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Itinerary

1VANCOUVER.
Enjoy time at leisure to relax or to do some independent exploring. Your Tour Director is on hand this evening to answer any questions.

2VANCOUVER.
This morning an included city tour shows you STANLEY PARK, Chinatown, the harbour and beaches, and more. The remainder of the day is at leisure, and your Tour Director will have suggestions for your further exploration of the city. Shoppers and browsers can take a water taxi to lively Granville Island with its outdoor markets, street musicians, and waterfront cafes. Or, visit historic Gastown with its steam-powered clock, antique shops, art galleries, and street vendors.

3VANCOUVER - KELOWNA.
This morning, our journey begins in British Columbia's fertile valleys and continues through rich mountain forests to Lake Okanagan. Travel along the lake to the resort city of Kelowna, attractively set on the lake shore and surrounded by orchards and vineyards. Sample the local wines on the included WINERY TOUR this afternoon.

4KELOWNA - KICKING HORSE PASS - BANFF.
Motor north through the Okanagan Valley, famous for its peaches and vineyards. Then, begin the climb up 4,379-foothigh Rogers Pass in GLACIER NATIONAL PARK. Take a break at the pass, a perfect spot for photos of the impressively rugged mountains, glaciers, and waterfalls. Enter YOHO NATIONAL PARK and scale Kicking Horse Pass, at 5,421 feet. By early evening, reach BANFF NATIONAL PARK, gateway to the majestic Canadian Rockies.

5BANFF.
Banff is one of Canada's favourite year-round resorts with activities ranging from skiing in the winter to hiking, boating, and fishing in the summer. With a free day, your Tour Director will suggest an optional helicopter ride over the Canadian Rockies. Tonight, why not take in an optional dinner theatre performance featuring cuisine and entertainment about Canada?

6BANFF - LAKE LOUISE - COLUMBIA ICEFIELD - JASPER.
A day of scenic grandeur. First to Lake Louise, its turquoise waters a perfect natural mirror that reflect the mountains and glaciers. Precipitous gorges, snow-capped summits, and lakes of exquisite blues and greens come into view as the motorcoach continues northward into JASPER NATIONAL PARK. Another highlight on today's agenda is a stop at the COLUMBIA ICEFIELD to experience the Ice Explorer, an all-terrain vehicle that travels on ice that is 1,200-feet (365-meters) thick. Late this afternoon, your Tour Director suggests an optional raft trip down the Athabasca River. Enjoy an orientation tour of Jasper town site upon arrival.

7JASPER.
Today, join our optional excursion to Maligne Lake and Spirit Island, where you embark on a narrated cruise of the lake. The balance of the day is free to enjoy everything Jasper has to offer - from guided hikes and quaint shops to meandering wildlife.

8JASPER - MOUNT ROBSON - SUN PEAKS.
Leave Jasper and follow the Fraser River to the base of Mount Robson, the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies, peaking at 12,972 feet. Continue following the Yellowhead Highway south along the Thompson River - a route pioneered by fur trappers a century ago. Overnight at the mountain resort of Sun Peaks.

9SUN PEAKS - LILLOOET - WHISTLER.
Head south following the once treacherous Cariboo Wagon Trail. Via Lillooet-"Mile 0 of the Gold Rush Route"-your motorcoach will follow the shores of Seton and Duffey Lakes with a mid-afternoon arrival in Whistler. There are plenty of optional activities to choose from, such as flightseeing by floatplane over the lakes and glaciated peaks of Garibaldi Provincial Park. Tonight, wander the many alpine trails or relax in the plaza enjoying the artists and musicians.

10WHISTLER - FERRY CROSSING - VICTORIA.
This morning, sail across the Strait of Georgia and through the spectacular Gulf Islands, an archipelago known for its Mediterranean-type climate. Afternoon arrival in Victoria. Sightseeing today includes the Marine Drive, Bastion Square, and Thunderbird Park with its unusual collection of totem poles. Tonight, a stroll along the lovely waterfront might be fun.

11VICTORIA.
A full free day. Be sure to check out some of the attractions this splendid city has to offer, including the Royal British Columbia Museum, afternoon tea at the Empress Hotel, an IMAX presentation at the National Geographic Theatre, whale watching on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and fine shopping along Government Street. Suggestion for this evening is an optional outing that includes a harbour cruise and dinner at one of Victoria's waterfront restaurants.

