via rail silver & Blue
 

My wife and I just returned from Vancouver. We took the via rail silver and blue from Toronto to Vancouver. We have had it booked for amost a year. If your not in a hurry this is the ONLY way to go. Great staff great food great scenery.

Can you elaborate a bit? Did you have a berth, a bedroom? Your own bathroom? Is there anything you would do differently?

My husband and I are thinking of taking this trip next year. I didn't care for the overnight trip on Amtrak. I found the sleeping quarters cramped and stuffy, and the bathrooms down the corridor were not the cleanest.

All my american friends onboard said that there was no comparison between amtrak and via. the double bedroom has its own bathroom, showers are down the hall. Great showers to lots of hot water lots of room. the room has an upper and lower bunk (we didnt use the upper) lol the bunk is roughly the size of a single bed.
If you book ask for bedroom F (same price but luck of the draw, ask if it available when you book you got it)
it is about 18" bigger. That may not sound like a lot but on a train you will say thank you for it. The meals are out of this world good
to see menu go to www.viarail.com and look at menu for train 1. perhaps can share more later

Thanks!

We stayed 5 days in Vancovour including a day visit to Victoria then flew home. If want a great hotell in Vancovour Sutton Place is fantastic. It 5 star hotel but only because they dont have 6 stars lol

We'd be going the other way, Vancouver return. So we'd be looking for a places to stay in or around London and Barrie.

we are about 40 minutes from London
London is about two hours west of Toronto Barrie is about 2 hours noth of Toronto

We would probably rent a car in Toronto and then go from there.

If you are interested in live shakespeare or musicals you should consider a visit to stratford.

April, we learned long ago that to compare Via with Amtrak is apples and oranges. If we ever decide to do a transcontinental trip the first leg will be Seattle-Vancouver to catch VIA.

This is sounding encouraging, Bobmrg.

John65 - not sure that's our thing. We're not big on crowds... unless it involves airplanes and then we're okay with them. ;-)

We've taken the Canadian twice [Jasper - Toronto; Banff - Vancouver] using Silver and Blue with a bedroom. The Banff - Vancouver leg was done before they switched the route to the CN line through Jasper. It's definitely not Amtrak and is a very pleasant, relaxing trip. Excellent food and service.

Thanks for reporting back... the Toronto-Vancouver trip for me is one of my all-time-favourite life experiences so far.

Stratford, Ontario is not a place I'd associate with crowds - yes, the theatre might be full but it's not a crowd-type small city.

The only problem with Stratford is the still letting me live here.

I know I would want a bathroom, but would it be a miserable trip without one? Just throwing in dates on the Via website, it comes up with a return fare of about $3300 for a double berth, but nearly $8000 for a double bedroom with bathroom! More than double for a bathroom - is it worth it?

Does everyone get the same meals whether they are in a berth or bedroom?

April,

Meals come with the berth option, yes.

DAN

Thanks.

I'm finding the ViaRail website discouragingly difficult to navigate. Is anybody else having this problem? I plugged in all the info for one-way, senior's companion fare (not sure if that applies for the double bedroom, if not, then senior's discount rate) for a double bedroom. It gave me back a rate for "one adult" although I indicated there would be two of us travelling. If I double that, and there is no way to check this without actually entering personal information for booking, it seems like an insanely expensive trip. I'm not sure where the "discount" part comes in. I've tried this before and eventually gave up - it just won't tell me what I want to know, or if it is telling me that, it's not clear.

I thought the senior companion discount did not apply to double bedrooms - they didn't in all the searches I did up until now, but today I am seeing it available for one date.

If you click on the down arrow beside Train 1 or 2, a pop-up list should show the categories and which include the senior companion fare.

You're right - the senior companion fare isn't always available, but the senior discount is. It's just that the rate they quote, after establishing that one traveller is entitled to the senior discount but the other isn't, is for "one adult" and there's no way I can find out how much it would cost for two, given that the fares are probably different.

Can't you click on one adult and one senior? Anyway, maybe it's easier just to phone them. I think that is what I will do when the time comes to make sure I'm not missing anything.

my wife and I had a double bedroom seniors rate left Toronto may 29 we booked in aug 2007 and as far as I can tell they only have so many spots at the senior rate. A couple weeks after I booked the double bedroom seniors rate was not available any longer. You could speak to a via rail rep.

Absolutely right, John65 - that's what made the difference. Thanks! I had been checking rates for October of this year; when I went to April of next year, I had more options to choose from and was able to find out how much this would cost. It's actually do-able for us. This is something we've wanted to do for ages.

The sennior rate applies to all the bedrooms...I've done the trip twice and am sitting here waiting for June 29th so I can book a triple for May of 2009.

Rates rise at the end of May...I agree there is NO comparison with ANYTHING Amtrak offers...the food, the service, the condition of the equipment are all superior to what we have here in the US IMO.

We are not rich folk by any stretch of the imagination but the trip with a double bedroom is worth it we do not begrudge one cent we paid.
NO words can do justice to this trip from scenery to the way via rail treat you. From moment you step on the train until you leave you will be treated as if your the only person on the train

You are selling me on this trip! It sounds wonderful.

April I hope you do make the trip. I dont think even Via Rail TV and radio ads do this trip justice. If you make trip east to west you have the Rockies to look forward to all the way across canada.

We'd be going both ways - starting west to east, but that's okay.

I envy you, would love to do the trip again but it wont be this year lol. If you want anymore info feel free to email me.

Okay, we have booked this trip for next year. The agents on the phone are very friendly and helpful. We decided to extend the trip to Quebec City, then use Toronto as a stop-over on the return trip. Now the question is, should we include Montreal on the way to Quebec City? I don't want to complicate things, or take away too much time from our Ontario visit. We have two days in Quebec City but now I'm thinking maybe we should add another day.

I have never been to Quebec City or anywhere in the province of Quebec. My husband has only been to Montreal once.

Thanks so much for the tip on room F. We got it, both ways!

April,

I live in Victoria and have done the trip Vancouver-Toronto both ways
on a few occasions. I concurr with previous posters regarding the value of splurging on the bedroom accommodations as it is wELL worth the extra expense.....to have your own bathroom, and to have somewhere quiet to sit if you don't want to mingle with others. The food is very good, but a word of advice, if the train is busy/full, don't wait for the last sitting for dinner as they sometimes run out of things on the menu!!!
As for going to Quebec, last year a friend and I went from Toronto to Halifax on the train. If you cannot get a bedroom I HIGHLY recomend paying the extra for VIA 1 service as like the "bedroom deal", it is well worth the extra $. You have assigned seats, luggage is taken care of,meals are included (also very good), and in Toronto and Montreal stations there are comfortable lounges for you to wait with complimentary refreshments, newspapers etc.
I would consider it if I were you.
Wish I were going with you!!!!!

Thanks for the tip about dinner.

Yes, we have the bedroom with bathroom for the Vancouver-Toronto-Vancouver portion.

From Toronto to Quebec City is different. I think we go the cheap rate between Toronto and Montreal, then upgrade to get the dinner for the rest of the trip. Or something like that. Now you have me wondering if we should get the VIA 1 service for the entire Toronto-Quebec City section. I will ask about that.

April go for the via 1 service you wont be sorry.

its to bad we cant post pictures here have some good ones from our May trip.

If you manage to get them on the net, let us know.

Just wondering if anyone else has made this trip it would be interesteing to compare notes