The First Passage to the West route runs only in daylight: from Vancouver through the Fraser Canyon to an overnight in Kamloops, then over the Spiral Tunnels and Kicking Horse Pass into Banff. Pair it with Vancouver at the start and Lake Louise and Moraine Lake at the end; trains run April to October.
Train journey route for your dates
5 days from Sat, Dec 5.
- Days 1–2 Vancouver
- Day 3 Rocky Mountaineer: Vancouver to Kamloops · a day on the trainTrain from Vancouver to Rocky Mountaineer: Vancouver to Kamloops (about 9 hours)
- Day 4 Rocky Mountaineer: Kamloops to Banff · a day on the trainTrain from Rocky Mountaineer: Vancouver to Kamloops to Rocky Mountaineer: Kamloops to Banff (about 9 hours)
- Day 5 Banff & Lake Louise
Good to know
- Book a year ahead for June to September; the train sells out.
- Moraine Lake is reached by shuttle only; book Parks Canada or a private bus ahead.
- Fly home from Calgary, about 90 minutes from Banff.
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Places the planner can use
Mark places as a must or something to skip. The itinerary is built only from this list; ★ marks the destination’s highlights.
A 10km paved path circling a rainforest peninsula, past totem poles, beaches and the Lions Gate Bridge — rent a bike at the entrance.
Covered market of local produce, seafood counters and craft stalls under the Granville Street Bridge, with buskers outside.
A swaying 137-metre bridge 70 metres above a canyon, plus a treetop walkway through old-growth cedar and fir.
Ride the Skyride gondola for city views, or hike the punishing Grouse Grind if you're fit — grizzly bear habitat sits near the top.
Cobblestone blocks of the city's oldest neighbourhood, now filled with design shops, bars and the touristy but photogenic steam clock.
World-class collection of Northwest Coast Indigenous art, including Bill Reid's cedar carvings, in an Arthur Erickson-designed building over the water.
Vancouver's Cantonese food scene rivals Hong Kong's — a short SkyTrain ride to Richmond's malls for the city's best dim sum.
Sail-shaped convention centre and cruise terminal with a promenade looking out over Burrard Inlet to the North Shore mountains.
Glacier-fed turquoise lake below the Victoria Glacier — arrive before 7am in summer or take the shuttle, since the parking lot fills by dawn.
Even more striking than Lake Louise and harder to reach — private cars are banned in season, so book the shuttle ahead.
Eight-minute gondola ride to a boardwalk summit with views over the Bow Valley and six mountain ranges.
Mineral pool at 27–40°C with a mountain backdrop — the historic reason the town exists at all.
Suspended catwalks along a limestone canyon to the Lower and Upper Falls; go early or in winter for the ice-walk version.
A Scottish-baronial 'castle in the Rockies' from 1888 — walk the grounds or have a drink even if you're not staying.
Rent a canoe to paddle out onto the glacial lake, or a calmer float down the Bow River through town.
Three interlinked resorts share a lift ticket in winter, with terrain for beginners through double-black bowls.
Slower, quieter alternative to the Trans-Canada Highway, good for spotting elk, bighorn sheep and the occasional bear from the car.
The town's main strip has everything from poutine counters to elk burgers and a proper Alberta steakhouse.
Small museum on mountaineering history and Indigenous culture in the Bow Valley — a good rainy-afternoon option.
One of the world's most scenic drives, past glaciers and waterfalls, to a walk onto the Athabasca Glacier itself.