I just took the greatest rail journey of my life
The Canadian Rockies are home to some of the most pristine and breathtaking landscapes on Earth, and a trip on the Rocky Mountaineer train is the perfect way to see them.
Lifestyle
Don't miss out on the headlines from Lifestyle. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Someone once said a great travel adventure should be like opening up a grand picture book – each part of the trip like exploring a different chapter.
That’s what travelling on Canada’s Rocky Mountaineer train in proves to be like – each day a new chapter of colours, landscapes and experiences. As the woman sitting next to me exclaimed at one point, “Every time I turn my head, I feel like someone has snuck around and changed a big poster outside the carriage windows.” She captured the experience in one.
This train adventure that travels eastwards from Vancouver through the Canadian Rockies regularly appears on bucket-lists for Aussie travellers, and a few years back it made it onto Escape’s 99 Ultimate Travel To-Do List. It had been near the top of my list for years, but the three days on the Rocky Mountaineer’s First Passage to the West route proved to be nothing like what I’d anticipated. And in the very best of ways. I had assumed it would be days of climbing along the high ledges of the famed range. Instead, the trip offered something new every day. Day one saw the train climb out of the city and over three dramatic ranges. Day two was marked by the big climb through the Rockies, with walls of towering, snow-capped peaks, lush forests and plunging waterfalls. Those views got even better in day three. Of all the chapters, I couldn’t decide which I liked best. Magnificence does come with its challenges.
CHAPTER ONE
Vancouver to KamloopsIt’s a short ride by coach to the Rocky Mountaineer’s own station just beyond downtown Vancouver. The long train in its gold, white and blue glistens in the early-morning light as a man playing bagpipes welcomes travellers. At precisely 7.30am, as the ground crew wave giant flags to bid us bon voyage, we’re heading east on the 900km route that will finish in Banff in three days. The start of the trip does have a sense of occasion.
I’ve travelled on high-end trains in Europe and Asia, but the double-decker Gold Leaf carriage is luxury of another level, its plush heated seats offering a ringside perch to the majestic views through the dome windows. Seating is upstairs while the dining room, complete with white tablecloths, is downstairs, as is an open deck where you can feel the mountain air rushing by. Early on comes the announcement that stuns some – there’s no Wi-Fi. There’s a genuine look of bewilderment on some passengers’ faces as it’s explained we’re about to head through remote mountain wilderness, and the main attraction here is what’s going on out the windows. And those views are compelling. The Vancouver city limits give way to the green fields of the Fraser Valley and winding canyons along the Fraser River including Hell’s Gate, one of the narrowest spots on the line.
From here the train starts climbing over the Coast, Cascade and Columbia mountain ranges, each of which offers different landscapes and colours – sometimes snow-capped mountains, others green with thick forests, then walls of grey cliffs and stark desert environs. Standing on the outdoor deck with the chilled air rushing offers an up-close view as each new vista appears.
The dining menu offers a fine taste of the very lands we’re travelling through – the eggs in the eggs Benedict are from chickens raised on nearby farms, the honey on the pancakes from local beekeepers and the salmon fished from the rivers we’re travelling by.
Eleven hours and about 360km from Vancouver – the train averages 50km an hour due to the twists and turns of the terrain – we pulls into the town of Kamloops. A walk by the Thompson River stretches my legs after a long day sitting, and by the time I arrive at the Delta Hotels by Marriott, my bags are waiting in my room. A solid sleep follows.
CHAPTER TWO Day Two to Lake Louise
At 6.30am the Rocky Mountaineer pulls out of Kamloops heading west for the main event of the journey – the Rocky Mountains. First up is breakfast: smoked salmon toast, followed by croissants. Lunch brings a Moroccan cauliflower and chickpea bowl that’s equally fine.
The view alongside the South Thompson river is open farmland with rolling hills either side, but as we pass Shuswap Lake, the hills transform into mountains that climb a little higher, and then tower higher again. While the natural beauty is the star, there’s plenty of landmarks to spot, like the Craigellachie, where the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was driven in, and the Stone Monument that marks the Continental Divide, where the western and eastern slopes of the Rockies meet at a peak. But it’s at the extraordinary Spiral Tunnels where the marvel that is the trackwork is revealed. Here the track enters Mount Ogden at the bottom of a valley and spirals its way up to emerge near the peak, then does the same through Cathedral Mountain to emerge at the top ridge of Kicking Horse Pass – all with close-up views of the glaciers and sheer rockfaces high against the sky.
This is where the train crosses from British Columbia into Alberta. We then follow the Bow River all the way to Lake Louise, 1700m higher than where we started in Vancouver yesterday. With all the twists and turns of the track and some delays to allow freight trains to pass, it’s almost 15 hours after our day started that the we arrive at Lake Louise, where we’re taken by coach to the magnificent Fairmont Château. This is the end of the line for me on the Rocky Mountaineer, the greatest train journey of my life. But the journey is not yet over.
CHAPTER THREE: Lake Louise to Banff
Waking at the Fairmont, nothing prepares me for the beauty outside. Lake Louise, an intense turquoise body of water between two mountains, is possibly the most stunning of all the sights in this three-day picture-book adventure. I rush down to the lake, determined to walk around it before the final leg of the journey to Banff. The luminescent lake proves to be even better up close.
The Rocky Mountaineer continues to Banff on some itineraries, but we travel by coach for the 45-minute trip to our final stop at the ski resort town, where we stay at the castle-like Fairmont Banff Springs. The sky-high town ringed by mountains is exquisite.
As I sit on a terrace and think over all I had witnessed through the windows of the Rocky Mountaineer over the past days, I realise the cliche of “breathtaking” doesn’t do this experience justice. I instead settle on “beyond spectacular”. That’ll do nicely.
John Burfitt was a guest of the Rocky Mountaineer and Air New Zealand.
In the choice between train or air travel, it’s not even a close competition for John Burfitt. You’ll find him on the railway platform every time – and a window seat, please.
CALGARY
The closest airport to Banff is at Calgary – good enough reason to visit this big gem of a little city. Set over 1km above sea level where the Rockies foothills meet the Canadian prairies, this vibrant city of almost 1.5 million people has plenty to offer. Its tree-lined streets of eclectic architecture and great local pubs are in a downtown so flat getting around by foot is easy. The 1988 Winter Olympics helped stamp Calgary’s place on the world stage, but it’s the Calgary Stampede rodeo in July that keeps visitors coming back. Don’t miss the bold architecture of the new library.
Originally published as I just took the greatest rail journey of my life
I stayed at Sydney’s poshest pet-friendly hotel
If you can’t bear to be parted from your four-legged friend but want a five-star stay, a pet-friendly hotel could be the key.
I travel for art, these are my gallery hacks
If you're forking out for special exhibions, then bypassing the rest and trying to avoid the gift shop, you're doing galleries wrong. Take it from an expert.