As our Rocky Mountaineer train winds through the spectacular scenery, I fall into chatting with the woman standing next to me on the open-air platform between carriages. She tells me she has been on this journey many, many times. When I ask her why, she gestures towards the mighty Rocky Mountains that surround us and replies: “Just look around. This never gets old.”
She’s right. Like the Alps on amphetamines, being in the presence of the Canadian Rockies is an awe-inspiring, exhilarating business. The colours are off the charts, too. The summits are coated with attractive striations of snow that make the mountains look like giant liquorice allsorts. The trees have terrific names as well – I particularly like the Trembling Aspen. This is a truly epic, widescreen landscape designed to put us fundamentally unimportant humans in our place.
The Rocky Mountaineer
The upper deck boasts a vast domed roof and windows
(Image credit: Rocky Mountaineer)
Founded in 1990, the Rocky Mountaineer takes passengers on four beautiful routes through the Rockies: our route takes us from Vancouver to Banff on a 25-carriage long train staffed by 100 people, with an overnight stay at a hotel in Kamloops.
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Opting for the premium GoldLeaf service puts you in a luxury double-decker carriage whose upper deck boasts a vast domed roof and windows, giving you unimpeded, panoramic views of the majestic mountain range and its wildlife, including eagles, ospreys, elk, bighorn sheep and the occasional bear. The lower deck of the GoldLeaf carriage is an upmarket dining car. The food, which is all locally sourced, is excellent. During our two days of fine dining on the Rocky Mountaineer, we sample such delicacies as Rare Seared Albacore Tuna, Lois Lake Steelhead and Alberta Striploin Steak. The high standard of cooking is especially impressive considering that its taking place in a tight galley kitchen while the train rocks ‘n’ rolls more vigorously than Elvis.
Spectacular wildlife can be spotted along the way from eagles to elk
(Image credit: Rocky Mountaineer)
The train rattles along the tracks of the Canadian Pacific Railway, completed in 1885 under the company’s pioneering president William Van Horne, who declared: “If we can’t export the scenery, then we will have to import the tourists.”
The railway is a death-defying feat of engineering, its highest point crossing the Continental Divide at 5,332ft. It was exceptionally dangerous work, involving thousands of labourers. They would descend into precipitous canyons on ropes and improvised ladders to drill holes and stuff them with sticks of dynamite before hurrying back up the cliff faces.
The railroad is a far more tranquil experience now. As it gently meanders through this Unesco World Heritage Site, often stopping for passing freight trains, the Rocky Mountaineer is a terrific example of the therapeutic benefits of slow travel. Never has a rocky ride been quite so smooth or pleasurable.
Where to stay and eat
The food onboard the Rocky Mountaineer is all locally sourced
(Image credit: Rocky Mountaineer)
The “First Passage to the West” route starts in Vancouver, where we stay at the Fairmont Hotel, a splendid establishment known as “The Castle in the City”. Its steep green copper roof mimics the grandeur of a French château. Opened by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939, the hotel has a marvellous secret dining room, accessed through a hidden door disguised as a bookcase. The room inside is decorated with an eye-catching mixture of autumnal leaves and flowers, the perfect setting for our delicious Autumn Harvest Tea. Whisper it, but the cranberry orange scone with handmade cream and jam may be better than anything served in Devon or Cornwall.
At the end of the line in Banff, the curved structure and hilltop location of the Rimrock Resort Hotel provide wondrous views of the encircling Rockies. Food at the hotel’s Eden Restaurant is also something to behold – and the wine’s not half bad, either. The cellar houses some 17,000 bottles, the most expensive is a 1960 Petrus, which comes with the eye-watering price tag of CAN$15,000 (over £8,000).
The verdict
You couldn’t hope to experience more stunning geography than the Canadian Rockies
(Image credit: Rocky Mountaineer)
By the entrance to the Primrose Restaurant, where you have breakfast at the Rimrock, is a neon sign which reads: “Another day in paradise.” From now on, whenever I hear that phrase, rather than thinking of the naff song by Phil Collins, I will be reminded of the splendour of the Rockies. “Breathtaking” is an overused word in travel journalism, but it really does apply to the Rocky Mountaineer.
James Rampton was a guest of Rocky Mountaineer. The two-day First Passage to the West route, from Vancouver to Banff in Canada, departing between 14 April and 10 October 2025, costs from £1,389 pp for SilverLeaf Service or from £1,897 pp for GoldLeaf Service. Price includes two days onboard Rocky Mountaineer, all meals onboard the train, and one night hotel stay in Kamloops; rockymountaineer.com
