Canada Rail Vacations — Attraction in Calgary

Canada Rail trip of a Lifetime vacation traveling east coast (Halifax) to Vancouver via Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Banff, Lake Louise, Kamloops, ending in Vancouver. A month before departure, Canada Rail contacted us with the bad news of the wildfires in & around Jasper which was no longer part of the trip. Canada Rail worked diligently on our behalf to book additional rooms in Banff & Lake Louise & rerouting us through Edmonton, to make the most of the disruption & they came through in flying colors! They were able to continue our stay in the same rooms booked & we had a private transfer from Edmonton to Lake Louise & didn’t feel it took away from our experience at all. CR did an amazing job with an unfortunate disruption! Extra time in Banff & Lake Louise & the tours there more than made up for any inconvenience!

Overall experience was great! Involved 4 train routes, the 1st 3 by VIA Rail & the last in Rocky Mtns by Rocky Mountaineer. Route from Halifax to Montreal (The Ocean) had lots of trees & in/out of suburban areas. Cabin bunk beds are a bit getting used to w/small spaces & not a hotel quality mattress, but expected. Arrived in Montreal, with an inconvenience property was on a labor strike while we were there. Fairmont hotel didn’t have their top services due to this & we did get a small refund thanks to the efforts by CR on our behalf but well below our expectations of/from the hotel. Private tour of Montreal & were able to enjoy many sights of city. Worth adding.

Continued on to Toronto (VIA, The Corridor) on Bus Class which is similar to traveling on Economy Plus on airline. Food & beverage (including alcohol) was served as part of package, comfortable seats & space to store a small carryon, no overhead bins. More of an upscale commuter train, with urban/suburban sights. Toronto. Great city. We were skeptical about the CN tower add on, but if you’re not worried by heights, go! Worth the glass elevator ride to platform (with option to add continuation to the top) for a wonderful view of Toronto towering over the skyscrapers of the city!

Toronto westward on VIA, The Canadian, began the most wonderful portion of the trip! Rolling across beautiful prairies of central Canada with its hundreds of thousand of lakes that reflected the colorful trees & beauty, like large mirrors laid down everywhere! Especially at sunset, the sights were stunningly beautiful!

After sleeping 2 nights on train (Prestige), w/wonderful food, beverage & outstanding service, this was a great experience! Prestige is worth the additional $ if afforded. We didn’t want to get off the train after this portion of trip!

Arrived in Edmonton & not have much time in Edmonton other than to rest up for continuation of Rocky Mountaineer part of trip. Private tours that CR had arranged for us, were outstanding!! Unbelievable scenery, very knowledgeable/informative tour guides & were so fun & engaging! Had best time with Kat, best guide ever! whom we did 3 tours (Banff, Lake Louise & surrounding area) & Simi, who did the Kananaskis Country tour. Fortunate on the tour to see elk, mountain sheep & a great encounter (from vehicle) of a grizzly bear lumbering along, gobbling up food for winter!

Highly recommend all private tours offered through CR, we had no negative experiences whatsoever, & added greatly to our overall positive experience of the trip & the Rocky Mountains portion!

Train route thru the Rockies on Mountaineer was filled with amazing scenery & natural beauty! Highly recommend!

Arrived Kamloops after a full day of incredible scenic beauty. On to Vancouver, a beautiful city as well & had a private tour of the city, arranged thru CR. Great overview of city.

Overall this trip through Canada Rail was excellent & we highly recommend booking with them. They truly worked on our behalf in getting through what could’ve been a trip ending event, & with the tours arranged through them, ended up being a wonderful experience!

Would definitely go on a future train vacation from our experience!! Thank you...

