ADVENTURE World has just released a “Spring Bonus Offer” from Rocky Mountaineer, where you receive a $265 credit per adult when you book a five nights or more “Goldleaf Service” package.

The credit can be used on a range of product from Rocky Mountaineer including pre and post package accommodation, sight seeing tours, car rental, meal plans and Whistler Mountaineer day trips.

An example of a tour that qualifies from the offer is the six day “Canadian Rockies Highlights” from $2999 per person twin share. This tour begins in Vancouver and travels through Kamloops, Banff, Lake Louise with the journey finishing in Calgary.

The package includes two days aboard the Rocky Mountaineer, five nights hotel accommodation, some meals, sightseeing such as glacier helicopter tour, ranch tours, national parks pass, fuel surcharge and luggage handling fees.

The offer is valid for new bookings made before March 16, for travel from April 15 to 25 and conditions apply.

Source Link: Travel Blackboard

You would think that with the high cost of air travel that people would be flocking to trains as an alternative, but judging from the discounts that you can get for train travel these days then they must be having problems of their own.

VIA rail is offering 50 per cent off its regular peak fares for one-way trips on its Toronto-Jasper-Vancouver, Montreal-Halifax and Montreal-Gaspé routes. The deal applies to both economy and sleeper class tickets.

Here are some sample prices: one way from Toronto to Vancouver, $662 in an upper berth; Vancouver to Jasper, $447 plus tax per person for double occupancy. Travel must be finished by May 31 for these two trips.

One-way eastern routes include Montreal to Halifax for $187, or Montreal to Gaspe, $164.50, taxes not included. You can get more details at viarail.ca, or call 888-VIA-RAIL.

Rocky Mountaineer, which offers four spectacular rail routes through British Columbia and Alberta, is offering up to $2,400 worth of add-ons to entice passengers to climb aboard their trains. Their bonus is offered per couple to apply to airfare, meals, accommodation, sight-seeing tours and more when booking a minimum five-night rail vacation until March 31, 2009.

To receive the maximum $2,400 bonus, passengers must book the six-night/seven-day Classic Rail Circle package for travel between June 2 and September 29 for two adults in GoldLeaf Service with Fairmont Deluxe accommodation. This package features an all-rail journey onboard the Whistler Mountaineer and two Rocky Mountaineer train routes.

The Rocky Mountaineer train offers passengers a two-day, all daylight rail journey through Canada’s West and the Canadian Rockies. The Whistler Mountaineer train offers a daily three-hour journey between North Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.

If you want to know more you can contact Rocky Mountaineer at (800) 665-7245 or visit www.rockymountaineer.com.

Q: For some time, we’ve wanted to visit the Canadian Rockies by rail. Probably in June or July we’d fly to Vancouver, then tour by train. But there are so many itineraries and options that it’s hard to choose. Can you give some guidance about which railroad and what not to miss?

A: The Canadian Rockies offer some of the most jaw-dropping scenery in the world, and traveling by rail is a smart way to see it up close. Three train companies serve the area; choose depending on your budget, your time frame and how much pampering you require. Prices below are in American dollars and include lodging.

• Taking it from the top, Royal Canadian Pacific is the luxury offering, with restored vintage train cars and lots of cosseting. The six-day Royal Canadian Rockies Experience starts and ends in Calgary, Alberta, stopping at Banff and Lake Louise, Kicking Horse Pass, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and other marvels. Lodging is on board, in private staterooms. You pay one (whopping) price, but everything is included: airport transfers, all food and beverages, and some pretty spectacular side trips. Two trips are scheduled this year, leaving July 31 and Sept. 14. Cost is $6,563 per person double. Details: 877-665-3044; royalcanadianpacific.com.

• The Rocky Mountaineer train has three routes through the Canadian West, including Vancouver to Calgary, via Banff. Its six-day Canadian Rockies Highlights trip includes some meals, guides, a glacier helicopter tour and a ranch lunch. Lodging is at hotels along the way. Three levels of service and accommodations are available; costs this summer are $1,886, $2,911 and $3,198 per person double, plus a 5 percent fuel surcharge. Shorter trips are available. 877-460-3200; rockymountaineer.com.

