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Canadian Rail Adventure

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4.6 stars(38 reviews)
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Discover the romance of two rail journeys plus the tales of experienced driver-guides in a luxury motorcoach.

You are viewing the 2023 itinerary. Select your departure year
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12 days From $6,700 per person
Travel on your own following a well-planned itinerary
Save up to $1000

Take advantage of our best offer of the season and save up to $1,000 per couple on select bookings in 2023. Seats are limited and selling fast - book by June 29. 

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2023 Tour code: TC-CRAE-23

About the tour

Discover the romance of two rail journeys plus the tales of experienced driver-guides in a luxury motorcoach. Meander through the Canadian Rockies aboard the all-daylight Rocky Mountaineer train. Spend a few days exploring Banff and Jasper National Parks, then board VIA Rail's Canadian for a rail adventure across Canada.

Itinerary is also available from Toronto to Vancouver based on your travel preference

Highlights

What’s included

Itinerary

Day 1 - Vancouver

Upon arrival at the Vancouver International Airport, transfer on your own to your centrally-located hotel. The rest of your time is at leisure to discover what this bustling city has to offer. Overnight Vancouver.

There is so much to see and do in this coastal city. Speak to your rail specialist about adding additional nights and sightseeing experiences in Vancouver. Some highlights include a city tour, whale watching, or a day trip to Whistler.

Day 2 - Rocky Mountaineer to Kamloops

Your day begins with  an early morning transfer to board the all-daylight Rocky Mountaineer train. Travel through the Coast Mountains and Hell's Gate en route to Kamloops. Delight in commentary from your onboard attendants and enjoy delicious meals as you're awed by the beauty of British Columbia. Overnight Kamloops. 

Includes
  • Breakfast, Lunch
Day 3 - Kamloops to Banff onboard Rocky Mountaineer

Transfer back to the Kamloops train station early this morning, where you re-board Rocky Mountaineer for the continued journey through the Canadian Rockies and another day of impeccable onboard service. Scenic highlights include the South Thompson River area, Kicking Horse Pass and the Spiral Tunnels before arriving into Banff. Overnight Banff. 

Includes
  • Breakfast, Lunch
Day 4 - Discovering Banff

Discover Banff on a guided excursion this morning. Highlights include Banff townsite, Surprise Corner and the Tunnel Mountain. Your final stop will be at the Banff Gondola for a ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain. Alternately, elect to explore Banff in a different way by choosing one of the following options:

Half Day Discover Banff & It's Wildlife w/ Gondola
Continental Divide Helicopter Tour with transfers
Full Day Discover Grizzly Bears - 10 Hours (This tour does not allow for an evening excursion)

Enjoy the remainder of the day at leisure to browse through Banff's diverse shops and galleries, or hike one of the local trails. If you'd like to discover further consider adding admission to the Banff Hot springs for Panoramic Mountain views or take an evening wildlife safari. Overnight Banff.

Day 5 - Visiting Lake Louise and the Yoho Valley

Today's sightseeing excursion takes you past the Vermilion Lakes and on to Lake Louise. Highlights along the scenic Bow Valley Parkway include Johnston Canyon, with time to walk to the lower falls, and views of Castle Mountain. You will cross the Continental Divide and enter Yoho National Park with a visit to Emerald Lake. Overnight Lake Louise.

Includes
  • Lunch
Day 6 - Lake Louise to Jasper Sightseeing

Your full-day excursion takes you along one of the most spectacular highways of the world - the Icefields Parkway. With cascading waterfalls, broad-reaching valleys, tranquil mountain lakes, glaciers and snow-capped peaks, amazing vistas unfold with every glance. Stopping at the Columbia Icefield, take time to experience an Ice Explorer ride on to the surface of the Athabasca Glacier. From the Icefield, continue touring on to Jasper. Overnight Jasper. 

Includes
  • Lunch
Days 7-9 - VIA Rail Canadian from Jasper to Toronto

Late this morning, transfer to the Jasper train station to board VIA Rail's Canadian. Say goodbye to the peaceful mountain town of Jasper as you depart for Toronto, the economic center of Canada. Continue traveling across the Great Central Plains of Canada, through Winnipeg to rugged Ontario. Overnight train.

Includes
  • Day 7 - Dinner
  • Day 8 - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
  • Day 9 - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 10 - Arrive in Toronto

Arrive in Toronto on VIA Rail this afternoon, and check into your centrally located hotel. Spend the remainder of your day exploring the great restaurants, museums, and shopping this great city has to offer. Overnight Toronto.

