The Rocky Mountaineer Train, Canada

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The Rocky Mountaineer Train Journey in Canada

The Rocky Mountaineer is a luxury train that runs from Vancouver to Jasper via Kamloops, through the beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountains. It is expensive and billed as being one of the best train journeys in the world, comparable with The Orient Express, but is it worth it?

This lens is about my experience in The Rockies and on the Rocky Mountaineer, photography and some travel tips, advice and recommendations.

Please also see related articles:

Vancouver and the Canadian Rockies

North America Photo Gallery

Jasper

Rocky Mountaineer Train 

The Rocky Mountaineer runs from Vancouver and Jasper through the Rockies and was a train billed as being one of the best in the world, compared to The Orient Express both in terms of style, luxury and food. I have not been on The Orient Express, but I doubt this to be entirely true. There are two classes of travel: Red-Leaf and Gold-Leaf. We were advised, by Audley Travel (www.audleytravel.co.uk) who arranged the taylor-made trip for us, to take the lower class on the basis that the view is the same and the food still very good, and it is far less expensive.

Map of the Canadian Rocky Mountains 

Map of the route of the Rocky Mountaineer train

View from the back of the train

Rocky Mountaineer Train 

Check-in was a fairly ordinary affair and we certainly didn't get the impression that we were being treated in a special way, and on arrival in our carriage we were extremely disappointed. A very ordinary carriage, with fairly small windows which had there been a view to see, at that stage of the journey, would not have shown it off to full effect.

The first meal of the day arrived in plastic trays, in the style of an in-flight meal. Certainly not the culinary delights that we thought had been implied. We foolishly ate the food and sat there complaining quietly to each other in a very English way, rather than complaining to anyone official. It was only when the second mediocre meal arrived, the scenery started getting exciting, and its visibility impaired that we started voicing our discontent. The very professional staff immediately apologized and promised an upgrade for the following day. After-all we had eaten the food, the scenery is even better on the second day and we would need to pay for the full day's upgrade (£170 or about $250 each per day!) so if we went the next day we could upgrade for half the price. We accepted. But was it worth it?



Some more travel articles:

Canada. Vancouver and the Rockies
USA National Parks in an RV
Borneo Jungle Adventure
The Rocky Mountaineer
Namibian Safari

And a few more articles by me...

My Home Page

View from train

View from the vestibule

Photographic Equipment 

A Bear on Vancouver Island

Gold-leaf class 

It was certainly worth Upgrading

The Gold-leaf class "dome" carriages have a glass roof and larger open-air Vestibule at the rear. The separate dining room down-stairs served food of the quality we were expecting. Most of the other inmates set off for a show on arrival at Kamloops, at the end of the first day, but having experienced such things in the past, we opted for a dinner at a restaurant next to the motel we had been checked into. No doubt we would have been somewhere more salubrious had we already been in Gold Leaf class, but a good view of river and almost edible food compensated. The following day we checked in at the Gold Leaf Class for the stunning train journey to Jasper. On arrival we searched for the Rocky Mountaineer train manager to pay for the £350 (about $US 500) for upgrade to Gold Leaf. He refused charge us and said,"Happy Anniversary"



Some more travel articles:

Canada. Vancouver and the Rockies
USA National Parks in an RV
Borneo Jungle Adventure
The Rocky Mountaineer
Namibian Safari

And a few more articles by me...

My Home Page

Elk

Essential Travel Guides 

Canada (Country Guide)

Amazon Price: $26.45 (as of 07/14/2009) Buy Now

Banff, Jasper and Glacier National Parks

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The Rough Guide to Canada 6 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

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The Rough Guide to Vancouver 3 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

Amazon Price: $13.49 (as of 07/14/2009) Buy Now

The Rough Guide to The Rocky Mountains 1 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

Amazon Price: (as of 07/14/2009) Buy Now

Banff Hotel

Lake Louise

Current Weather In Canada: The Rockies 

Weather/Climate in Banff

Current weather conditions in Banff, Canada

Local Pollen Reports

10°C (Feels like 9°C)

Last update: 7/14/09 9:00 AM Local Time

Humidity: 93%
Visibility: Unlimited km
Dew Point: 9°C
UV Index: N/A (Lawn and Garden Weather)
Barometer: N/Amm N/A
Moon: Rush Hour Traffic
Wind: 8km/h From: Airport Conditions
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Today


N/A
High: 15°C
Low: C
Sunrise: 5:44 AM
Sunset: 9:52 PM

Wednesday
Jul 15 


Light Rain
High: 22°C
Low: C
Sunrise: 5:45 AM
Sunset: 9:51 PM

Thursday
Jul 16 


AM Showers
High: 25°C
Low: C
Sunrise: 5:46 AM
Sunset: 9:50 PM

Friday
Jul 17 


PM Showers
High: 24°C
Low: C
Sunrise: 5:47 AM
Sunset: 9:49 PM

Essential Travel Kit 

Please also see my review of how to choose a good digital camera: digital SLR cameras

Nikon D700 12.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

Amazon Price: Too low to display (as of 07/14/2009) Buy Now

Nikon D300 DX 12.3MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

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JaguarJulie wrote...

Wow! Comparable to the Orient Express? I've always wanted to take a luxury train ride -- we had a remarkable experience coming out of Venice to old Vienna on a night train -- I won't soon forget THAT experience -- trust me!

ReplyPosted July 11, 2009

julcal wrote...

My God these pictures are magnificent! Great lens!

ReplyPosted June 26, 2009

ElizabethJeanAllen wrote...

Great lens!
Thanks for sharing
Lizzy

ReplyPosted May 30, 2009

Travelse wrote...

Very cool and nice lens. I really like the pictures too, makes you want to travel to the destination. Gave a 5**. Why dont you rate my lens on /www.squidoo.com/travel-africa">Travel Africa and comment.

ReplyPosted May 25, 2009

spirituality wrote...

Great lens - you've been blessed by a squidoo angel :)

ReplyPosted May 21, 2009

 
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