Take the train: Bella Falk boards the Rocky Mountaineer for a luxurious train journey through the Canadian wilderness. No on-board wifi required…

Eagle on the left!’ exclaims Kyra over the microphone, and we all lean breathlessly towards the huge windows, cameras poised. At first all I see is the icy green river below us and the snow-dusted mountains beyond, but then it slides into view: a magnificent white-headed bald eagle, perched on a dead tree. We only get a brief glimpse before it’s gone, whisked away as the train glides on through the vast landscape.

If you’d told me a week ago that I’d be able to sit on a train for two days straight, without phone signal, wifi or even a book, and not go insane with boredom, I’d have laughed. But the Rocky Mountaineer is no ordinary railway journey: according to the World Travel Awards, this is the ‘World’s Leading Luxury Train’. With reclining seats, domed windows, an at-seat drinks service and elegant dining room, it’s as far removed from the processed sandwiches and standing-room-only of the 08.30 from Waterloo as a Rolls-Royce is from a wheelbarrow.

The privately-owned service was founded in 1990 as an all-daylight journey through Western Canada and the Rockies. Today they offer three Canadian routes between Vancouver, in British Columbia, and either Jasper or Banff in Alberta, as well as one US route across Utah and Colorado. There are two levels of service – the luxury GoldLeaf, which I’m taking, and the more affordable SilverLeaf, in smaller carriages where meals are served at your seat, airline-style.

CARRIAGE CUISINE

I’m riding the ‘Journey Through the Clouds’, 560 miles from Vancouver to Jasper. This trip takes two days, with approximately 10 hours a day on the train and an overnight stop in the city of Kamloops. Just after sunrise we roll out of the train’s private Vancouver station, and as we follow the dramatic Fraser River eastbound and leave the city behind there are photo opportunities everywhere. With its enormous, curved windows and outdoor viewing platform, our carriage is the perfect place to snap them from, and at key moments the driver slows to ‘Kodak’ speed so we can fully savour each moment.

Kyra, our cheerful host, gives us some history. ‘The railway line was completed in just five years in the 1880s,’ she tells us as we glide past soaring suspension bridges and vivid green farmland. ‘It was an astonishing feat of engineering, and crucial in unifying east and west Canada. But Indigenous peoples have traversed this land for thousands of years before that. On this trip we’ll cross through upwards of 30 First Nations communities.’

I could admire the views all day, but there’s the pressing issue of breakfast. We’re summoned downstairs and seated at window booths with crisp white tablecloths. We’re offered a menu featuring ingredients sourced from regions the train crosses: a fruit salad with local blackberries, Canadian maple syrup pastries, and a choice of mains including eggs Benedict with smoked Canadian bacon – all magicked up from a tiny galley kitchen at the back of the carriage.

Breakfast is a great time to chat to some of my fellow passengers, most of whom are taking the bucket-list trip of a lifetime. Walter and Vera are here for their 60th wedding anniversary, and two other couples are celebrating their 50th. There’s also Tara from Australia, who’s doing the journey both ways, and another couple from Pennsylvania who are finally enjoying their dream holiday three years after it was cancelled due to Covid.

We return to our seats and press our faces to the windows again. Every bend in the track brings another stunning vista: from mintcoloured river bends to frothing rapids, and from craggy mountains to plunging gorges carved out over millions of years by ancient glaciers.

But the Rocky Mountaineer is as much about the food as the views, so it’s not long before we’re called to lunch. There’s a platter of smoky Pacific tuna, poached prawns and tangy pickled vegetables, a choice of mains including Fraser Valley chicken with sundried tomatoes or a steelhead trout salad from Vancouver Island’s Lois Lake, and a rich chocolate torte – all paired with chardonnay or shiraz from British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley wine region.

We’re so well-fed that we don’t need dinner when we arrive in Kamloops, and after a relaxed night in the smart Marriott Delta hotel, we rejoin the train for day two. For the first couple hours the track snakes between dark green pines dotted with aspens, their silvery trunks topped with clouds of golden foliage. At one point a team member in a forward carriage spots a bear and radios through to Kyra; we all leap up to see, but it’s already vanished into the forest.

At lunch we’re served a charcuterie board featuring prosciutto and a soft Canadian brie, and for main I opt for the special: a pink tenderloin steak with crushed potatoes and a rich red wine jus. I’d savour every mouthful, but Kyra keeps announcing another unmissable view – the dazzling blue Moose Lake, or the glacier-topped peak of Mount Robson, the highest in the Canadian Rockies – so I have to keep abandoning my meal and dashing outside to see. Our waiters Sean and Miranda take it all in their stride – they see this behaviour every day.

When, early in the evening, we finally arrive in Jasper, I realise I haven’t once picked up the book I brought. I’d thought I’d be bored; that a 20-hour train journey would be a struggle for someone who likes to get their steps in, but there was always something to draw my attention. The Rocky Mountaineer really is the embodiment of that quote attributed to TS Eliot: ‘The journey, not the destination matters.’

ANIMALS TO SPOT WHEN ON BOARD BEARS

BEARS British Columbia and Alberta are home to grizzlies and the smaller black bear. The Fraser River, which the train runs along for much of its journey, is also where millions of salmon swim back upstream to spawn. You may see bears fishing along the edge.

MOOSE The largest members of the deer family, male moose can stand over two metres tall. Moose are surprisingly good swimmers, so if you’re travelling in the summer, look out for them in the lakes alongside the track.

BIGHORN SHEEP These impressive animals are recognisable from the males’ large, curled horns. They’re often perched on mountainsides and are one of the animals most spotted by guests.