We want to visit Canada this June/July. We want to see the rockies and travel by train. Currently we are planning to fly to Toronto take the train to Jasper, hire a car for a few days to explore the rockies, take the Rocky Mountaineer to Vancouver, have a couple of days there and then do a 7day cruise to Alaska. Would this make a reasonable trip, is there anything else we should try and include? we do not want to do too much driving and want to see as much as possible.
Thanks in advance

Fiomar,

Sounds reasonable to me!

Your plan sounds perfect to me, and plenty. Only possible additions could be.... Don't know how much time you'll have Toronto-side, but you could potentially go to Niagara Falls with three to four days there, possibly Montreal if you have a bit longer than that. If by a couple of days in Vancouver, you mean only two days, I'd stick to Vancouver. If it's more than that, you could potentially do an overnight in Victoria while you're there.

Sounds amazing! (I've taken the VIA Rail Canadian Toronto-Vancouver and just loved it; I'm jealous you're taking the Rocky Mountaineer also...not to mention that Alaska cruise!)

Best wishes, Daniel

Here's a link to a site that offers information about traveling to Canadian cities including attractions and activities that are a must when traveling to Canada.
http://www.visitorstocanada.com/vacationscanada.html

Hope this helps!

Agree with Daniel about trying to see Niagara Falls but not for 3 or four days - maybe 2.

I've taken the Rocky Mountaineer and it's a treat. Enjoyed an Alaskan cruise, too, but don't sign up for most of the outings they offer - you can walk around the towns where they stop on your own as most are compact. The only extra trip we paid for was one that took us into the Yukon on a bus with a stop for lunch.

Enjoy

Have you considered flying to Calgary from Toronto instead? The train trip from Toronto to Calgary is long and not exactly scenic unless you like trees, trees and more trees. The rest of the trip is excellent. It is exactly what my wife and I intended to do last September until an attack of kidney stones scuppered the whole trip two hours before we were to fly to Calgary. C'est la vie.

If I had to do this, I'd also fly from Toronto, but I might start in Montreal first. It is such a different and interesting city. Take train/fly to Toronto. More time there, at most couple days in Niagara, then fly to Calgary.

I see that I was unclear... I meant if fiomar were in Toronto for 3-4 days that a side trip to Niagara Falls might be a good idea for a day trip or overnight.

Unlike almcd, I strongly disagree that the ride from Toronto to Alberta (Edmonton actually) is not exactly scenic with just trees trees and more trees... Parts of the Canadian Shield of Northern Ontario in the Toronto-Winnipeg portion of the journey were just gorgeous; while yes there were trees, every time I turned it seemed we were passing by a pristine lake or river. Quite different from what people tell me about taking the highway trans-Canadian.

Best wishes, Daniel

Seconding Morningglory's coment about Niagara Falls (at least first time out). Driving down, spending the day in Niagara-on-the-Lake and environs, overnighting in Niagara Falls and then spending most of the next day there and in its environs before driving back to Toronto would be a good start.

If you have the time, the train's definitely worthwhile precisely because it gives you a sense of just how far you're travelling. North of Lake Superioron the CN line can be as almcd says, kind of repetitive. And the prairies may seem the same way as well.

However, they do introduce a certain introspection and make you appreciate our ability to cover in hours or minutes what our predecessors took days, weeks and even months to do.

That said, it sounds like you a really wonderful trip planned and I'm looking forward to a trip report.

K

Curious about where you live, fiomar?