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“Harbor seals! To the right!” yelled someone in my train car. I was not prepared for wildlife sightings so early in the journey, so I turned around too late—and missed them entirely. Crestfallen, I sat back down and stared out at the brackish waters of the Fraser River, hoping for a second wind. “There’ll be more,” said Patrycja Podgòrski, our onboard host, reassuringly.
If there’s one thing you’re assured on the Rocky Mountaineer, it’s an endless panorama of incredible scenery. Since its first voyage in 1990, the tourist train service has built its reputation on offering access to Western Canada’s wildest landscapes—framed from within luxury glass-domed cars. Over the years, it has expanded its service to include two more routes across British Columbia and Alberta, and a couple of years ago, it ventured south of the border into the vast canyons and deserts of the Colorado Rockies.
But if there’s one route that remains its flag-bearer, it is the First Passage to the West. It’s a journey that takes two days, setting out from the coastal city of Vancouver and cutting through the meandering rivers and craggy peaks of the Canadian Rockies before ending in the resort town of Banff—in other words, about 600 miles of prime Pacific Northwest territory.
Earlier that morning, we had pulled out of a rainy Vancouver, waved off by a bagpiper in a kilt; then, a couple hours later, we were chugging through the Fraser Valley, often referred to as the ‘breadbasket of British Columbia.’ These have been the lands of Coast Salish peoples for thousands of years, specifically the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, who've relied on—and safeguarded—its fertile sweep and sockeye populations. Over the course of two days we would venture through the territories of many Indigenous peoples. “We are so grateful to their stewardship of land,” said Podgòrski, a sentiment she echoed throughout the journey.
Our first day covered the 285 miles to Kamloops, in the heart of the Thompson Okanagan region of British Columbia, and ran through the most diverse landscapes from evergreen forests to turquoise lakes and ancient rock formations. There was a lot of history along the way—abandoned towns that were mile-markers for Gold Rush prospectors as they made their way north, and old mining centers that altered fortunes of the region but also carried the horrors of mass displacement of Indigenous lives. In exposing these contradictions, the Rocky Mountaineer both acknowledges—and lets travelers bear witness to—the region’s craggy past, an experience enhanced by the expert storytellers on board.
To get ever closer to it all, I headed down to the car’s lower-level observation deck, pressing up against the steel rail and sticking my head out into the wind. Sometimes I was joined by others, the atmosphere getting raucous as we each attempted to get the perfect shot of the train snaking into a curve. At other times, I silently watched low-slung vapor-like mist cling to the mountains or squinted for signs of wildlife through thick curtains of Douglas fir and spruce. I rarely looked at the time, clocking the hours instead by the shifts in the colors of rivers from cloudy blue to bright turquoise and steel gray.
The idea of traveling by rail is infused with nostalgia for a bygone era, but on the Rocky Mountaineer, creature comforts aren't left behind. There are two levels of service on the brand's Canadian routes: Silver Leaf, offering picture windows on single-story cars, with meals served at your seat, and the premium double-decker Gold Leaf cars, complete with glass-dome ceilings and a dining room in which gourmet meals are served on linen-covered tables.
Mealtime—breakfast and lunch are served on the train, interspersed with many appearances of the bar cart—was an event. The dining cars don’t have assigned seating, so they're a great opportunity for socializing with fellow riders. The menu is carefully designed to highlight the landscape the train trundles through, and highlights included Alberta strip loin steak and Lois Lake steelhead. Kaelhub Cudmore, Rocky Mountaineer's executive chef, sources ingredients from local providers wherever he can—getting, for example, crackers from a bakery in Salmon Arm, or foraged bee pollen from a company in Surrey. “I want the food to tell stories of the land and its people,” he said. “It’s about so much more than just a great piece of fish.”
The view outside was dominated by clouds and drizzle during our lunch, meaning the food and conversation received all of our attention. Until: the perfect double rainbow, sandwiched between golden-yellow canyons on one side and the Thompson River on the other. The car emptied onto the observation deck in celebration. “This feels like camp,” said a fellow passenger gleefully. “Camp with champagne.”
Moments like this are why the Rocky Mountaineer is often spoken about in the same breath as other famous luxury train rides across the world: the Orient Express, Seven Kyushu, or the Royal Scotsman. But unlike those, this isn’t a sleeper train. It travels exclusively by daylight, making the most of the scenery. At night, guests check into a hotel along the route. We disembarked in Kamloops and headed for the Delta hotel by Marriott, warned by our hosts to watch out for ‘train legs’—when your legs feel spongy and your balance is thrown off by a phantom rocking motion. (Turns out, it’s a real thing.)
