1

I'm also not planning on driving and will be traveling alone.

2

The people I know that have taken the trip have loved it, although I haven't taken it myself. Taking the train will allow a stop-over in Jasper, with the possibility of finding people with a car to take you into the Rockies. Another possibility is to take the bus to Calgary and then connect with people to take you into the Rockies at Banff. It would be a shame to come to Canada and not explore the two greatest parts of the country: 1) West Coast of Vancouver Island and 2) the Rockies.

Many people dismiss the prairies and would suggest flying from Calgary or Edmonton to Toronto. However, it depends on how much time you have. Certainly, if you are allocating most of your six months to Canada then taking the train is a good choice. You could even stop in Winnipeg for a day. However, if your time is limited, a trip across the prairies easily could be the first thing to sacrifice. I bused Calgary to Toronto, once, and I'm glad I did it, once.

3

Kindly scroll down a bit... As there are a couple current threads,on Canadian train travel... carracar

4

Bit of plane, bit of road works nicely.

5

We took it from Winnipeg to Vancouver last September. It was awesome, seriously.

But I must add we got a great deal on the seats, VIA was having a 60% off sale and we took full advantage of the savings so we got a upper berth each to sleep in. In fact, those upper berths are the roomiest of all beds available on the train, you just don't get a self-enclosed room for the whole duration.

The whole trip from Toronto will take some considerable time, so you might want to think at getting off the train at either the 'Peg or say Jasper, and exploring each for a day. We're looking forward to taking it again if we can get some type of deal off their website for the second time. Look under "express deals" to see what they have and if it fits your timeframe.

Formerly known as GP40-2HH, my old handle has been confiscated by TT for technical issues since it had a "-" in it!

6

how much did you pay Chepe? We've been thinking on doing this for a change in scenery:)

7

Since we had a discount, I remember it being right under 380 US dollars. Normal price as around 800 and something.

In fact, just perused VIA's site, and they have one way seat only tix for 123.00 dollars! Berth's are at 400 now, so very cheap.

VIA is a fantastic way to see Canada, if you can the good deal. Their service was much better than Amtrak, and since they use older style single-level cars the feel is like train travel from the 50s-70s. Plus, with actual dome cars, the view is wonderfully better than being in Amtrak's lounge car.

8

I took The Canadian train from Vancouver to Edmonton just for the purpose of taking the train across the rockies. I met people on the train who had done the full journey and said that it was great. If you have 6 months why not try it! I did a blog post on my trip from Vancouver to Edmonton (I love the rockies so think this is the section to do if anything - I'd get off at Jasper and take the Icefields parkway down to Banff/lake Louise). My blog is here if you want to check it out for some photos of the train and the journey from Vancouver to Edmonton: http://www.carlousmoochous.com/2012/all-aboard-the-via-canadian/