'Travel a thousand miles up a great river; more than another thousand miles along great lakes; a thousand miles across rolling prairies; and another thousand through woods and over the great ranges of mountains, and you have travelled from Ocean to Ocean.'
Rev Grant, Ocean to Ocean
ROUTE OPTIONS
Canada’s transcontinental through service is operated by VIA Rail (the national passenger rail network) three times a week between Toronto and Vancouver. You can take connecting trains to extend or alter your route in several ways. For a start, if you want to make it a truly transcontinental journey from coast to coast, you can begin or end it in Halifax on the Atlantic. Alternatively you can make Montreal or Quebec City the eastern terminus of your trip. Another option is to start or end in Prince Rupert on the Pacific instead of Vancouver; this is very popular with travellers who want to combine their rail trip with the Inside Passage ferry ride between Prince Rupert and Vancouver Island.
Which direction?
Once you’ve chosen your route, the next thing to decide is in which direction to do it. You see the same scenery whichever way you go since scheduling by VIA has eastbound and westbound trains travelling through the same stretches of the journey at night. That said, there’s no doubt that the approach to the Rocky Mountains is far more dramatic from the prairies than from the Pacific. Furthermore, if you’re interested in charting Canada’s history on your rail trip, travelling from east to west follows the direction of railway development and settlement across the country. It’s worth noting, however, that westbound trains get booked up far earlier than eastbound trains.
BREAKING YOUR JOURNEY
Few people want to spend their entire holiday sitting on a train; fortunately, the railway takes you through some superb cities where you can break up your journey. Some of the best, notably Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, are conveniently located at the beginning or end of a line, so spending time there is no problem as far as your ticket’s concerned. There are, however, some restrictions on stopping off on a through ticket, with only one break allowed on The Canadian. If I had to recommend a single stopover en route it would be in Jasper, simply because the Rocky Mountains are so spectacular it would be a sin not to spend some time walking (or at least strolling) around them.
If you want to make more than one break on The Canadian you need either to buy separate tickets, which works out more expensive than a through ticket, or a rail pass (see p13), which allows unlimited stops within a given time period. In this case, Winnipeg is a good place to stop off: it’s right in the middle of the journey and you’re likely to be in serious need of a leg-stretch at this point.
On The Corridor only passengers with an undiscounted economy-class ticket can break their journey on a through ticket but all passengers can make unlimited stopovers on The Hudson Bay and The Ocean; if travelling on the latter, you should try to stop off at Quebec City (served by Charny station), perhaps the most beautiful city in Canada. The daylight-only Skeena has an obligatory overnight stop at Prince George, with no other stops allowed on a through ticket.
OVERALL COSTS
The overall cost of a rail trip across Canada will vary enormously, depending mainly on when you go, how many nights you spend off the train (and the kind of accommodation you chose to stay in), the length of your rail journey, the type of ticket you buy and how you get to Canada.
The cheapest possible rail fare from Toronto to Vancouver is $428 (off-peak; advance purchase economy class); the most expensive is $1958 (for a private bedroom in high season). From Halifax to Vancouver, the cheapest possible fare is with a Low Season Canrail Pass for $523. Otherwise, you can buy regular tickets from Halifax to Toronto and then on to Vancouver for a combined total of $625 (off-peak; advance purchase economy) and you can pay up to $2458 (for a private deluxe bedroom in high season).
From Halifax to Vancouver, again the cheapest possible fare is with a Low Season Canrail Pass for $448. Otherwise, you can buy regular tickets from $606 (off-peak; advance purchase economy) up to $2006 (for a private bedroom in high season).
When you add the cost of accommodation to these prices, it can sometimes work out cheaper to get a package deal, particularly if you plan to stay in upmarket accommodation. Packages start at around £1300 for a 10-day trip from Toronto to Vancouver including flights from the UK, going up to around £4000 for the more expensive luxury tours.