The next leg of our journey kicked off with drama: the sight of the sun rising over the giant pillar-like hoodoos, an eerie landscape leftover from the last Ice Age. The day was to be marked by many remarkable sights, from the engineering marvel that is the Stoney Creek Bridge to the Kicking Horse river that we wound across seven times. We passed Salmon Arm—in the southwest arm of the Shuswap Lake that we then followed for large parts of our journey—home to over 250 species of birds that migrate through the marshlands. There, salmon were once so abundant that people could pitchfork them out. Today, its sustainability is threatened by everything from falling water levels to species decline.
Salmon Arm is also home to a different kind of treasure. “It’s time! Everyone to the left!” yelled Victor Venutti, our other host (and the yin to Podgòrski's yang). In a few minutes, we spotted her: On the porch of a yellow house in the town of Canoe stood Doris with her husband, waving wildly at the train with both hands, just as she’s done for 12 years. Doris is a mile-marker for the journey and part of Rocky Mountaineer lore. “A few years ago, she was invited on the journey. But we were left wondering: Who would wave to Doris? So a team was dispatched to her porch to wave back at her,” recounted Podgòrski.
It wasn’t just Doris. Others got just as excited when we passed, stopping what they were doing, running out of their homes to wave. They looked genuinely happy to see the Rocky Mountaineer, which says something about the value it holds in the minds of ordinary Canadians. Maybe it’s because the train provides a window into their home. But even more likely, it’s a reminder of how Canada was built against the odds of politics and geography. “It's incredible to think of the scale of efforts by settlers to join the east to the west through some of the toughest parts of the Rockies,” Karla Courtney, a fellow writer and co-passenger, later remarked. The Canadian Pacific Railway, and the tracks that we rode, was the thread that stitched these provinces together.
As we headed toward Banff, the forest thickened once more and the rivers turned a bedazzling milky blue. We crossed the swift currents of the Illecillewaet River, fed by the Glacier National Park, and then Craigellachie, where, in 1885, the final spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was driven home. The car was filled with laughter and conversation; the bar cart made its way through the aisle with surprise offerings—cheese and fruit plates. And then, suddenly: “A bear!” As everyone scrambled across to the left to sight it, I missed the moment—again.
My disappointment dissipated when I came face-to-face with the glacier-topped Rockies from the observation car. We had arrived later than expected and the light was fading, but it still felt like the pinnacle of the train ride.
To everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
The Byrds’ 1965 hit played over the speaker as we drew closer to Banff—the biblical text that the lyrics lift from posits that there is a time and place for everything: birth and death; grief and healing. I thought of the vagaries of time that have uprooted lives and land here time and again. I stuck my hands out as if to feel the energy of this past and the future that follows. Fall's early bite had arrived; I shivered and made my way back inside.
What to know before you go
The routes
The First Passage to the West route that travels from Vancouver to Banff was the train company's first—and remains its most popular one. Journey Through the Clouds is the most similar to First Passage to the West, including an identical first day from Vancouver to Kamloops, before branching off to end in Jasper. Rainforest to Gold Rush travels from Vancouver to Jasper, but adds an extra day to the journey, stopping over in both Whistler and Quesnel. All of the Canada routes travel in both directions: you can start in the Rockies and go to Vancouver, or do the reverse.
Rockies to the Red Rocks is the company's newest itinerary, and the only one that operates outside of Canada, traveling between Moab, Utah, and Denver, Colorado, in the US. To explore more, add on a special package to start or end the journey in Las Vegas or Salt Lake City.
The service
In Canada the Rocky Mountaineer offers two levels of service: the GoldLeaf with gourmet meals prepared by chefs onboard in a dining area, and expansive views through bi-level glass dome coaches. The SilverLeaf Service is just as comfortably equipped (think: plush, heated pleather chairs and plenty of legroom) and offers large picture windows, but meals are served at your seat. Both coaches come with open-air observation decks.
Best time to travel
The Rocky Mountaineer runs its routes through the Canadian Rockies and the American Southwest from April to October—and each season has something special to offer. While the rainforests are their lushest and rivers are at their fullest in the summer months, and you'll see hues of red, yellow, and orange on mountainsides come fall, late-spring really is what many consider the best time to ride, as landscapes spring back to life and wildflowers bloom.
What to pack
One of the best parts about traveling on the Rocky Mountaineer is that luggage is handled from start to finish. Your checked luggage will travel separately from the train and materialize like magic before you enter your hotel room each night. For that reason, you should carry hand baggage for your time onboard with essentials like valuables, medication, travel documents, a jacket, and a good book (although mine went unread). The smaller your bag, the easier to handle, as there are no overhead racks on the train.
What comes after
Wherever you disembark, it's important to note that your trip doesn't have to end there. The hotels you stay at are determined by your chosen service level. On the First Passage to the West, there are different rungs of hotels, from three-star to world-famous stays like the Fairmont Banff Springs. Once you've settled in, you can opt into any number of sightseeing and adventure programs—or treat yourself to a day at the spa. In Banff, I stayed at the Rimrock Resort, where activities ranged from forest-bathing to a gondola ride and mountain hiking.
