Calgary Stampede

We'll meet you at the airport and transfer you to your hotel where a welcome dinner awaits later in the 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, so use this time to explore the floral gardens in serenity.

Pay a quick visit to Chemainus before taking your BC Ferries service across Georgia Strait. Take 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 is 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, which includes a visit to the Cave and Basin National Historic Site. Alternatively, board the Banff Gondola, or set off on a heli-sightseeing excursion. Perhaps enjoy a float trip along Bow River or learn how 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 the 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? Wonderfully picturesque, set off on a guided discovery, including a visit to Granville Island where you can wander around the colourful public market. Enjoy the afternoon at your leisure before a special dinner. (B/D)

Your journey comes to an end today. (B)