I’ve always found trains romantic—cozy cabins, the calming sway of the cars. VIA Rail’s Romance by Rail has cranked up the heat a few notches. Porters slide back the partition between two cabins on any overnight stretch ofthe transcontinental Canadian’s 4,466-km (2,775-mi) route between Toronto, ON and Vancouver, BC (usually Toronto to Jasper, AB, or Jasper to Vancouver). With the dividing wall gone, the two lower twin bunks morph into one queen-sized bed draped with a down duvet and pillows. And two cabins means his and hers toilets. It’s a leisurely way to spend three days, 14 hours and 42 minutes (if you go all the way). You’re going green, making friends with carbon credits and slowing the pace to a gentle jaunt for a change.

While the Prairies slid by, we lounged over breakfast in bed, munching croissants and sipping coffee. Beds are flipped up during the daytime, leaving a double cabin spacious enough for a yoga mat on the floor. Perched in the glass-topped dome cars of the Canadian’s restored, vintage stainless-steel carriages, we had a bird’s-eye view as we zigzagged through the Rockies and chugged down British Columbia’s Fraser Canyon.

On our last night, we opted out of the Art Deco-styled dining car in favour of a candlelit dinner in our cabin with the chilled bottle of Canadian sparkling wine that appeared daily along with fresh flowers. Menu choices favoured the regional: Alberta prime rib, Manitoba pickerel, an all-Canadian cheese plate. After turndown service that leaves a nightie-night chocolate on the pillow, we drifted asleep to the rhythm of the rails. Divine.