The Rockies by Rail and Helicopter

Arrive in Vancouver

Vancouver airport (YVR) to the Rosewood Hotel Georgia, about 30 minutes

• Repas du soir
• Hébergement : Rosewood Hotel Georgia ou équivalent
• Environ 30 min de route

Après-midi

The afternoon is yours to rest after the flight or stretch your legs by the water.

Soir

In the evening the group meets for a welcome dinner, and your host talks you through the week ahead and tomorrow's early start for the train. Pack a small day bag tonight: your suitcase travels separately to Kamloops.

Compris

• Private pickup at Vancouver International Airport (YVR)
• Welcome dinner with your host

Rocky Mountaineer: the Fraser Canyon to Kamloops

Vancouver to Kamloops on the Rocky Mountaineer, GoldLeaf

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Hébergement : Kamloops hotel booked with the Rocky Mountaineer journey ou équivalent
• En train

Après-midi

Breakfast and lunch are cooked on board and served downstairs, with drinks included.

Soir

You reach Kamloops, where the North and South Thompson rivers meet, in the early evening, and your bags are waiting at the hotel. Dinner tonight is your own; your host can suggest a place nearby.

Compris

• Transfer to the Rocky Mountaineer station
• Rocky Mountaineer GoldLeaf, first day: Vancouver to Kamloops
• Luggage taken by road to your Kamloops hotel

Rocky Mountaineer: over the Rockies to Banff

Kamloops to Banff on the Rocky Mountaineer, GoldLeaf

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Hébergement : Fairmont Banff Springs ou équivalent
• En train

Soir

You arrive in the evening, and a short transfer takes you to the Fairmont Banff Springs, opened by the railway in 1888, for dinner together.

Compris

• Rocky Mountaineer GoldLeaf, second day: Kamloops to Banff
• Transfer to the Fairmont Banff Springs

A private heli-hike above Canmore

Banff to the Canmore heliport, about 25 minutes each way

• Petit-déjeuner
• Hébergement : Fairmont Banff Springs ou équivalent
• Environ 45 min de route

Matin

After breakfast your private guide-driver takes the group about 25 minutes down the Bow Valley to the heliport at Canmore, a former coal-mining town just outside Banff National Park. Helicopter landings for sightseeing are not allowed inside the park, so heli-hiking here starts from Canmore. The group flies in two small parties of up to five, a flight of a few minutes up a narrow canyon to an alpine ridge above the treeline. A certified mountain guide then leads about three hours of walking across open ground, at the pace of the group, with the Bow Valley and the peaks around Canmore spread out below. The ridge is yours alone.

Après-midi

The helicopter brings you back down by early afternoon, and the rest of the day is free: book a treatment at the Willow Stream spa in the hotel, ride the gondola up Sulphur Mountain, or walk from the hotel to Bow Falls and into town along the river.

Compris

• Private heli-hike from Canmore, about 3 hours with a certified mountain guide
• Private guide-driver to and from the Canmore heliport

Activités en option

• Willow Stream spa treatment at the Fairmont Banff Springs
• Banff Gondola up Sulphur Mountain

Lake Louise: a canoe and the Plain of Six Glaciers

Banff to Lake Louise, about 45 minutes

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Hébergement : Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise ou équivalent
• Environ 45 min de route

Après-midi

Lunch is there, with tea on the balcony. Strong walkers can go a little further to a viewpoint over the glaciers. If you would rather keep the day gentle, stroll the lakeshore path instead and have lunch at the Chateau.

Soir

Your room is ready when you are back, and dinner is together in the evening.

Compris

• Canoe on Lake Louise
• Plain of Six Glaciers walk with lunch at the teahouse

Moraine Lake at sunrise and Emerald Lake

Moraine Lake, then Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Hébergement : Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise ou équivalent
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

An early start: your private guide drives you about 14 km up the Moraine Lake Road in the dark, a road closed to private cars, so the group is there before first light. A short climb up the Rockpile path brings you above the lake to watch the sun reach the Valley of the Ten Peaks and the water turn from grey to deep blue. Back at the Chateau for a late breakfast, then cross the Continental Divide at Kicking Horse Pass into British Columbia and Yoho National Park, about 40 minutes away. On the way you stop at the Spiral Tunnels viewpoint, where freight trains loop through the mountains you rode through on day 3, and at the Natural Bridge, where the Kicking Horse River has cut through solid rock.

Après-midi

Lunch is by Emerald Lake, under Mount Burgess.

Soir

The afternoon is free back at Lake Louise, and the week ends with a farewell dinner.

Compris

• Moraine Lake at sunrise with a private guide, road access included
• Spiral Tunnels viewpoint and the Natural Bridge
• Lunch at Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park
• Farewell dinner

Lake Louise to Calgary

Lake Louise to Calgary International Airport (YYC), about 2 hours 15 minutes

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Matin

A slow last morning. Early risers can walk down to the shore while the canoes are still stacked on the boathouse dock and the lake lies flat under Victoria Glacier. After breakfast your private driver takes you east on the Trans-Canada Highway, down the Bow Valley past Banff and the Three Sisters at Canmore, and out of the mountains into the rolling foothills to Calgary International Airport (YYC), about 205 km and roughly 2 hours 15 minutes. Book a flight leaving after about 2 pm, and tell us your flight time so we can set the pickup to suit it. The trip ends at the departures door.

Soir

If you would like more time in the mountains or a night in Calgary before you fly, ask us and we can add it to your booking.

Compris

• Private transfer to Calgary International Airport (YYC)