Canada Grand Tour and Alaska Cruise

Day 1: Arrival in Vancouver
Upon your arrival at Vancouver International Airport, one of our representatives will welcome you and take you to your hotel (Westin Bayshore, Fairmont Waterfront, Pan Pacific or similar).

Day 2: Tour of Vancouver and Transfer to Kamloops
Your guide will take you on a tour of the city of Vancouver, starting in the green heart of the city, Stanley Park, which boasts a beautiful seawall and aquarium. You will then move north across the Lions Gate Bridge to visit Marine Drive and Dundarave Park, where you will have a snack in one of the local restaurants. In the afternoon, you will be accompanied to pick up your rental car, and then head towards Kamloops, renowned for its characteristic trout that populates the lakes in the area. The surrounding countryside is a combination of forests, grasslands and hills. Kamloops is a great base for exploring the wild nature that surrounds it, like Wells Gray Park in the north and the meadows of the Nicola Valley in the south. Overnight at the lodge on Lake Roche.

Day 3: Maligne Lake and Jasper
One of the most fascinating excursions of your itinerary is the cruise around Maligne Lake, which includes a trip to Maligne Canyon to view its network of underground channels, one of the natural wonders of this area. Later, visit the two lovely villages mentioned in your Road Book. In the evening, relax in Jasper with a candlelight dinner at the restaurant recommended in your Road Book. You will spend the night at Maligne Lodge or similar.

Day 4: From Jasper to Lake Louise
Today you will depart southwards along the Icefield Parkway, which connects Jasper with the other lovely towns and attractions of the region, like Banff, Lake Louise and the Rocky Mountains. One of the highlights of the area is the large number of wild animals that you’ll often come across, as this park is four times the size of Yellowstone. You will continue this beautiful road trip up to the Athabasca falls, another wonder of the Rockies. Then, we’ll reach Columbia glaciers where you will take a scheduled glacier excursion on board of the Ice Coach Bus. You will also view three beautiful lakes, starting at the top of the pass with a spectacular view of the turquoise waters of Peyto Lake. In the evening, you’ll go south again to reach your hotel (the Lake Louise Inn or similar). Enjoy dinner at your leisure and an overnight stay.

Day 5: From Lake Louise to Banff and Revelstoke
Set out for the day to visit the surroundings of Lake Louise, starting with the view of the magnificent Victoria Glacier from the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, a true architectural masterpiece. Lake Louise is the most famous and visited of the lakes in the Rockies, and known as one of the most beautiful in the world. Begin your journey with a light hike along a path, which leads from the base of the lake to the viewpoint of The Plain of Six Glaciers, a truly breathtaking panorama. As another option, you can also get there on horseback. Afterwards, you can visit the nearby Lake Agnes, stopping at the Switzerland Hut for a delicious snack and hot tea. In the afternoon, you can visit Moraine Lake, another wonder of this region just a few miles away known for its gorgeous mountain peaks that are particular stunning at sunset. In the evening, you will reach your third goal along this spectacular route of the Rockies: Banff, the charming alpine village. Enjoy an excellent buffalo steak dinner at a restaurant recommended by the Road Book, and then check in to your accommodation at the new Fox Hotel, which features natural hot spring baths on-site.

Day 6: Banff, Museum and Sulphur Mountains – Departure to Kelowna
This morning, you’ll proceed towards Banff, your first stop in the Rockies. Start your visit with The Cave and The Basin Historical Site, the oldest and most famous museum dedicated to the Rocky Mountains. Then you will make a visit to the underground quarries of Banff and head up the mountain by cable car to enjoy a scenic trip to Sulphur Mountain. Here, you can enjoy the spectacular views and dine on the delightful terrace. In the early afternoon, you will get back on the road towards the Thompson Okanagan region. Drive along Highway 1 alongside the Fraser River, which was made famous by the gold rush of the 1800’s. Observe the changing scenery as you drive from the mountainous north to the dry, desert-like and fruit-laden south. Stay overnight at the Ranch on the Lake (breakfast included).

Day 7: Victoria
After breakfast, we will travel back to Vancouver and board the ferry to Victoria, the capital of the province and a quiet, beautiful town at the southern end of Vancouver Island. Blessed with a mild climate, this city boasts many major attractions in that line the elegant Inner Harbour, once a vital business centre of the region. From here, cargo ships would moor and set sail carrying goods for the Hudson’s Bay Company, one of Canada’s most historically important companies which today is known as ‘The Bay’ department stores. Stay overnight at a hotel in the Inner Harbour, with breakfast included.

