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The Rocky Mountaineer is unlike any other train journey you will do. It unlocks a world of unimaginable beauty as you carve through spectacular terrain in the heart of the Canadian Rockies.
Rocky Mountaineer train holidays transport you through stunning landscapes of lush forests, snow-capped mountains and colourful alpine lakes, but they also offer you luxury accommodation, excursions and really tasty food throughout your journey.
The luxury train journeys go via four routes in Canada that take in cities on the coasts, in the mountains and the Interior, including Vancouver, Whistler, Kamloops, Quesnel, Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise.
The main highlight of the trip is of course seeing the beautiful landscapes that can’t be seen from the roads. There are plenty of opportunities to take photographs of the lakes, canyons and mountain ranges through the coaches’ huge windows and, if you’re in GoldLeaf, the outdoor viewing platform.
We’ve tracked down impressive photos taken from passengers on the Rocky Mountaineer journey – whether out of the window or on pit stops – to give you a taste of the spectacular scenery waiting for you in Canada.
The waterfalls
While you might have heard about the stunning mountains and lakes that you can see in Alberta and British Columbia on the Rocky Mountaineer, there are also plenty of mighty waterfalls you can admire on the trip.
Jaymie Kaitlyn Benneé Gunst, who runs the Jaymie Bennee Uncharted blog, knows this well. Her photo of a waterfall near Kamloops in British Columbia, which is known for being one of Canada’s sunniest destinations, just gives you an insight into the majestic waterfalls you can see during your trip.
Speaking about the photograph, Jaymie Benneé says, “One of the many views from the Rocky Mountaineer that took my breath away. The characteristics of Canadian landscape will forever leave me in awe.”
The beautiful sunsets
While the Rocky Mountaineer trip is spectacular any time of the day, you will be amazed by the beautiful sunsets you can see during your holiday. Although the coastal passages by Vancouver and the forests of Kamloops and Banff are so different in terms of geology and scenery, the amazing sunsets are the same whatever route you go on.
This is encapsulated by TVR Rail Pic, who took this photograph of the Rocky Mountaineer travelling en route to Banff National Park.
The Mountains
In just one day on the Rocky Mountaineer you climb from the flat BC Interior to high amongst the Coast Mountains.
As the train meanders between the huge mountains that make up the Rockies it gives you the opportunity to take some great photos. You can see the majestic Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, as you head towards Jasper. On the First Passage to the West route through Banff you can see Castle Mountain and the Hoodoos, which according to legend were formed after people were turned into pillars through witchcraft.
One great example is a snap from Kelly Stilwell, the blogger behind Food, Fun and Faraway Places, who took the photograph whilst she was travelling on the train in Banff National Park in Alberta.
Talking about the photograph, Kelly Stilwell, says, “As we got closer to Banff National Park on the Rocky Mountaineer, the views became even more spectacular. I thought the grizzly bear sighting was going to be the highlight of the trip, but then I saw this mountain. It left me speechless.”
Little Katie Wampus was celebrating her 60th birthday on the Rocky Mountaineer. She says, “Loving riding the rails seeing the #canadianrockies aboard the #rockymountaineer Best Birthday ever in all my 60 years meeting new and fun people all loving fantastic #rmmoments.”
She took this stunning photo of the Rockies during her trip.
You can even get stunning views of highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, Mount Robson, which stands at over 12,900 feet, from the Rocky Mountaineer. jillspencer99 snapped this amazing shot on her journey:
The Lakes
A trip on the Rocky Mountaineer takes you to some of the most beautiful lakes in the world. You can see the Green Lake, Anderson Lake and Seton Lake on the Rainforest to Gold Rush route, or the Kinbasket Lake on the First Passage to the West route.
Arguably the most famous lake of the lot is Lake Louise and this picturesque lake is shown in all its glory by worldwanderer007 with her photograph during a rail holiday on the Rocky Mountaineer.
Apoorva Sharma of worldwanderer007 explains why she loves the photograph so much. She adds, “This picture was taken at Lake Louise, even though it was very crowded the colour of the water and the mountains with the snow is surreal. It puts me at peace and makes me appreciate the true, natural, beauty of Canada.”
Some of the most amazing lakes you can in Canada are in British Columbia and Alberta, thanks to the provinces’ abundance of glaciers. The glaciers grind the rock faces into a fine “flour”, which sifts down into the alpine lakes and reflects the light, giving them their unmistakable turquoise hues.
Midarshu took this stunning shot while he was in the GoldLeaf Service on the Rocky Mountaineer train.
The Wildlife
This part of Canada isn’t just about carpets of green forests, huge mountains and glacier-fed lakes – you can see an abundance of wildlife, too. Grizzlies, black bears, bald eagles, ospreys and cougars are just some of the animals you can see from the train. Now you can even see bison, which have been re-introduced back into the Canadian wild.
Treat yourself to a browse through Banff & Lake Louise Tourism’s Instagram account, as they have lots of stunning shots of some of the animals you could see during your Rocky Mountaineer holiday, like this one from Rusty Buffalo Photo.
Seeing a bison is also now a possibility during your trip on the Rocky Mountaineer as a project has begun to reintroduce the animal to Banff National Park. This photograph posted by Banff & Lake Louise’s Instagram account is of the first bison born in the park’s backcountry in over 140 years.
A trip of a lifetime
We just had to include a photograph taken by the Rocky Mountaineer themselves. This one posted by the Rocky Mountaineer Instagram account shows the train in all its glory as it passes by the jaw-dropping Canadian Rockies.
Why not keep the adventure going?
If experiencing Rocky Mountaineer is on your bucket list, then why don’t you go the extra mile and start or finish a Rockies journey with a cruise? From Vancouver you can explore another great wilderness of the world: Alaska.
Our Alaskan cruise holidays take you from Vancouver up the famous Inside Passage to Alaska, with its dramatic coastline of fjords, glaciers and icebergs.
