Spirit of the Rockies with Alaska Cruise

At 6pm, meet your travel companions for a welcome drink. Your Tour Director will prepare you for your upcoming adventure.

Tour Vancouver, including the waterfront, Chinatown, and Stanley Park with its old-growth evergreen forests and totem poles. The afternoon is free to explore the many attractions at your leisure before dinner at a local restaurant.

At Vancouver’s Rocky Mountaineer Station, board the Rocky Mountaineer train to follow the Fraser Canyon and the Thompson River through beautiful landscapes to historic Kamloops. Tonight, enjoy free time in Kamloops.

Back aboard the Rocky Mountaineer, journey from Kamloops eastward to Shuswap Lake with its many miles of shoreline. Follow the Kicking Horse River and pass over the Continental Divide into Banff National Park.

Breathe in the fresh mountain air! This morning, tour the highlights of Banff: Bow Falls, Tunnel Mountain, and Surprise Corner. The remainder of the day is at leisure to enjoy all that Banff has to offer. You may wish to ride on the Banff Gondola, visit the shops on Main Street, or perhaps take an optional helicopter flightseeing trip for impressive views of the Rocky Mountains and Banff.

En route to Lake Louise, a side trip showcases one of the crown jewels of the Rockies—Moraine Lake and the Valley of the Ten Peaks (weather permitting). Here, 10 mountain peaks soar above 10,000 feet and surround the tranquil waters of the lake. Arrive enchanting Lake Louise for a [LF] guided heritage walk along the lake. Enjoy an overnight and dinner at the exclusive Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.

Travel on awe-inspiring Icefields Parkway past towering peaks and immense hanging glaciers to Jasper National Park. Ride an exciting Ice Explorer with a Glaciologist Guide on the Athabasca Glacier and see thundering Athabasca Falls. Your overnight destination is the charming village of Jasper in Jasper National Park.

Departing Jasper, watch the scenery unfold while traveling the Yellowhead Highway.

A spectacular day lies ahead! This morning, travel past some of the most beautiful and rugged lakes and mountains in British Columbia. This afternoon, we arrive in Whistler—one of Canada’s newest and most exciting mountain resorts, and host of the 2010 Winter Olympics— and settle into the deluxe Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

Visit the [LF] Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, dedicated to the history and culture of the First Nations people, for a private presentation and breakfast. Afterward, Victoria awaits! Board a BC Ferry for a picturesque cruise to Vancouver Island and the charming, very British “Garden City” of Victoria. This afternoon, discover British Columbia’s capitol on a city highlights tour. Later, you may want to stroll around the Parliament buildings or do some shopping. Enjoy dinner on your own at one of the many restaurants in this delightful harbor city.

Free time this morning before an afternoon visit to world-famous [LF] Butchart Gardens.

Travel on a scenic BC Ferry crossing through the Gulf Islands to Vancouver where you will begin your 7-Night Alaska’s Inside Passage cruise.

Alaska’s Inside Passage is a protected network of waterways that wind through glacier-cut fjords and lush temperate rain forests along the rugged coast of Southeast Alaska. Arguably one of the greatest cruising routes in the world, the Inside Passage stretches through stunning landscapes, from Misty Fjords National Monument to famed Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve.

Steep cliffs and glacier-covered mountains flank the Tracy Arm fjord, fringed by the largest intact coastal temperate rain forest in the United States. Old-growth trees colonized Tracy Arm's mouth long ago as the Ice Age retreated. Continue cruising to Juneau, Alaska and visit the most remote, most beautiful and strangest state capital in the United States. Surrounded by water, forest and mountain sights, visitors seeking things to do in Juneau indoors and outdoors can hike a glacier, eat fresh-caught fish on a seaside patio and tour a grand capitol building all in one day.

At the height of the Klondike Gold Rush, the port town of Skagway served as the primary gateway to the legendary gold fields, and quickly grew into Alaska’s largest settlement. It was then a raucous frontier hub packed with trading posts, saloons, and guesthouses. As the gold rush faded into the 1900s, so did Skagway—but today it has been reinvigorated as a gateway for a new kind of visitor: those looking to explore Alaska’s colorful history, pristine wildlife, and unrivaled natural beauty.

On your cruise to Glacier Bay (A UNESCO World Heritage Site), close your eyes and take in the sounds—the creaks and groans of “living” ice, the shrill cries of gulls and soaring eagles, the splash of a breaching humpback whale. Frosted peaks towering over mossy forests, wide tidewater glaciers (there are seven in the park), and marine wildlife are givens on Glacier Bay cruises, but every experience in this changing biosphere is unique.

Take an adventure and cruise to Ketchikan, Alaska. Alaska's "First City" of Ketchikan is so named because it’s the first major landfall for most 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.

Scenic cruising through the Inside Passage offers outstanding opportunities to spot some of Alaska’s most iconic wildlife.

Your vacation ends with breakfast this morning. Schedule flights departing from Vancouver International Airport after Noon.