Day 8: Butchart Gardens
The Butchart Gardens are one of the largest indoor flower shows in the world, built by recycled abandoned stone quarry. From the delightful Sunken Garden to the attractive Rose Garden, this floral exhibition serves to keep alive the traditions of exclusive crops, in one of the most attractive places in the world. Spend some hours walking amongst the lush gardens. In the early afternoon, you will depart northward to head to the Cowichan Valley and the town of Duncan, along the scenic Malhat Drive. Along the way, you will enjoy stunning views of the coastline with the Gulf Islands and the peninsula of Saannich. When you arrive in Duncan – the city of totems – pay a visit to the old town with numerous Salish peoples totems, and then head towards Lake Cowichan where you’ll arrive at your lodge, located in a beautiful spot on the Cowichan River.

Day 9: First Day of Cruise
Transfer to the port city of Vancouver to board your Alaska Cruise. Upon setting sail, you will slip under the Lions Gate Bridge and enter the Inside Passage, the scenic waterway filled with natural wonders.

Day 10: Inside Passage – Second Day of Cruising
Relax and enjoy a day at sea cruising the beautiful Inside Passage, in the elegance of one of the world’s most famous cruise ships. The mythical Inside Passage is one of the most spectacular waterways in the world, and one of the few where large cruise ships can sail near steep mountain walls. The scenery is amazing, with forests in a hundred shades of green, turquoise glaciers and cities full of history, culture and adventure. With most of southeastern Alaska accessible only by boat or plane, the Inside Passage is an anchor of salvation, allowing the remote region to communicate with the outside world.

Day 11: Tracy Arm – Third Day of Cruising
Today, the beauty of Tracy Arm and the Sawyer Glaciers await you. The Tracy Arm is a narrow, twisting fjord less than 50 kilometres long that winds up to the Sawyer Glaciers. The lush rainforest retreats gradually to make room for bare rock faces, cliffs and peaks over two thousand meters high, and gushing waterfalls. And, Hidden at the end of this stretch of sea like the twin Sawyer Glaciers from which jade-coloured icebergs frequently break off, crashing into the sea with the characteristic, exciting noise, and an active reminder of the ice age.

Day 12: Juneau – Fourth Day of Cruising
Enjoy an afternoon exploring the capital of Alaska. Located at the foot of a mountain on the Gastineau channel, Juneau is walking distance from the massive Mendenhall glacier and the impressive Juneau Ice Fields. You can choose from exciting excursions on the ground, or reserve time for shopping. Hike the Mendenhall Glacier, explore the lush Tongass National Forest or visit the rustic shops in town. You may also choose to go kayaking, dogsledding, whale-watching, rafting along the pristine rivers, trekking through the forests surrounding them or even enjoy a gorgeous panoramic flight.

Day 13: Skagway – Fifth Day of Cruising
Go back in time with an exciting excursion to the glory days of the gold rush, and then devote the rest of your day to some shopping. You can travel on the same narrow gauge railroad used by miners, which winds through high rock walls and gives you an idea of how life was during the time of the gold rush. You can visit small local shops, appropriately named ‘Trail Bench’ or ‘Lynch & Kennedy’s Dry Goods’. The ‘Red Onion Saloon’, with its honky tonk pianist and waitresses dressed in costumes, is an authentic museum of memorabilia, with portraits on the walls of the period’s characters. To complete the picture of those roaring days, visit the nostalgic ‘Trail of ’98’; while the restored buildings and wooden walkways of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park invite you to take a walk into the past.

WE DISEMBARK: THE CONTINENTAL PART OF THE CRUISE!

Day 13 & 14: Whitehorse – Fifth and Sixth Days of Cruising
You will travel by train to Fraser and then board a comfortable coach bus to Whitehorse, which will follow along the path of the Klondike gold seekers. Then, you can choose between excursions or local adventures in Kluane. Whitehorse overlooks Lake Schwatka and the Miles Canyon, and is the region where thousands of prospectors travelled along the Yukon River towards Dawson. Here, they faced the most treacherous obstacle of the entire route: Whitehorse’s river rapids. Almost 300 boats crashed on the rocks and five people drowned, but nothing interrupted the flow of determined miners to the Klondike. A visit to the Klondike National Historic Site will evoke the days when riverboats transported nearly all goods and many newcomers to the region.