We contracted with Canada Rail Vacations (CRV). The September 2024 trip included the first two and last nights in Vancouver, roundtrip Rocky Mountaineer (RM) trains, 1 night at Lake Louise and 2 added nights in Banff. CRV performed well with the hotel choices and tours in Yoho and Banff. Corporate tour planners were professionals and timely communicators. Local tour guides/drivers Duncan Rodway (Yoho) and Jake Pawis (Banff area) provided interesting commentary well beyond the normal tourist summaries. RM train -- Sights, food and drinks, and train hosts were excellent (with a special shout out to Chelsea, Alana, and Courtenay). Contrary to others’ views, we found the scenery west of Kamloops to be some of the best, particularly Kamloops Lake with its broad vistas and wildlife sightings of mountain sheep and bald eagles. BUT…It is normal to spend 12 to 14 hours per day on the RM going only 300 miles per day. (Westward from Banff, we only made 150 miles to Revelstoke by 8:00 PM, where we deboarded to buses to finish the trip to Kamloops at 10:45 PM.) RM’s contract terms are onerous. Before booking a trip, be ABSOLUTELY SURE of the dates, itinerary, and individuals for travel. They will not change these even with multiple months’ notice. Do not count on any refunds, even if RM cancels the trip. Our 2023 trip was cancelled due to wildfires and our only option was a credit for 2024 travel. BUT… We had to pay additional money for the price increase between years AND received no credit for the 5%+ interest they would get in holding our totally paid 2023 amounts for over a year. Some recommendations if you decide to go:

1. Splurge for GoldLeaf service with its better views, seats, and food (based on others’ comments) The large observation platform lets you stretch your legs and gives a more intimate sharing with the scenery outdoors.
2. Don’t pay for upgraded accommodations. There is very limited time you’ll spend in the hotels for mostly sleeping and showering. The accommodations we experienced sans upgrades were more than adequate.
3. If only taking the train one way, go west. The best mountain scenery on the train is the eastward approach to Banff that we missed on our eastbound ride since it was dark outside when we passed.
4. Consider purchasing travel insurance but make sure you read the coverage provisions diligently. There may remain circumstances where you are not covered.
5. Choose a cooler time to go than the peak of summer. Passenger rail cars, particularly dome cars, can quickly become ovens if the A/C fails.
6. Bring a light sweater, sweatshirt, or wrap onboard in case it is too cool...

Our experience with Canada Rail Vacations was, overall, quite positive.

Firstly, the people in Canada who booked our trip were on their A-game. Their communications were clear and thorough, and their responsiveness to our concerns was always timely.

The tours that they booked for us in Toronto and Montreal were superior. In fact, the tour in Montreal could be called superlative. We had a private tour with a guide named Mustafa Khaled, a gentleman who was not only quite knowledgeable about the history and culture of the city, but was also flexible in his approach to our time with him. We were particularly interested in the Jewish culture of the city, and he went out of his way to make stops at sites that he believed we would find of interest. He was quite successful in his efforts to accommodate us.

The hotels in Toronto and Montreal--the Fairmount and Birks, respectively--were excellent. The Fairmount in Ottawa was just adequate, since there was a lack of sound proofing between rooms. The Westin in Halifax was conveniently located, but their bathrooms required significant upgrades--including grab bars, which are essential for older guests.

The train portion of the trip was, by and large, satisfactory. The one glitch was the train ride from Montreal to Halifax. Our train was almost three hours late, due to mechanical failures that train authorities failed to notify us about in a timely manner. In addition, once we were on the train, all the sleeper cars in our train had defective toilets, probably due to arctic temperatures that froze the pipes. The one very bright spot during these unfortunate episodes was our Canadian train attendant, a woman named Mariette, who should be cited for her high level of competence and her very good cheer. She could not have been more concerned and professional. We hope that you can somehow relay our gratitude to her for her exceptional service. (She also said that she would be contacting Canada Rail Vacations about a partial refund for those of us who did not have working toilets.)

Despite the challenges we faced in transit from Montreal to Halifax, we had a an excellent time. We would recommend Canada Rail Vacations to others and we might well book another travel experience with them...