Rockies NYE Explorer Tour

It’s an early start this morning. You will need to arrive at Canada Place at 7:45 am for a 8:15 am departure. Please don’t be late as we will not wait for you to arrive. As you leave Metro Vancouver and travel through the Fraser Valley, you will be greeted with some of the most beautiful sights of our coastal rainforest. The area is steeped in history; the history of Simon Fraser, the famous annual salmon runs up the Fraser River and the importance of the river and valley to the logging industry. You will then cross from the coastal mountain range into the Okanagan Valley, Canada’s desert region, famous for its wine and fruit farms. You will stop for lunch in downtown Kelowna, an authentic interior British Columbia town. You will then travel onto your accommodation for the night in downtown Revelstoke. The downtown of Revelstoke is steeped in history. There are a number of fantastic restaurants, including an Indian/German/Asian fusion restaurant. It may not sound appetizing, but trust us when we say this unique combination of flavours will make your taste buds explode!

You will depart Revelstoke and begin the journey to Banff as a final destination of the day. But there is so much to see on the way, you will be blown away. Today is the lake day. Before reaching the first lake, you will travel through the historic Roger’s Pass. From here you will move onto Lake Louise, one of the most famous lakes in the world. And it’s fame is well deserved. The sight of the turquoise lake, complete with a backdrop of a glacier between the valley, is something that you will remember for the rest of your life. You will then travel onto either Emerald Lake or Lake Moraine, depending on the weather conditions. Here you will be able to rent a canoe and see parts of the lake that are inaccessible by foot. Once you have the blues and greens in your system, you will be whisked off to the famous Town of Banff, deep in the heart of the Rockies. You will enjoy a sightseeing tour in the town of Banff – among the highlights are visits to Banff Ave, Bow Falls and Banff Springs Hotel, a site with many tales of ghosts, including the mystery of room 873. You will check into your hotel on Banff Avenue & enjoy free time for dinner and shopping or you can go to the Banff Hot Springs! You also have the option of going up Sulphur Mountain on the Banff Gondola this evening and see the stunning valley surrounding the town in a glow of golden light. This is something that we highly recommend.

After enjoying a continental breakfast at your hotel, you will depart Banff and head up the world-renowned Icefields Parkway. You will stop at your final glacial lake of the tour, Bow Lake. Then one of the highlights of the adventure awaits; the famous Ice Explorer Glacier Tour. Here you will have the chance to walk on the Athabasca Glacier. There is an additional cost for this activity, but you will leave with a fresh perspective on just how fragile our planet is. The adventure then carries onto the town of Jasper, a gem in the Rockies. There will be time to grab a coffee from some fantastic coffee shops and do a little shopping. Then it is time for dinner. This takes place at an authentic cowboy ranch. After dinner, there will be bonfires, and you will learn the art of making the perfect s’more, a Canadian classic. There will also be time for ranch games and even a spot of line dancing. After leaving the ranch, you will check into your deluxe hotel in Valemount for the evening.

So sad, it is the last breakfast of the adventure at your hotel. The first sightseeing stop of the day is at Spahats Falls in Clearwater. This waterfall is an idyllic venue for a photo opportunity. The cut in the mountain that the water has created over millennia is the funnel point for this gushing waterfall as it cascades down into the bowl below. Kamloops awaits after this for a lunch stop. This is another an authentic interior British Columbia town that has a wide variety of food options available. What better way to wash down your lunch with a bit of a wine tasting at the Monte Creek winery. You will return to Vancouver at approximately 7:30 pm.