Pine forest and misty mountains in the Canadian Rockies

Rockies · Canada

Canada

Glacier Lakes & Mountain Rail

Best time
June to September
Location
Canadian Rockies

About Canada

The Canadian Rockies are four contiguous national parks — Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay — covering an area the size of Switzerland, with one road through the middle of them. That road, the Icefields Parkway, runs 232 km past more than a hundred visible glaciers, and it is arguably the finest drive anywhere. The lakes are turquoise for the same reason Tekapo's are: glacial flour in suspension, brightest in July when the melt is at its peak. Getting there is half of it too, since the Rocky Mountaineer still runs in daylight only through the Fraser canyon so that nobody sleeps through the good part. June to September is the window; the parkway is open all year but the side roads and gondolas are not.

Good to know

Flight time
14h 30m direct from Delhi to Vancouver
Currency
Canadian Dollar (CAD)
Language
English; French in Québec
Visa
Visitor visa with biometrics, apply 6 – 8 weeks ahead

What you'll do

The four we'd book first

  1. Moraine Lake at six

    Ten glaciated peaks around a lake the colour of copper sulphate, reached by shuttle now that private cars are barred, and worth the alarm.

  2. The Athabasca glacier

    A tongue of the Columbia Icefield you can walk on, 300 m thick, and retreating fast enough that the markers are moved every year.

  3. Grizzlies from the gondola

    Kicking Horse and Lake Louise both run summer gondolas over open avalanche slopes, which is where the bears feed in the evening.

  4. Two days on the Rocky Mountaineer

    Daylight running only, a glass dome over your head, and the Fraser canyon's Hell's Gate narrows below the track.

Curated itineraries

Canada packages

Lake Louise before the coaches arrive, the Icefields Parkway driven end to end, and two daylight days on the Rocky Mountaineer through the Fraser canyon.

*Per person on twin sharing. Prices move with season and availability — we confirm yours in writing before anything is booked.

Still deciding

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