Victoria, Vancouver & Alaska Highlights

Day 1 - Fly UK to Vancouver

On arrival at Vancouver you will be transfered to Victoria by Coach (ferry included).

Day 2 - Victoria - Butchart Gardens

Today you have a visit to Butchart Gardens included. Pick up the shuttle bus from Victoria downtown. From Victoria’s Inner Harbour, we take you to the Butchart Gardens, named a National Historic Site of Canada in 2004, the 100th birthday of the gardens. 22 Hectares (55 acres) of breathtaking gardens on the 53 hectare (130 acre) estate are visited by more than a million people each year. The gardens are glorious any time of year.

Day 3 - Victoria - Whale Watching Cruise

This coastal excursion is an exhilarating round trip of 50 to 80 kilometres in search of Orcas, minke whales, grey whales, porpoises, harbour seals and other marine wildlife. You will ride aboard a comfortable covered vessel or a custom-built zodiac boat that offers high speed with extraordinary stability giving you an exhilarating, safe and intimate whale watching experience.

Day 4 - Victoria to Vancouver

Coach and ferry transfer from Victoria to Vancouver. The ferry is a relaxing scenic journey passed the Gulf Islands, be sure to go out on deck for plenty photo opportunities. Check into your hotel in Vancouver and have your afternoon and/or evening at leisure

Day 5 - Vancouver Sighsteeing

We have included a one day Hop on Hop off sightseeing bus to take you around Vancouver. Choose to Hop-Off at any of the 20 plus stops, and Hop-On again to continue the tour. Highlights of the route include English Bay, Stanley Park, Granville Island, Gastown, Chinatown, Robson Street, and the Entertainment District.

Day 6 - Vancouver Sightseeing

Spend your second day in Vancouver taking in the sights at your leisure. Be sure to catch a sunset at English Bay, and the false creek ferry to Granville Island. Hire a bicycle, take a train or horse and carriage ride around Stanley Park. Also make sure you take a stroll along the harbour front.

Day 7 - Vancouver - Day Trip to Whistler with Sea to Sky Gondola

Traverse from the scenic coastline of Howe Sound fjord to the lush forested peaks of the Coast Mountains. This escape from the city is an ideal way to experience the natural wonders surrounding Vancouver and Whistler. Gaze out over ever-changing landscapes surrounding the Sea to Sky Highway, with a scenic stop at the 335 metre Shannon Falls. Our next stop is the awe-inspiring Sea to Sky Gondola. After an exciting 10-minute ride to the top of Habrich Ridge, your views change dramatically, rising above the towering canopy of a coastal rainforest and upward above Howe Sound and the neighbouring mountains. Along the way, pass by the quaint town of Squamish. Considered an outdoor paradise, for climbers and backcountry adventurers. Squamish is perfectly positioned at the most north easterly point of the Howe Sound, offering astonishing views of the mountains and water. Continue the journey to Whistler with views of Tantalus Glacier greet passengers en route to Whistler. This pedestrian village is located at the base of world-famous Whistler-Blackcomb Mountains. This world famous ski resort also hosted many 2010 Olympic outdoor sporting events. Spend an afternoon exploring eclectic downtown shops and cafes, hiking along nature trails, or relaxing and breathing in the fresh mountain air. Returning to Vancouver, mountains give way to ocean as the coach winds downwards from towering peaks through rugged coastline, to metropolitan cityscapes.

Highlights: Sea to Sky Highway, Shannon Falls Park, Sea to Sky Gondola (admission included), Tantalus Glacier Range, Whistler Village.

Day 8 - Board Holland America Lines Nieuw Amsterdam

Morning at leisure in Vancouver. Board your Alaska Cruise approx 1pm.

Day 9 - Scenic Cruising the Inside Passage

The fabled Inside Passage is one of the most scenic sea-lanes in the world, and one of the few where deep-draft vessels can sail close to steep mountain walls. The scenery is unbelievable, with forests in a hundred shades of green, tumbling turquoise glaciers, and evocative towns loaded with history, culture and adventure. With most of Southeast Alaska accessible only by boat or plane, the Inside Passage is a lifeline to the outside world. All day long it hums with activity.

Day 10 - Tracy Arm & Juneau

Nestled between 3,000-foot high granite walls, the narrow, twisting slice of ocean called Tracy Arm Fjord weaves through the Tongass National Forest for roughly 35 miles. The shoreline is spotted with waterfalls created by melting snowcaps and trees sprouting at odd angles from rocky outcroppings. The dramatic Sawyer Glaciers at the end of Tracy Arm are framed by mountains on either side, and are often bathed in a light mist that amplifies the blue hue of the ice. The glaciers also are home to black and brown bears, wolves, deer and moose, and seals and whales make their home in the fjord’s icy waters.

No roads lead to Juneau, which gives the Alaskan capital a misty inscrutability. You need to come by air or water, but when you arrive, the place will delight you with its bounty of water, forests, and mountains. Squeezed between the Gastineau Channel and Coast Mountains, Juneau offers a lot of variety in close proximity. The massive Mendenhall Glacier and the immense Juneau Icefields are at its back door. The vast Tongass National Forest stretches away to the northeast. You can shop downtown or get out and kayak, dogsled, raft, hike, whale watch or fish. The adventures are as bountiful as the daylight

Day 11 - Skagway

Some of the aspiring Klondike gold rushers who made it to Skagway took a look at the 500-mile journey that still lay ahead of them and decided a change of profession was in order. So many of them set up shop as provisioners that Skagway was the largest city in Alaska by the end of the 19th century. Booms fade and dreams move on, but the glory days still reverberate through the town. Ride the antique White Pass & Yukon narrow-gauge railway, step into the Red Onion Saloon or peruse the restored buildings and wooden boardwalks of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.

Day 12 - Glacier Bay

If you didn't know any better, you'd think Glacier Bay ostentatious for the way it flaunts its ice. The glaciers practically terminate in your lap. A cruise to Glacier Bay National Park with Holland America Line will show you a UNESCO World Heritage Site that protects a unique ecosystem of plants and animals living in concert with an ever-changing glacial landscape. When a monumental chunk of ice splits off a glacier and thunders into the sea the impact shoots water hundreds of feet into the air. You hold your breath as you catch the moment on film. Then you wait for it all to happen again. And it does: Glacier Bay has more actively calving tidewater glaciers than anyplace else in the world.

Day 13 - Ketchikan

Ketchikan clutches the shores of the Tongass Narrows, with many shops and houses built right out over the water. The stairways are weathered and the vibe is cheerful in the town that calls itself the Salmon Capital of the World. Besides the main attractions – Creek Street, the Tongass Historical Museum, Totem Bight State Park and Saxman Village. These deepwater fjords were gouged out by retreating glaciers, leaving granite cliffs towering thousands of feet above the sea and countless waterfalls plunging into placid waters.

Day 14 - Scenic Cruising the Inside Passage

The fabled Inside Passage is one of the most scenic sea-lanes in the world, and one of the few where deep-draft vessels can sail close to steep mountain walls. The scenery is unbelievable, with forests in a hundred shades of green, tumbling turquoise glaciers, and evocative towns loaded with history, culture and adventure. With most of Southeast Alaska accessible only by boat or plane, the Inside Passage is a lifeline to the outside world. All day long it hums with activity.

Day 15 - Fly Vancouver to the UK

Disembark your cruise and head to Vancouver Airport for your overnight flight back to the UK