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Summary

You Can Travel Across Canada In A Glass-Ceiling Train Car & The Views Are Stunning

See the Rocky Mountains from the comfort of your seat! 😍

A VIA Rail train in the Rockies. Right: The view from a train travelling from Toronto to Vancouver.

A VIA Rail train in the Rockies. Right: The view from a train travelling from Toronto to Vancouver.

Creator

Seeing some of the most gorgeous vistas in Canada while sitting in the comfort of a cozy train car? Sounds amazing, right?

For those wanting to get away for a while on a cheap train trip, watch the world drift by and have a once-in-a-lifetime experience, VIA Rail's Great Western Way could be the adventure for you.

A one-way ticket on the four-day, four-night journey can actually be cheaper than a round-trip flight from Toronto to Vancouver.

With prices for round-trip plane tickets coming in at around $500 with popular airlines like Air Canada and WestJet, you could take this multi-day journey for around the same price or less, plus along with it, you're enjoying the amazing experience of train travel. Although you will have to find a way to get home!

Every ticket comes with access to the Skyline car, a special train car with a glass ceiling allowing you to soak in the beauty of the landscapes around you.

The train runs from Toronto to Vancouver (and vice versa) with a whole lot of stops along the way. Starting in downtown Toronto, it stops at Sudbury Junction, Sioux Lookout, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Jasper, Kamloops and finally Vancouver.

The most affordable tickets for a one-way trip start at around $466 for Economy class. This comes with a reclining seat to sit and sleep in, and access to the Skyline car, but no meals are included.

The next level up is the Sleeper Plus class, which has a whole lot of options. You can sleep in a communal bunk, or "berth," which converts into seats during the day and includes a privacy curtain for sleeping.

Or, you can have your very own one-, two- or four-person cabin. With these come a private toilet and access to showers, some lounges and à-la-carte meals. The cost of these goes up a bit, starting at around $1,200 for a berth bed and $3,000 for the two-person cabin.

If you're a big spender with some cash burning a hole in your pocket, you could splurge on Prestige class. You can get a high-class luxury experience on the Great Western Way for around $10,700. Wild, right?

Along with that price point, you get a private concierge, a deluxe two-person suite that comes with a leather couch, gourmet meals and more.

So, if you're looking for an on-the-ground experience and are trying to figure out a way to get across the country, the Great Western Way on VIA Rail might be the move for you. Just that Skyline car alone is probably worth the price of admission!

Keep on chuggin', Canada!

  • Creator

    Tristan Wheeler (he/him) was a Toronto-based Creator for Narcity Media. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2020 where he was the Blog & Opinion Editor at the campus publication, The Ubyssey, for two years. Since then, his work has appeared in publications such as Curiocity, Maclean's, POV Magazine, and The Capital Daily, delving into topics such as film, media criticism, food & drink, podcasting, and more.

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