NEW! Discover the Canadian Rockies
 All
the highlights in seven days, at a special low price!
Departures
every Sunday, Tuesday and Friday through October 10
Land tour
from $1791.00
SPECIAL SALE PRICES
ON THIS TOUR!
Book any departure
leaving by August 31, 2008 and save $200 per person in Popular Priced
Hotels, $250 per person in Deluxe Hotels.
Join us for a great new introductory tour of the
national parks of the Canadian Rockies exploring
Jasper,
Yoho and
Banff National Parks. All the classic highlights are included with visits to the
Columbia Icefields,
Maligne Lake, Sunwapta Pass,
Takakkaw Falls, Emerald
Lake, Lake Louise, Banff and the
Bow River Falls. This is an especially
attractive price for a program with this content.
The tour begins with an overnight journey from Vancouver
to Jasper on VIA Rail Canada’s legendary domeliner, the
CANADIAN, using
“Silver and Blue Class” Pullman sleeper accommodations. Dinner and
breakfast in the diner are included, as well as use of the “Park Car” (a
vista-dome observation-lounge) and the Skyline-dome coffee shop lounge
cars.
Two levels of hotel accommodations are offered. Popular
Hotels offer quality motor hotel rooms with private bath. Deluxe Hotels
include properties such as the legendary (former Canadian Pacific Railway)
resorts: the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge,
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise,
Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, and the
Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver.
This is a “hosted tour”. Although fully-narrated sightseeing,
lodging, transportation and transfers are included, you will not have the
same host/driver/narrator each day. All arrangements are fully pre-booked
and prepaid. You enjoy significant price savings on a hosted tour in
contrast with a fully escorted trip, as you are not paying the travel
costs of one escort throughout. Complete details follow. All aboard!
 Day
One, Sunday, Tuesday or Friday (D)
Independent arrivals into Vancouver; depart on the
CANADIAN. Upon arrival in Vancouver, an included transfer takes you to
Pacific Central Station for your rail trip to Jasper. Board
VIA Rail’s
CANADIAN, departing at 5:30 PM traveling east through the Fraser Valley.
The great domeliner follows the Fraser River through the
Fraser Canyon,
passing Hell’s Gate. Dinner in the diner is included this evening. You
overnight in Pullman sleeper accommodations. Popular hotel passengers
enjoy Section berths, with an option to upgrade to Roomettes or Bedrooms.
Deluxe hotel passengers have Roomette or Bedroom accommodations.
Day Two, Monday, Wednesday or Saturday (B)
Yellowhead Pass on the CANADIAN; arrive Jasper. Today
you travel between the Monashee and Caribou mountain ranges, then cross
the Continental Divide over Yellowhead Pass in the shadow of
Mount Robson,
highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. Upon arrival in Jasper, transfer to
your selected Jasper hotel for a comfortable two-night stay. Popular
hotels include the Lobstick Lodge and similar. The Deluxe hotel is the
Fairmont Chateau Jasper Park Lodge.
Day Three, Tuesday, Thursday, or Sunday
 Jasper
National Park and Maligne Lake Cruise. Today’s included coach tour
encompasses outstanding scenery including Old Fort Point and Medicine
Lake. You also visit Maligne Canyon, with its narrow gorge and limestone
walls reaching 150 feet to the swirling waters in the depths of the gorge.
This is the deepest river canyon in Jasper National Park. The drive
continues via the mysteriously disappearing Medicine Lake to
Maligne Lake,
one of the most photographed glacial lakes in the world. Once onboard the
tour boat, enjoy a 90-minute cruise heading toward the south end of this
picture-postcard setting. The lake has a magnificent shoreline, with dense
forests and glacial peaks rising abruptly from the water’s edge. A stop at
Spirit Island allows an opportunity to take your own version of the
world-famous photograph of the lake. The remainder of the day is at
leisure. Please note the Maligne Lake cruise operates only between June 1
and September 30 due to ice conditions on the lake. On other dates, the
Jasper General drive to Pyramid and Patricia Lakes will be included
without a lake cruise.
Day Four, Wednesday, Friday or Monday
 Columbia
Icefields Parkway; SnoCoach on the Athabasca Glacier; drive to Lake
Louise. You enjoy what very possibly is the most scenic mountain drive in
North America today, motoring south on the
Columbia Icefields Parkway.
