Welcome to Canada’s West Coast! After passing through immigration and collecting your bags. make your own way to the hotel, where you will meet your tour guide and your fellow travellers during the afternoon. Your guide will talk you through the trip and explain the tour arrangements.

If you arrive early you could head downtown and wander along the waterfront.

Accent Inns Vancouver Airport, or similar

The morning begins with a visit to Downtown Vancouver. Your guide will show you the city’s highlights, including Gastown, with its famous steam-powered clock, and the totem poles amongst the trees of Stanley Park.

In the afternoon you will switch the city sights for sea views as your board the ferry to Vancouver Island. The ferry glides across the Straight of Georgia, whilst you keep an eye out for seals and orcha. On arrival you will be driven to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia.

The Vic, Ascend Hotel Collection, or similar

Begin this morning with breakfast amongst the floral displays of Butchart Gardens. You will also be able to wander through the immaculately presented formal gardens, before the tour focusses on Victoria.

Your guide will give you an orientation tour of the city, pointing out Canada’s oldest Chinatown, the iconic Empress Hotel, the harbourfront, and the grand Parliament Buildings. The rest of the day is then yours to explore Victoria. Perhaps stroll down Government Street, grab a coffee and watch the yachts on the harbour, or visit the Royal BC Museum.

Optional Activity: Prebook a Whale Watching Excursion from Victoria Harbour. In the Spring and Summer you can expect to see humpback whales, minke whales, grey whales, and resident orcha pods. You may also see other wildlife like bald eagles, seals, and poprpoises. This tour lasts around three hours. Please mention at the time of booking if you would like to add this activitiy.

The Vic, Ascend Hotel Collection, or similar

Breakfast

From the edge of the Pacific Ocean, today you will be heading back to the mainland and up into the Canadian Rockies. After another scenic ferry crossing, you can relax and watch the scenery change from coasts, through thick forests, to glacial peaks.

Today’s scenic drive ends at Sun Peaks, a laid-back alpine village, tucked into the mountains around Kamloops. It is the perfect location to relax and take in the mountain views, or stretch your legs in a hike through the forested slopes and lush alpine meadows.

Sun Peaks Lodge, or similar

This morning there is time to take in the mountain air, before another scenic drive through the mountains. Heading further east, deeper into the Rockies, the views only get more sperctacular. There is an opportunity for photos at the Mount Robson Visitor Centre, with views of the tallest peak in the Canadian Rockies. Then it is onwards to Jasper National Park, and the Mountain town of Jasper itself.

Lobstick Lodge, Jasper, or similar

You can explore the mountain railroad town of Jasper at your leisure, or choose to add an optional activities to your stay:

• A morning cruise on Maligne Lake. Cruise to Spirit Island across the calm waters of this glacier-fed lake
• An afternoon float trip. Relax as your raft drifts down the Athabasca River
• An afternoon guided nature walk. Learn more about nature as you walk through meadows, forests, and hills
• An afternoon e-bike ride. A guided cycle tour through the Jasper National Park
• An evening Athabasca Dinner & Discovery Tour, that includes a three-course dinner followed by a twighlight wildlife tour

You can choose one morning, one afternoon, and one evening activity to add to your tour. Please select your choice at the time of booking.

Lobstick Lodge, Jasper, or similar

The Columbia Icefields Parkway, links Jasper to Banff, and it is one of the most scenic roads in the world. There are cascading waterfalls, turquiose lakes, and giant glaciers, all along the route. The tour will stop at the icefields themselves, so you can climb aboard a massive Ice Explorer to drive up on to the Athabasca Glacier. You will be able to get out onto the ice and take in the panoramic views, or fill your water bottle with glacial water, before returning to the highway.

On the way to Banff there will be another stop at the picture perfect Lake Louise, where you can take plenty of photos of the turquoise waters with the reflected mountains beyond. The tour continues to the picturesque town of Banff where you can enjoy a relaxing evening.

Red Carpet Inn, Banff, or similar

Today you are at your leisure to explore Banff and the surrounding trails and mountains. You may choose to add the following optional activities to your tour:

• A sunrise breakfast at Moraine Lake. Spot wildlife, take panoramic photos, and enjoy a warm breakfast
• A morning Mahikan Medicine Walk. Join an indigenous guide who will unveil traditional remedies from the local land
• An afternoon helicopter tour. Take a spectacular aerial tour to Mount Assinboine or view the Three Sisters Peaks
• An evening cable-car (gondola) ride to the summit of Sulphur Mountain, for an amazing dinner with a view

You can choose one morning, one afternoon, and one evening activity to add to your tour. Please select your choice at the time of booking.

Red Carpet Inn, Banff, or similar

The drive from Banff to Calgary, drops you out of the Canadian Rockies and down onto the Alberta Plain, following the Bow River until the city rises on the horizon. The tour ends as your guide and driver will drop you at Calgary International Airport (around 11:30am) so you can continue your Canadian journey or return home.