Canada Coast to Coast

Day 1  Vancouver                              
Arrive in Vancouver with your fellow travellers and tour director and transfer to your hotel.                      

Day 2  Vancouver                
Get to know this incredible city, on a full day sightseeing tour. Visit the Gastown quarter before a walk through leafy Stanley Park. Enjoy the mouthwatering food markets of Granville Island. The rest of the day is free to explore independently, and you could head to North Vancouver and find the Capilano Suspension Bridge hanging 450 feet above the forest floor. Alternatively, take the cable car to the top of Grouse Mountain for sweeping views of Vancouver.

Day 3  Vancouver            
Making the most of a full day on the wild Vancouver Island, we make our way by coach early this morning to Tsawwassen for the ferry over to Swartz Bay. Known for its population of black bears, this is Canada's 11th largest island and, while rugged in parts, is also dappled with charming towns and cities. One of its most renowned manmade attractions is Butchart Gardens, where we head on arrival. These beautiful botanical gardens started as Robert Butchart's limestone quarry in 1904 before his wife Jennie spotted the potential to create a wonderful sunken garden. The grounds expanded to include a Japanese garden, an Italian garden and a fragrant rose garden.

After exploring this picturesque haven, we transfer by coach to British Columbia's capital, Victoria. There is free time to explore and get lunch independently. You could visit the Inner Harbour lined with grand buildings including the parliament, Royal BC Museum and Fairmont hotel, or wander the streets of Canada's oldest Chinatown. Later, we sail back to Vancouver where you can dine independently tonight.
       
Day 4  Vancouver to Kamloops      
Our trans-Canadian adventure gets underway today as we leave Vancouver by coach for a scenic journey along stunning valleys, with Canada's grand landscapes laid out before us.
Following the course of the Fraser Valley, we arrive in the historic trading post of Hope surrounded by huge mountains. Here, there is time to grab lunch independently before joining the Coquihalla Highway. Swathes of land blanketed in deep forests pass our windows as we climb through the Cascade Mountains to Sun Peaks.

Day 5  Kamloops to Jasper              
Canada's iconic scenery becomes even more incredible today as we enter the Rocky Mountains. Joining the Yellowhead Highway after breakfast at the hotel, we follow the course of the North Thompson River to the small town of Clearwater. There is time to wander before continuing our journey deep into Canada's wilderness to the jaw-dropping Mount Robson.
With a summit at nearly 13,000ft, this rugged peak is often called the 'King of the Rockies' and its seemingly vertical southern face dominates views from miles around. The varied stratum of rock gives the impression of a road twisting around the mountain - a fact noticed by the indigenous Texqa'kallt people who call it the 'Mountain of the Spiral Road'.

Day 6  Jasper            
A free morning gives you a chance to unwind at our hotel or take a casual stroll around Jasper, admiring its location surrounded by imposing mountains.
Later, we board our coach for a scenic excursion deep into the UNESCO-listed Jasper National Park on a tour of the Maligne River valley. A spectacular showcase of Canada's grandest landscapes, we view craggy and often snow-dusted mountains, plunging waterfalls, hot springs and crystalline lakes.
Visiting the otherworldly Maligne Canyon, we are greeted by year-round beauty as the rushing river squeezes dramatically through a narrow fissure rich with fossils. Continuing from Medicine Lake, we are treated to an array of staggering vistas on the approach to Maligne Lake - the largest glacier-fed body of water in the region. Before returning to Jasper for a free evening, there is plenty of time to admire the azure waters and look out for some of the area's rare wildlife, including mule deer, moose, eagles and ospreys - as well as bears, caribou and wolves.

Days 7-9  The Canadian          
On the morning of day seven, board The Canadian for three nights bound for Toronto. Travel through the towering Rockies, onwards to the central plains of the Prairies and across the scenic lakelands of Northern Ontario. As you enter Ontario admire the countless lakes and forests, while keeping an eye out for bears, moose and elk from the comfort of your seat.                

Day 10  Toronto                    
Our final morning onboard the Canadian begins with breakfast as we travel south towards Toronto. The views change from the mountains and prairies of the past few days to more familiar suburban scenes as we make our way around Lake Simcoe into the Greater Toronto area.

