Panoramic Rockies & Cruise

Day 1 - Welcome to Vancouver

After arriving into Vancouver today, board your Holland America cruise ship at Canada Place for a 4:30 p.m. departure that will pass below Vancouver’s spectacular Lion’s Gate suspension bridge.

Meals: Dinner

Day 2 - Cruise the Inside Passage

Deep fjords, forested islands and snowcapped peaks are your surroundings today as you cruise the Inside Passage.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 3 - Cruise Tracy Arm & Juneau

High granite walls will surround you as you venture into Tracy Arm Fjord, weaving through the Tongass National Forest to reach the Alaskan capital of Juneau.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 4 - Cruise to Skagway, Alaska

Gold rush era buildings and spectacular vistas await you in Skagway, the largest city in Alaska that still retains a magical glory days feeling.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 5 - Cruise Glacier Bay, Alaska

A UNESCO World Heritage site protecting a unique eco-system of plants and animals, soak in the glacial landscape unlike anywhere else in the world.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 6 - Ketchikan

Venturing into the ‘salmon capital of the world’, enjoy the cheerful atmosphere that surrounds you in Ketchikan.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 7 - Cruise the Inside Passage

Returning through the Inside Passage, soak in the crisp air and phenomenal scenery on your final day at sea.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 8 - Disembark in Vancouver

Sailing back into Vancouver Harbour, your cruise will end and an included transfer will take you to the hotel for an included overnight. Enjoy some time to yourself in the city, before meeting your Travel Director for the start of your escorted tour.

Hotel: Pacific Gateway Hotel
Meals: Breakfast

Day 9 - Vancouver

Enjoy some time to yourself in the city, before meeting your Travel Director and fellow travellers today. This marks the start of your Canadian Rockies adventure tour.

Hotel: Pacific Gateway Hotel

Day 10 - Victoria

This morning’s sightseeing tour of lovely Vancouver will visit the city’s oldest neighbourhood, Gastown, which was designated a National Historical Site in 2009. You’ll also visit buzzy Chinatown and admire the famous collection of totem poles at Stanley Park, before jumping on the ferry bound for Vancouver Island. After docking at Swartz Bay and making the short drive into the city, you’ll no doubt be struck by the distinctly English influence of Victoria. A sightseeing tour of the city will take you along the waterfront district and into the bustling downtown area, passing the Parliament Buildings, Government Street and through Beacon Hill Park so you can really get your bearings. This evening is yours to explore or dine out with newfound friends.

Hotel: Howard Johnson Victoria

Day 11 - Victoria

Breakfast this morning is a real treat – you’ll be heading to the world famous Butchart Gardens in the Blue Poppy Restaurant where, surrounded by beautiful blossoms and blooms, you’ll eat a fresh, seasonal breakfast with sunlight pouring in from the vast skylights above. You will have a chance to visit the gardens on your own, before the gates are opened to the regular visitors. Feeling full, the rest of the day is yours to explore Victoria whichever way you please.

Hotel: Howard Johnson Victoria
Meals: Breakfast

Day 12 - Whistler

First up on today’s agenda is Chemainus, a seaside community and former industrial town that is best known for its series of giant outdoor murals depicting local history. Hopping on board a ferry across the Georgia Strait and arriving into Horseshoe Bay, you’ll then travel along the iconic Sea-to-Sky Highway, one of the world’s most scenic drives. We challenge you not to keep your eyes to the horizon as you pass cascading waterfalls, jagged mountain peaks and the dreamy ocean vistas of Howe Sound, before stopping off at Shannon Falls Provincial Park, which boasts the third highest waterfall in all of British Columbia. Still in awe of the scenery offered by today’s drive, you’ll finish today in the alpine village of Whistler, which sits nestled in the shadows of the Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains.

Hotel: Delta Hotels by Marriott Whistler Village Suites

Day 13 - Whistler

With a free day in Whistler, the choice is yours in terms of how to explore this pretty adventure playground. Spend your day hiking or biking one of the many trails, explore the labyrinth of lanes that make up Whistler village, or make the most of the optional experiences on offer, each one more exhilarating than the next! You could find yourself soaring into the skies on the Peak 2 Peak Gondola, admiring the turquoise waters of the mile high Garibaldi Lake from above, whitewater rafting down the Green River, or zip lining at 100km per hour amidst the stunning mountain wilderness.

