Condé Nast has named two rail routes that pass through Alberta on their list of the world’s top twenty rail trips. Neither is very affordable, but both are worthy of your bucket list if you ever win the lottery, and both trips show off our province in all of its glory.
The Rocky Mountaineer, number ten on the list, was named for its scenic views and its all-inclusive feel. VIA Rail’s The Canadian has been known for years as Canada’s must-do rail trip and was number seventeen on the list.
Taking the train can be an opportunity to get away from the rush of life and embrace slow travel. But a two-night trip on the Rocky Mountaineer costs more than double my rent. It’s not something I’ll be able to afford any time soon. I like to armchair travel, so I talked to someone who works onboard the Rocky Mountaineer to get the insider’s scoop. Even if I never board the train, I can imagine what it would be like. We can take an imaginary trip together.
A Journey Through the Clouds
I wake up in the morning in my hotel rooms in Kamloops, and walk the short block to the train station. We meet at the station, as you’ve joined me on my imaginary trip. This train travels only during the day so no one misses any of the great views along the way.
We get on board, and after the hosts explain how the day will go, they serve us breakfast. I choose the honey buttermilk pancakes with a fresh pastry, mimosas included, and you get the smoked salmon avocado toast. We spend the morning chatting.
We booked the Gold Leaf package because we wanted the full luxury experience. It includes gourmet meals, three-star hotels, and nonstop stunning views.
The semi-arid desert of Kamloops was the part we were expecting to be least interested in, but it turned out to be incredible. We rode through red canyons and we saw an eagle and bighorn sheep. We heard that the passengers on the train often see ospreys and coyotes in this area as well.
Today, we’re heading on towards Jasper. It’s already lunch time, and we eat our three-course meal while listening to our hosts’ stories about the town, which we’ll see later this evening.
Our host comes by after lunch and we strike up a conversation. She says this is the fifteenth time she’s made the trip through the Rockies this season, and she still hasn’t gotten sick of the views. She’s gotten to experience the changing seasons, from the first green on the trees to them changing colour in fall to the first snow on the mountains.
We spend most of the afternoon chatting on the top level of the dome car. Here, we feel like we’re floating through the Rockies. But every now and then I get up to check out the vestibule at the back of the car. It’s wide open and lets me breathe in that fresh mountain air, right from the train.
We make it to Jasper at sunset. The town looks a whole lot different since the fire, but we can tell that life is starting to come back to it. People are out rebuilding the town and removing the last of the debris from the fire. It’s a hopeful time because everyone is there working together and trying to create something beautiful in the town once again.
We take a motorcoach from the train station to the recently reopened Jasper Park Lodge, and after a walk around the lake and a quick nightcap in the Emerald Lounge, we head off again to our hotel rooms.
