Winter Wonderland what an adventureJust back from this Wonderful Tour and all i can say is before i go on if anybody is contemplating booking this tour please do it, i'm not exaggerating when i say it truly is spectacular and a Winter Wonderland from start to finish, snow a plenty such beautiful scenery and as long as you wrap up with layers and a reasonable coat you'll be fine, the temperatures weren't anywhere near as bad as the week before we went and ranged between -3 to -12 but having said that i was outside on our last morning in Lake Louise taking some final pictures without a coat and i was pretty much fine for the time i was out there
there were around 30 in our group and we all got on about as magically as the occasion one or two quiet ones but they were fine in their own little worlds, our Tour Manager was Patrick Twomey who's expert leadership, knowledge and commentary was second to none knowing this home country land of his like the back of his hand and our coach driver was Mike who was so caring and always at the coach steps to help us on and off and give us pavement advice should it be a little slippy, i must state that we did get stuck in the snow a couple of times when we made photo stops but this was very rare as the conditions changed so quickly and both the TM and Driver worked so hard in getting us out, the first time a passing motorist towed us out, on the second occasion a Tow Truck was called for but all said this still added some adventure and excitement to the occasion and the time lost wasn't the end of the world, just one of those things in this part of the world at this time of year
expect prices to be a little bit higher than the UK, i took in total £350 in Canadian Dollars and that was ample as i still had plenty left come the end of the tour, mind they do add tax on so bear this in mind when you pay for anything, all daily departures from your hotels were set nice and easy at 9am with exception to the final day which was 10am
Banff
we stayed at the Mount Royal Hotel, right in the center of town on Banff Avenue surrounded by spectacular mountains with many restaurants gift shops and bars all along, during our free afternoon i took a walk to the Banff Springs Hotel, Turn left out of hotel walk to the end of Banff Avenue, turn left and follow the signs, around a 20 min walk then follow the river trail back truly spectacular. if you like a drink you'll have plenty of choice here, i found a nice bar just a few doors down to the left of the hotel called Tommy's, down a few steps, happy hour was 3-6 where i also had a bar meal, just across the road if your up to it is a place called Wild Bills where i saw a live band whilst enjoying a couple of beers, another nice pub was the Brew pub which is a little tricky to find as its tucked away in some shopping arcade just to the left of the hotel and across the road
our included morning tour of Banff took us on a spectacular journey giving us wonderful views of the Banff Springs hotel from a vantage view point, the steps were a little icy getting up and down the steps with a wind chill of -11, we later took the Gondola up Sulphur mountain, the views from the top were sensational with various observation decks and boardwalks, after this a nice little stop was made at the Bow Falls / River where we also saw a former telephone box still containing the paw marks of a Bear whom had ripped it apart, finally a stop for lunch was made at a nice little town called Canmore where i enjoyed a home made stew at the JK Bakery, we returned to the hotel around 3
Later this evening we enjoyed an included meal at a local restaurant which was lovely
on our second full day in Banff we visited Lake Minnewanka before heading for our Horse Drawn Sleigh through a magical winter wonderland, the ride was rather gentle and lasted 40 - 45 mins, blankets are available to take with you on the ride followed by Hot Chocolate or Hot Apple which really had a bit of bite to it, i had a cup of each, yums, The morning was finished off with a visit to Banff's natural hot springs which was truly wonderful with snow covered mountains all around you we spent around 20 mins in the water but for those who don't wish to participate you can watch from the cafe inside but it was fun and we returned to the hotel around 12.30 which gave us the afternoon and evening free to enjoy this very picturesque and lovely town
Jasper
on route to Jasper the highlighted stops were at Johnston Canyon and Lake Louise Ski Resort, both magical places for various reasons and the further we went the snowier it just got, wonderful, we really were going into the wilderness, our 2 nights here were spent at the Lobstick Lodge, a beautiful property some 10 - 15 min walk from the center of town but if you don't want to venture into town there are one or two places for Dining near by, we dined at the Whisky Jack Grill just across the road around 3 mins walk
The Optional Maligne Canyon Ice walk was well worth doing and took place in the afternoon, 2 hours of walking heading deep down into the canyon, ice grippers are provided for your footwear though your not really walking on ice, its a little strenuous in places but the guides were very helpful and we were bussed back up where hot drinks were available for those who'd like one, wonderful experience, for those who didn't do the ice walk they had the opportunity to spend time in this lovely town in Jasper before joining us for Marshmallows and mulled wine, toasting our marshmallows over a camp fire before sandwiching them between two chocolate cookies, so yummy and a nice round up of the day
Lake Louise
The Drive up to the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise was just magical, such a winter wonderland with the snow pine trees all around you this really was a sight to behold before this wonderful hotel opens up before you high up in the mountains, such striking detail the moment you enter, Patrick gave us a brief tour of the surroundings of which we may not have come across without his perfect knowledge, Truly stunning hotel and a pleasure to have stayed here right on the frozen lake, some time prior to arrival was spent in the village where we grabbed some sandwiches etc to see us through that first evening/following lunchtime, plenty of dining and drinking options at the hotel, a little pricey as you'd expect though i did dine the one evening at the Alpine Social on the lower ground floor almost next door to Poppys where breakfast was served and was very good, it is too far into the village so eating at the Chateau was the only option
a photographers paradise here with snow capped mountains and pine trees all around you, ice sculptures were all around you, the walkways were well gritted so as long as you took care there was very little chance of slipping or falling, around half the group did the optional Snowshoeing excursion which was fun, mittens and footwear were provided if yours deemed unsuitable before being kitted out with poles and snowshoes which attach to your footwear and we were taken into the forest around the edge of the lake being careful not to fall as getting up certainly wasn't easy, i went over once and brought the lady down in front of me, sorry 😞
getting too close but a few others did go and were helped up, in all it was much fun
That afternoon Patrick took us for a walk hence hike to the far end of the lake before turning to view this magical Chateau from afar in all its glory, some of us wandered a little further into the deeper snowy wilderness before making the long trek back, wonderful, needed a drink after all this so ventured into the ice bar where some of my companions already were and i soon found myself joining them with a Typsie Grizzly drink, ooh jolly nice as light snow fell, strong stuff too
our day was rounded off with a farewell drink around a firepit this evening with the opportunity to roast our own marshmallows once again and a nice finally to our time here at the Lake Louise Chateau
Calgary
before we headed home we made a stop at the Canada Olympic Park before heading Downtown Calgary where we had a couple of hours spare time to shop eat drink and get merry, what you see is what you get in Calgary, its what it is a City with sky scrapers all around you but do wander down to the open air ice rink you can do a lot in 2 hours
and what was pretty much it, each hotel had excellent self service breakfast facilities, LL had an egg station
the airport check in process was nice and easy was so quiet like ours was the only flight out of there so lots of time all very clean and modern and Air Canada were fine also, the flight time from LHR was just short of nine hours, if you need to stop over at LHR, going you shouldn't need to on return, i used the Premier Inn at T4, very easy to get to from T2 using the free train just get your free tickets from the ticket machines at the stations, takes just a few minutes station to station but allow ten mins to walk to PI via covered walkway
hope those contemplating doing this trip have found my review helpful, there are the risk of avalanches but the TM is advised of these in advance or sometimes there may be blasting going on or just avalanche patrol, out TM tells us he's never been stuck in the snow before in all his 25 years work and so we go and get stuck twice over a weekend, all good fun i guess
if anything of note comes to mind later i'll just add, any questions feel free to ask i'll do my best to answer
Regards
Dave :shy:
