Our First-Hand Experience – Rockies Summer Premium Tour

What is the Rockies Summer Premium Tour?

There are plenty of ways to explore the Canadian Rockies, but fitting all the big sights into one trip can involve a lot of planning. The Rockies Summer Premium Tour takes the stress out of organising such a bucket list adventure.

Across five action-packed days, you’ll uncover some of the very best of western Canada. Rather than staying in one resort and heading out on short day trips, you’ll journey through mountain passes and national parks, taking in some of the world’s best-known landscapes along the way. With the scenery constantly changing, every day brings something new.

Starting in Vancouver, you’ll travel through world-renowned wine country before spending two nights in Banff. Along the way, you’ll visit several spectacular alpine lakes, travel the iconic Icefields Parkway and head out onto the Athabasca Glacier, before making your way back towards Vancouver.

Our Content and SEO Executive, Alex, had the opportunity to experience this first-hand for himself. This blog follows his tour day by day, so you can get a realistic sense of what each stage involves.
 

First… A Bit About the Bus

It comes as no surprise that the bus is a big part of the tour, simply because of the distances being covered.

Thankfully, it is comfortable. The seats are padded, there are charging points at every seat, and there is air-conditioning throughout.

A few useful things to know before setting off:

• There is no toilet on board, although regular comfort stops are made each day.
• It is worth keeping a small bag with essentials such as a camera, charger, snacks and sunglasses.
• Larger luggage is stored underneath the bus and cannot be accessed throughout the day.
• The Discover Canada Tours team takes care of the main luggage throughout the trip.

A tour guide also travels with the group for the full journey, sharing stories, local knowledge and insider information about the places being visited and passed through.

The same guests are also travelling together for all five days, so there is plenty of time to get to know people. The group is encouraged to change seats each day, which helps mix things up and gives everyone a different view from the bus.

Day 1 – Vancouver, Wine Country and Salmon Arm

Your first day will see you being picked up bright and early in Vancouver at Canada Place. There is a Starbucks and a Tim Hortons next to the pick-up point, for those needing some early morning caffeine. From here, you will begin your journey into British Columbia's interior. The main scheduled experience for your first day is a wine tasting at Gray Monk Estate Winery, before continuing to Salmon Arm for the night.

Gray Monk Estate Winery

Gray Monk is in Lake Country, part of British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, one of Canada's best-known wine-producing regions. The vineyards are spread across the slopes and valleys around the area's lakes, giving this first part of the journey a very different feel from the mountain scenery that comes later on in the trip.

At each stop, your guide will share some interesting facts and stories about the places you're visiting, which is a lovely way to learn a little more about the area. At the winery, for example, we discovered that it was founded by George and Trudy Heiss back in 1972. The family were among the first in Canada to plant Pinot Gris vines, helping to make it one of the region's best-known wines today.

Your visit includes a wine tasting experience. The exact wines can vary, so it is better to think of this as an introduction to the estate and the wider Okanagan wine region, rather than expecting a fixed tasting menu.

What makes this a useful first stop is the contrast it gives you before the Rockies:

• You are still in vineyard country, rather than high mountain terrain.
• It introduces a completely different side of British Columbia before the scenery changes.
• It’s a great way to get to know your fellow travellers in a beautiful setting.

The winery itself sits above Okanagan Lake with vineyards decorating the property. From this beautiful setting, you will head to Salmon Arm, where you will unwind before a busy second day.

Day 2 – Rogers Pass, Emerald Lake, Lake Louise and Banff

This is where the tour starts to feel properly alpine. You travel through Rogers Pass, visit Emerald Lake and Lake Louise, then finish the day in the heart of Banff.

Travelling through Rogers Pass

Rogers Pass lies in Glacier National Park in British Columbia's Selkirk Mountains. Here, you’ll really notice the change in scenery. Valleys become narrower, the mountains sit closer to the road, and the journey starts to feel much more mountainous than the previous day.

