Canadian Adventure including Rocky Mountaineer Journey Through The Clouds

A belated big birthday celebration and third time rebooked, and what an amazing trip this was! We started off with a few nights in beautiful Vancouver, the city is the gateway to the natural beauty of British Columbia – staying here you get to see the best of both worlds, a cosmopolitan busy city plus a host of exploring to do too! If you can incorporate visits to the following - these would be my must see; Capilano Suspension bridge - 140 ft bridge within breath taking scenery/rainforest easily done in a few hours. I would combine this with a visit to Grouse Mountain - which has spectacular views on a clear day of the city, it is also home to two orphaned Grizzly Bears Coola and Grinda!

Hire a bike and Cycle around Stanley Park - it’s a brilliant way to see the sights with over 27km of forest trails and cycle the stunning sea wall. Depending on the time of year - Whale Watching trips is another must do, usually morning and afternoon trips, we were lucky to see humpback on our trip! From Vancouver some will go onto a Cruise to Alaska - we opted for the iconic rail journey of Rocky Mountaineer - Journey Through The Clouds, just one word AMAZING!!

Early early start from Vancouver Rocky Mountaineer station - I had opted for Gold Leaf, which is the upper deck of the carriage and highly recommend this, we travelled through scenic valleys, along the mighty Fraser River, through Hell's Gate, past Pyramid Falls, Mount Robson which is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, included a stop in Kamloops overnight, up again early for our second day onto Jasper, again spectacular scenery with fantastic views from the upper deck.

A quick overnight stop in the pretty town of Jasper, then headed down to our next stop Banff which stopping en route through Icefields Parkway, which is listed as one of the spectacular drives - it is a 232km stretch of double lane winding along the Continental Divide, through the Rocky Mountains, peaks and icefields. The abundance of wildlife along this drive is incredible and I was lucky to see bears! Make sure you stop off at the Columbia Icefield - these glaciers or fields of ice straddle Banff and Jasper National Park and the largest south of the Artic Circle. Alongside the Icefields is the Glacier Sky Walk, a glass floor observation platform 918 feet over Sunwapta Valley - breath taking unless you don't like heights!

Sunwapta Falls and Athabasca Falls are amongst the most breath taking and powerful falls I have seen and well worth visiting on this route. Next stop Banff – my favourite town in Alberta! Quaint shopping and restaurants – it has a lovely vibe about the town, which you can safely cycle or walk around. Take the bus up to the Banff Gondola for the cable car up to Sulphur Mountain, where you can see scenes of six mountain ranges on a clear day, make sure you book in advance a time slot as it can be busy at times! There’s a wonderful restaurant you can enjoy lunch at the top with spectacular views – Northern Lights, amazing food!

Our final part of our Canadian Adventure was a flight over to the East Coast and stayed in Toronto for a few nights, I loved the city – very vibrant and a great way seeing the city is on Hop On Hop Off Bus tour, plus we also took full day trip over to Niagara Falls, another breath taking view of the Falls we experienced on a helicopter and well worth!!

An amazing itinerary and I absolutely love Canada – so if you are thinking of getting away and need my help, do get in touch!