Detailed Itinerary Tour GP2T
Meals included in package are shown thus: B = breakfast, L = lunch, D = Dinner (All other meals are on your own)
Day 1:
Make your way to Vancouver's Pacific Central Station and check in by 4:15 PM to choose your dinnertime seating in the dining car of "The Canadian". Join fellow travellers in the departure lounge and station terrace as you are entertained with a drink to some traveling music. Board the famous train at 5:00 PM and settle in for a 5:30 PM departure. Your train winds its way through Vancouver's eastern suburbs and lower Fraser Valley as you go to the dining car for a delicious dinner when summoned. By nightfall you are well into the Coastal Mountains and the Fraser Canyon. Retire for the night in your choice of sleeping accommodation. Meals: D
Day 2:
After breakfast in the dining car find yourself in the heart of the Rockies. By 11:00 AM we stop in Jasper for a break off the rain. Reboard the train when called and go to your dining car for lunch. By 1:00 PM you are on your way out of the mountains and into Alberta's verdant foothills. At 5:30 PM arrive in Edmonton, Alberta's capital city of over a million people. By early evening you are on your way east across the prairies crossing through Saskatchewan overnight in your comfortable bed. Meals: B, L, D
Day 3:
By breakfast time we are in Manitoba and late in the morning arrive in Winnipeg. After a transfer to a beautiful old railway hotel you have the afternoon free to visit The Forks, The Winnipeg Railway Museum and other sights. Shopping in the fine stores in the area may also be on your agenda. Hotel: The Fort Garry Meals: B
Day 4:
Breakfast is available in the dining room of your hotel at 6:30 AM. Check out at 7:15 AM and take a taxi for the 5 minute ride to the Greyhound depot. Here you board a modern motorcoach for a 7:45 AM departure to Minneapolis, Minnesota U.S.A. This leisurely trip takes you south to Emerson on the U.S.A. border and then on to Fargo, North Dakota for a one hour lunch stop. A passport is recommended to enter the United States. By late afternoon you will be in Minnesota and arrive in Minneapolis at about 7:30 PM. You transfer by taxi for the 20 minute ride to the Amtrak station across the mighty Mississippi River to neighbouring St. Paul. Here you relax before the arrival of The Empire Builder at 10:30 PM. Once aboard you settle into your sleeping room for the start of your westbound journey and a comfortable sleep. Meals: B
Day 5:
Breakfast is available in the dining car as your train heads west across sparsely populated North Dakota. You are in Montana by noon and by dinnertime are skirting the Rockies' famous Glacier National Park. By bedtime you are crossing into Idaho and in Washington State by midnight. Meals: B, L, D
Day 6:
Over breakfast you will find yourself in the heart of Washington's North Cascade Range and can expect arrival in Seattle by about 10:30 AM. You can connect directly to a motorcoach for transfer to Vancouver or if you wish you should have some time to walk around downtown Seattle and do some shopping before an alternate Amtrak connecting Thruway motorcoach leaves at 1:15 PM for Surrey, Richmond and Vancouver. It arrives back at Pacific Central Station at 5:00 PM, your starting point. This ends a great circle tour of outstanding geography and great experiences. Meals: B
FARE: The 6-Day Tour, based on shared accommodation. From only Cdn$1295 per person sharing accommodation. Single fares start at Cdn$1495. Final confirmed fare depends on age of guests, number traveling together, type of sleeping accommodation on the trains (upper or lower berths, single, double or triple bedrooms), date of booking, date of travel, and US$ exchange rate. NOTE: You can't beat our prices doing this on your own. As agents for all services we have access to best rates and pass good savings on to you.
Included in the price: Train fares, sleeping accommodation, motorcoach transfers, hotel, meals as noted, complete documentation with route guides, tickets & detailed itinerary. Short taxi transfers are not included. GST on Canadian portion only is added.
Add a night in Seattle and take the morning Amtrak "Cascades" train service to Vancouver for an extra $99 per person including your hotel.
Vancouver Island residents may wish to take the high speed ferry "Victoria Clipper" home to the Island from Seattle's Pier 69.
Our travel office is usually open during regular business hours, but if we are not there or are on the line you will get a message to which we ask you to reply. We will return your call as soon as possible. To make reservations or to request information on this, or other West Coast Rail Tours use the numbers above. We accept: Personal cheque (preferred), VISA, MasterCard, or American Express.