Rather than being a long sightseeing stop in its own right, Rogers Pass is best understood as part of the transition into the mountain landscapes that become the focal point of the rest of the tour.

Emerald Lake

Emerald Lake is your first major lake stop of the tour. It lies in Yoho National Park in British Columbia, surrounded by forest and high mountain peaks.

The lake is known for its unique blue-green colour and enclosed setting, with steep mountains rising all around the water. Even a relatively short visit gives you a strong sense of the scale of the surrounding landscape.

There is a stunning walking trail around the lake, and canoe rental is available for those who wish to add this on.

A few things make Emerald Lake stand out:

• It is in Yoho National Park rather than Banff National Park.
• The setting feels compact, with forest and mountains close around the lake.
• It gives you your first introduction to the glacial-lake scenery that becomes a recurring theme.

Lake Louise

You then continue to Lake Louise in Banff National Park, one of the most recognisable places in the Canadian Rockies.

The lake sits beneath steep mountain slopes, with glaciated terrain at the far end. Its distinctive colour is linked to fine rock particles carried in glacial meltwater, which scatter light and give the lake its milky blue-green appearance. Again, these nuggets of information are told by your guide on the build-up to each stop, and they really help paint the full picture of what it is you are actually seeing.

Whilst here, you can also enjoy a coffee at the world-famous Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. The grounds are quite spectacular, and it’s clear to see why rooms are in such high demand, particularly the lake-facing ones.

Highlights of Lake Louise include:

• The lakeshore and immediate viewpoint area.
• The glacial landscape at the far end of the lake.
• The contrast between the pale water and the darker mountain slopes.

Lake Louise is also one of the busiest visitor areas in Banff National Park, so access is heavily managed. Travelling as part of an organised tour removes some of the planning and transport logistics that independent visitors often have to deal with.

Arriving in Banff

You finish the day in Banff, where you stay for two nights. That two-night stop makes a noticeable difference to the pace of the tour, because you are not packing up immediately the next morning and moving to another town.

Instead, Day 3 stays in the Banff area and gives you more time to explore from several different perspectives and at a more relaxed pace.

Day 3 – Sulphur Mountain, Banff and the Nearby Lakes

Today you will spend the day in and around Banff, with the itinerary including the Banff Gondola, the Sulphur Mountain Boardwalk, a Banff City Tour, Bow Falls, Lake Minnewanka and Two Jack Lake – all very local to where you are based.

Banff Gondola

The Banff Gondola takes you up Sulphur Mountain, rising to roughly 2,281 metres above sea level!

The ride takes around eight minutes, but the value of the experience is really in the change of perspective. At street level in Banff, the mountains rise around you, while from the upper station you can see much more of the wider Bow Valley and the surrounding ranges… the views truly are spectacular.

Sulphur Mountain Boardwalk

Once you reach the top, the itinerary includes time on the Sulphur Mountain Boardwalk. The boardwalk continues along the ridge towards Sanson's Peak and takes you away from the main gondola station, giving you different viewpoints across the mountains and valley below. No matter which way you turn, a breathtaking backdrop awaits.

The main things to expect here are:

• Elevated views over Banff and the Bow Valley.
• A noticeably more exposed alpine environment.
• Changing viewpoints as you move along the boardwalk.
• A much more bird's-eye view of the surrounding mountain ranges.

The environment changes noticeably at this height, with less vegetation and more exposed mountain terrain. It’s one of those experiences where you find yourself taking a deep breath, trying to soak it all in.

Banff City Tour

Back in town, you'll enjoy a guided tour of Banff. What makes Banff so unique is that it's a bustling town located right in the heart of a national park. Hotels, shops and restaurants sit within the beautiful Bow Valley, surrounded by protected mountain scenery. Along the way, you'll also see the famous Banff Springs Hotel, which has welcomed some very notable guests over the years, including King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Marilyn Monroe… to name a few!

Bow Falls

Bow Falls sits just outside central Banff and provides a close-up look at the Bow River.