Enroute, see thundering
Athabasca Falls and cross soaring Sunwapta and Bow
Passes. A highlight is the stop at the
Columbia Icefields, where you board
a unique SnoCoach to venture nearly a mile out onto the ice of the
Athabasca Glacier! You cross into Banff National Park in early afternoon.
An overnight accommodation for one night is included at the Deer Lodge at
Lake Louise, located about a hundred yards from the shoreline for Popular
hotels and at the legendary Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise for Deluxe hotel
participants. Deluxe passengers are accommodated in lake view rooms.
Day Five, Thursday, Saturday or Tuesday
 Drive to Banff via Yoho National Park and Emerald Lake.
This morning you enjoy free time at Lake Louise. Enjoy the gardens of the
Chateau and the matchless vistas of the
Victoria Glacier and the
emerald-green waters of the lake. In early afternoon, motor west across
Kicking Horse Pass into
Yoho National Park in British Columbia. Yoho is
the Cree Indian word for “amazing”, and the scenery certainly meets this
description. You can view the unique Spiral Tunnels on the Canadian
Pacific Railway and pause to admire the glacial green waters of exquisite
Emerald Lake and unique Kicking Horse River Natural Bridge. This evening
we return east to Banff for another relaxing two-night stay. Popular
hotels include the Mount Royal Hotel or similar. Superior hotels are the
Rimrock Resort or the
Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Departures before June
15 and departures on/after October 5 travel directly from Lake Louise to
Banff and do not visit Yoho National Park.
Day Six, Friday, Sunday or Wednesday
 Banff
General Drive; ascent of Sulphur Mountain by Gondola; free time in Banff.
You tour Banff this morning, viewing the unique Hoodoo rock towers,
Bow
River Falls and the great view from Buffalo Mountain. A highlight is the
ascent of Sulphur Mountain on the gondola tramway. The balance of the day
is free to visit the hot springs, the Museum of Natural History, or to
shop or walk the lovely paths through the village.
Day Seven, Saturday, Monday or Thursday
Scenic Drive to Calgary. The tour concludes with a
scenic transfer to Calgary. In the 65 miles from Banff to Calgary you
drive past the “Gates of the Mountains” and out onto the high plains of
Alberta enroute to Calgary International Airport, where the tour ends. We
can book optional extensions in Calgary if you’d like to see the queen
city of Alberta.
It also is possible to return by train from Banff to
Vancouver. See the “Canadian Rockies Explorer Circle Tour” elsewhere in
this catalog for details of this option.
 TOUR
PRICES include all rail and coach fares; meals and sightseeing noted
as included above; on-board narration; transfers from the Vancouver
Airport to the Calgary Airport and at all stops; checked baggage service
on the train; baggage handling; and hotels in the category selected.
Canadian Goods and Services Tax must be added to all prices at the rate
outlined below.
SPECIAL SALE PRICES
ON THIS TOUR!
Book any departure
leaving by August 31, 2008 and save $200 per person in Popular Priced
Hotels, $250 per person in Deluxe Hotels. These discounts are
subtracted from the rates below.
Popular
Hotels
(Main Season,
departures through-October 3)
$2222.00 per
person, double occupancy using Section berths on VIA
$3004.00 single
occupancy, using a Lower Section on VIA
$2471.00 per
person, double occupancy using two Roomettes or a Bedroom on VIA
$3253.00 single
occupancy, using a Roomette on VIA
(Fall Saver
Season, October 5-10)
$1791.00 per
person, double occupancy using Section berths on VIA
$2278.00 single
occupancy, using a Lower Section on VIA
$2040.00 per
person, double occupancy using two Roomettes or a Bedroom on VIA
$2527.00 single
occupancy, using a Roomette on VIA
Deluxe Hotels
(Late Spring
Dates, departures through June 24)
$3349.00 per
person, double occupancy using two Roomettes or a Bedroom on VIA
$4954.00 single
occupancy using a Roomette on VIA
(Main Season,
June 27-October 3)
$3410.00 per
person, double occupancy using two Roomettes or a Bedroom on VIA
$5076.00 single
occupancy using a Roomette on VIA
(Fall Season,
October 5-10)
$2466.00 per
person, double occupancy using two Roomettes or a Bedroom on VIA
$3311.00 single
occupancy using a Roomette on VIA
MANDATORY CANADIAN GOODS AND SERVICES TAX
A 2.5% Canadian Goods and Services Tax must be added to
all rates above and is not subject to rebate under Canadian law.
Conditions and Booking Information (the fine
print)
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