rocky mountianeer train
 

is the silver leaf train ride worth the extra money over the red leaf?

Hi, therose1. I had the same quandary, but have decided to bite the bullet and go with SilverLeaf. One deciding factor was not having to lug our case from the train to the hotel! Pathetic reason I know. Another factor was the bigger windows.
We have friends who have recently been on the Rocky Mountaineer, Goldleaf level, and just loved the train journey and the pampering they received in Gold. Silverleaf also has a little pampering too.
When are you going? We have booked for 3 October this year, boarding in Banff and bound for Vancouver.
Dot

There is also a "red leaf" class, which is not as expensive. Seems like the "gold leaf" is VERY heavily promoted.

VIA Rail is also a rail option in the Canadian Rockies, however, they do not use the Calgary - Banff - Vancouver (CP) rail line; they use the Edmonton - Jasper - Vancouver (CN) route. They run a scheduled passenger service three times a week in each direction in the summer (twice per week in the winter). www.viarail.ca

we are going 9/5 starting in Vancouver...arriving one day early to see Victoria. Silver leaf seems the best bet. Gold leaf seems rather pricey for 2 days and breakfast, lunch.

We had a wonderful time and splurged on the gold-leaf. The people on the trip before us had bad weather and were able to see very little for the full two days.

ALSO, ARE GOING TO VICTORIA FOR ONE DAY...IS THAT EASILY DONE BY ONESELF OR ADD IT TO THE TOUR?

We are doing this ourselves - catching the ferry in the morning leaving at 9:45. It takes 4 hours I think. We are staying overnight and catching the float plane the next evening at 6:20 pm. You need to book the ferry in advance, as with the floatplane. I had really good advice on this from a poster. Check my post "Vancouver Island for a night and 2 days" for ideas of transport and things to do.

hi, therose1, again. Was lunching with our friends who did the goldleaf Rocky trip. They said the food was delicious, almost continual and the views were great. But they thought the silverleaf level was probably nearly as good. They felt the main difference, apart from the hotel in Kamloops, was the fact that goldleaf class had the upstairs dome for viewing the mountains. Meals were downstairs in gold.

Hasanyone used Fresh Tracks Canada as a booking company. 9 day trip with them starting in Vancouver and ending in Banff is $10,000 for two which seems high. It is small group and includes transfers and touring.

Hi, therose1,
I checked the freshtracks website, and I would say a very good proportion of the $10 000 is the cost of the train. t's a shame you can't work out a way of doing it yourself. You don't have much time in Vancouver which seems a pity, as there seems to be lots to look at there.

My husband and I are doing pretty much the same tour as you but we are starting in Calgary. We catch a bus from Calgary to Banff and on to Jasper for 2 nights, and one full day when we take a Lake Maligne tour. We then catch a tour trip from Jasper to Banff via the Icefields, and stay in Banff for 5 nights. While in Banff we have some booked tours. We join the Rocky Mountaineer in Banff for the trip to Vancouver (2 days, for the most expensive part of our trip at over $NZ4 200. We have 5 nights in Vancouver and one in Victoria. We travel to Vancouver Island by ferry, returning to Vancouver by floatplane. Altogether, activites, fares and accommodation is costing us just on $NZ10 000, which I think equates to around $CAD7 000 for 16 days. Our accommodation is good quality and recommended by fellow travellers and our travel agent. We are in our middle 60s and early 70s, and have planned and researched this trip ourselves although some of the bookings were done by our travel agent.

We did the Silver Leaf a few months ago. We thought it was tremendous and much more comfortable than the Red Leaf. In Gold Leaf, there is a separate dining area but we actually preferred to be served at our seats in Silver Leaf. We were so fortunate with the weather and cannot say enough about the stellar service on the Rocky Mountaineer. You will enjoy it so much!