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24 Hours Travelling Across Canada By Rail

Ruth Aisling

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For the next 24 hours, I’m travelling across Canada by rail, covering 1,352km from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Montreal, Quebec onboard VIA Rail The Ocean. It’s the longest Canadian train journey I’ve ever taken, and for the next day and night, this tiny VIA Rail sleeper cabin is going to be my home.

In this video, I give you a full sleeper train room tour, explore The Ocean train, try the meals in the dining car, join a Canadian wine tasting and see what it’s really like to eat, sleep and spend almost 24 hours on a Canada overnight sleeper train. This long distance train in Canada takes me through Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec, with constantly changing views along the way.

My private sleeper cabin cost around $700 CAD, so I was very curious to see whether this Halifax to Montreal train would actually be worth the price. If you’re interested in VIA Rail Canada, overnight train travel in Canada, or planning a train trip across Canada, this video is my full VIA Rail review of the journey from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Montreal.

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WHO AM I?
If we haven't met before... Hi, I'm Ruth 👋 and I recently bought a campervan to travel my home country of Scotland after living overseas for 12 years. I’ve hardly seen anything or been anywhere in Scotland and now is the time to change that!

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20 Comments

@ruthaisling Creator 5 days ago Pinned

What do you think of the train? Let me know below! 👇

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@_negentropy_ 5 days ago

Oh Ruth I’m Canadian and I’m a little embarrassed at how dodgy your train cabin looked. I’m pretty sure we can do better than that! I’m sad you’re not venturing west. I’ve always wanted to take the train through the Rocky Mountains, but with stops in Banff and Lake Louise in Alberta, and other stops along the way in British Columbia. The West Coast of Canada is a whole different world to the East Coast. I’ve lived on both coasts and I love them both. Also on your way to Montreal, you passed through Quebec City which is gorgeous, especially the old town area. It’s too bad you didn’t get to stop and have a wander. I hope you come back and visit us again.

@crunchybunnylady 5 days ago

As a Canadian I think it's crazy how much it costs to travel by train in this country. It should be a cheaper option. They have made it a bit of a luxury, but not a luxury in reality as you could see. It should be cleaner and nicer for that price.

@cartoontoes 5 days ago

My husband and I took that train 30 years ago, and I slept so soundly to the train's rocking. My mum took the train across Canada after arriving here from Scotland in 1957. Half way across, she blew all her spending money when the train stopped and she went on a quick shopping spree. She had to wash passengers' dinner ware in order to pay for the rest of her railroad meals! I don't think the train makes that accommodation any more!
Glad you seem to be enjoying Canada. Your videos have inspired me to start planning a trip to Scotland!

@ScotVenus 2 days ago

That “room” had me screaming “wash your hands!” At the screen, after you’d touched everything 😅

@bill2p 5 days ago

I used to travel frequently on this train back in the early 1970s when I was attending university in Montreal and my parents lived in Halifax. Back then it was called the CN Ocean Limited. A cabin similar to yours was called a “roomette” and the complimentary evening meal featured steak which almost everyone ordered because it was most expensive item and you weren’t paying for it. There was a club car with huge windows offering sweeping views and in the evening they always had a bingo game for sleeper passengers. I couldn’t always afford a roomette or the roomettes were sold out, so more than once I sat up all night in an economy seat. The train was still the ordinary person’s transportation and domestic air travel was unaffordable, for me anyway. Nowadays you most likely could have booked a flight for less than half of what you paid for that less-than-premium experience.

@elvee7851 3 days ago

This was such a great video Ruth! The cabin tour, the meals, the wine tasting — you really captured what it’s actually like to spend 24 hours rolling across Canada. The views through Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec were incredible. Loved this whole video. Well done as always - cheers!! ❤

@JerrySponagle-f7s 5 days ago

Going through Quebec is so beautiful, bears, deer, moose...just beautiful country.

@heatherjones6647 5 days ago

I used to take this train many times. Same roomette. It was wonderful. Everything you need. Going in the other direction from Toronto, a massive blizzard had descended on the city and all the airports were shut and roads closed. Train left Union Station at 12 noon on the dot and got into Sackville, NB with just an hour lost due to snow on the tracks. Brilliant. The style of the interior is totally irrelevant, imo.

@90-minutebookvideo77 3 days ago

So glad you visited us here in Canada, safe journey home.

@joanbabb3968 5 days ago (edited)

Joan here from Canada 🇨🇦. Took the VIA rail train twice. Once about 50 years ago from Vancouver to Toronto, took a few days and had the cheapest seats(no bed) I was young and knitted my way across Canada. My 2nd trip across about 10 years ago, this time I had a sleeper. The dining room and meals were elegant and elevated. Fabulous experience across Canada twice 🇨🇦

@allanwales5655 2 days ago

Hi Ruth, we were supposed to take the Rocky Mountaineer train from Vancouver to Banff but it was cancelled due to Covid. When we did get to Canada we found the train to be really expensive so opted for the bus. Personally I think it was better value as the road was much higher than the railway which follwed the valley floors so you got much better views. A lot of the time you coud see the railway down below running through trees or gullys. We stopped in Kamloops fo two nights. The train stops for one night. This allowed us to visit the wildlife park on the edge of town which was excellent. A lot of the animals there are imjured one way or another and some are rehabilitated but some cannot return to the wild so live their days out there. I would say if you want the posh food and pampering take the train, if you want to see more widely over the countryside take the bus. No food but the savings can extend your stay or take your own posh picnic with you. Another train ride worth doing is Oslo to Bergen. We did it in May and there was still snow on the hgh plateau, really beautiful. Welcome back to Scotland.

@fndjfgsdk 4 days ago

5:00 The first lot of carriages you walked past are actually the original "Nightstar" carriages that were originally intended to operate sleeper trains from the UK to Europe alongside Eurostar. But it never went ahead so they sold all of the carriages to Canada.

@liamctoner 4 days ago

Another great one Ruth ! My wife and I recently travelled across Canada from Vancouver to Halifax by train. Vancouver Toronto Montreal Quebec City and then the bit you have just done on The Ocean. The Canadian from Vancouver to Toronto was a better train, but I must admit the whole journey was great and a great way to see Canada, a fantastic country. We really like Nova Scotia and its celtic roots. Watching your previous video made us realise we missed a few things and shall definately return. Great country and great people. Keep it up, you are better than the big professionals !

@JasonPramas 5 days ago

hot coffee burns and Ruth just keeps going as if nothing happened, what a trooper!

@StephenMapley 5 days ago

Your journey across America and Canada was amazing to watch. Extremely entertaining and informative. Many thanks Ruth.

@willhazyblue 5 days ago

The train was just right, it served your perpose well, you made it feel a lot better, You Look not so tired, I Hope you had a good rest, and are soon to be back at your home in your own comfy bed, wishing you the Best for the rest of your Week stay Happy and Safe, just Because. My thoughts and Prayers are with you, Hold tightly to your Dreams,they take you to such wonderful places to share. I Love it💕

@catherinewoods3166 5 days ago

What fun to travel by train from Nova Scotia to Montreal, Quebec! I’ve traveled via Amtrak, both to San Francisco, California and in the other direction, to Chicago IL, always in a roomette, so it was fun to compare my experience to your Via experience. There are numerous similarities! Lovely scenery as well! Thanks for bringing us along, Ruth! ❤

@Lareinadelas 4 days ago

I agree with all the comments about the state of your cabin and am blown away by what you had to pay. You handled it admirably! I was amazed at how much stuff was packed into the room though. Hopefully the new cars someone mentions below will have the same options. Thanks for bringing us along, Ruth.