Soar high in Alberta, Canada
From snow-capped mountain panoramas to vivid alpine lakes, this incredible landscape is best seen from thousands of metres in the air.
They don’t call it a “journey through the clouds” for nothing. Canada’s iconic Rocky Mountaineer (rockymountaineer. com) is train travel taken to new heights. The two-day rail trip winds through the heart-poundingly beautiful landscape of the Rockies, passing by places so rugged and remote that they remain inaccessible to cars. A feat of 19th-century engineering, it crosses the Continental Divide, one of the highest points in North America, and comes tantalisingly close to the Rockies’ highest peak, the cloud-grazing Mount Robson. It’s a spectacular introduction to the wild-west province of Alberta. This is the Canada of popular imagination: dramatic snow-covered peaks, dense fir forest, turquoise glacial lakes and character-filled mountain towns such as Banff and Jasper. The wildlife for which Canada is famous thrives in these parts. There’s a good chance of seeing moose and bears, along with wolves and hardy mountain goats. But take your cue from the bald eagle, a common yet arresting sight soaring overhead, and seize your chance for a bird’s-eye view of the landscape from the Banff Gondola (banffjaspercollection.com). Rising 700 metres to the top of Sulphur Mountain, the enclosed cable car offers a panoramic look at the Bow Valley, Cascade Mountain and the glacier-fed Lake Minnewanka. It reaches its crescendo at a 360-degree rooftop observation deck and ridge-top boardwalk, which overlooks the pretty town of Banff far below. Fancy getting even higher? Board a helicopter for an aerial sightseeing tour of the mountains with local experts Rockies Heli Canada (rockiesheli.com). This is your opportunity to fly over the deep freeze of the Columbia Icefield, the largest in the Rocky Mountains; take in incredible views of waterfalls and lakes; and buzz over Cline Pass at almost 3000 metres. Another iconic image of Canada, Lake Louise is considered the highlight