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Comparing VIA Rail and the Rocky Mountaineer

January 15, 2025

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Compare VIA Rail and the Rocky Mountaineer — This is a story of two trains. In the picture above, on the left, is a shot from a budget VIA Rail expertise and on the appropriate is from my luxurious Rocky Mountaineer journey. Further down you’ll see pictures from each journeys after which a comparability of prices and options of the 2 prepare experiences.

Train journey in British Columbia is a spectacular expertise. This is true whether or not you go on a budget or for luxurious. In this submit, I take a look at VIA Rail vs. the Rocky Mountaineer prepare experiences so to determine the way you need to spend your journey greenback.

Towering mountains, winding rivers, pristine emerald inexperienced lakes, glaciers, wildlife and even a semi-arid desert.

The factor about prepare journey in British Columbia is that it is concerning the surroundings. You cannot say that for all prepare journey. But you may in B.C. And that is why you could have a choice to make.

Do you need to add luxurious (and value) to your prepare expertise or do you need to go the finances route and lower your expenses for an additional journey? I’ve taken these costs from quotes in April 2025.

Budget choices – Via Rail

Prince Rupert to Jasper covers the northern a part of the mountains. There isn’t any sleeper choice on the prepare. You must account for a lodge in Prince George in your price as properly. Via Rail price: $163
Jasper to Vancouver cuts west then south by the mountains. It is available in at $172 for economic system and $610 for SleeperPlus class which comes with meals.
- It’s essential to notice the hours of this prepare as there is not a cease on route which implies a number of the time can be at the hours of darkness. In Jasper in June, the solar rises at 5:27 AM and sundown at 10:21 PM. In Kamloops on June 21 dawn is at 4:48am and sundown 9:17pm.

Luxury choices – The Rocky Mountaineer

Banff to Vancouver covers the southern a part of the Rockies. There is a cease in Kamloops. They prepare your lodge there and handle your baggage for you however you might be by yourself for dinner. They provide two ranges of service, Silver at CAN$2,245 and Gold at CAN$3,065.
Jasper to Vancouver takes the identical route as Via Rail however it’s performed barely otherwise as they cease in Kamloops in a single day. This offers you the entire journey throughout daylight. They provide two ranges of service, Silver at CAN$2,245 and Gold at CAN$3,065.

The meals, the service and the persons are fairly totally different on every prepare however the panorama is sort of comparable with the Banff to Vancouver route having extra selection than the Prince Rupert to Jasper route.

Below you’ll discover a comparability of the VIA Rail and the Rocky Mountaineer experiences. I share with you the expertise, service, and surroundings I loved on every prepare journey throughout British Columbia. I hope that it’s going to allow you to determine which is finest for you. This is a reasonably lengthy submit so that can assist you get round listed below are hyperlinks to:

The Rocky Mountaineer Experience: Banff to Vancouver

The Rocky Mountaineer runs trains alongside a number of routes in Western Canada nevertheless it’s best identified for its Vancouver to Banff hall. It is most positively a full-service, luxurious prepare expertise. For lots of my fellow passengers, it was a visit of a lifetime for which they’d deliberate and saved. Cdn$2,245 is the bottom value for 2 days. It contains breakfast and lunch each days and your lodging in Kamloops. The meals on board is superb as are the wines and spirits which movement liberally. They additionally deal with your baggage for you, making the entire expertise very comfy.

The semi-arid nation is close to Kamloops, the placement of our one-night cease. You can see within the distance within the photograph on the appropriate that there are lots of hoodoos (rock spires) within the space.

Shushwap Lake, situated simply east of Kamloops, is lengthy and slim.

The home windows on the Silverleaf class of the Rocky Mountaineer are giant and wrap up and overhead as you may see within the decrease photograph.

It’s widespread to have individuals alongside the route waving to the prepare.

The crew that took care of our automotive. The fellow within the center was the straight man, the one on the left fairly the cardboard. It was our chef’s first journey so she was a bit on the quiet facet.

The foods and drinks on the prepare are excellent. I’d say concerning the stage of enterprise class on a aircraft.

VIA Rail: Prince Rupert to Jasper (A Great, Cheap Alternative)

The journey on Via Rail was positively extra fundamental than the Rocky Mountaineer. Then once more, it price Cdn$2,000 much less so one would anticipate that to be the case. That mentioned I discovered it to be an awesome expertise.

I met extra individuals on the Via Rail prepare. In truth, I joined a tour group get together one night time and, as soon as in Banff, I met up with one other group for dinner. It was a social expertise.

In sensible phrases, I introduced most of my meals with me, booked my very own lodge (which provides about $100 to the price of my journey) and schlepped my very own luggage to the lodge and again (by taxi at night time which price about $10, and on foot within the morning). The espresso was surprisingly good on the prepare and there have been drinks, snacks, and meals to buy should you wished.

Tip: Sit on the south facet of the prepare as you allow Prince Rupert. Sit on the north facet as you are approaching Jasper.

British Columbia by Train compare VIA Rail and the Rocky Mountaineer — The VIA Rail prepare makes three or 4 stops alongside its route which is an opportunity to stretch your legs and chat with totally different passengers.

Mount Robson (on the appropriate) is the very best peak within the Rockies. It can be so excessive that it has its personal climate system so the height is usually misplaced within the crowds.