• VIA Rail, Canada’s national railroad, travels the same routes as the sightseeing trains; you can create your own itinerary and stop off at Jasper or Banff for as long as you like, or buy a package tour. The eight-day Rockies Circle West trip, for example, travels from Vancouver to Jasper, then switches to a motor coach to explore the mountains before returning to Vancouver. Two levels of service and accommodations are offered this summer, at $2,593 and $3,364. 888-842-7245; viarail.ca.

Still confused? Lori Grant, of Canada’s Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, recommends mixing and matching; for example, taking VIA Rail from Vancouver to Jasper, renting a car and driving to Banff, then taking the Rocky Mountaineer back to Vancouver. Driving some of the route, she said, is the best way to have “a true, authentic experience of the Rocky Mountains.” Whichever company you choose, don’t miss the glacier-studded Icefield Parkway, she said.

Source Link: Washington Post

Source Link: Canada.com

You would think that with the high cost of air travel that people would be flocking to trains as an alternative, but judging from the discounts that you can get for train travel these days then they must be having problems of their own.

VIA rail is offering 50 per cent off its regular peak fares for one-way trips on its Toronto-Jasper-Vancouver, Montreal-Halifax and Montreal-Gaspé routes. The deal applies to both economy and sleeper class tickets.

Here are some sample prices: one way from Toronto to Vancouver, $662 in an upper berth; Vancouver to Jasper, $447 plus tax per person for double occupancy. Travel must be finished by May 31 for these two trips.

One-way eastern routes include Montreal to Halifax for $187, or Montreal to Gaspe, $164.50, taxes not included. You can get more details at viarail.ca, or call 888-VIA-RAIL.

Rocky Mountaineer, which offers four spectacular rail routes through British Columbia and Alberta, is offering up to $2,400 worth of add-ons to entice passengers to climb aboard their trains. Their bonus is offered per couple to apply to airfare, meals, accommodation, sight-seeing tours and more when booking a minimum five-night rail vacation until March 31, 2009.

To receive the maximum $2,400 bonus, passengers must book the six-night/seven-day Classic Rail Circle package for travel between June 2 and September 29 for two adults in GoldLeaf Service with Fairmont Deluxe accommodation. This package features an all-rail journey onboard the Whistler Mountaineer and two Rocky Mountaineer train routes.

The Rocky Mountaineer train offers passengers a two-day, all daylight rail journey through Canada’s West and the Canadian Rockies. The Whistler Mountaineer train offers a daily three-hour journey between North Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.

If you want to know more you can contact Rocky Mountaineer at (800) 665-7245 or visit www.rockymountaineer.com.

Source Link: e-Travel Blackboard

This holiday season, wrap up a Rocky Mountaineer Vacations’ rail adventure and put it under the tree for your family or someone special! More than ever before people are giving the gift of a unique rail journey onboard either the acclaimed Rocky Mountaineer train.  A gift that never gets re-used, re-gifted or recycled, a Rocky Mountaineer rail vacation will simply become a lifetime of wonderful memories.

Travellers who book their vacation from now until January 15, 2009, can take advantage of Rocky Mountaineer Vacations’ Early Booking Bonus, making the gift even more affordable and pleasurable. When a minimum six-night Rocky Mountaineer vacation package in GoldLeaf Service is booked, guests also receive a free upgrade to a Fairmont Room at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in applicable destinations.

The perfect Christmas gift is the Canadian Rockies Escape package, a seven night, eight day journey onboard two spectacular rail routes through the Canadian Rockies. Departing from the coastal city of Vancouver, British Columbia, guests take pleasure in enjoying the legendary two-day, all daylight journey of the Rocky Mountaineer train on the Yellowhead Route to Jasper, with an overnight stop in Kamloops, British Columbia. Also offering a motorcoach tour of Jasper and nearby Maligne Canyon, Pyramid and Patricia Lakes, the Canadian Rockies Escape adds an Ice Explorer ride to the excitement together with a full day motorcoach excursion of the Icefields Parkway – a scenic mountain highway that snakes and climbs through the high mountain passes from Jasper to Lake Louise. After enjoying leisurely time and a guided lakeside stroll at Lake Louise, guests then take delight in viewing Yoho National Park – which cradles Emerald Lake and Lake O’Hara’s turquoise waters, thundering Takakkaw Falls and the wild and fast-flowing Kicking Horse River – before embarking on a half-day tour of the mountain resort town of Banff and a complimentary gondola ride to the summit of Sulphur Mountain, which offers sweeping views of the town and surrounding scenery.

