Across days 5–6, board the iconic Rocky Mountaineer and settle into SilverLeaf Service with oversized windows framing the Bow River and lodgepole pines. Watch as we cross the Continental Divide at Kicking Horse Pass, then thread through the Spiral Tunnels—a century-old feat of mountain rail engineering.

As the scenery softens into British Columbia’s canyons, the train glides over the Stoney Creek bridge and alongside the roaring waters of Hell’s Gate in the Fraser Canyon. Hot breakfasts and lunches are served at your seat, while engaging commentary brings gold-rush towns and railway lore to life. Expect sweeping vistas, wildlife sightings, and a rhythm that matches the mountains’ grandeur.

On day 7, join a guided panoramic tour of cosmopolitan Vancouver. Trace the waterfront past Canada Place and Coal Harbour, then continue into leafy Stanley Park to view the First Nations totem poles and pause at Prospect Point for wide views across Burrard Inlet and the Lions Gate Bridge.

As glass towers meet mountain backdrops, your guide sketches Vancouver’s rise from sawmill outpost to Pacific gateway, highlighting Coast Salish heritage and modern neighbourhoods. After the tour, enjoy time to enjoy a free afternoon exploring the seawall, galleries, or café-lined streets at your own pace.

Settle into the rhythm of the sea on day 9 (and again on day 14) as we cruise the Inside Passage. Forest-clad islands slide by, mist curls over inlets, and the ship threads through glacier-carved channels rich with seabirds. Keep watch from deck to spot humpbacks and orcas as kelp forests ripple below.

This storied route, long travelled by the Tlingit and Haida peoples, reveals lighthouses, fishing hamlets and fjords backed by mountains rising straight from the sea. It’s an unhurried day of sea air and camera-ready vistas—time to pause for photos and reflection between enriching talks and relaxing shipboard life.

On the morning of day 10, we cruise toward Tracy Arm Inlet, a narrow fjord hemmed by near-vertical granite walls and glaciers that spill down from the Coast Mountains. Blue icebergs drift past like sculptures while waterfalls lace the rock, offering countless chances to pause for photos and reflection.

Tracy Arm was carved by ice feeding the twin Sawyer Glaciers, whose creaking faces calve into jade-green waters frequented by harbour seals resting on floes. This scenic approach sets the tone for the Alaskan wilderness you’ll explore later in the day at Juneau—deeper small-boat access to the fjord is available as an optional excursion.

Day 12 is devoted to Glacier Bay National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where National Park Service rangers join the ship to interpret its wildlife and ice. Sail past tidewater giants such as the Margerie Glacier, listening for the thunder of calving as bergs tumble into steel-blue waters.

Encircled by the 10,000-foot Fairweather Range, the bay’s nutrient-rich currents attract humpback whales, sea otters, and seabirds wheeling above the fjords. The rangers’ stories connect today’s living wilderness with a landscape still rebounding from the Little Ice Age—an immersion in scale, silence and raw natural power.

After disembarking on day 15, we transfer to Granville Island, a lively quay beneath the Granville Street Bridge. Wander the Public Market where piles of berries, artisan cheeses and baked goods mingle with local crafts, galleries and street performers animating the waterfront.

Once an industrial sandbar, the island reinvented itself as a creative hub with views back across False Creek to the city skyline. There’s time to browse, pick up picnic bites, and enjoy lunch at your leisure before your airport transfer—a relaxed finale that captures Vancouver’s fresh flavours and easy harbour spirit.

Make the most of your free time on day 4 by ascending the Banff Gondola to 7,500 feet on Sulphur Mountain. From the summit boardwalk, follow the ridgeline to Sanson’s Peak as views sweep over the Bow Valley, Mt Rundle and the craggy fortress of the Fairholme Range.

Interpretive displays trace the area’s geology and early exploration while the open-air terraces are perfect to soak in the alpine panorama. This is an optional experience at additional cost, bookable locally with your Tour Manager.

On day 4, opt for a gentle float trip on the Bow River, drifting past hoodoos and spruce with the chance to spot bald eagles and ospreys along the banks. Guides share stories of Banff’s early mountaineers as the current carries you beneath towering cliffs.

Later, ease into the historic Banff Upper Hot Springs, where mineral-rich water steams in the cool mountain air. The combination of river tranquillity and thermal warmth is quintessential Rockies relaxation. This is an optional experience at additional cost, bookable locally with your Tour Manager.

If you crave a new vantage on day 4, take to the skies on a scenic helicopter flight. Trace the spine of the Rockies over glacier-scored valleys, circling iconic summits like Mt Rundle and the Three Sisters as turquoise lakes flash between ridges.

Pilot narration brings to life the region’s peaks and passes while the scale of the wilderness expands beneath the rotors. It’s an exhilarating way to soak in sweeping mountain vistas. This is an optional experience at additional cost, bookable locally with your Tour Manager.

Treat yourself on day 4 to afternoon tea inside the Fairmont Banff Springs, a Scottish baronial-style landmark with grand halls and river views. Enjoy delicate sandwiches, still-warm scones and pastries paired with premium teas as mountain light filters through tall windows.

