Calgary Stampede and Alaska Cruise

We'll meet you at the airport and take you to your hotel where a welcome dinner awaits this evening. Stay Two Nights: Delta Hotels Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort, in a Deluxe Water View Room (D)

• Visit The Butchart Gardens for breakfast in the original Butchart residence. You've been granted special access to the gardens before the crowds arrive.

Pay a quick visit to Chemainus before taking your BC Ferries service across Georgia Strait. Pause at Shannon Falls before arriving in Whistler. If you'd rather forgo the journey by land and ferry, take a floatplane flight instead (own expense). Stay: The Westin Whistler Resort & Spa (B)

Wave goodbye to Whistler, travelling past Duffey and Seton lakes, as well as the rural towns of Pemberton and Lillooet, on the way to Kamloops. When you've arrived, you'll have the chance to settle in and become familiar with the inn. Set at the base of rocky cliffs, you'll get a real sense of what it's like to be in the heart of Canada's countryside. Stay: Kamloops, South Thompson Inn (B/D)

• Choose from one of the lodge's restaurants for a delicious dinner.

• Choose which of your hotel's restaurants you'd like to have dinner at this evening.

• Grab your cowboy hat and spurs and get into the swing of things at the annual Calgary Stampede! Starting as an exhibition way back in 1886, the Stampede grew to a live show with performances and events, and known as the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.

Today is spent at the Calgary Stampede. Celebrating Calgary's western heritage and values, the Stampede attracts over one million visitors to the town every year. Some of today's events include bareback-riding and steer-wrestling, as well as chuckwagon racing, stage shows, parades, concerts, agricultural competitions and First Nations exhibitions. (B)

• Choose from one of your hotel's restaurants for dinner this evening.

• Meet a Mountie and listen to tales of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

• Today you may like to take part in the Banff Experience with a visit to the Cave and Basin National Historic Site. Alternatively, board the Banff Gondola, or set off on a heli-flightseeing excursion. Perhaps enjoy a float trip along Bow River or learn to be a Canadian ice hockey player. Otherwise, you might like to spend some time at the Willow Stream Spa.

Board the Rocky Mountaineer and soak up the views from your bi-level glass-dome carriage in GoldLeaf Service. Traverse Kicking Horse Pass and see the engineering marvel of the Spiral Tunnels. Arrive later in Kamloops. Stay: Kamloops, hotel as assigned by Rocky Mountaineer (three-star accommodation) (B/L)

Travel past Hell's Gate and the Coast Mountains, coming to a stop in Vancouver. Stay Two Nights: Vancouver, Fairmont Waterfront Hotel (B/L)

Have you ever seen a city quite like Vancouver? Set off on a guided discovery that will take you to Granville Island where you can wander around the colourful public market. Enjoy the afternoon at your leisure before a special dinner. (B/D)

Board your ship and settle in. Stay Seven Nights: Holland America Line's Koningsdam, in a Verandah Stateroom (B/D)

Spend today on board, gliding past rocky headlands and over the icy waters of the Inside Passage, one of the most picturesque sea lanes in the world. (B/L/D)

Alaska's capital, Juneau, is set at the foot of the mountain peaks on the Gastineau Channel, and outdoor activities are plentiful.

Disembark and explore at leisure or with an optional excursion (own expense). (B/L/D)

Arrive in Skagway, at the Inside Passage's northernmost point. Once a gateway city for the Klondike Gold Rush, Skagway's frontier-style atmosphere remains today, with many of its colourful heritage buildings now protected as part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. Here, a variety of excursions are on offer (own expense). (B/L/D)

You might need to pinch yourself this morning - wake to the World Heritage-listed Glacier Bay National Park. Take in the calving tidewater glaciers and learn from local rangers about the area's geological wonders. If you're lucky, you might spot whales in the wild. Humpbacks and orcas are plentiful in these waters. (B/L/D)

Home to all five kinds of Alaskan salmon, Ketchikan is known as "the salmon capital of the world". Dock here today, on the tranquil shores of the Tongass Narrows, and spend some time exploring as you please. (B/L/D)

Cruise through the Inside Passage, taking in the glory as you near your final port. (B/L/D)

Sadly, it's time for your holiday to come to an end.

Disembark and transfer to the airport. (B)