Includes
  • Breakfast, Lunch
Day 11 - Niagara Falls

This morning, depart on a full day sightseeing excursion to Niagara Falls. Travel through the orchard-laden Niagara Peninsula to Niagara Falls, one of the great wonders of the world. Highlights of today's excursion include a lunch buffet while overlooking the waterfall, plus a trip of the world-famous The Hornblower, which travels to the base of the majestic Horseshoe Falls. Also included is a trip along the beautiful River Road, which winds its way along the Niagara Gorge. Stops are made at the Floral Clock and at the historical community of Niagara-on-the-Lake before returning to Toronto. Alternately, you can stay and explore more of Canada's largest city switching to one of the following sightseeing excursions:

Toronto Helicopter Tour
Kensington Market International Food Tour
Private Sightseeing Tour of Toronto

Overnight Toronto.

Includes
  • Lunch
Day 12 - Toronto

Transfer from your hotel to Pearson International Airport for your homeward or onward flight by scheduled airporter service.

Additional information

Pricing Plans

Superior Accommodations
Hotels include Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre, Rimrock Resort, Post Hotel Lake Louise, Forest Park Hotel, and Le Germain Hotel Toronto. VIA Rail accommodations are Sleeper Plus class in a private cabin. Meals are included aboard the train along with exclusive access to lounges and observation cars. Travel aboard the Rocky Mountaineer is in SilverLeaf service and includes travel in a single-level dome car featuring panoramic views and hot meal service at your seat.

Deluxe Accommodations
Hotels include Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, Fairmont Banff Springs, Fairmont Royal York. VIA Rail accommodations are in Sleeper Plus class in a private cabin. Meals are included aboard the train along with exclusive access to lounges and observation cars. Travel aboard the Rocky Mountaineer is in GoldLeaf service and includes travel in a bi-level dome car featuring panoramic views on the upper level and an elegant private dining room to take breakfast and lunch.

Prestige Class
Hotels include Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Fairmont Banff Springs, Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, and Fairmont Royal York in upgraded room categories (where available).

The Prestige Sleeper Class provides an exciting level of comfort and service for travelers on the Canadian, one of the world's greatest train journeys. Each Prestige Sleep Cabin has a modular leather L-shaped couch by day and a Murphy bed for two by night facing the window with electric radiant heated cabin floors and walls that maintain a comfortable and constant temperature. Highlights of this Prestige Class include: a personalized dedicated service by the Prestige Concierge; a spacious cabin, large windows and a private washroom with shower; flat-screen TV with video selection; minibar stocked with a selection of beverages and more.

Please note

Taxes are not included on rail portions and are subject to change. 

Cabins purchased on VIA rail for a single traveler are Cabins for 1. For upgrade options, ask your rail specialist for details.

Departure times

Departure times vary based on selected rail vacation. This information will be provided in your final documents. For more information please speak with your rail specialist.

Mobility information

Due to the nature of our tours they are generally unsuitable for those with restricted mobility. If you’d like to discuss any particular vacation with us in this respect, then please don’t hesitate to call us.

Trains

Rocky Mountaineer
VIA Rail's Canadian

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Reviews

4.6 stars4.6 / 5 · 38 reviews

  1. 5 stars
    (27)
  2. 4 stars
    (9)
  3. 3 stars
    (1)
  4. 2 stars
    (1)
  5. 1 star
    (0)

PAULA GELLERT

2 stars

Submitted 16 Oct 2022

Canadian Rail Adventure screwed up every part of this vacation they were responsible for.

