VIA Rail Winter Trip Vancouver to Toronto Need Some Advise
 

We can depart either from Toronto or Vancouver taking the 4 days trip on VIA Rail. VIA Rail has a 50% off sale. Does anyone have any idea which itinerary would have the best scenery given the short amount of daylight. Looks like if we travel from Vancouver to Toronto it is light from Clearwater to Jasper. If we travel the other direction it is light from Edmonton to Blue River. Thank you!

Pretty much the same. The scenery most of the way between Edmonton and Jasper is trees (i.e. boring) - you only get into the mountains 30-45 minutes before you hit Jasper. You go through the Rockies pretty quickly (they run N-S, the train is going E-W) though there are other mountain ranges before Vancouver.

However, it's worth noting that the timings are only accurate if the train is actually on time. Delays are not uncommon in the summer, let alone the winter when you can get snow/avalanche debris on the tracks.

Maybe the best is to W to E, so you have the least chance of picking up delays before you hit the Rockies. Between Vancouver and Jasper will be your real scenery - beyond Edmonton going E you are going through several provinces worth of flat, snow-covered fields. It's scenery that can be intriguing in the summer, but not so much in the winter. Then you do get some pretty striking scenery in northern Ontario.

We run into the same issue in Ontario. Since it takes 24 hours to get through Ontario and we board at the train at 10pm. Will we miss all the interesting Ontario scenery?

The Ontario scenery that you see in daylight is not that impressive IMO. The very ugliest spot is near Sudbury downwind of the tallest smokestack in Canada. There's an ugly "dead spot" where nothing grows.
Unless you need to go all the way to Toronto, I'd go from Vancouver to Jasper and spend 2-3 days there and then continue eastward on the next train to either Edmonton or maybe Winnipeg.
My trips west from Toronto were back in the days that the Canadian left Toronto at 9AM.
Headed east the most beautiful scenery you'll see is in the 6 hours before you arrive in Jasper about 4PM.
The maximum weight for a carry on bag is now 40 lb (18KG).

I think the whole trip is worth taking even though the daylight hours are short. You get a sense of the great vast emptiness of Canada and lots of time to relax and let the world pass you by. I'd take advantage of the 50% off if I were you.

i'd recommend throwing an extra blanket in your bag. i sometimes found the train cool when i slept (i only stayed in the economy seats) in summer so i imagine winter travel might be worse. ear plugs are a good idea too. also, bring on some of your own snacks/liquids. not a lot of variety for eating on the train so having some stuff in your bag is a good idea - buns, fruit, etc. are you getting a berth room? i'd recommend it for such a long journey and since it will be dark a good part of the time.

The meals are quite good in sleeper class, as I recall.

Hi mbw220,

The cheapest sleeper option is the upper berth; might not be a bad idea considering that since 4 days is a long time to be sleeping upright in a coach seat on a train. Your meals then come with the price of the ride, which is a real pleasure. I've taken VIA Rail cross-country 4 times now and Winnipeg-Toronto twice; I personally like the scenery in Ontario with all the lakes and streams of the Canadian Shield, but, mind you, I've only taken the train in summer.

I agree not to make decisions based upon where you'll see in daylight hours; the train may or may not be late.

Best wishes, Daniel

The discounted fares seem to be limited.

This sounded wonderful to me so I checked the website for 6 different dates.

The discounted cabins for one person were all sold out, yet there was availability on all dates for cabins for one person at regular fare.

Hi mbw220, did you go through with this trip? I am thinking about taking the same Vancouver to Toronto train in Feb 2016 and need tips. I will also travel solo. Want to know if berth is good enough or should I get the cabin?

I’ve travelled in both the berth and cabin and enjoyed both. If you are travelling solo the berth has the advantage of making up into a roomy seat during the day which is open to the aisle so you can chat with other passengers. In the cabin you will be by yourself behind a closed door, (although you will have the option of the dome car. ) The berths are generally made up while you are at dinner, but if you don’t want to retire early you can ask to have it done later. They are quite private with a very heavy curtain across them. I quite like clambering up into a top berth, but that can be a bit daunting if you need to get up in the night.

You can easily leave the door open in a so-called "cabin for one" in my experience. You do not have to stay behind any closed door unless you want to. OTOH in the lower part of a section once those curtains are stored you have absolutely no privacy options at all.