Day 11  Niagara Falls                    
Today is a highlight of our trans-Canadian adventure. On our coach, we are joined by an expert local guide for a full-day trip to the incredible Niagara Falls. Connecting two of the Great Lakes - Erie and Ontario - the Niagara River plunges down three astonishing waterfalls. When we arrive, we set sail on a cruise to get closer to one of the world's most impressive natural sights - with protective ponchos supplied. Marvelling at the American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and the iconic Horseshoe Falls is an unforgettable experience as the clouds of spray and thunderous roar emphasise the awesome majesty of nature. Back on shore, there is time for lunch independently in one of Niagara's restaurants before viewing the falls from above at Table Rock. Continuing our exploration, we reach the whirlpool where the river bursts out of the Niagara Gorge.

Day 12  Toronto to Quebec                  
After a relaxing morning in Toronto, we board the VIA Rail train service to Montreal.
Following the shores of Lake Ontario and the course of the St Lawrence River, we arrive in this UNESCO city of design in the early evening, with a short transfer to our central, four-star hotel. Being in the province of Quebec, Montreal blends French and English-Canadian influences, visible in the street names and elegant architecture. Across the Place du Canada from our hotel, you can find the Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, built in the 19th century. Just beyond here is the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth hotel, where John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their second 'bed-in' for peace in 1969. It was during this two-week stay that Lennon's first solo single, Give Peace a Chance, was written.
     
Days 13-14  Quebec to Halifax              
Immerse yourself in a guided tour through the winding streets of Quebec City, taking in the Citadel and the ‘Plains of Abraham’. Later, visit a local sugar shack where maple syrup is produced and enjoy a short tour and a delicious 3 course lunch. Board VIA Rail’s The Ocean overnight service. The train curves along the St Lawrence River and past Chaluer Bay, arriving in Halifax on day 13.                  

Day 15  Halifax            
There is plenty of time today to continue exploring the varied charms of the city that the local French-speakers call 'La Vieille Capitale', or the 'Old Capital'.
One of its most iconic structures is the fairytale turrets and towers of the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac hotel - the first of the iconic castle-like hotels constructed by Canadian railway companies from 1893. Originally built to attract tourists to the trans-Canadian railways, this revivalist masterpiece is regularly considered to be the most photographed hotel in the world, and it's easy to see why.

Day 16  New Brunswick          
During the night, the VIA Rail Ocean train makes its way along the widening mouth of the St Lawrence River before crossing into New Brunswick near Chaleur Bay. Reaching the Canadian Maritimes in time for breakfast onboard, the scenery changes once again. Windswept shores and shaded coves speckle the coast as the Ocean rumbles onwards. Inland, we push on through spruce forests, crossing the Miramichi River towards Moncton.
Lunch is served as we wind our way closer to our eighth and final of Canada's provinces, Nova Scotia. The terminus of our epic trans-Canadian overland adventure is the city of Halifax on the Atlantic coast. A cultural centre of the Maritimes, Halifax retains many of its historic seafaring traditions.

Day 17  Nova Scotia          
With an expert local guide, we explore 'Canada's Ocean Playground', a historic land of picture-book fishing villages and coves dappled with small bobbing boats and wooded islands.
With Nova Scotia meaning 'New Scotland' in Latin, it is perhaps unsurprising that its capital, Halifax, blends Celtic influences with unmistakable North American style. Our first stop outside Halifax is Peggy's Cove, a tiny settlement of colourful buildings on a headland dotted with wave-battered boulders. Keeping seafarers safe for more than a century is Peggy's Cove Lighthouse, reputedly Canada's most photographed lighthouse. There are also many traditional inukshuks here - age-old rock structures used to navigate the frozen north.
A scenic drive leads us to Mahone Bay, a village adorned with rustic Gothic revival buildings. The UNESCO-listed harbour town of Lunenburg is our next destination. Here, the splash of colour provided by waterfront houses along Bluenose Drive - Bluenosers being an old nickname for Nova Scotians - is reflected in the tranquil waters.

Days 18-19  Fly to the UK                
Enjoy the morning at leisure in Halifax on day 18. Perhaps head to Point Pleasant Park, visit the historic Alexander Keith’s brewery for a locally produced pint before sampling a local delicacy of lobster for lunch. Later, transfer to the airport for your flight back to the UK.