Itinerary

Arrive in Alberta’s biggest city Calgary where you’ll be met at the airport and taken by private transfer to your hotel. You’ll be staying in the centre of town at the luxurious Fairmont Palliser.

After checking in, head out to explore Calgary, a cosmopolitan city with a proud cowboy heritage. We recommend starting with a trip up the 190-metre Calgary Tower for fantastic panoramic views over the city and surrounding mountains before wandering around the unique shops and restaurants of pedestrian-friendly Kensington Village.

If you have more time, visit the living history museum Heritage Park (between May to October). This historical village recreates Alberta in the late 19th century with over 200 attractions and exhibits including a First Nations camp.

Today you’ll be taking a shared 1.5 hour transfer over to the mountain resort of Banff, Canada’s highest town at over 1,300m.

Banff has a stunning location in the heart of the Rockies, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, and you’ll be situated right in the heart of town at the Banff Aspen Lodge. Check in and then head out to explore.

One of the best ways to take in the landscape is on the Banff Gondola, soaring 700 metres up over lush forested hillsides. From the observation deck at the summit of Sulphur Mountain enjoy panoramic views over six mountain ranges and the Bow Valley, then wander along the boardwalk to Sanson’s Peak. Keen hikers can tackle the South-east Ridge Trail. But if a water adventure is more of interest, why not spend the afternoon taking a half-day rafting trip on the Kananaskis River on class II rapids?

Come evening, relax in the lodge’s hot tub or try one of the town’s restaurants and bars.

Banff National Park is Canada’s oldest protected area and most visited national park with 1,600km of hiking trails and home to 53 species of mammals, including black bears, grizzlies, moose, bighorn sheep and elk.

Start or end the day with an optional wildlife safari through the park to see the native animals with a knowledgeable guide. Available mornings and evenings, you’re likely to get plenty of great photo opportunities.

The town of Banff itself is also interesting to explore with museums such as Banff Park Museum for natural history and Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum for First Nations heritage. For those just looking to relax, there’s also the Banff Upper Hot Springs.

Today you’ll take a short shared transfer over to the brilliant turquoise waters of Lake Louise in Banff National Park.

Reflecting the surrounding mountains and glaciers, Lake Louise is one of the top sights in Canada and is known as the ‘Jewel of the Rockies’. You’ll be staying at the historic Post Hotel & Spa which offers a welcoming base from which to explore during your two days here.

This is a truly unforgettable location where you’ll be hard-pressed to take a bad picture, admire the lake from its tranquil shores, make yourself a picnic or take a canoe out on the water.

With so much beautiful scenery moments from your accommodation, spend the day exploring the extensive hiking trails around the lake to enjoy the flowers and wildlife like goats, elk, deer, and on the odd occasion, bears.

In the late afternoon you might want to also visit the historic Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise that sits in an enviable location on Lake Louise’s shore for a tea or drink with one of Canada’s most spectacular views.

Depart in the morning to travel onboard the luxurious Rocky Mountaineer train, from the mountain hamlet of Lake Louise to Kamloops, in the heart of British Columbia’s Interior.

Your scenic journey will take you through ever-changing scenery as you travel between the iconic glacier and snow-capped peaks of the Canadian Rockies, over mountain passes, through remarkable tunnels, along rocky lakeshores and across the ranch lands of the interior.

Today’s highlights will include the Continental Divide, the Spiral Tunnels, Kicking Horse Canyon, Rogers Pass and Craigellachie, where the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was driven.

You will arrive in Kamloops in the evening – just early enough to still walk around and explore – and spend the night.

Early this morning, you’ll be continuing your journey west towards the Pacific Ocean and the coastal city of Vancouver.

On today’s journey, you will again see dramatic changes in the scenery, from the desert-like environment of the BC Interior, through winding river canyons and pristine forests, to the Cascade and Coast Mountains and the lush green fields of the Fraser Valley.

Highlights will include the steep slopes and rock sheds along the Thompson River and the rushing waters of Hell’s Gate in the Fraser Canyon.

Your rail journey ends on arrival in Vancouver this evening, and you’ll be checking into one of the city’s most beautiful boutique hotels right in the heart of downtown.

Set amid temperate rainforest between snow-capped mountains and the Pacific Ocean, Vancouver is one of the world’s most beautiful cities, and you’ll have today to discover some of its highlights.

Vancouver is also often ranked as one of the world’s greenest cities, so why not spend the day exploring the 1,000-acre urban rainforest of Stanley Park. Explore the gardens, see the totem poles at Brockton Point, walk along the famous Sea Wall or take a bike tour to see the whole park.

After working up an appetite, head for Gastown, the city’s oldest district with cobbled streets and the famous Steam Clock. Along with the adjacent Chinatown and Japantown districts, you’ll find some of the best cuisine in the city here.

This afternoon you’ll be boarding your Alaska Inside Passage Cruise, so spend the morning sightseeing in Vancouver. Stroll around downtown, or if you’re up early, take a trip to the famous Capilano Suspension bridge for a breath-taking nature walk.

