The Rocky Mountaineer: When a Train Is the Destination

If you were born in the last, oh, century, and don’t live in a huge city with a big subway system, you probably don’t spend a lot of time thinking about trains. You’ve maybe never even been on a train outside of an amusement park. In America’s headlong rush to recreate itself for the automobile throughout the 20th century, the train system that used to criss-cross this country largely faded out of mind, reserved for industrial shipping and regional commuters. That’s a shame; anybody who’s ever used the rail systems in Europe or Japan knows they’re a fantastic way to travel, easier and more convenient than flying or driving, and often cheaper than either.

Trains don’t have to serve a practical purpose, though. Sometimes trains can be a destination in and of themselves, like a land-bound cruise ship that can only go in one of two directions. The Rocky Mountaineer, a luxury train that slices through the lush forests and craggy mountains of western Canada, is a sterling example of a train that exists solely for the sake of being a train. 

Since launching in 1988, the Rocky Mountaineer has provided an unmatched view of the Western Canadian landscape to over two million guests. In that time it has expanded to four different routes, three in Canada and one American-based line that runs from Colorado into Utah, and has set the worldwide standard for luxury train travel. A recent trip on the First Passage to the West route’s top-shelf GoldLeaf service took me on a two-night journey from Vancouver to Banff. I’ve rarely felt this pampered or provided for on a luxury cruise ship or resort, much less on a train. 

This particular Rocky Mountaineer route starts its journey in a train station on the outskirts of Vancouver. It heads north and east into the Rockies, cutting through British Columbia and Alberta on its way to Banff, a glorious mountain resort town inside Canada’s first national park. The two-day trek features a one-night stopover in Kamloops, a small city originally founded as a fur trading post in the early 19th century, with hotel room included as part of any Rocky Mountaineer booking. Departure, destination, intermediate stops: those are the basic facts necessary to any train voyage. With the Rocky Mountaineer, though, they’re less important than the time on the train itself. Even Banff, an unworldly natural wonderland that leaves a deep, lifelong impression on anybody fortunate enough to visit it, doesn’t overwhelm or distract from the memories of this train trip, especially in a GoldLeaf car. Our stay in Banff was merely the cherry on top of an already unforgettable vacation. 

It’s almost a disservice to describe GoldLeaf, the more luxurious of the Rocky Mountaineer’s two service classes, with a comparison to air travel first class. Yes, this is the fancier, costlier experience on board the Mountaineer, but it goes so far beyond what any airline offers that you can’t really equate the two. Traveling in GoldLeaf must be what it felt like to travel first class on one of the grand old shipping lines of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Two attendants were always on hand throughout both days, ready to refill drinks, fetch snacks, provide historical and natural details about the lands we traveled through, and let us know when it was time for meals. With spacious seats, a private dining car, two daily meals prepared by the car’s personal chefs (three per car for GoldLeaf service, one for SilverLeaf), constant access to free drinks, and a transparent canopy that turns the whole car into a mobile observation deck, GoldLeaf service makes the journey almost too comfortable. It turns two day-long legs of travel into a lavish blur.

Of course time tends to lose meaning when you’re seeing an amazing, breath-taking sight every minute or two. I’ve traveled by trains before, and know it’s not uncommon to have unexpected stops, delays, or even breakdowns. And the European countryside can start to look a little similar after a half-hour or so on the rails. So I packed a few books, a videogame system, and tossed a bunch of new records on my phone, expecting I’d need something to kill time between Vancouver and Banff. (There’s no wi-fi onboard the Rocky Mountaineer, and cell service is nonexistent for long stretches, so bring physical media or prep in advance by downloading to your phone.) I don’t think I touched any of them at any point during the trip. Even during one prolonged stop, when our train spent about 20 minutes in place due to issues a train in front of us was facing, the natural world around us was more fascinating than the Switch or the grandpa crime paperbacks I brought. Beyond the constant, overpowering awe of the Rocky Mountains and the translucent blue creeks and rivers formed by their glacial run-off, I was constantly vigilant for any sign of wildlife. Sadly I never saw any bears—always a possibility in this part of the world—but I did glimpse a few small groups of mountain goats braving cliff sides and a couple of soaring bald eagles, along with a massive osprey nest that Rocky Mountaineer employees have watched grow for several years. 

SilverLeaf might be the more economical option, but don’t expect an economy experience. You’ll still spend your trip in comfort, with daily lunches and drinks covered by your package, and gorgeous scenery always outside your window. That view might now be as expansive as GoldLeaf’s—SilverLeaf doesn’t have the transparent roof which opens up the full vista that surrounds you—but you’ll have no problem taking in your surroundings through its oversized windows. And at the end of your trip SilverLeaf passengers arrive at the same resort town as everybody in GoldLeaf, whether that’s Banff on the First Passage to the West, or Jasper on one of its other Canadian lines. (The Jasper lines were closed during the second-half of the 2024 season due to the tragic fire there in July; they should be running as planned for the 2025 season.)

Although Kamloops can’t match Banff on the natural beauty scale, I was still interested in staying there for a night, too. I’m not here to badmouth the town, or anything—going anywhere for the first time is inherently fascinating, especially a place so different from the American South I’ve spent most of my life in—but there wasn’t much to see there. And, really, that isn’t a problem, as I was so exhausted after a day on the train that I wasn’t ready to do much more than have dinner and go to sleep anyway. I did not expect sitting on a train for 10 hours to tire me out as much as it did, or to feel a physical unsteadiness after getting off the train that’s similar to the one you’ll feel after getting off a boat. (Train legs are a thing.) The rail experience on the Rocky Mountaineer is so overpowering and all-encompassing that it made me, a constant traveler, completely uninterested in Kamloops during my one night there. I just wanted to go straight to sleep once we hit that hotel, not just because I was tired but because I couldn’t want to get back on the train and see what the second day had in store for us.

That second day, of course, ended in Banff, one of my favorite places in the world, defined by an almost alien landscape of ice, snow and rock but with all the modern comforts and luxuries of a world class resort town. Ending in Banff made it impossible to feel deflated after such an amazing and extravagant voyage, especially when I saw the accommodations at the Rimrock Resort Hotel. Hotels in Vancouver and your destination aren’t included as part of the standard packages, but the Mountaineer makes it easy to add them, as well as various excursions and activities on either end of the train ride, as part of a bundle.  

A lengthy stay in Vancouver, Banff or Jasper isn’t needed to make the Rocky Mountaineer worth the trip. The trip itself is what makes this train so special. I had been to Banff before, but drove up to it from Calgary in the early morning in the back of a crowded airport shuttle, with the only scenery being whatever I half-glimpsed through darkened windows while falling in and out of sleep. The Rocky Mountaineer got me to Banff while also putting me in the heart of some of the most gorgeous nature I’ve ever seen, and at that moment in mid-autumn when the season is fully turning and everything is on the cusp between that brief bit of warm weather and the long winter ahead. (If your iCloud storage isn’t already at capacity, you’ll certainly max it out with all the videos and photos you’ll take.) I felt present in that nature in a way I almost never experience, especially not while actively traveling to a world-class destination. Even if I had gotten to Banff, spent one night and immediately gotten on a shuttle to an airport to fly back to Atlanta, those two days spent on the Mountaineer would have more than justified everything. That time on board the train is both the journey and the destination, all with the promise of an additional unforgettable journey on either end of it. If you have the means to afford it and want an experience you’ll always cherish, consider riding the rails with the Rocky Mountaineer.

Senior editor Garrett Martin writes about videogames, TV, travel, theme parks, wrestling, music, and more. You can also find him on Blue Sky.