Trendy restaurants, a lively nightlife scene and all the honky tonk fun you could ever want, fun loving Calgary is ready for you! After settling into your hotel, meet up with your Travel Director, then head out to discover the city for yourself. Need a good coffee to wake yourself up after a long flight? Then the neighbourhoods of Inglewood and Kensington should be high on your agenda.

Ramada Plaza Calgary Downtown

Fuel up with breakfast in Heritage Park Historical Village that includes before-hours entry to Gasoline Alley Museum, the world’s largest public collection of antique vehicles and oil- and gas-related artefacts. You’ll even have a private guide for an overview of the museum’s vintage treasures and time for a look on your own. Then hit the road bound for Lake Louise watching the craggy, snow-capped peaks of the Rockies come into view.

Canmore Inn & Suites

Breakfast

Rise and shine! Start the day with a selection of optional helicopter flights (weather dependent). In Banff, take a sightseeing tour along Tunnel Mountain Drive ticking off Cascade Mountain, Mt. Rundle, Bow Falls and the surreal hoodoos. Spend the rest of the day your way with a choice of optional excursions.

Choose Golf with a view at Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course or join a Plant Medicine Walk with a First Nations Local Specialist. Or, in Canmore, get up on four wheels with an e-bike food tour or hit the water on a raft tour. End the evening on a high with a Gondola ride and dinner with a view.

Banff Caribou Lodge & Spa

The Rockies, ancient glaciers, mountain lakes and sweeping valleys… it could only be the iconic Icefields Parkway. Make your way up to the Columbia Icefield for a ride on the giant Ice Explorer across the Athabasca Glacier before trekking across the ice for your first sip of fresh glacial water. Visit Athabasca Falls and continue to Jasper, the perfect spot to get back to nature. Tonight, you could choose to see the “From Jasper With Love” energetic, live theatre performance.

Lobstick Lodge, Jasper

As the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies, explore exactly as you like with a choice of excursions. Spot wildlife as you float down the Athabasca River. Have your heart set on beautiful Maligne Lake? A boat cruise around the largest glacially fed lake in the Canadian Rockies could be perfect for you. If you’re looking to get active, choose to see the park on a guided nature hike. Food-lovers can join a Jasper Food Tour or three-course dinner followed by a twilight wildlife tour and interpretive “Horns and Antlers” talk at Becker’s Chalets.

Lobstick Lodge, Jasper

Ahh, Jasper. Your time here isn’t over yet! Your journey through the park takes you past towering pines, surging rivers, waterfalls and alpine meadows. The crowning glory will no doubt be your first glimpse of Mount Robson, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the most prominent mountain in the North American Rockies, and the highest point in the Canadian range.

Sun Peaks Lodge

Your journey begins with a ferry to Vancouver Island before making the short drive into Victoria. No doubt struck by the English influence of the city, tick off the sights on an orientation tour along the waterfront district and into downtown. Pass the grand Parliament Buildings, Government Street and through Beacon Hill Park. Keen to explore even further? Victoria has more cycle routes than any other Canadian city, so the best way to get around is undoubtedly on two wheels.

The Vic, Ascend Hotel Collection

The blooms and blossoms of world-famous Butchart Gardens is a gardener’s paradise. Stroll through this 55-acre showcase of gardens to see why it has been named a national historic site of Canada. The rest of the day is yours to explore Victoria at your leisure. Discover the Olympic Mountains, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, James and Sydney Islands and the Saanich Peninsula on the Victoria Panorama seaplane tour. Or, wildlife fans will want to join a Victoria whale watching cruise keeping an eye out for the “locals.”

Red Lion Inn and Suites Victoria

Framed by dramatic vistas on all sides, Vancouver is known as a nature haven and adventure hub. Vancouver residents (and visitors) can ski in the morning and go for a swim in the ocean in the afternoon. Arriving by ferry, you’ll kick off your stay here with a tour of historic Gastown, vibrant Chinatown and the green jewel in the city’s crown, Stanley Park. Tonight, why not choose to celebrate an amazing end to your tour with a winery tour and tasting? Cheers!

Accent Inns Vancouver Airport

Your Alaska cruise departs from Canada Place Cruise Ship Terminal, in downtown Vancouver, this afternoon, giving you time for a leisurely breakfast or a little more sightseeing – the Museum of Vancouver coming recommended.

