Hi cjh
You've picked a good trip, I've not been with JY here but have been several times on other trips. Banff is really good and the main street is full of very good shops, hotels, cafes and restraunts. The scenery is fantastic. Lake Louise is an incredible colour, on the trips I've been on we usually stop there long enough for a good walk around, the hotel is very good and makes a great place to wander around if the weather is not too good. Jasper is a smaller version of Banff. The trip between the two is very scenic. Kamloops is a working town and is a good place to stop overnight. Vancouver is a mervelous place, usually you will get a trip around Gastown (look out for the steam clock), Stanley Park with plenty of totem poles and the Lions Gate Bridge. The trip to Victoria is really good. The ferry ride is one of the best. The first half is a straight forward crossing but then you get to the islands and you weave around them and you get surprisingly close to them.
Victoria is a very beautiful place, the town is very pretty and a lovely place to walk around, plenty of places for a good lunch. The harbour is really good, last time I was there I took a few ferry rides in small little boats, one to the fisherman's wharf. Facing the harbour is the very pretty Empress Hotel, it's one of the old railway terminus hotels, like the ones in Banff and Lake Louise. If you want to treat yourself and you have the time a cream tea here is fantastic. On the other side of the harbour is the British Columbia provincial government house, at night the building is covered in tousands of fairy lights. Butchart Gardens is another great place to visit. It was built by a quarry owner's wife I believe. Plenty of beautiful flowers to see whatever season.
