Located in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies where the plains meet the mountains, Calgary is Alberta’s largest city and gateway to the scenic alpine wonders of its mountains, not to mention the boundless recreational opportunities there.

Located on the Trans Canada Highway, Calgary is just 129 kilometers east of Banff, making it just a few hours away by car from the heart of the Canadian Rockies. During the spring, summer and autumn months The Rocky Mountaineer train also connects downtown Calgary to Vancouver via Banff. Served by Canada’s fourth-largest airport, Calgary International, Calgary is the perfect place for your Canadian Rockies vacation or holiday to begin or end.

But Calgary is an excellent vacation destination in its own right. Home to the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, Calgary is more than just a gateway to mountains and winter sports. With an eclectic downtown mix of restaurants, bars, and clubs – not to mention professional hockey and football – and an assortment of hotels and other accommodations, there is plenty to see and do in this Canadian city of 1 million.

While Calgary is a modern city, it hasn’t forgotten its Western roots. It is home to the greatest outdoor show on earth, the Calgary Stampede, held at the beginning of every July. Events include the Rodeo, Chuckwagon Races, and Grandstand Show among others. If you want to attend the Stampede, however, book early, because the city fills up quickly around that time, and rooms are scarce.

All About Whitewater Rafting Calgary

Looking for white water rafting Calgary style? There are plenty of rafting options in the Banff and Canmore areas! Be it for families, bachelor/bachelorette parties or more experienced enthusiasts, we can help you have a lot of fun, Canadian style!

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Golden, British Columbia, is one of the few cities and towns in the Canadian Rockies that isn’t in a national park. But that doesn’t mean Golden doesn’t live up to its name; it’s actually one of the most beautiful places not just in Canada but the entire world, as it is surrounded by the edges of Banff, Glacier, Jasper, Kootenay, Mount Revelstoke, and Yoho national parks.

Like all cities and towns in the Canadian Rockies, the opportunities to get outside and play are limitless. If skiing is your bag, there is Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, located about 20 minutes away from Golden and nestled in the Purcell Mountain Range. In the winter these mountains are covered with “champagne powder” – light, dry snow snow that’s perfect for the technical skiing to be enjoyed here.

It’s also a perfect place in the warmer months for a holiday or vacation getaway; the Kicking Horse Gondola, which is open year around, provides spectacular views. At the top of the gondola’s lift is the Eagle’s Eye Restaurant, located at 2,347 meters, or about 7,700 feet, above sea level – which makes it the highest of any sightseeing gondola in British Columbia. Here you’ll also find the largest Grizzly Bear reserve in the world.

Got adrenaline? During the summer the mountains of Golden also provide world-class mountain biking. In fact for many years the town hosted the longest singletrack downhill mountain bike race in the world. There is also excellent whitewater here; you can take a rafting trip on the Kicking Horse River and pick the adrenaline level of your trip – choose from “ah, this is nice” to “Whoa this is crazy!” Looking for more sedate water fun? Golden is only one beautiful, scenic hour’s drive from Lake Louise. It’s also only 139 kilometers from Banff, just down the Trans Canada Highway.

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This small city in the British Columbia side of the Canadian Rockies is a year-round paradise for outdoor lovers. In winter there are some 2,000 acres of skiing and snowboarding at Fernie Alpine Resort, which many powder lovers consider one of the best in Canada – both for the skiing and the resort. And not to worry if the cross-country trail is more your thing than the downhill: Fernie boasts one of the best winter trail networks in the Rockies, with plenty of cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, not to mention snowmobiling, snow cat skiing – even dog-sled tours.

Best of all, while Fernie resides in the Rockies, it is nestled deep in a mountain valley; its elevation is only 1,010 meters. The surrounding mountains block the prevailing winds, resulting in perfect soft powder in the winter months. And it gets plenty of it. Fernie Alpine Resort reports an annual average snowfall of 875 centimeters (350 inches, or 29 feet) of snow.

The outdoor fun doesn’t stop when the snow melts though. There is fly-fishing, golf, and horseback riding if you’re looking for more relaxing things to do. If you want to crank up the adrenaline, you can tackle the ski trails on a mountain bike, or hop in a river raft or kayak for some water fun.

Between the word-class accommodations and trails, we think you can find plenty enough to do in and around Fernie. But just in case you exhaust all the alternatives, there are plenty of other options for outdoor recreation, scenic beauty, and comfortable accommodations. Most notably there is Glacier National Park to the south, which is just 245 kilometers away across the U.S. border in Montana, while Banff, Alberta is 356 kilometers away to the north.

