Day 1 – Arrive Vancouver
Upon arrival at Vancouver International Airport, transfer (on own) to your downtown hotel.
Moderate: Overnight Empire Landmark
Superior: Overnight Pan Pacific Hotel – Deluxe room
Deluxe: Overnight Fairmont Hotel Vancouver – Fairmont room
Day 2 – Vancouver City Tour
Vancouver is a world-class experience combining natural beauty with fresh history. Take a fully-commentated deluxe tour that takes in all of the city's best sights. The highlights include stops in Stanley Park at the Totem Poles and the Vancouver Lookout. You will also travel by Chinatown, Gastown, Granville Island Market, Prospect Point and English Bay Beaches. The rest of the day is free.
Moderate: Overnight Empire Landmark
Superior: Overnight Pan Pacific Hotel – Deluxe room
Deluxe: Overnight Fairmont Hotel Vancouver – Fairmont room
Day 3 - Vancouver to Victoria
Today, enjoy a full-day motorcoach tour to Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia. Travel through the rich farmland of the Fraser River, arriving at Tsawwassen, where you will board a B.C. Ferry for a ninety minute ferry ride through the Gulf Islands to Vancouver Island. Leaving the ferry at Swartz Bay, you will drive south on Saanich Peninsula to visit the world- renowned Butchart Gardens. This 20-hectare (50-acre) botanical showcase is famous for its skilful blending of rare and exotic plants and trees mixed with native flora in a colourful and authentic series of formal gardens joined by several paths. Additional sightseeing highlights include the University of Victoria, Royal Victorian Yacht Club, Beacon Hill Park and the attractions around the Inner Harbour. Upon completion of your tour, the remainder of your day is at leisure.
Moderate: Overnight Harbour Towers Hotel
Superior: Overnight Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour
Deluxe: Overnight Fairmont Empress Hotel – Fairmont room
Day 4 – Victoria at Leisure
Today is a free day in Victoria. Explore the surrounding attractions such as the Royal British Columbia Museum or the Parliament Buildings. You may also wish to shop, have Afternoon Tea at the Fairmont Empress or take a horse drawn carriage ride through the streets.
Moderate: Overnight Harbour Towers Hotel
Superior: Overnight Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour
Deluxe: Overnight Fairmont Empress Hotel – Fairmont room
Day 5 - Victoria to Port Hardy
This morning you will be picked up at your hotel to start your full day tour up Vancouver Island to Port Hardy. Departing northbound on the Island Highway, your first stop will be at the Brentwood Bay scenic pullout and then you will continue on to Duncan “City of Totem Poles”. From Duncan, your next destination will be Chemainus “City of Murals” for a 40 minute stopover. Later, another stop will be made at Coombs Deli (made famous for their goats that graze on the roof). There you will have one hour for a lunch break (not included). After lunch, you will follow a scenic route along the shoreline through Qualicum Beach and then head north past Campbell River. Another coffee break (beverage not included) will be made at a unique historical location before you arrive into Port Hardy in the early evening.
Moderate: Overnight Glen Lyon – Standard room
Superior: Overnight Quarterdeck Inn & Marina
Deluxe: Overnight Quarterdeck Inn & Marina
Day 6 – Port Hardy to Prince Rupert
This morning, transfer and embark on a full day of cruising the sheltered waters of the Inside Passage. During the length of this fifteen-hour journey, a wonderful array of snowcapped mountains combined with rich forests to provide a background for a series of dramatic fjords. Killer whales, sea lions and playful porpoise often appear in these waters, so keep your camera close at hand. Arrive at the seaport of Prince Rupert and transfer by taxi to your hotel.
Moderate: Overnight Pacific Inn
Superior: Overnight Crest Hotel
Deluxe: Overnight Crest Hotel
Day 7 - Kaien Island Circle Tour
A 1.5 hour cruise around Kaien Island is the highlight of this day at leisure in the quaint coastal town of Prince Rupert. During the cruise, see WWII military installations, Reversing tidal rapids at Butze Rapids and Zanardi Rapids. Also during the voyage, there will be a good possibility of sighting porpoise, harbour seals and eagles.
