priority on the single
track- and in Sleeper Plus class,
somewhere between Prestige and Economy, I am introduced to my cabin, a cosy
'roomette' with a pull down bed, washbasin and loo. You can't use the latter at
night as the bed stretches right over it but there are public amenities along
the corridor and a shower with changing space.
Double rooms have bunk beds, I'm told, and are more spacious. I close
the door and rocked like a baby, I fall asleep.
Day 2
We are travelling on the 'Canadian' run by
Via Rail and in the morning, I can't wait to explore our home for the next 24
hours. First the dining car with à la carte, waiter service, gourmet meals plus
all day tea, coffee and snacks and a chance to make friends in a relaxed
ambience. Then I check out the day's activities, blind wine tasting, bingo,
souvenir shopping, beer tasting, talks about the journey, but the glass-domed observation
car keeps me glued to my seat. I have never seen so many trees and ponds and
lakes, fringed with bracken and patches of snow. Even after dark I can still
make out the tall silhouettes of firs and silver birch marching across the
land.
Days 3-4
I wake up to a rose-tinted dawn and it feels
like another country, flat open land stretching as far as you can see, dotted
with settlements and the occasional ribbon of trees. We have reached the
Prairies and pull into Winnipeg at 8 am. We are stopping for two nights before boarding
the next train (the Canadian runs every other day). Winnipeg claims to be
Canada's sunniest city and I soon fall under the spell as we tour the Museum of
Human Rights, the zoo and its 'Journey to Churchill' where I come nose to nose
with a rescued polar bear and the 'Forks', a lively place at the confluence of
the Assiniboine and the Red River with outdoor cafés, street artists and an
irresistible food market.
Days 5-7
Back on the train in time for lunch and all
being well, a 26 hour journey to Jasper in the Rockies. I love mountains but
for now, it's all cattle and crops, then valleys, wooded hills, meandering
rivers and when we leave Manitoba for Saskatchewan tell tales of potash and
uranium mining. I sleep reasonably well and wake up to rain on wheat fields
sprinkled with multi-coloured beehives. We stop frequently, slowed down by
goods trains - over 200 carriages long, including double-deckers- and the empty
but heavy Rocky Mountaineer coach we are pulling on its way to Vancouver. We
reach Jasper in Alberta 13 hours late, at 3 am. The moon is shining on the snow-covered
peaks and I feel on top of the world. We have only a day and a half to take it
all in but we certainly make the most of it, the Athabasca glacier , the river,
the waterfalls, the Maligne canyon, the lakes and the pretty Alpine resort nestling
among it all at just over 1,000 metres. There's
white water rafting for the brave and we spot big horns, elks and a couple of
brown bears.
Days 7-10
Last call for the early afternoon train,
crawling past the Pyramid waterfall and Mount Robson, at 3954 metres, the
highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. By morning, British Columbia greets us
with more snowy tops, steep slopes, tunnels and the mighty Fraser river winding
around blueberry farms and orchards. By mid-afternoon, we are in Vancouver,
wandering in Stanley Park and the fashionable Gastown district, named after the
19th century Yorkshire seaman who opened the first bar. Then it's a full day on
Vancouver Island where we explore the dazzling Butchart Gardens and the quaint
BC capital of Victoria. Next morning, we're up early and ready to go. To the
airport? Not just yet for how could we miss the Capilano suspension bridge and
its treetop walk or the cable car ride to Grouse Mountain still covered in ice
and snow?
We had been promised the trip of a lifetime
and from the changing scenery and cities to the slow 4,466 km train journey, we
wouldn't have done it any other way.
More information
This was a Saga trip which took in Montreal
(+Quebec city) and Ottawa before the train journey from Toronto.
Silver Travel Advisor recommends Saga Holidays
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