Very exciting, but early, start to the day as we boarded the Rocky Mountaineer for the first leg of our trip – Jasper to Kamloops.

Boarding was quick and easy and the long journey through fabulous scenery began.

Breakfast and lunch were provided plus constant drinks and snacks.

The journey took nine and a half hours (during which we changed from Mountain time to Pacific time) which passed quickly as we relaxed, ate, drank and looked out for wildlife. Alerts were called out when animals were spotted. We passed bears, deer and a bald eagle in a huge nest. Unfortunately Andy and I didn’t see the bears. Maybe tomorrow!

Today we left Banff to drive 140 miles through Banff and Jasper National Parks on the Icefields Parkway ‘one of the world’s most scenic drives’.

The scenery was amazing throughout the route. Our first stop was at Bow Lake.

We drove on past beautiful lakes, mountains and forests ……

to the Athabasca Glacier, one of 6 glaciers that flow from the Icefields. We rode the Snow Coach to the glacier and were able to walk on it! It was very windy, cold and snowing but exhilarating!

Our next stop was the Athabasca Falls.

We drove on to Jasper, seeing elk on the roadside along with evidence of a devastating forest fire that hit the area in 2024.

After a night in the Forest Park Hotel we will board the Rocky Mountaineer tomorrow!

Today was a free day and our last day in Banff so after breakfast in the hotel next door, we got the bus with our free tickets, to Banff Gondola.

The eight minute trip took us up to the summit of Sulphur Mountain.

The 360° views at the top show 6 mountain ranges, with an amazing view of the town of Banff nestled between them.

Andy followed the boardwalk up Sanson’s Peak.

Many wild animals live in the area but we only saw goats.

We spent a couple of hours at the summit enjoying the views and the fresh air before setting off back down.

We had lunch in town and visited Central Park, finishing off our day with a circular bus trip.

Off to Grizzly’s tonight for some steak!

Today we set off in our comfortable, brand new coach, with our friendly driver, Cal, to have a tour of the area around Banff.

First we visited Bow Falls,

followed by a scenic drive to Lake Louise.

Lake Louise is well known for its beautiful turquoise waters …….

but not when it is still frozen! Andy is standing on the lake.

At our lunch stop I saw a pika, a small, mountain dwelling mammal found in North America.

We travelled on to Emerald Lake which lived up to its name. Here we were above the snow line and it started snowing while we were there.

Our last stop was the Natural bridge where the swirling waters have created a stone bridge.

The scenery was amazing it was a great day. On the way back members of the group saw two bears, an elk and several deer.

Free day tomorrow.

We left Heathrow at about 10.45am.

It was a nine hour flight. Amazing views over Greenland.

We landed in Calgary at 12.10pm local time. Calgary is seven hours behind UK

We hopped on our coach for our drive along the Trans-Canadian Highway to Banff, very excited to see the mountains get closer and closer.

Banff is a lovely town surrounded by mountains.

We got the shuttle bus from our hotel (on the left) to the town and had tacos.

More stunning scenery from Banff tomorrow.