Canadian Rockies and an Alaska Cruise 2014

Day 1: UK/Calgary
You’ll depart on your scheduled flight to Calgary today. On arrival, you’ll transfer to Banff for a three-night stay.

Day 2: Banff
This morning, head off on an included sightseeing tour of Banff. It will include attractions such as the classic Hoodoos of Bow Valley – imposing spires of rock, carved by wind and water, standing guard over the Bow River. Don’t miss Surprise Corner, either – so named because, as you drive out of Banff, the view suddenly opens out into a fantastic mountain vista, featuring the famous picture-postcard Banff Springs Hotel on your right. You’ll be glad you brought your camera.

Day 3: Lake Louise
Today we include a full-day excursion to Lake Louise, a glacial jade-green lake surrounded on all sides by towering peaks and described as one of Canada’s most beautiful locations. There are hiking trails and you can take a chairlift/gondola up the mountains to take in the stunning views.

Day 4: Kelowna
Your journey continues through the Rockies, driving via Revelstoke and Vernon to the Kelowna area, situated in the beautiful Okanagan Valley, for an overnight stay.

Day 5: British Columbia
Today you’ll continue to travel across British Columbia, enjoying spectacular scenery as you drive to Vancouver, where you will stay at a centrally located hotel for three nights.

Day 6: Vancouver
Get to know Vancouver on today’s included introductory half-day tour. Canada’s third largest city, Vancouver has one of the most beautiful settings of any city in the world, surrounded by mountains, forests and islands, and is a busy seaport and important centre for the fishing and timber industries. You’ll visit the city’s original historic core, known as ‘Gastown’, Chinatown, the remarkable 1,000-acre Stanley Park with its famous totem poles, and the magnificent harbour.

There’s a huge amount to see and do in Vancouver, so we offer an optional half-day excursion to Vancouver’s Northshore, featuring the spectacular Capilano Suspension Bridge and a cable car ride up Grouse Mountain for breathtaking views of the city, the snow-capped mountains of America’s Washington State, and Vancouver Island.

Day 7: Vancouver
Enjoy free time to explore Vancouver further today. Alternatively, you can take our optional tour which includes a ferry across to Victoria, capital of British Columbia, where you’ll visit the internationally-renowned Butchart Gardens, Parliament building, the impressive Empress Hotel, and see much of Canada’s British Victorian heritage.

Day 8: Vancouver/MS Volendam
Today you’ll transfer to Vancouver harbour where you will board your cruise ship, MS Volendam, which will set sail at 5pm. You’ll have plenty of time to settle into your comfortable cabin and explore the ship, your floating hotel for the next seven nights.

Day 9: The Inside Passage

Day 10: Tracy Arm/Juneau
and the Sawyer Glacier during the morning (weather permitting), we’ll arrive in the Alaskan capital, Juneau, early in the afternoon, where you’ll have time to relax, explore the city for yourself, or visit the immense Mendenhall Glacier.

Day 11: Skaway
In the morning, we’ll arrive in Skagway, a lively relic of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898, whose wooden sidewalks and turn-of-the-century buildings will take you back to the riotous living of those pioneer days.

Day 12: Glacier Bay
Glacier Bay is one of the scenic highlights of your cruise – you’ll see enormous icebergs floating in the blue-green water, and if you’re lucky, watch as a glacier ‘calves’, sending thousands of tons of ice thundering into the mirror-calm bay.

Day 13: Ketchikan
This morning, you’ll arrive in Ketchikan, a quaint, weathered town clinging to the mountainside. You’ll have the option to take a seaplane flight over the spectacular Misty Fjords, explore the Totem Poles Park, or enjoy a lunch of fresh Alaskan salmon after exploring in your own time.

Day 14: The Inside Passage
Today we’ll cruise the Inside Passage back towards Vancouver, allowing you more time to appreciate the stunning natural scenery unfurling before you, or just to take advantage of the MS Volendam’s fine restaurants and bars, swimming pool and fitness centre, or on-board entertainment.

Day 15: Vancouver
This morning you will arrive back in Vancouver, where you will disembark your ship and transfer to the airport for your return flight to the UK.

Day 16: UK
Arrive in the UK.

Please note
This holiday includes walking in areas of rough ground, gradients and steps.

Accommodation throughout is in hotels of a comfortable standard. You will be staying in hotels such as;

Rundlestone Lodge in Banff
Best Western Plus in Kelowna
Best Western Downtown in Vancouver
All bedrooms feature en suite facilities, TV and telephone. All hotels have a bar, restaurant and other amenities such as a swimming pool and shop are often available. Hotels will be confirmed in your final documents.

Your cruise ship

MS Volendam
Your ship for this marvellous cruise is Holland America Line’s MS Volendam. On board you’ll find a great choice of restaurants, bars, a show lounge, swimming pools, spa and salon. Service and standards are extremely high on board the ship, so your Travelsphere Tour Manager will not travel on the cruise with you. Holland America staff are on hand to provide assistance and information where required.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Included excursions and visits

Banff tour (half day)
Lake Louise tour (full day)
Vancouver tour (half day)

Optional excursions

Banff helicopter tour
Vancouver Northshore tour (half day)
Victoria tour (full day)

Your holiday includes

Scheduled flights as described
Overseas transfers and other transportation
7 nights’ hotel accommodation on a room-only basis
7 nights’ on board Holland America Line’s MS Volendam on a full-board basis
The services of a Travelsphere Tour Manager (pre cruise)
Hotel porterage (one bag per person)
All airport taxes and security charges
UK Airline Passenger Duty
All state and local taxes

With 50 years’ experience in arranging escorted tours to exciting destinations across the globe, Travelsphere have built an excellent reputation founded on quality and value.

By choosing a Travelsphere escorted holiday you can travel with confidence, knowing that every aspect of your holiday has been carefully planned and arranged from start to finish. Further to this they are ATOL bonded and members of ABTA.

Travelsphere’s thorough planning of travel arrangements, itineraries and accommodation combined with the unique insight of their knowledgeable Tour Managers and Local Guides will enable you to experience the culture, traditions and hidden away places less accessible to other travellers.

Our Opinion
“Travelsphere are one of the biggest names in the Escorted Tour market. Finely tuned over the last 50 years their tours have been tried, tested and refined by thousands of customers.”