The Rocky Mountaineer

The Rocky Mountaineer operates a number of different itineraries through the Canadian Rockies, offering different perspectives on this fascinating region. Each of these itineraries can be booked on its own, or as part of a larger tour package including other arrangements such as helicopter tours, coach travel to places inaccessible by rail and others.

The Rocky Mountaineer stops every evening for an overnight stay, to avoid missing any scenery during the night, and passengers have the choice of a variety of on-board accommodation; Red, Silver or Gold Leaf, each bringing a higher standard of seating, meals and hotel rooms.

Journey Through the Clouds

The Journey Through the Clouds itinerary takes you from Vancouver to Jasper. The journey begins by taking you through the rich agricultural lands of the Fraser Valley and the magnificent Coast Mountains, before entering the Fraser Canyon. Following the Thompson River past Hell's Gate, you continue to your overnight stop in Kamloops, a small town that acts as a gateway to the interior of British Columbia.

Continuing the next morning along the Thompson River, you enter the Monashee Mountains, tall and snow-peaked with Mount Robson the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. Waterfalls, glaciers and more pass by the window until you finish the journey at Jasper, Alberta, at the centre of the largest national park in the Rockies.

First Passage to the West

The First Passage to the West itinerary begins the same as the Journey through the Clouds, reaching Kamloops at the conclusion of day one. From here, though, the train heads further east, across the first railway line built to connect the east and west of Canada. At Craigellachie, you will pass the spot where the last spike was driven with great ceremony, before entering the Rogers Pass and climbing over the Continental Divide with the aid of the famous Spiral Tunnels of the Banff national park.

The rail journey ends in Banff, but you have the option of continuing by coach to Calgary.

Rainforest to Gold Rush

The Rainforest to Gold Rush itinerary takes you on the less well-travelled northern route through the Rockies. Beginning at the mountain resort of Whistler, the train travels north through varied scenery from the lakeshores of Anderson and Seton Lakes, through the desert-like Fraser Canyon to the lush ranchlands of the Cariboo Plateau. Your stop for the night is in the small town of Quesnel.

Leaving Quesnel the next morning, the train turns east through the forests of northern British Columbia, and into the Rocky Mountain Trench where - as the name suggests - the mountains rise high on either side. The destination of this journey is Jasper, which you reach in the evening shortly after passing Mount Robson.

Whistler Sea to Sky Climb

The Whistler Sea to Sky Climb, formerly known as the Whistler Mountaineer, is a single-day journey from Vancouver to Whistler, often combined with the Rainforest to Gold Rush itinerary above.

Leaving Vancouver, the journey takes about 3 1/2 hours but packs a lot of scenery in, from the coastal views over Howe Sound and the Coast Mountains to the impressive Brandywine Falls and Cheakamus canyon.