Skiing the old Canadian Pacific Railroad

The sight of the glass-domed carriages of mighty Canadian trains dashing across the prairies is one we’re brought up with, but how many of us think of crossing the world’s second biggest country in the winter? Perhaps to Canadians the landscape seems less beautiful than it does to us, with our poor excuse for a winter.

And of course the history of the Canadian Pacific Railroad (now ViaRail) is tied in closely with British history, as is the history of the old CPR (now Fairmont) hotels, which serve so many excellent ski resorts. They offer a very different feel to modern purpose-built, ski-in, ski-out resorts.

Although not everyone will want to go all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific like me, you can do aspects of it, making your journey more eco-friendly. You can follow the St Lawrence river from Montreal to Quebec City, or catch the sleeper from Vancouver or Edmonton to Jasper. It's not often that your airport transfer will itself be a magical, awe-struck adventure combining history and luxury.