We had booked a seven day cruise up from Vancouver to Seward, Alaska. Check-in was relatively quick and efficient but you do have to be patient lining up for US Border Control procedures, which for convenience are carried out in Vancouver (the Alaskan US/Canada border is a few hours sail time north from here). So …
Having viewed the Kicking Horse Pass from the Spiral Tunnels Lookout point (see here), we stopped a little later to get a closer look at the river as it thunders through the Natural Bridge another tourist attraction in the Yoho National Park. It’s only a short distance off the Emerald Lake Road, west of Field …
Heading back along the Trans-Canada Highway towards Vancouver we stopped off for a break at the Spiral Tunnels look-out point west of Lake Louise. Now back across the border in British Colombia (clocks go back an hour to Pacific Time) we were retracing some of the journey we had made on the Rocky Mountaineer (see …
Having taken the Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver to Banff (see here), we took the road option for the return journey via the Trans-Canada Highway. The road hugs the side of the rail tracks for quite a bit of the route and winds through some spectacular scenery along the way. Unlike the train journey we were …
Lake Johnson a few kilometres out of Banff was, according to guide books, well worth a visit. A short drive out of town, it has a good walking trail round the lake. As it is at a reasonably low elevation it is usually snow free from April onwards though that wasn’t a consideration for us …
One of the tourist highlights in Banff is to take the Banff Gondola up to the top of Sulphur Mountain to enjoy the spectacular views of Banff, the Bow Valley and the surrounding Rockie mountains afforded from the summit. However any thoughts of stunning vistas and breathtaking scenery were put to one side as Banff …
We arrived in Banff on an extremely hot August day. The heat and prevailing winds had unfortunately fanned the spread of wildfires in a national park to the north west of Lake Louise and the Rockies were blanketed in thick smoke for most of our visit (clearer in the mornings but drawing in more …
One of the highlights of our North American trip was taking the famous Rocky Mountaineer train from Vancouver to Banff. This route is one of the company’s most popular and its name, “First Passage to the West” aptly describes its links with the past. Following in the footsteps (well actually on board a luxury train) …
A montage from Vancouver – a few extra photos that I couldn’t include in my other posts! Overall we found Downtown Vancouver easy to explore by foot. I particularly liked the juxtaposition of the older colonial buildings with the ultra-modern tower blocks. Canada Place Wharf, where all the big cruise ships depart from, …
Somewhat confusingly we stayed in Vancouver on 3 separate occasions on our month long North America trip – the first weekend, a night in the middle (after a sideways trip to the Rockies and Banff) and a night at the end before we flew home. For ease of writing up for the blog I’ve decided …
Le Chic En Rose 