12VICTORIA - SWARTZ BAY - VANCOUVER.
First stop this morning is world-famous BUTCHART GARDENS. Afterwards, board the ferry for a scenic crossing to the mainland for a mid-afternoon arrival.Tonight, your Tour Director will offer recommendations for dinner.

13VANCOUVER.
The tour ends today with guests making their own way to ship. Vancouver is the largest city in Western Canada, and third largest in Canada. Located at the southwestern corner of the coastal province of British Columbia, it is nestled between the coastal mountains and the Pacific ocean and is well known for its natural beauty. It has often been named the "World’s Most Liveable City" and is certainly a beautiful destination to visit. In Vancouver you can ski in the mountains, windsurf in the ocean, and play a round of golf all in the same day. Surrounded by water on three sides, Vancouver is a major sea port on the Pacific Ocean, and a base for many Alaska Cruise Ships in the summer. Around the edge of its waterfront, Vancouver has fabulous beaches, parklands and a bustling harbour.

14INSIDE PASSAGE.
The Inside Passage of the Alaska Panhandle and coastal British Columbia is a coastal route for oceangoing vessels along a series of passages between the mainland and the coastal islands. Cities along the passage include Ketchikan, Thorne Bay, Petersburg, Juneau, Hoonah, Skagway and Yakutat. The scenery along the Inside Passage offers pristine water, snow capped mountains, deep fjords and forested islands. With its mild, maritime climate, this area is prime habitat for bald eagles, sea lions, porpoise and whales. Much of the southern panhandle is part of the Tongass National Forest, a 16.8 million acre rainforest. Glacier Bay National park has 16 active tidewater glaciers and Misty Fiords National Monument near Ketchikan has 3,000-foot cliffs rising directly from pristine ocean channels. The picturesque coastal communities are rich in history. Russian influence is well preserved in churches and other historical structures. The Gold Rush era comes to life throughout the Inside Passage and offers fascinating opportunities to learn and explore the past. The Native cultures of Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Indians dominate this area. Ancient totem poles are abundant in many communities and the art of totem carving is preserved along with traditional dance and music.

15KETCHIKAN
Ketchikan is known as Alaska's Native Cultural Center. It is also known as the salmon capital of the world and a paradise for sport fishermen and naturalists alike. During the summer months, the town bustles with visitors from all over the world. Ketchikan is built along a steep hillside, with sections of the town built right over the water on pilings. The rustic boardwalk on Creek Street preserves a distinct historic feel, while the town hums with new construction to keep up with tourism.
Native art and culture flourish here due to the large population of Native Alaskans, represented by three indigenous tribes: the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian. Ketchikan has the largest collection of totem poles in the world, and has been recognized as one of the top 100 arts communities in America. Visitors will find an outstanding variety of shops, galleries and boutiques throughout the town

16JUNEAU.
The capital of Alaska since 1900, Juneau is located in the southeastern part of the state sheltered from the Pacific by a belt of islands 75 miles (120 km) wide. Surrounded by rock, ice, water and forest, Juneau is built on a small strip of land between towering Mount Juneau and the Gastineau Channel at the southern end of the Lynn Canal. Although not accessible by road, it is the largest city in southeast Alaska with 30,000 people and home to a large fishing fleet. Cosmopolitan for its size, Juneau is a creator's paradise - home to artists, actors, poets, and writers who draw their inspiration from the Alaskan wilderness.
Residents claim Juneau is the most scenic capital in the country, while others describe it as a 'little San Francisco'. Cruise ships dock right at the town centre and you can explore on foot places of interest like the Cultural Arts Park, Red Dog Saloon, State Capitol and Governor's Mansion. From the dockside ride the Mount Roberts Tramway to the observatory 2000ft above the harbour. Out of town you can go gold panning, visit nearby Mendenhall Glacier by road, take a raft or canoe on Mendenhall Lake, see a temperate rain forest on nearby Douglas Island, go fishing or whale and wildlife watching by boat or take a helicopter flight over or onto the glaciers.
In 1880, for Joe Juneau and Richard Harris, the going was slow and frustrating as they searched for gold with the help of Indian guides. Finally, after climbing mountains, forging streams and facing countless difficulties, they found nuggets "as large as beans." Out of their discoveries came three of the largest gold mines in the world. By the end of World War II, more than USD$150 million in gold was mined. Eventually the mines closed, but the town Joe Juneau founded became the capital of Alaska and the business of gold was replaced by the business of government and tourism.

