This moderate 7-day escorted coach tour takes you from the Rockies to the Pacific, all in one experience-filled week. Nature is the star of this trip, naturally, but you will also have enough big-city experiences to satisfy any culinary and culture cravings. Travelling from the prairies of Calgary, Alberta, to the coastal beauty of Vancouver, British Columbia, expect scenic highlights every day: heritage and history, mountainous beauty, glacial ice fields, deep canyons, dense forests, and emerald-green lakes. Explore the surface of the ancient Athabasca Glacier Board aboard a giant Ice Explorer, enjoy scenic float plane sightseeing tour over Garibaldi Park, stroll the winding streets of Whistler Resort, and discover Vancouver, a coastal gem known for its multicultural cuisine and its pioneering history.
Depending on your time of arrival, the first day in Calgary is at leisure. Visit Heritage Park Historical Village, Canada’s largest living history museum, or soar up to the Calgary Tower’s observation deck, browse the boutique shops, and end with an Alberta beef dinner at a downtown, award-winning steakhouse.
Set out early the next morning to tour the sights of Calgary, viewing modern and historic landmarks such as the Calgary Tower, Fort Calgary, and the commercial district. Set your sights on the distant Rocky Mountains, your next destination. Travel through the foothills and enter Banff National Park, with its snow-capped peaks, sparkling glaciers, and abundant wildlife. Tour the area, seeing landmarks like the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Bow Falls and Tunnel Mountain. Overnight in Canmore, Alberta, a tiny town with outsized views of no less than five different, stunningly-beautiful mountain ranges.
Spend the next day at leisure in Banff, or join the optional full-day tour to the Columbia Icefield, travelling along the scenic, world-famous Icefields Parkway. Board a giant Ice Explorer for the surface of the ancient Athabasca Glacier. Bring your sunglasses: the snowy glacier surface can be very bright! If time permits, experience the icefield Skywalk, an exciting one-kilometre walkway leading to a stunning viewing platform where glass is all that separates you from a 918-foot drop.
Leave Canmore and travel onward to the central British Columbia city of Kamloops. Cross Kicking Horse Pass into Yoho National Park, en route to Glacier National Park, and through the Monashee and Selkirk Mountain ranges to the rugged interior town of Kamloops, where you will spend the night. Expect a gradual scenery change today with Douglas firs gradually giving way to grasslands and cattle country.
Dramatic scenery changes abound the next day when your group leaves the ranch lands and heads for the coastal mountains. In the resort town of Whistler, an optional float plane sightseeing tour over Garibaldi Park makes for some wonderful photos of volcanic peaks, alpine lakes, and meadows. Overnight in pretty Whistler Village, nestled at the base of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, and enjoy the endless array of shops, cafés and bars, restaurants, and legendary aprés-ski nightlife options.
The next day, your group heads south along the spectacular Sea-to-Sky Highway through a dramatic landscape of jagged fjords and glaciated mountain peaks. The cosmopolitan city of Vancouver is your final destination, and offers a myriad of cultural, culinary, and natural attractions and experiences.
First, explore the metropolis on a sightseeing tour, with highlights including Stanley Park, Prospect Point, English Bay, historic Gastown and tiny Chinatown. The afternoon is free for you to explore this stunning coastal city further on your own. Don’t worry about dinner plans: Vancouver is home to hundreds of fantastic downtown area restaurants, brew pubs, and outdoor dining patios.
On Day 7, make your way to Vancouver’s international airport for your return flight (unless you plan to extend your memorable stay).
