7-Day Vancouver, Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise, Columbia Icefield, Rocky Mountain Tour

Upon arrival, meet and greet by First Express representative. Guest arriving Vancouver/Seattle airport before 12:00pm will enjoy a complimentary brief city tour in Vancouver/Seattle respectively before transfer back to Vancouver. Check-in at your hotel, evening is at leisure.

In the morning, depart from Vancouver and travel through the scenic Fraser Valley, enter a semi-desert area, and stop at Merritt. After lunch, the tour continues in Kamloops. Visit to the famous ginseng farm and production factory are arranged. You can taste ginseng tea and shop for various ginseng products. Later today, we head to Wells Gray Park, visit the Clear Water Visitor Center, and stay at Valemount overnight.

Today we will travel to Jasper - an alpine town in Canada’s Alberta province is the commercial center of Jasper National Park. After a brief stop the tour will continue to Columbia Icefield (Optional) - this Athabasca Glacier is one of the Canadian Rockies’ most beautiful and fascinating sights, covering some 230 sq. km (89 sq. ml) to a depth of 365 m (1,200 ft. and some 28 km (17 ml) long, draped over the continental divide on a high alpine plateau along the Alberta-BC border. Late afternoon visit to Bowls Lake before heading to Calgary. Arrive and check-in into your hotel, rest of the evening is at leisure.

Depart early morning for Horseshoe Canyon – a region of badlands surrounded by prairie in the province of Alberta. The canyon gets its name from its horseshoe shape, defined by two coulees the flow into the Kneehill Creek, a tributary of the Red Deer River. Continue to Drumhella - the capital world of Dinosaur, visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum (Optional) - since 1985 it has presented the fascinating evolution of dinosaurs through its collection of dozens of skeletons and hundreds of fossils. In late afternoon, we travel to Banff with visit to Bowls Fall before check in to the hotel. Evening is at leisure.

Depart hotel for Moraine Lake - a glacially fed lake in Banff National Park, this beautiful lake nestled in the mountains is best known for its appearance on the back of the Canadian twenty dollar bill. Late morning, visit to the famous Lake Louise also known for its turquoise, glacier-fed lake ringed by high peaks and overlooked by a stately chateau. The tour will continue to Lake Louise Ski Resort for an optional gondola ride. After lunch we will travel through Rogers Pass with stop at “Last Spike”- it signaled the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, driven through under engineer James Ross, and it remains a symbol of national unity in Canada. Late evening arrive Salmon Arm and check into hotel.

After breakfast travel to the City of Kelowna – the seventh largest city in the province of British Columbia, the name Kelowna derives from an Okanagan language term for "grizzly bear". We will pass by Okanagan Lake – where the legendary lake monster Ogopogo said to inhabit these waters. Free wine tasting will be arranged at one of the famous VQA winery in the area. Lunch is enrouted at Merritt before returning to Vancouver in later afternoon.

(A) Vancouver One Day City Tour The Vancouver city tour starts with a visit to the famous Capilano Suspension Bridge Park (Optional). The bridge hanged 70 meters above a river where you may find ancient pine trees, at the same time you can stroll along the Cliff Walk which takes you through rainforest vegetation on a series of unobtrusive cantilevered and suspended walkways jutting out from the granite cliff face above Capilano River to previously unexplored areas of the park. Our next stop is Stanley Park which covers 1,000 acres with forest and numerous totem poles crareed by the First Nations. We will continue to Chinatown and Gastown which is known for its whistling Steam Clock and mix of souvenir shops, indie art galleries and decor stores in Victorian buildings. Next to Gastown is Canada Place, home of Vancouver Convention Center, Pan Pacific Hotel, Vancouver World Trade Center, Cruise Ship Terminal and the virtual flight ride FlyOver Canada (Optional). You will have me to explore the area and visit nearby Vancouver Winter Olympic Park with 2010 Olympic Cauldron. Our last stop is at Queen Elizabeth Park, the highest point in Vancouver where you can have spectacular views of the Park and downtown Vancouver.  (B) Victoria One Day Tour (B.C. Ferries & Butchart Garden admission is included) In the morning tour depart from Tsawwassen with BC Ferries through Strait of Georgia to Vancouver Island. During the voyage you can enjoy beautiful scenery along Georgia Strait Coast. Upon arrival in Vancouver Island we first visit the century old Butchart Gardens. The Garden covers an area of 50 acres with numbers of theme garden planted with all kinds of flowers, begonia kiosks, and Sunken Garden. Sunken Garden is the most exciting district, originally a nest-shaped trap lime quarry converted to a garden covered with colorful flowers and ingenuity set of trees. Other theme gardens are the Concert Lawn, Rose Garden, Three Sturgeon Fountain, Japanese Garden, and Italian Garden. Afterward tour proceeds to the Victoria Chinatown; first stop at the narrowest commercial street in Canada the Fan Tan Alley, for an understanding of the development history of Chinese in Canada. After lunch first visit Old British Style Inner Harbor tourist area, the BC Legislature Building, or the Royal BC Museum (optional), the Centennial Square or the fisherman wharf for the tasty fish & chip or the famous Empress Hotel. Then move on to Beacon Hill Park with a stop at the Mile Zero, the starting point of the TransCanada Highway 1. Return to Vancouver late afternoon by BC Ferries and transfer back to your hotel.  (C) Whistler One Day Tour Tour travels through the Sea-to-Sky Highway winding along the coast line from Horseshoe Bay to Whistler. Enjoy the breathtaking views along Georgia Strait and Sunshine Coast, one side by the sea and the other side by the mountain. The Whistler village is a Swiss-setting alpine village where you can enjoy European style shopping and world class dinning. Take a ride on Peak-2-Peak Gondola (Optional) - a tri-cable gondola lift at Whistler Blackcomb Resort, linking Whistler Mountain's Roundhouse Lodge with Blackcomb Mountain's Rendezvous Lodge. It is the first lift to join the two side-by-side mountains. It held the world record for the longest free span between Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains. Return to Vancouver in late afternoon and transfer back to hotel.  (D) Free Day Tour ends on day 7 after optional tour. Guests pick 1 out of 4 options and afterward will be transferred to Vancouver Airport by free hotel shuttle. For guests with Seattle departure flight, transfer to Seattle Sea Tac Airport is by prearranged coach (additional fees apply). Please skip the options and schedule your Seattle departure flight after 3:30pm.