Rocky Mountaineer and Alaska Cruise

Day 1 - Banff

Arrive in Calgary, transfer to Banff and spend the rest of the day at leisure exploring the lovely alpine town.

Day 2 - Rocky Mountaineer Goldleaf

This morning you will transfer to Banff rail station (included). Your journey towards Vancouver commences today with Rocky Mountaineer in GoldLeaf, heading for Kamloops for an overnight stay. If departing from Banff you will visit Lake Louise, one of Canada’s most recognized features. Walk to the lakeshore, see the turquoise water, and take in the sights that drew early mountaineers here. We follow the Coquihalla Highway, winding our way into the Cascade Mountains prior to arriving in Kamloops, where you will have time to explore the quaint downtown scene and choose your dinner (not included) from the variety of restaurants nearby

Day 3 - Rocky Mountaineer Goldleaf

Board the Rocky Mountaineer early this morning for your second day in GoldLeaf. Today’s route offers a dramatic change in landscape as we pass through Canadian desert, to sub-alpine and lush coastal forest before arriving in downtown Vancouver. Following the Coquihalla Highway we arrive in the town of Hope, setting of the “First Blood” movie, for a short rest stop. Continuing onwards, we enter Fraser River Canyon and follow the river through to the Coastal Mountains and the lush Fraser Delta region and our destination – Vancouver

Day 4 - Vancouver

Spend a day at leisure exploring Vancouver, a city where mountains, ocean and cityscape meet in spectacular fashion. Wander the seawall at Stanley Park, browse the boutiques of Gastown, or simply soak up the view over Coal Harbour before your journey continues.

Day 5 - Board your cruise

Today board your iconic Alaskan cruise and set sail from Vancouver

Day 6 - Inside Passage

Cruise the legendary Inside Passage, one of the world's most breathtaking sea routes. Ships glide close to towering mountain walls, revealing dramatic views of dense forest, cascading waterfalls and charming coastal towns along the way.

Day 7 - Juneau

The narrow Tracy Arm Fjord winds its way through the Tongass National Forest, flanked by granite walls rising up to 300 feet. Melting snowcaps feed waterfalls that tumble down the shoreline, while hardy trees cling to the rocky outcrops above. Keep an eye out for the wildlife that calls this icy wilderness home, including black and brown bears, wolves, deer, moose, seals and whales.

At the head of the fjord, the dramatic Sawyer Glaciers come into view, framed by towering peaks. From here, continue to Juneau, the Alaskan capital with an air of mystique all its own, a city with no road access, reachable only by air or by sea.

Juneau is a place defined by water, forest and mountain. Set between the Coast Mountains and the Gastineau Channel, it offers real variety, with the vast Mendenhall Glacier and Juneau Icefields close at hand and the Tongass National Forest stretching away to the northeast. From downtown shopping to dog sledding, hiking and whale watching, there is plenty to fill a day here.

Day 8 - Skagway

Skagway sprang to life as the gateway to the Klondike gold rush of 1898, and echoes of those boom town days linger throughout its streets. Wander past the restored facades and wooden boardwalks of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, ride the historic White Pass and Yukon narrow gauge railway up into the mountains, or round off the day with a drink at the Red Onion Saloon.

Day 9 - Glacier Bay

Glacier Bay National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to a remarkable ecosystem where plants and wildlife thrive alongside a glacial landscape in constant motion. Nowhere else on earth has a greater concentration of actively calving tidewater glaciers.

Watch as vast slabs of ice break away and crash into the sea below, sending spray hundreds of feet skyward. Have your camera ready. It will not be long before it happens again.

Day 10 - Ketchikan

Ketchikan hugs the shoreline of the Tongass Narrows, its shops and houses built out over the water on weathered wooden stilts. There is a cheerful, salty character to the town that calls itself the Salmon Capital of the World.

Beyond the main sights of Creek Street, the Tongass Historical Museum, Totem Bight State Park and Saxman Village, consider a scenic flight over Misty Fjords National Monument. These deep glacial fjords are lined with granite cliffs rising thousands of feet from the sea, with countless waterfalls cascading into the still waters below.

Day 11 - Inside Passage

Retrace your route along the Inside Passage, where wild coastal scenery unfolds at every turn, snow capped peaks, glaciers and rain forest all vying for attention. Keep watch for whales, eagles, sea lions, sea otters and mountain sheep along the way.

Day 12 - Vancouver

Wake in Vancouver and enjoy some time at leisure before making your own way to the airport for your homeward flight.