17SKAGWAY.
Skagway, the northernmost point of the Inside Passage and a place of many names, much history and little rain, is the northern terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway. The town lies in the narrow plain of the Skagway River at the head of the Lynn Canal and, at one time or another, has been called Skaguay, Skagway, and Gateway to the Golden Interior. It is known as the Home of the North Wind, and residents tell visitors that it blows so much here you will never breathe the same air twice. There is much to do and see here including the Klondike Summit, Liarsville, White Pass Scenic Railroad and Eagle Preserve by Jetboat.
Skagway was known to thousands of hopeful gold rushers as the gateway to the gold fields. Although it boasted the shortest route to the Klondike, it was far from being the easiest. Over a hundred years ago, the White Pass route through the Coast Mountains and the shorter, but steeper, Chilkoot Trail were used by countless stampeders. The treacherous Chilkoot Trail, combined with the area's cruel elements, left scores dead.
The gold rush was a boon to Skagway - by 1898 it was Alaska's largest town with a population of about 20,000. The town's hotels, saloons, dance halls and gambling houses prospered, drawing Skagway residents as well as the 10,000 people living in the tent city of nearby Dyea. But when the gold yield dwindled in 1900, so did the population of Skagway as the miners quickly shifted to new finds in Nome. Skagway retains the flavor of the gold rush era, especially on Broadway, with its false-front buildings, and in the Trail of '98 Museum, with its outstanding collection of memorabilia.

18PRINCE RUPERT.
Prince Rupert is located on Kaien Island in Chatham Sound, western British Columbia, Canada. It lies near the mouth of the Skeena River on the Pacific coast, 934 miles (1,503 km) northwest of Vancouver and is surrounded by rugged mountains. Prince Rupert's ice free harbour serves the lumbering, mining, and agricultural areas of northern British Columbia and is also a ferry port to Alaska. Now known as the "City of Rainbows" (another way of saying it rains a lot) there are several good hiking trails - to Mt Hays, Mt Oldfield and Butze Rapids. Boat trips are offerd for both whale watching and fishing. In town you can visit the Museum of Northern British Columbia which has a notable collection of Haida Indian carvings and Totem Poles. 50 miles to the north is Canada's first grizzly bear preserve in Khutzemateen Valley while 12 miles south is the North Pacific Cannery Village Museum, giving a history of fishing and canning along the Skeena River.
Founded in 1906 by developer Charles Hays, it was named after Prince Rupert, first governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. It began as a tent town and developed after 1914 as a terminus of the Canadian National Railway but its main role was fishing centre for the Pacific Northwest.

20SEATTLE
Seattle is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located in the U.S. State of Washington between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, nearly 174 km south of the United States–Canadian border. Nicknamed the ‘Emerald City’, Seattle has an abundance of evergreen trees throughoutand spectacular views of the Cascade mountains to the east and the Olympic mountains to the west. Known for being the home of the Space Needle, Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon.com, Nintendo of America, Starbucks and the University of Washington. Seattle is also the home of a vibrant arts scene and an ever expanding park system. Seattle is an international port that has three professional sports teams, hundreds of restaurants, many cultural venues and a lifestyle that is unique to the Pacific Northwest. The Seattle waterfront is popular with excellent views as is the well known Space Needle which dominates the city skyline.

21FLY HOME
Transit Sydney on your flight home

Description

From British Columbia to Alberta with overnights on Vancouver Island, this 13-day holiday is surely an experience to remember. Sightsee in Vancouver and Victoria, and enjoy scenic highlights such as Okanagan Valley; Glacier, Yoho, and Banff National Parks; Lake Louise; Columbia Icefield; Jasper National Park; Mount Robson; Sun Peaks; Straight of Georgia; Canada's Gulf Islands; and Butchart Gardens. There's also wine tasting in Kelowna. Exploring the Canadian Rockies is truly an unforgettable holiday.

Cruise north through the Inside Passage to the glaciers, gorges, waterfalls, lakes and forests of Alaska. Ride the White Pass & Yukon narrow gorge railway through the scenic valleys and tunnels in Skagway; relive the 1890's Gold Rush at historic Last Chance Basin and try your hand at gold panning in Juneau or soar over magnificent Misty Fjords via seaplane and take in the beauty of 1,000 foot waterfalls, sparkling lakes and misty rock formations before making an exhilarating water landing in Ketchikan.

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