Classic Rockies by Rail

It was my job to check the facts in the "Classic Tours" section of our May/June Tours of a Lifetime cover story, and I had a tough time completing the job without daydreaming. Here is one of the tours that appealed to me most:

The Royal Rockies: a six-day train adventure through the Canadian Rockies aboard historic rail cars luxuriously restored by Royal Canadian Pacific. Starting in Calgary, Alberta, you chug through Banff and Yoho National Parks (spectacular is the word that comes to mind) and cross the Continental Divide, descending through the Spiral Tunnels (pictured here, with a single freight train) at Kicking Horse Pass in British Columbia. The train follows the Columbia River and pulls in for a private tour of the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel in Cranbrook. Crossing back into Alberta, the train visits the UNESCO World Heritage site of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. You spend a day riding horses at the family-owned (since 1912) Homeplace Ranch before returning to Calgary blissed out, or so I imagine.

Check out more of our Tours of a Lifetime on our website here.

Photo: Spiral Tunnels at Kicking Horse Pass, by Stephen J. Brown via Flickr

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Comments

[Suz]

I love classic trains- Next time I get some vacation I want to take the one from Chicago to Glacier Nation Park, it goes right to the main lodge.