Days 15 & 16: Dawson City – Seventh and Eighth Days of Cruising
Today you will continue following the route of the Klondike gold diggers to Dawson City, with a lunch included in the historic Minto. Exploration options include local excursions or a visit to the wild Tombstone Park, the ‘Northern Patagonia’. Dawson City, now a National Historic Site, is where the quest for gold turned a small fishing settlement at the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike rivers into the largest city west of Winnipeg and north of Seattle. Jack London came here at age 21 to look for gold. A replica of his original house, with his famous signature on the back wall, is an important piece of the city, setting the clock back in time to preserve its history. There are informative programs for you to participate in, and with the Klondike Gold Fields tour, you can see where it all started. In the evening, you can try your luck in a blackjack game in the Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Gambling Hall. Nearby, visit Tombstone Territorial Park, an original part of the North American continent dating back two million years. The views are endless, and the valleys wide and wild. This land remains the ancestral home of the Hwech’in Tr’ondek Nation, and is also the kingdom of a wide range of wildlife: grizzlies, elk, peregrine falcons and plovers.

Day 17: Eagle – Ninth Day of Cruising
Today, we navigate the majestic Yukon River on the ‘Yukon Queen’ to Eagle (lunch included), then travel to Tok on the Explorer Coach. In Tok, we will enjoy the genuine hospitality of the border people in this remote corner of the world that was once a construction site for the Alaskan Highway. In 1990, Tok was almost destroyed by a fire caused by lightning; the fire advanced towards the town, passing two rivers and the Alaska Highway. At the last moment, however, the wind changed direction and Tok was spared. It is the first community beyond the US border on the Alaska Highway. Deemed the gate of Alaska, Tok is also known as the capital of dog sledding.

Day 18: Fairbanks – Tenth Day of Cruising
Today, take a step back in time on the discovery wheel steamboat and enjoy a delicious lunch on board. Fairbanks is the northernmost city in the United States and this cruise in Alaska gives us the opportunity to enter the heart of the great Northland. The city’s location on the vast Tanana plain between the White Mountains and Alaskan Range offers easy access to the Arctic Circle and the wildest of Alaskan territories.

Day 19: Denali National Park – Eleventh and Twelfth Days of Cruising
Board the luxurious McKinley Explorer Train for Denali, then settle into the lodge and explore the village. Then, venture deeper into Denali National Park with the Tundra Wilderness Tour, the best way to observe the park’s extensive nature. You will get to know Alaska as few have the chance to by exploring this park of international importance. Here lies the highest mountain in North America, Mount McKinley. The Alaska Range also includes countless other spectacular mountains and many large glaciers. The park was established as Mount McKinley National Park on February 26, 1917. The pre-existing park was incorporated into Denali National Park in 1980. It is the largest protected natural ecosystem in the world, where you can observe elk, bighorn sheep, caribou and bears while gazing at the incredible huge glaciers. You will also have the opportunity to stop at a glacier to admire moraines, waterfalls and ice bridges.

Every bend on the park road brings a new wonder as you travel miles in this incredible nature reserve with your expert guide. You will see the ptarmigan, Alaska’s national symbol, in the open valleys; eagles patrolling the higher altitudes; and circling crows, magpies and gray jays. With a little luck, you’ll even spot grizzly crossing the rivers, streams, Dall’s sheep jumping between steep rocks and elk grazing in mountain meadows. Finally, this adventure will lead you to the true wonder of the park – the towering grandeur of Mount McKinley.

Day 20: Anchorage – Thirteenth Day of Cruising
This afternoon, hop back on the McKinley Explorer , which will take you to Anchorage – a city to be discovered. Choose from a wide variety of exciting excursions along with some time for shopping. Located in Cook Bay and surrounded by the Chugach Mountains, Anchorage is a busy centre filled with restaurants, frontier-style saloons, museums and art galleries. Take advantage of the many optional tours to learn about the lifestyle, history, culture and nature of Alaska.

Day 21: Anchorage – Fourteenth Day of Cruising
Your tour and cruise will end this morning in Anchorage.