Travelling by train evokes a certain old-world glamour. While European rail travel gets a lot of attention, there are routes in Canada that rival the world’s best train journeys. The country’s vast footprint – nearly 10 million square kilometres spanning six time zones – allows for long, leisurely journeys with plenty of scenery to keep passengers entertained.
Eager to experience the romance of train travel in Canada? The five routes below take you through some of the country’s most picturesque landscapes with plenty of opportunities to explore regional history and culture.
Rocky Mountaineer’s First Passage to the West: The luxurious rail trip takes you through historic parts of the Canadian Pacific Railway that other rail tours don’t. Its custom-designed trains have panoramic glass roofs, providing an unobstructed view of the picturesque Rocky Mountains. This is a daytime-only train, meaning you travel the rails during the day, and sleep in a hotel at night. With several itineraries to choose from, you can visit Vancouver, Whistler, Kamloops, Jasper, Quesnel, Lake Louise, and Banff. Lonely Planet awarded the Rocky Mountaineer train tours with the Best Sustainable Train Journey award.
Route: Vancouver, BC, to Lake Louise and Banff, in Alberta, from one to 12 nights.
The Ocean: Canada’s intercity passenger rail service, Via Rail, operates this 1,346-kilometre one-day/one-night adventure through Canada’s Maritime provinces. Inaugurated in 1904, the Ocean is the oldest continuously operated named passenger train in North America. Major city stops include Quebec City and Moncton, though you’ll also pass small communities along your route, representing French Canadian, Acadian, Celtic, and English heritages. This is an overnight sleeper train experience, with panoramic viewing cars and meals included.
Route: Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Montreal, Quebec.
Winnipeg–Churchill: Explore Canada’s Great White North on one of Via Rail’s Adventure Routes, in a two-day/two-night sleeper train with a panoramic dome. It’s one of the few rail lines where you travel over permafrost so far north. Your trip will take you from one end of the province of Manitoba to the other. Along the way, passengers experience blooming prairie landscapes, untouched wilderness, shining lakes, boreal forests, and the vast tundra. Depending on the conditions, you might see the aurora borealis also known as the northern lights. Upon arrival in Churchill, take an optional excursion to get up close with Canadian sub-arctic animals, including beluga whales (July through August) and polar bears (October through November).
Route: Winnipeg to Churchill, Manitoba.
Train de Charlevoix: Travel between Quebec City and several coastal towns and villages along the northern banks of the St. Lawrence River, on this small train line. Choose a round-trip in one day, with several hours at a destination such as Baie-Saint-Paul or La Malbaie to explore, or split the journey over two or more days. Experience the charm of the small communities next to the backdrop of rocky cliffs, ocean, pristine forests, purply hazy skies, and soaring herons outside your train cabin. The season runs from approximately June to October each year.
Route: Quebec City to La Malbaie, Quebec
Agawa Train: Travel 463 Kilometers (228-miles) round trip by rail through northern Ontario’s seemingly endless mixed forests of the Canadian Shield and the shores of the northern lakes and rivers. Your destination is the Agawa Canyon, where you can hike on trains and get a panoramic view before the return trip (four hours each way). Cross towering trestles and view rugged untouched landscapes that have inspired landscape artists such as the Group of Seven. Learn about upcoming points of interest and some of the rich history of the Ojibway, fur traders, explorers and entrepreneurs that touched this vast wilderness. The season runs from approximately August through October.
Route: Round trip from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
