The tour begins with an overnight journey from Vancouver to Jasper on VIA Rail Canada’s legendary domeliner, the CANADIAN, using “Silver and Blue Class” Pullman sleeper accommodations. Dinner and breakfast in the diner are included, as well as use of the “Park Car”  (a vista-dome observation-lounge) and the Skyline-dome coffee shop lounge cars. The train makes a late afternoon departure from Vancouver for a lovely run through the verdant farms of the “Lower Mainland” area of British Columbia and into the yawning abyss of the Fraser Canyon. Morning finds the train beginning the ascent of the Rockies on the Canadian National Railway’s scenic route over Yellowhead Pass. Highlights include vistas of Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, and the lovely lakes along the Continental Divide. The stunning stretch through the Fraser and Thompson Canyons traversed eastbound by night on the CANADIAN will be traveled by day on the ROCKY MOUNTAINEER on the return journey, so participants miss none of the grandeur!

The ROCKY MOUNTAINEER provides a fine way to see the Canadian Pacific railway route through the mountains of the Rockies and the Selkirk Range.  The next day it traverses the Canadian National’s line through the Thompson and Fraser Canyons. All travel is by day, as an overnight hotel stay in Kamloops is included. The basic tour price includes “Red Leaf” reclining seat coach accommodations on the ROCKY MOUNTAINEER with at-seat continental breakfast and lunch service. For the supplement noted below, an upgrade is offered to “Gold Leaf “Dome class.

Two levels of hotel accommodations are offered. Popular Hotels offer quality motor hotel rooms with private bath.  Deluxe Hotels include properties such as the legendary (former Canadian Pacific Railway) resorts:  the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, and the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.

This is a “hosted tour”. Although fully-narrated sightseeing, lodging, transportation and transfers are included, you will not necessarily have the same host/driver/narrator each day. All arrangements are fully pre-booked and prepaid. You enjoy significant price savings on a hosted tour in contrast with a fully escorted trip, as you are not paying the travel cost of the same escort throughout. Complete details follow. All aboard!

Day One, Friday (D)

Independent arrivals into Vancouver; depart on the CANADIAN. Upon arrival in Vancouver, an included transfer takes you to Pacific Central Station for your rail trip to Jasper.  Board VIA Rail’s CANADIAN, departing at 5:30 PM traveling east through the Fraser Valley. The great domeliner follows the Fraser River through the Fraser Canyon, passing Hell’s Gate. Dinner in the diner is included this evening. You overnight in Pullman sleeper accommodations. Popular hotel passengers enjoy Section berths, with an option to upgrade to Roomettes or Bedrooms. Deluxe hotel passengers have Roomette or Bedroom accommodations.

Day Two, Saturday (B)

Yellowhead Pass on the CANADIAN; arrive Jasper. Today you travel between the Monashee and Caribou mountain ranges, then cross the Continental Divide over Yellowhead Pass in the shadow of Mount Robson, highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. Upon arrival in Jasper, transfer to your selected Jasper hotel for a comfortable two-night stay. Popular hotels include the Lobstick Lodge and similar. The Deluxe hotel is the Fairmont Chateau Jasper Park Lodge.

Day Three, Sunday

Jasper National Park and Maligne Lake Cruise.  Today’s included coach tour encompasses outstanding scenery including Old Fort Point and Medicine Lake. You also visit Maligne Canyon, with its narrow gorge and limestone walls reaching 150 feet to the swirling waters in the depths of the gorge. This is the deepest river canyon in Jasper National Park. The drive continues via the mysteriously disappearing Medicine Lake to Maligne Lake, one of the most photographed glacial lakes in the world. Once onboard the tourboat, enjoy a 90-minute cruise heading toward the south end of this picture-postcard setting. The lake has a magnificent shoreline, with dense forests and glacial peaks rising abruptly from the water’s edge. A stop at Spirit Island allows an opportunity to take your own version of the world-famous photograph of the lake. The remainder of the day is at leisure. Please note the Maligne Lake cruise operates only between June 1 and September 30 due to ice conditions on the lake. On other dates, the Jasper General drive to Pyramid and Patricia Lakes will be included without a lake cruise.

Day Four, Monday

Columbia Icefields Parkway; SnoCoach on the Athabasca Glacier; drive to Lake Louise. You take what very possibly is the most scenic mountain drive in North America today, motoring south on the Columbia Icefields Parkway. Enroute, see thundering Athabasca Falls and cross soaring Sunwapta and Bow Passes. A highlight is the stop at the Columbia Icefields, where you board a unique SnoCoach to venture nearly a mile out onto the ice of the Athabasca Glacier! You cross into Banff National Park in early afternoon. Overnight accommodations for one night is included at the Deer Lodge at Lake Louise, located just one hundred yards from the shore for Popular hotels and at the legendary Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise for Deluxe participants. Deluxe passengers are accommodated in lake view rooms.

Day Five, Tuesday

Drive to Banff via Yoho National Park and Emerald Lake. This morning you enjoy free time at Lake Louise. Enjoy the gardens of the Chateau and the matchless vistas of the Victoria Glacier and the emerald-green waters of the lake. In early afternoon, motor west across Kicking Horse Pass into Yoho National Park in British Columbia. Yoho is the Cree Indian word for “amazing”, and the scenery certainly meets this description. You can view the unique Spiral Tunnels on the Canadian Pacific Railway and pause to admire the glacial green waters of exquisite Emerald Lake and unique Kicking Horse River Natural Bridge. This evening we return east to Banff for another relaxing two-night stay. Popular hotels include the Mount Royal Hotel or similar. Superior hotels are the Rimrock Resort or the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.  Departures before June 15 and the departure on September 30 will travel directly from Lake Louise to Banff and will not visit Yoho National Park.

Day Six, Wednesday

Banff General Drive; ascent of Sulphur Mountain by Gondola; free time in Banff. You tour Banff this morning, viewing the unique Hoodoo rock towers, Bow River Falls and the great view from Buffalo Mountain. A highlight is the ascent of Sulphur Mountain on the gondola tramway. The balance of the day is free to visit the hot springs, the Museum of Natural History, and to shop or walk the lovely paths through the village.

Day Seven, Thursday (CB, L in “Red Leaf”; B,L,D in “Gold Leaf”)

ROCKY MOUNTAINEER on the Canadian Pacific thru Banff, Yoho, Canadian Glacier and Mount Revelstoke National Parks to Kamloops. This morning you board the all-daylight ROCKY MOUNTAINEER train and roll west over Canada’s “National Dream” railway, the Canadian Pacific through the Rockies. The route takes you back across the Continental Divide over Kicking Horse Pass, through the Spiral Tunnels, down the Kicking Horse River Canyon, across the Columbia River, over soaring Stoney Creek Viaduct

The Stoney Creek Viaduct on the CPR Photo by Ernst Dieter Boehme

and, in succession, through Banff, Yoho, Canadian Glacier, and Mount Revelstoke National Parks. Overnight accommodations are included in Kamloops in Popular hotels for all passengers and are assigned by the ROCKY MOUNTAINEER. 

Day Eight, Friday (CB, L in “Red Leaf”; B, L in “Gold Leaf”)

ROCKY MOUNTAINEER on the Canadian National through the Coast Range. You continue west through the Thompson and Fraser Canyons. Noble peaks rise over 4,000 feet straight upward from the river’s edge! You arrive in Vancouver in late afternoon, with hotel transfers included. Popular hotels include the Pacific Palisades or similar. Deluxe hotels include the Sheraton Wall Centre or similar.

Day Nine, Saturday

Tour ends with independent departures from Vancouver today. A taxi transfer to the airport is included.