After settling into your cabin, make sure you’re up on deck to as your Holland America cruise passes under Lions Gate Bridge into Burrard Inlet. Then enjoy the coastal scenery as you sail between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland towards Alaskan waters.

Your choice of cabin

Dinner

Alaska’s Inside Passage is a renowned cruising route through a protected network of waterways, featuring glacier-cut fjords and lush rainforests.

Enjoy a whole day at sea, soaking in the scenery and keeping an eye out for passing whales and other marine life.

If you’re cruising during the summer, it stays light until late. Inside, there is a choice of restaurants and onboard entertainment to enjoy.

Your choice of cabin

All meals on board

The coastal scenery between Hobart Bay and Juneau is simply stunning; the mountains clad by old-growth temperate rainforest.

Your cruise will briefly moor at around 09:00 for those who wish to take an optional excursion to Tracy Arm Inlet (additional cost). This 48 kilometre fjord has glaciers clinging to its cliff faces, and summer waterfalls that plunge into the sea. Exploring in a high speed catamaran, the tour is also a great opportunity to see wildlife, with guests often spotting pigeon guillemots, bald eagles, harbour seals, mountain goats and bears.

The Tracy Arm Inlet excursion concludes in Juneau, re-joining the cruise ship. You can spend a leisurely afternoon in the Alaskan capital, or join one of several other excursions on offer including whale watching, sea kayaking, a tour to Mendenhall Glacier and Juneau’s Glacier Gardens, a helicopter flight and the ever-popular all-you-can-eat salmon bake!

Your choice of cabin

All meals on board

At the height of the Klondike Gold Rush, the port town of Skagway quickly grew to become Alaska’s largest, albeit somewhat raucous,  settlement. Much of the town has been preserved as part of a National Historical Park, with rangers offering free walking tours.

You have a full day in Skagway, with another wide range of optional activities available. Highly recommended is the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad, an incredible feat of engineering built to facilitate the gold rush. The journey to the summit of White Pass passes towering glaciers and cascading waterfalls, and crosses and sky-high trestles. You can stay on the train to come back down again, or for an adrenaline kick descend by mountain bike!

Other optional excursions include gold panning, dog sledding, and a wilderness safari to Glacier Point.

Your choice of cabin

All meals on board

Have your binoculars and camera ready as you cruise through Glacier Bay to the mile-wide Margerie Glacier, where you may have a chance to witness ice calving.

This area is also known for its abundant wildlife, with humpback whales frequenting the icy waters and  brown bear patrolling the wind-swept beaches.

Whilst you’ll probably want to spend most of the day on deck, do make sure to join the onboard presentation from a local Huna Tlingit guide about the ecology and geology of Glacier Bay, and why it’s critical that wild lands remain forever wild.

Your choice of cabin

All meals on board

Your next port of call is Ketchikan, a colourful town that appears to cling to the banks of the Tongass Narrows, surrounded by forest.

Rich in resources, this area has been the home to the Tlingit people since time immemorial, and the Haida and Tsimshians who moved to what is now South East Alaska from Canadamuch later. You can learn about their history and traditions at the Totem Heritage Centre and Totem Bight State Park, and in nearby Saxman Village.

A number of optional excursions are also available including sea kayaking, salmon fishing, an e-bike ride through the rainforest, and bear spotting by floatplane!

Lastly, for souvenirs (or locally smoked salmon), take a stroll along historic Creek Street, a boardwalk built over the Ketchikan Creek.

Your choice of cabin

All meals on board

Enjoy a final day cruising Alaska’s Inside Passage.

Keep an eye out for whales and other wildlife as your Holland America cruise heads back south towards Vancouver.

Enjoy a last dinner on board, and tonight’s evening entertainment.

You choice of cabin

All meals on board

Having sailed through the night, arrive into Vancouver early this morning.

It’s the end of your Rocky Mountaineer and Alaska cruise holiday today, though if you would like to add extra nights in the city, or in nearby Seattle, just let your Travel Consultant know.

Vancouver International Airport is around a 30 minute drive from Downtown / Canada Place Cruise Terminal.

Breakfast on board