Begin in bloom with breakfast at Butchart Gardens, then wander winding paths into the Sunken Garden, a former quarry now draped in seasonal color. Continue through the tranquil Japanese Garden and formal Rose Garden, pausing by dancing fountains and shaded bowers where songbirds flit among maples and cedar.

Designated a National Historic Site of Canada, the gardens reflect Jennie Butchart’s early-1900s vision to transform industry into beauty. Horticultural notes, sculpted borders, and artful sightlines reveal a century of careful stewardship in this botanical showpiece near Victoria.

Explore Victoria’s maritime heart with a hosted orientation of the Inner Harbour, the ivy-clad Fairmont Empress, and the domed Parliament Buildings. Stroll through Canada’s oldest Chinatown, where lanterns sway above Fan Tan Alley and cafés open to cobbled courtyards perfumed with tea and spice.

Stories of gold-rush fortune, British colonial elegance, and Coast Salish heritage mingle along these waterfront promenades. Architecture buffs will appreciate Richardsonian stonework and Edwardian flourishes, while boutique windows and buskers add a lively, contemporary rhythm to the city’s storied streets.

Pause for photos and reflection beneath Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies at 3,954 m. From the Visitor Centre, watch clouds comb the summit while the Fraser River valley unfurls below, spruce forest dark against limestone and ice.

Part of the UNESCO-listed Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, Mount Robson Provincial Park showcases dramatic uplift and active glaciation. Exhibits explain local geology, wildlife corridors, and mountaineering history, enriching a stop that pairs grand scenery with thoughtful interpretation.

Travel the legendary Icefields Parkway, where rock spires and hanging glaciers crowd the skyline and turquoise lakes brighten the valleys. Pull over at lookouts to pause for photos and reflection, capturing waterfalls, moraines, and broad ice-scoured bowls beneath the Continental Divide.

Wildlife sightings can include elk, mountain goats, or bighorn sheep moving across subalpine slopes. Interpretive notes illuminate how ancient ice shaped these passes, adding context to a drive famed for misty mountain passes and cinematic horizons at every turn.

At the Columbia Icefield, board the massive Ice Explorer and rumble over moraine to step onto Athabasca Glacier. Feel the grip of ancient ice underfoot and, conditions permitting, taste glacier meltwater—a bracing sip from one of the world’s great non-polar icefields.

Guides share insights into glaciology and climate as wind sculpts sastrugi across the surface. Crisp air, crevasse lines, and blue-veined ice make this a rare, tactile encounter with the forces that carved the Canadian Rockies.

Visit Lake Louise, where turquoise waters mirror dark spruce and the Victoria Glacier crowns the valley. Follow the flat lakeshore path to pause for photos of the chateau’s silhouette and the glacier’s crevassed apron spilling from the skyline.

Named for Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, this postcard scene owes its color to rock flour suspended in meltwater. The serenity of lapping waves and distant avalanche rumbles creates a mountain amphitheatre that rewards lingering and quiet observation.

Survey Banff’s signature viewpoints, from the churning Bow Falls to Surprise Corner, where the castle-like Fairmont Banff Springs perches above the valley. Gaze across the limestone hoodoos, wind-carved spires rising from the forested slopes beside the Bow River.

Set within UNESCO-listed Banff National Park, these stops frame the town’s Victorian spa-resort origins and its wild alpine setting. Keep an eye out for elk grazing meadows and ravens riding thermals as the light shifts across rugged peaks.

Join a First Nations Local Specialist for a Plant Medicine Walk around Cascade Ponds, learning to identify native species like yarrow, juniper, and lodgepole pine. Hear how leaves, resins, and roots support wellness, ceremony, and sustenance in traditional knowledge systems.

Set in the montane forest of Banff National Park, this guided experience deepens appreciation for land stewardship and cultural continuity. Participants leave with a richer sense of reciprocity—how to walk lightly, listen closely, and recognize living connections between people and place.

Head out from Victoria’s Inner Harbour on a whale watching tour, scanning the Salish Sea for the sweep of dorsal fins, breaching humpbacks, and rafts of sea lions. Naturalist guides interpret behaviors while coastal islands and mountain ridgelines form a dramatic backdrop.

This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour. Wildlife sightings vary with season and conditions; covered and open-air vessels are typically used, with flotation suits provided on open Zodiacs for comfort and warmth.

Feel the current grab the raft on the glacially fed Athabasca River, paddling lively, splashy sections framed by canyon walls and spruce forest. Guides brief you on technique and safety before you tackle gentle white water suited to most ability levels.

Wetsuits, helmets, and lifejackets are provided; expect cold spray, mountain views, and moments of quiet eddies between riffles. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, with routes and water levels varying by season.