This is a broad, powerful section of river rather than a very tall waterfall. The water drops over rocky ledges before continuing through the valley, which gives you a useful contrast with the much higher waterfalls you see later in Wells Gray Provincial Park.

Bow Falls is low and wide, while Helmcken Falls on Day 5 is a much larger vertical drop into a canyon. Seeing both during the same tour makes the difference in scale and shape easy to appreciate.

Lake Minnewanka and Two Jack Lake

Later in the day, you head out to Lake Minnewanka. This is a much larger body of water than some of the other lakes on the itinerary, and its setting feels more open, stretching through the surrounding mountain landscape rather than sitting tightly beneath one wall of peaks.

Although the two lakes are close geographically, they have quite different characters. Seeing them together works well because:

• Lake Minnewanka feels broader and more expansive.
• Two Jack Lake has a smaller, more enclosed feel.

Afterwards, you return to Banff Avenue for your second night. It is one of the more varied days of the tour… without requiring a major relocation. You go from a mountain summit to the town centre, then out to waterfalls and lakes, all within the same area.

Day 4 – Moraine Lake, the Icefields Parkway and the Athabasca Glacier

This is the most mountain-focused day of the itinerary.

You start at Moraine Lake*, travel the iconic Icefields Parkway and visit the breathtaking Columbia Icefield, with the Ice Explorer experience taking you directly onto the Athabasca Glacier – truly bucket list stuff. You then continue to Blue River in British Columbia for the night.

Moraine Lake

Moraine Lake lies in the Valley of the Ten Peaks near Lake Louise. It is often mentioned alongside Lake Louise, but the setting is different enough that seeing both is more than worthwhile.

Moraine Lake feels more enclosed, with steep peaks rising closely around the water. The shape of the valley gives it a different atmosphere from the broader setting at Lake Louise.

Access is also more restricted than many visitors expect. Personal vehicles are not permitted on Moraine Lake Road, so visitors reach the lake through authorised shuttles, public transport or licensed commercial operators .

That is useful context if you have ever considered visiting independently. Reaching Moraine Lake now requires some advance planning, whereas on this tour it is simply part of the organised route.

*It should be noted that access to Moraine Lake is seasonal and subject to availability. For this particular tour, our scheduled visit moved from Day 3 to Day 4, due to timings elsewhere on the trip.

The Icefields Parkway

After Moraine Lake, you’ll join the Icefields Parkway, the famous mountain road that links Lake Louise and Jasper.

The Rockies Summer Premium Tour follows part of the route towards the Columbia Icefield, and the drive is just as much a part of the experience as the stops along the way.

Along the way, you’ll pass through some of the Rockies’ most dramatic scenery:

• Wide glacial valleys.
• High mountain peaks.
• Rivers running through the valley floor.
• Bears out in the wild.
• Glaciers and icefields.

As you travel towards the Columbia Icefield, you begin to see more clearly how glaciers have shaped the valleys and mountains around you.

Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre

The Glacier Discovery Centre sits opposite the Athabasca Glacier and acts as the main visitor hub for the Columbia Icefield area. The Columbia Icefield is the largest in the Canadian Rockies and feeds several major glaciers, including the Athabasca Glacier, which you visit as part of the tour.

Meltwater from this area eventually drains towards three different ocean systems: the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic. That gives the location much greater geographical significance than you might realise from simply looking at the ice. Again, this is all explained in much greater detail by your on-board guide!

Ice Explorer Experience

The Ice Explorer Tour takes you directly onto the Athabasca Glacier in a specially designed vehicle that has been purpose built to handle the steep, rugged terrain.

The experience involves travelling from the Discovery Centre area to the glacier access point, boarding the Ice Explorer and crossing steep terrain, before reaching a designated section of glacier. You are then able to step out onto a managed area of the ice and walk on the glacier itself!

