Canada Rockies & Cities

Canada: history

Quebec City was founded in 1608 by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain. Its walled old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Canada became a country in 1867, and the railway linking its two coasts was finished in 1885.

Banff, Canada's first national park, was created that same year after railway workers found hot springs in the mountains. The Rocky Mountain parks are also a World Heritage site. Jasper has reopened to visitors after the wildfire of 2024.

Canada: tourist attractions

• Lake Louise & Moraine LakeTwo blue-green lakes below the glaciers. Moraine Lake is reached by shuttle and is open from about June to mid-October.
• Banff GondolaA cable car up Sulphur Mountain.
• Icefields ParkwayOne of the great mountain drives of the world, between Banff and Jasper.
• Columbia IcefieldA ride onto the Athabasca Glacier and a glass-floored skywalk.
• JasperMaligne Lake and a boat trip to Spirit Island.
• VancouverStanley Park, Granville Island and the Capilano Suspension Bridge.
• Old QuebecThe Château Frontenac hotel and cobbled streets.
• Montmorency FallsA waterfall near Quebec City that is taller than Niagara.

Canada: excursions nearby

• Yoho National Park about 40 km from Lake LouiseEmerald Lake and Takakkaw Falls.
• Whistler about 120 km from VancouverThe Sea-to-Sky Highway and a gondola between two peaks.
• Victoria by ferry from VancouverThe Butchart Gardens and a pretty harbour.
• Montreal about 250 km from Quebec CityThe old port and Mount Royal.
• Niagara Falls & Toronto a short flight from QuebecAn easy addition to the eastern part of the trip.

Distances are approximate. Tell us which excursions you want and we add them to your quote.