Moderate: Overnight Pacific Inn
Superior: Overnight Crest Hotel
Deluxe: Overnight Crest Hotel
Day 8 – VIA Rail - Prince Rupert to Prince George
Transfer by taxi (included) this morning to the railway station. Here you will board the VIA Rail “Skeena” Totem service for an eye-catching feast of mountains, meadows and rivers as you travel parallel to the salmon rich Skeena River. As you continue past the thriving lumber and mining communities of Terrace and Smithers, indications of Canada’s original native peoples are in abundance. Arrive in Prince George in the evening, and transfer by taxi (included) to your hotel. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Moderate: Overnight Ramada Hotel Downtown
Superior: Overnight Ramada Hotel Downtown
Deluxe: Overnight Ramada Hotel Downtown
Day 9 – VIA Rail – Prince George to Jasper
Camera and film should be your priority this morning, in preparation for a day filled with changing landscapes. Take a taxi (included) to the rail station, and re-board VIA Rail’s “Skeena” train. Your journey is filled with unforgettable scenic splendour and offers views of the mighty Fraser River, the McGregor Mountain range, and the incomparable Mount Robson. Pioneers gave quaint names to their stopping points; Penny, Tête Jaune Cache, and Rearguard Falls all lead to your destination today. Arrive in the early afternoon, and transfer by taxi (included) to your hotel. (Breakfast & Lunch)
Moderate: Overnight Lobstick Lodge
Superior: Overnight Sawridge Hotel
Deluxe: Overnight Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge – Deluxe room
Day 10 - Jasper to Banff
Today’s journey takes you south along the famous Icefields Parkway, one of the most spectacular highways in North America. Your tour along the Icefields Parkway to Banff also takes you through Jasper and Banff National Parks with a stop at the Columbia Icefield allowing time for a Brewster “Ice Age Adventure,” a tour onto the icy slopes of the Athabasca Glacier. You will travel in a specially designed Brewster Ice Explorer to the middle of the glacier while your driver/guide explains how the glaciers are formed and point out interesting geological features. At the icefall below the glacial headwall, you have the option of stepping out onto the ice formed from snow falling as many as 400 years ago. After your unique ice adventure, time is allowed at the Columbia Icefield Centre where you can relax over lunch (not included) and visit the new and expanded Parks Canada Interpretive Centre. In the afternoon continue driving south into Banff National Park. After a brief stop in Lake Louise, you will continue on to beautiful Banff for an early-evening arrival.
Moderate: Overnight Mount Royal Hotel
Superior: Overnight Rimrock Resort – Superior room
Deluxe: Overnight Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel – Fairmont room
Day 11 – Discover Banff Tour
This morning’s tour takes you through the town of Banff and its environs. You’ll ascend Tunnel Mountain Drive to view Bow Falls and visit the Cave and Basin National Historic Site where a natural hot springs led to the creation of Canada's first National Park in 1885. Enjoy a ride on a gondola car to the top of Sulphur Mountain and experience a 360-degree panorama of a sea of mountain ranges, valleys and lakes, and a bird’s eye view of the Banff townsite, 770 metres below.
Moderate: Overnight Mount Royal Hotel
Superior: Overnight Rimrock Resort – Superior room
Deluxe: Overnight Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel – Fairmont room
Day 12 - Banff to Lac Le Jeune
This morning, start your journey into British Columbia. You will travel westward to Lake Louise and Kamloops via the Kicking Horse Canyon. Continue along the Trans Canada Highway to the city of Revelstoke. The Coast Hillcrest Resort Hotel will be your lunch stop for today. After your lunch stop you will continue on through the Shuswap Lakes area to the city of Kamloops, the gateway to the interior of British Columbia. Your overnight this evening is the Lac Le Jeune Resort. (Breakfast & Dinner)
Moderate: Overnight Lac Le Jeune Resort
Superior: Overnight Lac Le Jeune Resort
Deluxe: Overnight Lac Le Jeune Resort
Day 13 - Lac Le Jeune to Vancouver
Today’s tour will travel via the Duffy Lake Road to Whistler. Begin the day traveling along the Logan Lake route to the gold rush town of Cache Creek. Shortly after departing the town of Cache Creek, you will begin your journey south to Lillooet. After lunch, you will travel past rolling mountains carpeted with forests and enjoy breathtaking views of Joffre Glacier, snow-capped Mount Currie that rises to a height of 8,518 feet and the historic farming village of Pemberton before arriving into Whistler. Here, you will have a short stop before heading into Vancouver. When you arrive into Vancouver, you will be dropped at your hotel. (Breakfast & Lunch)
Moderate: Overnight Empire Landmark
Superior: Overnight Pan Pacific Hotel – Deluxe room
Deluxe: Overnight Fairmont Hotel Vancouver – Fairmont room
Day 14 – Depart Vancouver
Check-out from your hotel this morning to end your Western Canada Circle tour.
PACKAGE INCLUDES:
- 13 nights accommodation, any mandatory service charges and room tax
- VIA Rail Skeena 2 day rail tour in Totem Deluxe Class
- BC Ferries passenger toll from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay and Prince Rupert to Port Hardy
- Services of a Driver/Guide for the motorcoach portion of your tour
- Meals: 4 Breakfasts, 3 Lunches, 2 Dinners
- Taxi and motorcoach transfers as indicated in the itinerary
- Sightseeing excursions of Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Jasper & Banff
- Kaien Island Circle boat tour
- Admission to Butchart Gardens
- Ice Explorer on the Athabasca Glacier
- Photograph on the Columbia Icefield
- Banff Gondola
- Admission to the Cave & Basin National Historic Site
- Luggage handling at hotels
- National Park fees
- Personalized documentation package
PACKAGE DOES NOT INCLUDE:
- Meals not listed as included
- Transfers not listed as included
- Gratuities to sightseeing drivers, rail personnel and taxi drivers
- Trip Cancellation Insurance (Insurance can be purchased from your Vacation Specialist, ask for more details)