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Jasper, Canada, may be small, but its roots in the Canadian Rockies – not to mention Canada’s history – run deep. The town has been around since 1813, when fur traders established an outpost here. Located 290 kilometers northwest of Banff, Jasper is a small town that avoids much of the trappings of many resort towns.

But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t draw visitors to enjoy its awe-inspiring scenery and unspoiled, rugged wilderness. Jasper has a permanent population of just 4,200, but during summer time that population can explode to as much as 30,000; millions of people visit Jasper and surrounding Jasper National Park and the Canadian Rockies each year.

Founded in 1907 as Canada’s sixth national park, Jasper National Park is the largest wilderness park in the Canadian Rockies. It is also an integral part of the UNESCO Rocky Mountain World Heritage Site. It is the scenery and wilderness preserved by the park that draw so many visitors to Jasper each year.

Located in the Athabasca River valley at its confluence with the Miette River and surrounded by several mountain ranges, Jasper town typifies all that is best about the Canadian Rockies: natural, unspoiled beauty, boundless opportunities for outdoor sports and recreation, and hotels and accommodations that provide a warm and welcoming place to stay for your adventure holiday or vacation in Canada.

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If you’re looking for a relaxing holiday or vacation getaway to the Canadian Rockies, the town of Kimberly is a wonderful place to stay. The town resides in the Southern part of the mountain range in Canada, and at 1,116 meters in elevation it is the second highest city in the country — Banff being the highest; it’s 268 kilometers away to the north..

But Kimberley enjoys a relatively mild climate for an alpine town; just to the south lies the town of Cranbrook, which gets the most sunshine of any city or town in British Columbia. There are a number of one-of-a-kind shops for you to peruse in Kimberley, and when you’re done shopping there are just as many eateries and restaurants – you can sit down to a meal with the beautiful, scenic Kootenay River Valley and the mountains to the east.

Kimberley also has some unique attractions that you won’t find elsewhere either, such as the Bavarian City Mining Railway, Marysville Falls, Cominco Gardens – not to mention the largest cuckoo clock to be found in Canada. And don’t forget to hit the links while you are here; there are plenty of places to tee up, including Trickle Creek Golf Resort, Bootleg Gap Golf, Kimberley Golf Club.

There are also plenty of the usual opportunities for outdoor recreation in and around Kimberley; during the warmer months there is Kimberley Nature Park and the Kimberley Riverside Campground; during the winter there is Kimberley Alpine Ski Resort.

Summer also means festival season in Kimberley, including the International Old Time Accordion Championship (second week in July), July-Fest (third weekend in July) and the International Music and Dance Festival (Labor Day Weekend).

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If you are into downhill skiing at all – or downhill mountain biking (or both) then you have probably heard of Whistler. This resort town in the British Columbia side of the Canadian Rockies is actually not far from the Pacific Ocean (it’s only 125 kilometers north of Vancouver – or 793 kilometers southwest of Banff), and is only 670 meters in elevation – all of which means it is a bit milder and wetter than many other of Canada’s alpine cities and towns.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of alpine and outdoor recreation in Whistler, however. Set amidst the Blackcomb Mountains, skiers can find the highest lift-serviced vertical slopes and the largest amount of terrain of any ski area in North America. In fact, Whistler Blackcomb ski resort — the official 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games alpine venue — boasts the Peak-2-Peak Gondola which connects both Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains, linking 8,171 acres of terrain into one continuous lift system.

Downhill skiing or snowboarding not your thing? No problem, pick another winter sport or recreational activity: cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, dog sledding, and of course, hockey (this is Canada we’re talking about, after all). In the summertime there is still plenty of alpine and outdoor recreation to be had in Whistler: hiking, cycling, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, whitewater rafting, mountain biking, Whistler golf packages, in-line skating – the list goes on.

Up for something a little bit more leisurely or luxurious? Whistler features more than 200 stores and shops, not to mention spas, hotels, boutique hotels and resorts – whatever you are looking for in your accommodations, you can find it in the city of Whistler. We should also add that Whistler is pedestrian friendly – in fact, it’s pedestrian only! But don’t worry – there is a free shuttle, so getting around town is easy.

Getting to Whistler, British Columbia is also half the fun. In addition to the usual ways, such as driving, scheduled bus, or private tour, you can enjoy the scenic beauty of the Canadian Rockies by train: take the Rocky Mountaineer from Jasper, Alberta, or the Whistler Mountaineer from North Vancouver.