Built in 1888 for Canadian Pacific Railway guests, the “Castle in the Rockies” embodies the romance of early alpine travel. It’s a refined pause that connects heritage hospitality with Banff’s alpine setting. This is an optional experience at additional cost, bookable locally with your Tour Manager.

Enhance day 3 with the Columbia Icefield Skywalk, a cliff-edge walkway suspended high above the Sunwapta Valley. Step onto the glass-floor platform and feel the void beneath as waterfalls, forests and moraines unfurl almost 300 metres below.

Interpretive exhibits illuminate how glaciers sculpted this landscape and how hardy plants and wildlife survive at the treeline. This is an optional experience at additional cost and is available on 2026 departures only; book with your Tour Manager.

For an elevated rail experience on days 5–6, upgrade to GoldLeaf Service. Settle into a bi-level dome car with panoramic wraparound windows, then step onto the open-air vestibule for fragrance of pine and the rush of canyon air.

Downstairs, savour gourmet three-course dining inspired by Pacific Northwest flavours as the story of the railway unfolds outside. This is an optional upgrade at additional cost; availability is limited and can be added through your Tour Manager.

On day 7, board a seaplane from Coal Harbour and lift off over Stanley Park, the Lions Gate Bridge and the North Shore mountains. The city’s glass skyline, sail-dotted English Bay and coastal rainforests reveal a tapestry of blue and green from above.

The gentle splashdown returns you to the heart of the harbour with time left to enjoy a free afternoon. This is an optional experience at additional cost, available on 2026 departures only and bookable locally with your Tour Manager.

Transform your day 10 morning into an up-close expedition by transferring to a smaller sightseeing vessel that ventures deep into Tracy Arm Fjord. Cruise past blue icebergs to the snouts of the North and South Sawyer Glaciers, where you may witness ice calving in a cathedral of granite and ice.

Naturalists point out harbour seals on ice floes, mountain goats on sheer cliffs and waterfalls plunging from hanging valleys. This is an optional experience at additional cost, typically booked on board the ship and subject to weather and ice conditions.

After arriving in Juneau on day 10, choose from a menu of adventure-filled shore excursions. Fly by helicopter to land on a glacier and, conditions permitting, mush a team of huskies across clean blue ice. Alternatively, set out by boat to watch humpback whales in Auke Bay as flukes lift against snow-streaked peaks.

Other options include sea kayaking along forested shores, scenic hikes and a classic Alaskan salmon bake. These are optional experiences at additional cost, bookable on board and subject to weather and availability.

On day 11, relive gold-rush history aboard the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad, climbing to the 2,865-foot White Pass Summit past Dead Horse Gulch, wooden trestles and cliff-hugging ledges. Narration brings 1898 trail tales to life as the panorama widens over alpine meadows.

Pair the railway with helicopter glacier flightseeing for a soaring view of seracs and crevasses etched into the icefields above town. These are optional experiences at additional cost, bookable on board and subject to weather.

On day 13, board a floatplane for flightseeing over Misty Fjords National Monument, where glacier-smoothed granite walls soar above mirrored lakes and waterfalls ribbon down forested cliffs. Land on a remote lake or inlet to absorb the hush of Southeast Alaska’s wilderness.

Back on land, explore the immense Tongass National Forest; in salmon season, platforms offer the chance to watch bears fishing in clear streams. These are optional experiences at additional cost, bookable on board and subject to weather and wildlife timing.

Turn day 13 into a feast of Alaska’s seafood traditions. Join a charter to troll for wild salmon along sheltered channels, learning local techniques as eagles wheel overhead. Afterwards, some excursions include a hearty crab feast at a rustic lodge, cracking sweet Dungeness with butter while swapping tales from the water.

This flavourful slice of coastal life connects Ketchikan’s fishing heritage with today’s working docks. It’s an optional experience at additional cost, bookable on board and subject to availability and catch conditions.

Choose adventure on day 13 with a guided sea kayaking paddle along protected shorelines, scanning for porpoises and sea stars in clear shallows while listening to the soft dip of paddles. Or head into the canopy on a zip-line through temperate rainforest, zipping between platforms as guides point out lichens and towering Sitka spruce.

Both options immerse you in the elements—salt air, cedar scent and the call of ravens echoing through the trees. These are optional experiences at additional cost, bookable on board and subject to weather.

As day 14 unfolds at sea, join the ship’s bartenders for a cocktail masterclass. Learn to balance spirits, bitters and fresh infusions while you shake and stir classic recipes and sample inventive signatures inspired by Pacific flavours.

Along the way, pick up pro techniques—from perfect dilution to expressive garnishes—and toast the Inside Passage with your own creation. This is an optional experience at additional cost, bookable on board and subject to availability.

On day 3, travel the legendary Icefields Parkway, a highway framed by hanging glaciers and serrated peaks. We pause to admire Lake Louise, where turquoise water mirrors Mt Victoria, and then continue to take in Peyto Lake from a lofty viewpoint, its vivid blue fed by glacial flour drifting down from the Wapta Icefield.

At the vast Columbia Icefield, you’ll ride on the Snocoach for a guided journey onto the Athabasca Glacier, a 300-metre-thick river of ancient ice. Hear how these valleys were carved over millennia and feel the chill air where crevasses crackle underfoot. It’s a day that links breathtaking scenery with Canada’s powerful glacial story before we return to Banff.