Day 1: Arrive Calgary and head to Lake Louise
For guests spending the previous night in Calgary, an airport transfer from Calgary Int’l Airport to the Sheraton Suites Calgary Eau Claire Hotel is included; pick-up time today is 1:00 PM at the Sheraton Suites Calgary Eau Claire Hotel. Travel to Lake Louise where things get off to a great start at tonight’s welcome reception and dinner.
Meals: Dinner
Day 2: Icefields Parkway, one of the world's great drives
Start an amazing day in the Rockies with an interpretive hike led by a Master Guide who shows you why Lake Louise and environs are truly “superlative.” After lunch, set off along the Icefields Parkway to Jasper National Park. One look around tells you why this stretch of highway is world-famous - there are mountains, glaciers, waterfalls and snowfields as far as you can see... not to mention the moose, deer, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, or bears you might spy along the way! Arrive at your home for the next three nights - an incredible lakefront resort right in the heart of Jasper National Park.
Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Day 3: Hike, bike, canoe... in Jasper National Park
It’s a day of fun, your way, at The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge inside Jasper National Park. Go on a bike ride, hike, take a boat or canoe on the lake, hit some balls on the tennis court or at the driving range - thanks to the Summer Resort Activities Card* Tauck Bridges guests receive; the card is good for the entire time you’re staying in Jasper. Or take advantage of a wide range of optional activities (available at an additional charge) offered by the lodge, such as golf and horseback riding. You’ll have a great opportunity in the late afternoon to talk with a Jasper National Park official about how wildlife is observed and monitored at a Parks Canada presentation on the natural history, legends and lore of Canada’s national parks. Join us for a private outdoor barbecue tonight at your lodge, where the air is fragrant with aspen, fir, spruce and lodgepole pine.
Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Day 4: Explore Maligne Canyon and go river rafting
Check out cascading waterfalls, mysterious potholes, age-old fossils, lush plant life and towering limestone walls as you explore Maligne Canyon in Jasper National Park. One of the most beautiful gorges in the Rockies, it was created about 160 million years ago by churning waters swirling through the Palliser Formation, a layer of limestone once covered by a shallow tropical sea. Gazing at its sheer walls - some plunging more than 150 feet - look for the ripple marks of ancient waves imprinted on the rocks, as well as nesting ravens and rare black swifts. Then take off on a whitewater raft trip* along the glacier-fed Athabasca River, fresh from the Columbia Icefields.
Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Day 5: Ride an Ice Explorer on a glacier
Get set for an amazing day as you travel to the Columbia Icefields; look up, and in the distance you’ll see what look like tiny toy trucks crawling along the ice. They’re actually specially designed Ice Explorer vehicles - and in a few minutes, you’ll be riding in one of them yourself... and climbing up the surface of Athabasca Glacier, across glacial ice that in some places is more than 400 years old! Later, watch for soaring eagles, hawks and grizzlies as you return to the Icefields Parkway. Wind your way between snow-domed peaks and immense hanging glaciers to Banff National Park, where you’ll stay at a “castle in the mountains” - The Fairmont Banff Springs.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Day 6: Cruise, hike, "scavenge" and even bowl in Banff National Park
Fact and fiction, legends and folklore - hear tales of the First Nations people and early explorers during a private cruise on Lake Minnewanka, offering some of the most interesting scenery in the Rockies. Go to the top of Sulphur Mountain aboard the Banff Gondola for amazing views and terrific photographs of six mountain ranges; en route back to town, you’re joined by a real “Mountie” who relates tales of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Think alpine chic, and that’s the town of Banff; there’s something sure to please everyone on an afternoon free to explore Banff as you please - including a fun “scavenger hunt” through the heart of town. We’ve included the Banff Heritage Passport to give you admission to the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies - interpreting the culture as well as the natural and human history of the region - and the Banff Park Museum National Historic Site of Canada. Be sure to check out the world-class Willow Stream Spa, perhaps while other family members are getting in a round of golf. Tonight’s farewell bowling reception, featuring Canadian-style five-pin bowling at the Banff Bowling Center, is a fun way to wrap up an unforgettable family adventure!
Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Day 7: Journey Home
Travel back to Calgary this morning (approx. 80 miles). Tour ends: Calgary International Airport at 10:00 AM. Guests spending additional nights in Calgary will be transferred to the Sheraton Suites Calgary Eau Claire Hotel upon arrival; a transfer from Sheraton Suites Calgary Eau Claire Hotel to Calgary International Airport is included. Allow two hours for check-in.
Meals: Breakfast