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If you like to mix water sports with your hiking, cycling and other outdoor recreation, than Lake Louise, Alberta, is the place for you. About 61 kilometers northwest of Banff, it is also higher at 1,536 meters, or 5,039 feet. While Banff is the highest incorporated city in Canada, Lake Louise – which is much smaller – is the highest permanent settlement.

Compared to Banff, Lake Louise is nice and quiet and even more laid back, with only a few bars and restaurants to complement several excellent hotels, boutique hotels, and resorts like Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. This just makes it that much better to experience the natural beauty and pristine wilderness of the Canadian Rockies.

Known to the local Stoney Indians as Ho-run-num-nay, the “Lake of the Little Fishes,” Lake Louise lies in a valley close to some of the higher peaks in the Canadian Rockies as well. This makes it a popular with rock climbers and mountaineers; they’ve been coming here to bag peaks for more than a century. In fact one Philip Stanley Abbot earned the dubious distinction of being the first person to die in a climbing accident in North America when he fell during an attempt on nearby Mt. Lefroy in 1896.

Well known among photographers and painters, Lake Louse also offers plenty to see and do for those of us who aren’t mountaineers: there are plenty of short walks, day hikes, backpacking trips, or off-trail scrambles – then of course, there is the Lake itself! Victoria Glacier overlooks Lake Louise, which in summer is a lovely turquoise color: perfect for canoeing. In the winter the lake freezes over and you can ice skate or just marvel at the ice sculptures – natural and man made.

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It may be hard to believe today, but Canmore, Canada, began life in the late 1800s as a small coal-mining town. Actually many small towns sprung up around this time, as railways grew and began to traverse the Canadian Rockies, connecting Eastern Canada with its Western counterpart. While many coal towns have come and gone, Canmore continues to thrive – on tourism. After the 1998 Calgary Winter Olympics, the secret was out; Canmore’s population grew from around 3,000 people to more than 12,000 today.

Like any city or town located in the Canadian Rockies, Canmore is surrounded by unspoiled natural beauty. In fact some of the best hiking in the region can be found just outside of your Canmore hotel or accommodations. Dramatic mountain vistas, pristine rivers, streams, waterfalls and lakes, and abundant wildlife – everything you need for a vacation getaway or holiday in the Rockies. And after your hike there are plenty of pubs and restaurants for you to choose from in downtown Canmore where you can relax and refuel.

Canmore is just 25 kilometers southeast of Banff down the Trans Canada Highway where the town straddles the Bow River. At its highest point the town’s elevation is 1,480 meters, or about 14,856 feet. While Canmore resides in the Bow River valley, it is of course surrounded by peaks, such as The Three Sisters, Mount Lady MacDonald, Mount Lawrence Grassi and Grotto Mountain.

Wondering about the name? The town of Canmore wears its Scottish heritage on its sleeve; the name is taken from Malcolm of Canmore, a Scottish king from 1057 to 1093. The name translates literally as “big head.”

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Located on the southwest coast of British Columbia, Vancouver is the largest city in the province. It’s proximity to the ocean and prevailing winds make for a mild climate that sees a lot more rain than snow.

But Vancouver is one of the most popular cities in North America; Condé Nast Traveler magazine named the city Best City in the Americas in 2004, 2005 and 2006, based on ambiance, friendliness, culture and sites, restaurants, lodging, and shopping.

And don’t forget, this West Canadian city is a gateway to adventures, not the least of which are in Canadian Rockies: Whistler is only a few hours away, while the Rocky Mountaineer train departs to Banff, Jasper and Calgary from downtown Vancouver and from North Vancouver. You can also opt to travel from Vancouver to Whistler by train via the Whistler Mountaineer.

There is also plenty to see and do in Vancouver itself, of course. Near the city center is Stanley Park. This green zone is also home to Vancouver Aquarium, as well as native totem poles and trees that are hundreds of years old. Cycling is also a popular recreation for both residents and visitors alike – you can rent a bicycle to get around town, or even roller blades, if you prefer; the sea wall is a popular spot to do both. While you’re there, don’t forget to take a ferry or seaplane to visit Victoria, British Columbia’s capital city, on Vancouver Island.

Of course, there are plenty of options for accommodations in Vancouver – whether you are looking for simple and easy or luxurious and pampering, you can find a hotel or resort that suits your needs.

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