Hotel: Delta Hotels by Marriott Whistler Village Suites

Day 14 - Sun Peaks

You’ll leave Whistler behind today as you venture along scenic Duffey Lake Road, spotting the freshwater fjord of Seton Lake and the ominous sounding Mt. Rohr along the way. Following the once treacherous Cariboo Wagon Trail, which formed part of the Gold Rush Route, your final port of call for today is Sun Peaks, one of British Columbia’s best loved ski resorts. Winter time here sees ski and snowboard enthusiasts from across the globe flocking to this pretty little town to enjoy just some of the 135 ski runs that pepper the horizon. In the warmer months, the ski lifts stay open to provide access to more than two dozen hiking and mountain bike trails, making Sun Peaks yet another BC outdoorsy gem.

Hotel: Sun Peaks Lodge

Day 15 - Jasper National Park

Fall in love with the gorgeous prairie provinces of Canada this morning as you drive through the white fenced ranch lands that surround the Yellowhead Highway. Keeping a firm eye on the snowcapped peaks of the Columbia Mountains in the distance, it will be cheers all round as you catch a first glimpse of Mount Robson, the most prominent mountain in the North American Rockies and the highest point in the Canadian range. Finally, you’ll finish up today in unpretentious, heart warming Jasper, which sits smack bang in the heart of one of the most beautiful protected wildernesses in the world.

Hotel: Lobstick Lodge

Day 16 - Jasper National Park

Today promises to be action packed! Stepping outside and smelling the fresh mountain air, let the prospect of a day exploring stunning Jasper bring a smile to your face. As the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies your options are limitless and as always there’s a range of exciting optional experiences on offer to help personalise your experience. Perhaps you’ll choose a gentle float trip down the Athabasca River (seasonal), or maybe a guided walk on the ‘Path of the Glaciers’ as you make your way to the emerald green ‘Lake of Forgiveness’. Have your heart set on exploring beautiful Maligne Lake? Then a boat cruise (seasonal) around the largest glacially fed lake in the Canadian Rockies has your name all over it.

Hotel: Lobstick Lodge

Day 17 - Banff National Park

First, you will be heading to the impressive Icefields Parkway. A striking 232km stretch of road that cuts straight through the backbone of the Rockies, serving up ancient glaciers, mountain lakes and broad sweeping valleys en route. As you make your way down to the ‘Jewel of the Rockies’, the vibrant turquoise Lake Louise, you will make a short stop before heading on to explore the magnificent Columbia Icefield. Here, you’ll ride the giant Ice Explorer across the Athabasca Glacier for a closer look at this ancient marvel of nature, before coming to a stop in Banff.

Hotel: Inns of Banff

Day 18 - Banff National Park

Waking up today, you’ll want to be full of energy, as the vast natural playground outside of your front door isn’t going to explore itself. Venture into the stunning wilderness of Banff National Park, or better still you could take advantage of the enticing range of optional experiences available to truly unlock this region in style. However you choose to explore today, one things for sure – Banff will be an experience you’ll never forget.

Hotel: Inns of Banff

Day 19 - Vernon

It will be another incredible drive today as you climb higher and higher to cross the Continental Divide at Kicking Horse Pass, stopping at the Spiral Tunnels on the way to marvel at one of the steepest railroad stretches in the world. You’ll then travel through not one, not two, but three beautiful national parks, slowly descending from the mountains as the landscape changes from snowcapped peaks to sprawling wineries and fruit orchards, indicating that you’ve arrived in Canada’s ‘fruit basket’, the Okanagan Valley. Surrounded by so many grapes the temptation for a tasting will be hard to resist, so you’ll stop off at a local winery for a tour and tasting before heading on to Vernon, the unofficial capital of the Okanagan.

Hotel: Sandman Vernon

Day 20 - Farewell from Vancouver

On the final drive of your trip, make the most of the scenery this morning as you pass through the Cascade Mountains, named for the staggering number of waterfalls tumbling off the peaks, before venturing into the Fraser River Valley and finally coming to a stop back in Vancouver, the place where it all began.