There's something romantic and epic about long train journeys. I have travelled for days across India and China by train, where your carriage becomes a village with all its assorted characters and their comings and goings. (The reality is not as romantic, of course). Sadly, I think I've now missed out on an affordable Trans-Siberian Railway experience or the Orient Express, and found my journey on the Caledonian Sleeper deeply disappointing.
I'd long imagined travelling from one side of Canada to the other, and I managed to book the four-day journey on The Canadian as part of my three-week Covid washout in 2021. I eventually realised that VIARAIL had re-timed the stops to avoid mixing of people and their germs, and this, combined with limited food choices in the buffet car, made the journey a little less than it should have been but it was a great experience nonetheless.
What you really want to do is book one of the double carriages, which are on the northern side of the train, so you have a full view of the Northern Lights, as described to me at dinner by a charming French couple who were travelling via Winnipeg to Churchill, Manitoba to see polar bears, something else i'd love to do.
Here are some of my best pictures from my Toronto-Vancouver journey.
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