If you’re not on a package and need to get your own flights, there are some good charter deals from London: from around £280 (low season) or £450 (summer) flying into Toronto and out of Vancouver; and from £450 (summer) into Halifax and out of Vancouver. Equivalent Apex scheduled flights are around the £600 mark. Note that all these prices exclude airport taxes. Online sites such as Zoom Airlines (: www.flyzoom.com) or Fly Globespan (: www.flyglobespan. com) provide competitive flights from a number cities across the UK.
Hotel costs
Prices are nearly always per room rather than per person, with most doubles only a few dollars more expensive than singles. This makes travelling in a pair extremely good value but lone travellers can end up feeling rather badly done by. Bear in mind that room rates are always quoted before taxes are added on (an extra 12-14%; see p49).
Upmarket hotels tend to offer exceptionally good value compared to their European counterparts, with rooms going from around $200 – just $100 (about £43) each if there are two of you. Note that it’s usually cheaper to stay in these places at weekends, since weekday ‘rack rates’ are designed with business travellers in mind. Also, when you’re quoted a room price, you should always ask if there are any ‘specials’ going, particularly during low or mid-season.
Typical mid-range accommodation will give you a double with a private bathroom for around $70–100, though prices can vary significantly depending on location and the general state of the place.
Budget travellers can count on paying about $22 for a youth hostel bed in the smaller cities, and about $28 in the bigger places (more for non-members). Single rooms in university residences and YMCA/YWCA hostels usually cost around $50-60. In university residences, discounts are normally given to students.
RAIL TICKETS, PASSES AND FARES
Types of ticket
You can buy either an economy-class ticket (known as Comfort class) or a sleeper ticket (known as Silver & Blue class on The Canadian). Sleeping accommodation comes as an upper or lower berth, a single bedroom or a double bedroom. See p64 for a description of each type.
Discounts
Seniors (aged 60 and over) are entitled to a 10% discount on all regular fares; in addition, VIA sometimes run a fantastic promotion for Seniors, ‘Bring A Friend For Free’, which does exactly what it says on the tin (check with : www.via.ca to see if the offer is available when you want to travel).
Students (with an ISIC card) and youths (aged 12 to 17) receive a 35% discount on economy-class tickets. Students also get a 10% discount from VIA 1 or sleeper tickets. For students intending to make regular trips between their hometown and university, the VIA 6 Pak is a fantastic deal, made up of six pre-paid vouchers between two designated towns or cities.
Children aged two to eleven are given a 50% discount in economy class and a 25% discount on VIA 1 or sleeper tickets; under-twos travel free when not occupying a seat.
In addition, advance purchase discounts (tickets must be bought at least five days in advance) are available to all passengers on regular economy fares (year-round) and on off-peak sleeper tickets. In economy (Comfort) class, these advance purchase tickets are known as Flexi Fares: passengers can choose between two different tickets – the Discounted fare (refundable) and the Supersaver fare (non-refundable). Both allow you to change the dates of travel, though the Supersaver has more restrictions. Note that demand is often great so tickets should be bought as far in advance as possible.
When to go
Corny as it may sound, Canada is beautiful in every season. Autumn is a tourist attraction in itself as it turns the country's forests into a glorious blaze of reds and golds. In winter the snow-covered landscapes are dazzling but best experienced from the comfort of the train; you have to be pretty hardy to cope with sight-seeing in sub-zero temperatures. Canadians, like hedgehogs, tend to hibernate in these cold months, so city centres can be depressingly empty.
Spring is lovely in Canada (as spring usually is anywhere) with May temperatures averaging 13-15C/55-59F in most cities. The warmest, driest and sunniest months are July and August when temperatures reach about 22C/72F in places on the line.
Of course, there's more than the weather to take into account in deciding when to go. An important consideration is the cost of the trip: rail fares and hotel rates are considerably cheaper out of the tourist season (generally considered to be May to October). It's also a lot easier to get train reservations in the quieter months whereas peak period sleeper tickets should be booked about five to six months in advance. Something else to bear in mind is the number of fellow tourists you can expect to be surrounded by on your visit: July and August are very, very busy so if you're going to Canada for its tranquillity and big empty spaces, give these months a miss.
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