Collected by Trustpilot

Susan

5 stars

Submitted 10 Oct 2022

I have been looking forward to this trip since 2020. It did not disappoint. One has to remember that Vacations by Rail is a travel agent, not a tour company. This trip is "independent" travel of sorts in that you don't have a guide doing things for you. Shortly before your departure date, you receive a final itinerary along with vouchers for hotel rooms, tours, train travel, etc. You are responsible for getting to the appropriate places on time. No big deal as long as you don't expect a tour guide to take care of you. You will be with many of the same people throughout your travels so you have the opportunity to make friends along the way. The Rocky Mountaineer portion was a wonderful experience. I would recommend getting a seat on the left side of the train (we sat on the right side) as 98% of the points of interest were on the left. We booked the Gold Leaf service and I would recommend it. Sitting in the elevated dome car gave you an awesome view of the Rockies and surrounding area. The hosts (upstairs and downstairs) were excellent - efficient, helpful, informative. The meals (breakfast & lunch) were tasty and filling. You were also offered snacks and beverages throughout the day. It was nice going down to the dining car to eat meals and sitting with new people. There were 750+ people on our train. If you are traveling with someone, you'll need to make sure it's noted somewhere so you'll be assigned to the same train. The hotels (we booked all Fairmont Hotels except for in the one in Kamloops which Rocky Mountaineer booked) were first class. Our view of Lake Louise was stunning. The Fairmont in Toronto was right across the street from the Toronto train station. The Brewster Sightseeing tours (in Banff, between Banff/Lake Louise, and Lake Louise/Jasper) were all informative; and, the guides/drivers-guides were friendly, patient, and fun. I wish the Niagara Falls tour company was more flexible with what was covered. I would have liked to spend more time at the Falls themselves. That tour gave us a spectacular view of the Falls...on land and on the water. That sightseeing company was a bit disorganized as they told people the incorrect departure time and didn't specify a location (the hotel wasn't sure either)...but it all turned out fine. I love train travel so I enjoyed the VIA train from Jasper to Toronto. Some people did not realize that the bags they checked were not accessible until they reached their final destination. The rooms are much too small to accommodate full-sized luggage. We had a Sleeper Plus for two people. It had a toilet (in a separate small room) & a sink. The bunk bed are set up/take down by the room steward daily (we elected to keep them down) since we occupied the public areas during the day. Breakfast is first come, first serve. Lunch and Supper are scheduled - there are 3 seating times for each (you reserve your first dinner slot at the station in Jasper before you board the train.). The customer facing staff from Jasper (they started in Vancouver) to Winnipeg were outstanding. They were so efficient, friendly, and knowledgeable; the staff from Jasper to Toronto were fine, but not outstanding. I would have appreciated having transport arranged to take us from the hotel in Toronto to the airport. We weren't told that the arranged transport wasn't available early in the morning. There should be a note stating the hours of availability so customers can schedule their flights accordingly. The Toronto airport has been experiencing personnel shortages so it is a mess. They really mean it when they say get there 3 hours in advance. People should know there is a phone number they can call to speak to someone at the airport. That person can confirm the departure terminal and how early folks need to arrive. Remember, if you're returning to USA, you go through Border Patrol screening to clear travel into the USA in Toronto. Having NEXUS or Global Entry eased the chaos. NOTE: tips are not included. I hate having to figure out tips. The travel guides usually recommend you tip a certain percentage of what you paid. It's helpful to figure that out before you leave home. We tipped at the table during meal services but there are many others who rely on tips to augment their wages - hosts on Rocky Mountaineer, guides/drives on tour buses, staff on the VIA train, porters, etc. I'm recommending this trip to my friends. I would book with Vactions by Rail again.

Collected by Trustpilot

JILL RAINE

4 stars

Submitted 03 Oct 2022

The tour was well thought out and executed but negative events, not brought on by Vacations by Rail, created difficulties for your customers. The tours and hotels involved were excellent. Photo shows the first Bermudian taken by this tour group and deposited on the glacier!

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CATHLEEN ARMSTRONG

5 stars

Submitted 27 Sep 2022

It was a wonderful trip, beautiful scenery and gorgeous hotels. Service and food on the trains was spectacular. All the tour guides knew the areas well and were very friendly and informative. I highly recommend Rocky Mountaineer and Vacations by Rail.

Collected by Trustpilot

Jane

5 stars

Submitted 27 Sep 2022

This itinerary was packed with beautiful scenery, local places of interest and interesting food. The tour manager and bus driver were outstanding. The Ocean train was very tiny. Adding a dome car would be most helpful. It was only for one night, but large and very tall people beware tof close quarters.

Collected by Trustpilot

Tricia

3 stars

Submitted 26 Sep 2022

The Canadian Rail adventure is very nice and I recommend it. Vacations by Rail is another matter. They insisted that we be picked up for the various tours included at the local Fairmont Hotel which was often pretty far from where we were actually staying. When I talked to the tour providers they were happy to pick us up at our hotel. To me, this is just laziness on the part of Vacations by Rail. On our last day in Toronto (9/22) transfer to the airport was included in the trip. We wanted to spend some time exploring Toronto and I booked a flight back to Vancouver for 9:15 am on September 23. We wanted to spend the night of the 22nd close to the airport since we had and early flight. I booked an airport hotel and asked for transport to the airport at 4:30, planning to spend the day in Toronto. Vacations by Rail seemed totally unable to deal with this slight variation in their usual plan. I explained to our agent what we wanted to do. When we got our final papers our transport was scheduled for 12:30. I called and explained what we wanted and was told that it wouldn't work because we had a 4:00 pm flight. WHAT!! We never had a 4:00pm flight and I have no idea where they got that from. Finally after explaining the whole thing four different times by email and on the phone I received an updated transfer voucher for 4:30 on the 22nd. When we got to Toronto I decided to check in with the transport company. They said we have you scheduled for 12:30 because you have a 4:00 pm flight. Unfortunately we don't have space available at 4:30. This is a very long winded way of saying that if want to take this trip either book it yourself or book thru a different agency. Vacations by Rail is close to useless.

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