Cruise Maligne Lake across luminous waters ringed by snow-capped peaks, gliding toward the photogenic cove of Spirit Island. Step ashore for views that distill Jasper’s essence—emerald water, dark conifers, and glacier-etched ridgelines layered to the horizon.

Interpretive commentary unpacks geology, wildlife, and local lore on this seasonal excursion. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; departures typically operate late spring through early fall, weather permitting.

Lift off for a helicopter flightseeing adventure above the Bow Valley, where panoramas of the Canadian Rockies reveal serrated summits, turquoise tarns, and ribbons of ice draped across cirques. The scale and symmetry of the ranges unfold with every banking turn.

Routes vary with conditions, and flights are weather-dependent for safety. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; bring a camera to capture soaring perspectives impossible to glimpse from the road.

Ride the Banff Gondola to the summit of Sulphur Mountain, stepping onto boardwalks with views across six mountain ranges and the sinuous Bow River below. Settle in for dinner with sunset over the valley glowing through floor-to-ceiling windows.

This evening experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour. Interpretive exhibits and ridge-top trails invite a pre- or post-meal wander as lights begin to twinkle in the townsite far beneath.

• 1 Breakfast (B)

• See Gastown, Stanley Park and Prospect Point
• Visit an UNESCO World Heritage Site known as one of the most remarkable areas in the world
• Columbia Icefield: Take a ride in a massive Ice Explorer to Athabasca Glacier
• See Lake Louise, Bow Falls and Surprise Corner.
• View stunning hoodoos and waterfalls in this UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Admire soaring mountain peaks, the majestic Victoria Glacier and the glistening waters of the lake
• Enjoy a stunning drive up the Icefields Parkway with jaw-dropping vistas at every turn
• Embark on an introductory sightseeing tour of the city and visit beautiful Butchart Gardens

• Deluxe coach travel
• Selected hotel dinners, with optional meals to purchase
• 3-star stays

• Vancouver: Vancouver’s historic neighbourhoods spring to life on a tour with your Travel Director. Admire the Victorian facades, cobblestone streets and charming lighting of Gastown as you make your way to the leafy sanctuary of Stanley Park.
• Victoria: Victoria. A waterfront city of historic sites known for its gardens and British influence. View the Parliament Buildings erected in 1897 with beautiful gardens. Then explore on your own, strolling along the Inner Harbour where you will have the chance to watch street buskers perform or venturing to Victoria’s unique shopping areas in Market Square.
• Mount Robson: Mount Robson, one of the world’s crown jewels awaits. Admire one of the finest views in the Rocky Mountains of this UNESCO-listed icon which is also the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies at 12,972 feet. Not only will you bask in a view of Mount Robson but learn from your Travel Director why it’s the most prominent mount in North America’s Rocky Mountain Range.
• Icefields Parkway: Unlock the Canadian Rockies’ pristine wilderness on one of the most scenic drives in North America – the Icefield Parkway. This stretch of double-lane highway from Jasper to Lake Louise winds along the Continental Divide through rocky mountain peaks, rock spires, waterfalls, icefields, valleys and more than 100 ancient glaciers. Snap a pic at a viewpoint to capture the beauty.
• Columbia Icefield: Gear up for a Columbia Icefield Adventure. Board a massive, specially designed ‘Ice Explorer’ to view one of the largest non-polar ice fields in the world, the Athabasca Glacier. Stop at the best spot to walk on, feel and drink from the Glacier. What better way to appreciate this natural wonder? You’ll even enhance your visit learning about the Columbia Icefield, how the glacier has changed and the thrill of driving up the moraine deposits to reach the glacier.

Costsaver

Join a guided panoramic tour of Vancouver, moving from the brick lanes of Gastown and its Steam Clock to the rainforest calm of Stanley Park. Trace the seawall, breathe in cedar-scented air, and admire the carved Brockton Point Totem Poles while the North Shore mountains rise across Burrard Inlet.

Hear how the city grew from a frontier outpost to a Pacific gateway on the traditional lands of Coast Salish Peoples. Expect photogenic stops at viewpoints such as Prospect Point and sweeping introductions to neighbourhoods you can revisit later at your own pace.

Cruise the Strait of Georgia between the mainland and Vancouver Island, settling onto open decks to watch wooded Gulf Islands slide by. Feel the salt breeze, scan for seals and porpoises, and admire distant coastal mountain backdrops as ferries weave through narrow channels and sheltered coves.

This classic West Coast passage highlights British Columbia’s maritime character, with onboard cafés and panoramic lounges framing the ever-changing shoreline. Naturalists often point out seabirds riding thermals and kelp beds fringing the reefs—an easy, camera-ready immersion into coastal life.