Returning to Vancouver along the Kicking Horse Route onboard the Rocky Mountaineer train, guests once again enjoy the thrill of viewing the ever-changing panoramas of glacier fed lakes, lush valleys, dense emerald forests and the snow-capped peaks of the Canadian Rockies on another superb two day, all daylight journey, with an overnight stay in Kamloops.

Guests also enjoy superb bi-regional cuisine prepared fresh by talented onboard chefs as the picture-perfect scenery rolls on by. The best view is in the luxury of Rocky Mountaineer GoldLeaf Service, complete with bi-level glass dome coaches, panoramic views, delicious cuisine and onboard commentary of the region.

Along with four spectacular days onboard the Rocky Mountaineer on two different routes as well as scenic excursions along the Icefields Parkway and Jasper to Lake Louise, the Canadian Rockies Escape  package  includes seven nights accommodations, rail station transfers in Vancouver, Kamloops, Jasper and Banff, complimentary luggage handling and a National Parks Pass, four sumptuous breakfasts and lunches onboard the Rocky Mountaineer, and an Exclusive Attractions Pass, which includes complimentary admission to Vancouver Lookout, a Vancouver ‘Hop-On, Hop-Off’ attractions loop tour, the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, the Whyte Museum and Upper Hot Springs in Banff, the Jasper Tramway (including transportation to/from the gondola and Calgary Tower – with its observation deck that offers dramatic views of the distant Canadian Rockies and the stark plains of the Canadian Prairies.

Commencing May 2, 2009, eastbound from Vancouver to Jasper and Banff, until October 10, 2009, Rocky Mountaineer Vacations’ Canadian Rockies Escape package is priced from AUD $2.794.00 in RedLeaf  Service and AUD $5,182.00 in GoldLeaf Service, based on double occupancy. Prices are also subject to 3% Canadian GST.

The Early Booking Bonus is applicable from now until January 16, 2009. Other spectacular vacation package options are also available however the offer is not available in conjunction with any other promotion. For additional information or to book a Rocky Mountaineer Vacations’ package, contact your travel professional or visit the website at www.rockymountaineer.com
Rocky Mountaineer Vacations offers unique Canadian vacation packages and four spectacular rail routes through British Columbia and Alberta. Best known for the world-acclaimed Rocky Mountaineer train, a two-day, all daylight rail journey through Canada’s West and the Canadian Rockies, the company also offers trips onboard the Whistler Mountaineer train, a daily three-hour experience between North Vancouver and Whistler, BC. Since its inception in 1990, the company has grown to be the largest privately owned passenger rail service in North America and welcomed its one millionth guest in 2008. In 2007, RMV was honoured with the World Travel Award as “World’s Leading Travel Experience by Train” for the third consecutive year and named by National Geographic as one of the World’s Greatest Trips.

Source Link: by John Law The Niagara Falls Review

Niagara Falls theatre group Canadiana Productions, Inc. is taking its act on the road.

Or at least the tracks.

The company behind the long-running dinner theatre show “Oh Canada Eh?” will partner with tourism specialists the Armstrong Hospitality Group to mount a new musical for riders of the Rocky Mountaineer sightseeing train out west.

Regarded as one of the world’s most spectacular train trips, it winds through the Canadian Rockies at 40 km/h. The musical will be staged at a stopover in Kamloops, British Columbia, starting April 9.

“The Rocky Mountaineer is an internationally famous train,” says Canadiana Productions president Ross Robinson. “The last three years, it has been voted the most luxurious train trip in the world.”

Robinson has rode the rails twice and liked it so much, he originally pitched a theatre show five years ago. They said no, rather sternly.

For several years, the company has staged its own dinner theatre in Kamloops, starting with “Two River Junction.” But last summer, the company phoned Robinson and asked if he was still interested in whipping up a show.

Full story in Friday’s Review.