Vancouver, Whistler and the Rockies‬

Start your trip with airport lounge access before you board your day flight to Canada’s most liveable city. On arrival, you’ll make your way to your central accommodation, leaving time to sample the city’s famed food scene; Asian delicacies are matched by just-caught seafood favourites. Don’t forget the craft brews.

Stay: Loden Hotel, Vancouver (Superior) 

Today you’ll have some time to explore Vancouver, perhaps taking in its waterfront parks, tropical conservatories and world-class art galleries. If you’ve more time, we highly recommend the whale watching or hopping over to Vancouver Island for some wilderness fun. You’ll then pick up your hire car to drive the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Whistler. Tracing coastal curves, sweeping through dense forests and winding up into giant peaks, it’s an impossibly scenic route. Be sure to make a stop at Shannon Falls, a 481-metre-high waterfall. You’ll then have the evening in Whistler, a pretty alpine village under the shadow of the Blackcomb Mountains.

Stay: Hilton Whistler Resort, Whistler (Superior) 

Whistler is the ideal gateway to the great Canadian outdoors, set among giant snow-capped peaks. And, each summer, the region swaps its ski slopes for biking trails, hiking routes, championship golf courses and a wide array of water sports, hosted by Whistler’s five lakes and countless rivers. To help explore, we’ve included a trip on the Peak 2 Peak Gondola and its accompanying chair lift. To panoramic views of glaciers, extinct volcanoes and snow-capped crags, you’ll be brought 7,000 feet up to the top of Whistler Mountain.

Stay: Hilton Whistler Resort, Whistler (Superior)

Today is all about the spectacular drive along the Duffy Lake Road. As you travel, you’ll be treated to giant views of Joffre Glacier before you stop at Lillooet, a frontier town famed for its gold rush heritage. You’ll then continue to Cache Lake, a glassy gem fringed by dense forests where you’ll enjoy included access to Hat Creek Ranch. This is your chance to step back to the 1860s with original weatherboard buildings, wagon trail dirt tracks and antique-furnished rooms. After taking in its gold rush heritage, continue to Sun Peaks, a cute mountain resort whose ski slopes thaw into scenic hiking routes.

Stay: Sun Peaks Grand Hotel, Sun Peaks (Superior)

After breakfast, today’s drive will bring you deep into the Rockies. You’ll follow the Thompson River through rolling plains and up into the snow-clad Monashee Mountains, enjoying a fresh, awe-inspiring vista around each corner. Be sure to make a stop at the colossal glaciers of the Albreda Icefields and the Pyramid Falls, a 90-metre-high waterfall that tumbles in a giant, well, pyramid. Then, passing the 3,954-metre-high Mt. Robson – the tallest peak in the Canadian Rockies – you’ll arrive into Jasper. 

Stay: Forest Park Hotel, Jasper (Superior)

You’ll have some free time to explore today, with a myriad of outdoor activities bringing you among the region’s rich wildlife. There’s everything from beavers and porcupines to moose and coyote. For the best experiences, we recommend taking a tram ride into the surrounding mountains, or enjoying a cruise on Lake Maligne. This is Canada at its postcard best, with majestic peaks soaring upwards from the water’s edge, itself covered in dense forest.

Stay: Stay: Forest Park Hotel, Jasper (Superior) 

Head south along the Icefields Parkway to meander among waterfalls and glacier-carved slopes, arriving at the Columbia Icefields. Here, we’ve included a trip on the Ice Explorer, a spectacularly rugged all-terrain vehicle that will bring you right onto Athabasca Glacier to walk on its white expanse. You’ll then move on, past jagged peaks, emerald lakes and over 100 glaciers, to Lake Louise’s bright-blue splendour. End the day by following the Bow River towards Banff, stopping at Johnston Canyon for a walk to its lower or upper waterfalls.

Stay: Banff Caribou Lodge, Banff (Superior) 

You’ll have today free to explore Banff National Park, a wilderness land of bears, elk and wolves. To help you get your bearings, we’ve included a ride on the Banff Gondola for a bird’s eye view of no fewer than six mountain ranges. We’ve also treated you to entrance at the Upper Hot Springs – ideal for a relaxing soak. For further exploration, perhaps look to a cruise on Lake Minnewanka, book onto a scenic helicopter flight or visit the underground cathedrals of the Cave and Basin National Historic Site. 

Stay: Banff Caribou Lodge, Banff (Superior)

Heading east along the Trans-Canada Highway you’ll be treated to your last glimpses of mountain scenery before the rolling foothills bring you down to the plains below. Before your flight home, you might have time to explore Calgary’s vibrancy with its Old West sensibilities summed up by honky-tonk bars and hearty eateries.

After your overnight flight, continue your journey home.