When you finally board your cruise liner, you’ll be greeted by an enticing mix of nautical tradition and 21st-century luxury. Get acquainted with your extraordinary surroundings for the next 7 nights, and enjoy a 5-course dinner to kick off your cruise.

Alaska’s Inside Passage is a renowned cruising route through a protected network of waterways, featuring glacier-cut fjords, lush rainforests, and diverse wildlife, and today you’ll get to experience this incredible passage with a scenic cruise. Take in all the sights on the ship’s prime viewing decks.

Today, you’ll start the morning cruising into the fjord of Tracy Arm Inlet, part of 5.7 million acres (or around 23,000 sq. km) of pure wilderness, flanked by steep cliffs and glacier-covered mountains, and sheltered by the largest intact coastal temperate rainforest in the United States, the Tongass National Forest.

Visitors often see bears, whales and mountain goats roaming across various corners of this pristine area—not to mention chubby baby seals resting on the ice floes. Summer temperatures average 0-16°C, so dress warmly. We recommend viewing the stunning inlet with a thermos of coffee in hand.

Come afternoon, you’ll cruise into Juneau, Alaska and visit the most remote, beautiful and unique state capital in the whole of the United States. Surrounded by blue waters, lush forest and tall mountain sights, you’ll be able to hike a glacier, eat fresh-caught fish on a seaside patio and tour a grand capitol building all in one day – if that’s what you want, of course.

Juneau is known for its outdoor recreation, delicious fresh seafood and incredible wildlife, so you’ll find plenty to choose from on this day out. Hike up Mount Roberts to chance upon wild deer and bald eagles, or take a whale-watching tour in Auke Bay to view these majestic and surprisingly graceful creatures. If you prefer land mammals, take an optional floatplane to a nearby wildlife reserve such as Chichagof or Admiralty Island to spy some bears lazing about. Nature lovers will want to visit the breath-taking scenery of Mendenhall Glacier; and why not end the day with an Alaskan salmon bake, fresh caught on the local rivers?

Next you’ll be continuing on to the town of Skagway where, at the height of the Klondike Gold Rush, the port town served as the primary gateway to legendary gold fields, and quickly grew into Alaska’s largest settlement. Once a popular frontier town packed with trading posts, saloons and guesthouses, today it has been reinvigorated as a gateway for those looking to explore Alaska’s colourful history, pristine wildlife and unrivalled natural beauty.

Once you disembark, you’ll find yourself immersed in gold rush lore, from the infamous Red Onion Saloon that still keeps a pistol that Wyatt Earp left behind en route to the Klondike, to the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad, a classic narrow-gauge railway that traverses rugged mountains and passes cascading waterfalls and towering glaciers as it connects Skagway to Whitehorse deep in the Yukon. Known as the “Garden City of Alaska,” Skagway is filled with beauty and nature.

You can also explore the town itself on a guided excursion – Skagway is home to a vibrant local community, a rich collection of local galleries, curio shops and restaurants serving seafood plucked fresh from nearby waters.

Today, you’ll hear the thunderous roar of walls of ice crashing from glaciers into the sea, the shrill cries of gulls and soaring eagles and perhaps the splash of a breaching humpback whale. Close your eyes for a moment to take it all in. You’ll be cruising into the world-famous, UNESCO-recognised site of Glacier Bay. Boasting a one-of-a-kind biosphere, you’ll witness everything from its frosted peaks towering over mossy forests, wide tidewater glaciers of which there are seven in the park, and marine wildlife of every sort, so don’t forget your binoculars.

Your ship will be perfectly positioned to provide you with an optimal experience, and get you up close to all there is to see. With the serene majesty of snow-flecked and forested mountains defining its shores, Glacier Bay National Park offers some of the most dramatic scenery in the world. Keep your binoculars and camera on hand as you cruise Glacier Bay to the mile-wide Margerie Glacier, where you may have a chance to witness ice calving.

Head today to Alaska’s “First City” of Ketchikan – so named for being the first major landfall for cruisers as they enter the picturesque fjords of the Inside Passage, where the town clings to the banks of the Tongass Narrows, flanked by green forests nurtured by abundant rain.

Long an important hub of the salmon-fishing and packing industries, Ketchikan is also one of the best spots along the Inside Passage to explore the rich cultural sights of Native Alaskan nations like the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian. You can see intricately carved totem poles at the Totem Heritage Centre and Totem Bight State Park, while the attractions of Saxman Village just outside of Ketchikan offers the chance to see Tlingit culture in action, with working carvers and a dance show in the clan house.

The town itself, boasts the historic Creek Street, a boardwalk built over the Ketchikan Creek, where you can shop for souvenirs, smoked salmon and local art, and the opportunity to explore gold rush–era tourist attractions like Dolly’s House Museum.

Today you’ll take one more scenic cruise down Alaska’s Inside Passage, so you’ll have one more opportunity to spot anything you might have missed the first time. Get on the viewing deck, camera at the ready as your ship passes this exquisite protected network of waterways, glacier-cut fjords, lush rainforests, and diverse wildlife.

Your cruise will dock back in Vancouver in the morning. Filled with once-in-a-lifetime memories, you will disembark and take a transfer to the airport for your return flight home, or continued adventures.