A few things are useful to know in advance:

• You are visiting the Athabasca Glacier rather than the whole Columbia Icefield. The glacier flows down from the much larger icefield above.
• The vehicle journey is part of the experience. Ice Explorers are specifically designed to handle the steep terrain and glacier access.
• You cannot wander freely across the glacier. Visitors stay within designated areas because glaciers contain crevasses and other hazards.
• The glacier is retreating. The surrounding landscape includes areas that were previously covered by ice, giving you a visible sense of how its size has changed over time.

After leaving the Columbia Icefield area, you continue towards Blue River in British Columbia.

The landscape begins to change again as you move away from the high alpine environment and back into the more forested backdrops. You will stay in Blue River overnight before beginning the final day of the tour.

Day 5 – Dawson Falls, Helmcken Falls and Mount Robson 

The final day gives you a very different mix of scenery. You visit two waterfalls in Wells Gray Provincial Park, stop at Mount Robson, and then continue back to Vancouver.

Wells Gray Provincial Park

The geology here is different from the glacial scenery that has took centre stage the previous few days. Ancient lava flows and layers of volcanic rock have helped shape the channels and cliffs that the rivers now cut through. Your guide will help point these out as you pass through the forests and volcanic landscapes!

Wells Gray Provincial Park is particularly known for its waterfalls. Your itinerary includes two on the Murtle River: Dawson Falls and Helmcken Falls.

Dawson Falls

Dawson Falls is the lower and broader of the two. The Murtle River spreads across a wide rock shelf before dropping over the falls, creating a waterfall that is roughly 90 metres wide.

The appeal here comes more from the width and force of the water, rather than a huge vertical drop. The falls are reached by a short walk through the forest, making this a super easy sightseeing stop.

Helmcken Falls

Helmcken Falls is very different. Here the Murtle River drops around 140 metres into a deep canyon, creating a much stronger sense of height and scale.

Seeing Dawson Falls first makes the contrast particularly clear:

• Dawson is broad and relatively low.
• Helmcken is much taller and drops into a deep canyon.
• Both are on the same river, but they show two completely different types of waterfalls.

Although they share some similarities, each has its own distinct appeal.

Mount Robson

The next major stop is Mount Robson, which rises to 3,954 metres and is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. The mountain rises sharply above the surrounding valley, which makes its scale especially noticeable when visibility is good.

As with any mountain viewpoint, conditions can affect what you see. The itinerary guarantees the stop, but no tour can guarantee a completely clear view of the summit.

After Mount Robson, you continue back to Vancouver, marking the end of the Rockies Summer Premium Tour. By this point, you have travelled through several different regions, rather than staying within one small part of the Rockies.

Looking Back at the Rockies Summer Premium Tour

The Rockies Summer Premium Tour covers a lot in five days, but the route has a clear progression.

You begin in British Columbia's wine country, move into increasingly mountainous terrain, spend two nights in Banff, travel through the high alpine landscape of the Icefields Parkway and visit the Athabasca Glacier. The final day changes the scenery again, with Wells Gray's waterfalls and Mount Robson, before the journey back to Vancouver.

Across the five days, the tour has taken you through:

• Okanagan wine country.
• Mountain passes and national parks.
• Emerald Lake, Lake Louise and Moraine Lake.
• Banff and Sulphur Mountain.
• The Icefields Parkway and Athabasca Glacier.
• Wells Gray Provincial Park.
• The Mount Robson area.

That range is really what defines the trip and makes the Rockies Summer Premium Tour sit so high on so many peoples bucket lists.

What stands out most is the variety. You are not simply seeing different versions of the same mountain view; the tour moves through vineyards, forested valleys, alpine lakes, mountain towns, glaciers, waterfalls and some of the highest terrain in the Canadian Rockies.

That gives you a much broader sense of western Canada than you would get from staying in Banff alone.

Looking for Even More Inspiration?

Be sure to check out Nicola's blog too:

• Our First-Hand Experience – Canada & Alaska | Blog

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Note: None of the content or information in this article was generated using any form of AI.