Beautiful BC from A to Z: R is for Rocky Mountaineer

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Sometimes we take our home for granted. With so many incredible cities and attractions here in BC, enough to fill the alphabet, Travis and I still tend to make international travel the priority. We daydream about the cobblestone streets of Europe, street food stalls and temples of Asia, and stunning natural beauty of South America, without giving our province a second thought. This is why I’ve so thoroughly enjoyed our BC theme for the A to Z Challenge.

However with our bucket-list of travel activities around the world,  there is one BC based tourist activity that would make me drop everything else. The Rocky Mountaineer.

The Rocky Mountaineer is a Canadian tour company that operates trains on four different rail routes throughout BC and Alberta. While they have won plenty of prestigious awards, including National Geographics “World’s Best Journeys” in 2007, the reason I really want to take a tour is for the mix of stunning scenery and relaxing train travel. The train is my favorite way to get from point A to B and unfortunately there are very few opportunities to ride a train in BC.

It may seem surprising for a local to want more BC scenery but the wonderful thing about the Rocky Mountaineer is that the route cuts through parts of the province that cars can’t access. Meaning that however many times I drive from Vancouver to Kamloops, or on to Jasper, the sights and surroundings are completely different from the window of the train.

Unfortunately, BC is one of the more expensive places to travel in the world; add in the luxury all-inclusive nature of the Rocky Mountaineer and the tour is pushed to the pricier end of the travel spectrum. However while a trip like this may not be in the budget now, Travis and I are still holding out hope that one day we’ll climb aboard.

Are there any local events that you want to participate in even though they are often reserved for tourists? Let us know in the comments below.