The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
OH, CANADA THE CONNOISSEUR’S GUIDE
WATERTON LAKES
NATIONAL PARK
It’s hard to resist Banff National Park, the Canadian Rockies’ great centrepiece, and even harder to resist Lake Louise and nearby Moraine Lake, two of the park’s scenic highlights. But to say these are busy spots is an understatement. As an alternative – or addon – to Banff and its over-famous lakes, head 165 miles south of Calgary to Waterton Lakes National Park (pc. gc.ca), the least-known of the Rockies’ parks. The eponymous lake is a beauty, and charming little Waterton (mywaterton.ca) a superb base from which to explore the park. Wildlife proliferates – drive the Red Rock Parkway for viewing – and there is plenty to do, including a host of half-day and day hikes, with the walk to Bertha Lake a standout.
Travelbag (020 7001 4112; travelbag. co.uk) can tailor-make western Canada itineraries, including Waterton Lakes National Park. A 10-night trip, including four nights at the Waterton Lakes Lodge Resort (watertonlakes lodge.com), costs from £1,759, based on travel in September 2022. The price includes return flight to Calgary, car hire and room-only accommodation
THE KOOTENAYS
Not an alternative to the Rockies perhaps, but certainly a complement, the Kootenays (kootenayrockies.com) occupy British Columbia’s southeast corner – a magical and lightly visited region of mountains, lakes and the picture-perfect wooden houses and flower-filled gardens of villages such as Nakusp, Kaslo and New Denver. Nelson (nelsonkootenaylake.com), with its vibrant arts scene and 350-plus heritage buildings, makes an excellent regional base. There is plenty to keep you busy – though you will need a car – not least visits to Sandon (sandonmuseum.com), one of five ghost towns in the region, a legacy of the area’s rich silver mining heritage.
Bon Voyage (0800 316 3012; bon-voyage. co.uk) is one of only a handful of UK operators with accommodation options in the Kootenays, including the Explorers in downtown Nelson, the waterfront Prestige Lake Resort, and the Three Bars Ranch in Ta Ta Creek if you want to include horse riding on your trip. Ask Bon Voyage to organise three to five days here as part of a longer tailor-made trip bookended by the Rockies and onward travel to Vancouver via the Fraser Canyon
THE SKEENA
A trip through the Canadian Rockies by train is one of the world’s most iconic rail journeys. Strange, then, that most travellers consider only the private Rocky Mountaineer or state-operated VIA Rail trip, unaware that there is a third Rockies rail option: the Skeena, which runs over two days between Jasper and Prince Rupert via Prince George. You get a day’s worth of the Rockies, including majestic views of
Mount Robson, the Rockies’ highest point (something you don’t get on the other trips), and the considerable bonus of a ride along the magnificent Skeena Valley as it carves through British Columbia’s Coast Mountains.
The Skeena (viarail.ca) runs May to October, from Can$154 (£96) per person one-way. Accommodation in Prince George is not included. First Class Holidays (0161 888 5630; fcholidays.co. uk) offers an inclusive rail-hotel package from £109 per person but tailor-made operators such as Audley Travel (01993 460608; audleytravel. com) can package the Skeena as part of a longer itinerary, with superb onward options such as trips to the remote Haida Gwaii islands (gohaidagwaii.ca) and Inside Passage ferries (bcferries.ca) to Vancouver Island
THE CANADIAN ARCTIC
Churchill is known as the polar bear capital of the world, which is fine, except that you are often sharing your wildlife-watching with an awful lot of other people. The answer? Get further off the beaten track, further north, to Pond Inlet, Nunavut (travelnunavut.ca). Travelling here is costly, but the rewards are extraordinary: not just polar bears, but narwhal, bowhead and beluga whales and countless seabirds and other marine mammals. And, unlike Churchill, you can enjoy the ethereal landscapes of Canada’s Arctic
North – one of the great last frontiers – and gain first-hand insights into the Inuit way of life.
Frontier Canada (020 8776 8709; frontier-canada.co.uk) offers an eight-night Baffin Island – Narwhals & Polar Bears trip based in Pond Inlet from £7,625 per person, including return flights via Ottawa, full board and a mixture of hotels and “comfortable” camping. It can tailormake other Arctic itineraries or include visits as part of a broader Canadian trip. Independent travellers should contact Arctic Kingdom (00 1 888 737 6818; arctickingdom.com), which can organise everything from wildlife tours to scuba diving beneath the Arctic ice
CAMPERVAN TO THE YUKON
Western Canada is tailor-made for travel by campervan, or RV, but with facilities few and far between, and with lots of RVs on the road in the popular areas, sourcing vehicles and summer berths can be a problem. Head north instead on the Alaska Highway (themilepost.com), one of the continent’s great road trips and a wonderful window on some superlative wilderness. Pause in Whitehorse (yukontourism. com), Yukon’s capital, then continue to Dawson City (dawsoncity.ca), the atmospheric former capital of the Klondike Gold Rush. Even better, drive some of the Dempster Highway (dempsterhighway.com), the only public road in North America to cross the Arctic Circle. Canadian Affair (020 3424 9664; canadianaffair.com) offers the 15-night Yukon’s Klondike Kluane Loop
RV trip from £1,995 per person, including international and regional flights in and out of Whitehorse (via Vancouver), two nights’ hotel accommodation in Whitehorse and 14 nights’ RV hire with insurance and an allowance of 1,243 miles.
It can also tailor-make other RV trips in British Columbia, Yukon and western Canada
NEWFOUNDLAND
Newfoundland (newfoundlandlabrador.com) is a world apart, but a world of manageable size and extraordinary variety. Better still, it rarely seems busy or crowded. You could easily spend two weeks here, or combine a week’s fly-drive with time exploring the Maritime Provinces. Follow the 326-mile Viking Trail (vikingtrail.org), one of Canada’s newest road trips, and explore the mountains of Gros Morne National Park (pc.gc.ca). Visit the wild Burin coastline, go whale-watching at Bay Bulls, see the remarkable bird colonies at Cape St Mary’s, hike the East Coast Trail (eastcoasttrail.com), admire summer icebergs, and allow two days to enjoy the briny charm of St John’s (destinationstjohns.com), the island’s capital.
North America Travel Service (0333
323 9099; northamericatravelservice. co.uk) can tailor-make Newfoundland itineraries but also offers several off-the-shelf trips, including the 16-day Newfoundland Explorer round-trip from St John’s from £4,898 for travel in September, or the more focused 11-day Wonders of Western Newfoundland trip from £2,453, with more time in Gros Morne. Both prices are per person and include car hire, flights and room-only accommodation