Introduction
INTRODUCTION
This customized up to 9 days journey begins in Calgary. Entire Canadian Rockies , their Eastern Slopes Foothills and Prairies landscapes will transport you to another time and place. From prehistoric fossil beds and rocky canyons to coal mining ghost towns and cowboy hangouts, there’s plenty to discover in these unique areas.
Southern Rockies are one of Canada’s best-kept secrets. An absence of crowds makes the views, experiences, and journeys that much more special. Here you will have a chance to get connected with native culture, and nature and enjoy the sights— there’s nobody else in line.
On your way to Banff National Park, you will acquaint yourself with Alberta’s Wild West and the rolling hills and admire the Canadian Rocky Mountains Eastern Slopes.
Each time after arriving at your accommodation, whether it’s a massive peak, glacier lakes, or a delicate wildflower, the Canadian Rockies will take your breath away again and again and you will fully enjoy your time after your daily adventures.
EMRACING THE JOURNEY OF REDISCOVERY
When most people think of travelling in Alberta, they picture the Rocky Mountains, National Parks, and emerald lakes in the summer and snowy glaciers, frozen waterfalls, and ice skating on those famous lakes in the winter. They likely imagine visiting only the main tourist destinations of Alberta: Banff National Park, Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Jasper National Park, the Columbia Icefield and Icefields Parkway. In this journey Elite Brands Culture Discovery Tours want to share other epic places that are worth discovering when planning your trip to Alberta.
As Canada's 4th largest province, Alberta entices travelers with over 600 lakes, 75 provincial parks, 5 national parks, and 587 species of wildlife to discover. If it were a country, it would be the 40th largest in the world! Arguably one of the most scenic provinces in all of Canada, Alberta is stunning!
day 1 - arriving in cOW-TOWN
Fly to Calgary, Alberta, incorporated as a city in 1894 with a current population over 1.6 millions. The city of Calgary is situated on the Bow River, about 220 km north of the Montana border at the meeting point of the Western prairies and mountain foothills. It is the financial center of western Canada, based on its key role in the development of the region’s oil and gas industry.
day 2 - Travel Back In Time
A day trip from Calgary to witness a landscape where dinosaurs walked the earth and southern Alberta was a subtropical paradise of towering redwoods and giant ferns. Today, fertile plains suddenly drop away into a world of multi-hued canyons and wind-sculpted hoodoos. Spanning east from Drumheller to the Saskatchewan border and south to the United States, this region is known as the Canadian Badlands. It is home to the largest deposits of dinosaur bones in the world. Blend your love for history and art in one stop! Visit the historical village of East Coulee.
day 3 - Feel the Spirit
Stopping at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is a must. This is one of the world's oldest and best-preserved Buffalo Jumps. Known for its remarkable testimony of prehistoric life, the site bears witness to a custom practiced by indigenous people of the North American plains for nearly 6,000 years.
day 4 - The Hidden Secrets of Waterton Lakes National Park
Many people don’t have this Alberta park on their travel radar, mostly because it gets eclipsed by its celebrity sisters, Banff and Jasper. Created in 1895, Waterton Lakes National Park joined forces with Glacier National.
The Waterton Lake Boat Tour is a boat ride on the gorgeous Upper Waterton Lake and takes you from Waterton Township all the way to Goat Haunt Montana. Goat Haunt is located in Glacier National Park Montana at the southern tip of Waterton Lake, which is the head of the lake. Goat Haunt is known as "The Gateway To The Northern Wilderness of Glacier National Park", and the scenery is breathtaking the entire way.
The Red Rock Parkway travels 15 km up the Blakiston Valley through rolling grasslands and ends at Red Rock Canyon and the Akamina Parkway is a winding mountain road that starts in the Waterton townsite and runs 16 km along the Cameron Valley, ending at Cameron Lake which borders Montana.
day 5 - On The Old Indian Trail
For 10,000 years First Nation people of North America used The Old North Trail (from the Yukon Territory in Canada to New Mexico), first on foot, then with dogs pulling cargo-laden travois, and finally with horses. Today, you can still see traces of the trail in certain locations between Waterton Lake National Park and Kootenay Plains near the border of Banff National Park. Today, a south-north highway #22 along the foothills of the Rockies from the Canada/US border to the town of Rocky Mountain House is called "Cowboy Trail" by the Alberta Government.
day 6 - Yoho National Park & Lake Louise
The word “yoho” for the park name was taken from the Cree language. It is used as an exclamation. They use it when something is awe-inspiring or amazing. When you first look at Yoho National Park, you’ll find yourself saying, “Wow”, “Awesome”, or “Amazing”. So what better word to name the park than a similar expression from the people that used to live in the area? This is not a park that will disappoint you. It stretches out over 300,000 acres. Within the park are plenty of different options for scenery. There are rivers, lakes, falls, and ice fields to explore.
day 7 & 8 - Glaciers, Lakes, and Waterfalls
The Icefields Parkway is a very nice scenic drive. This 230-kilometer-long stretch of highway (143 miles) winds its way through both Banff National Park and Jasper National Park connecting Lake Louise with Jasper. But the Icefields Parkway isn’t just about the scenic drive, on its way there are countless blue lakes, waterfalls, and glaciers. Athabasca Glacier is one place you do not want to miss on the Icefields Parkway. The Athabasca Glacier is part of the larger Columbia Icefields.
day 9 - stopping in Banff on its way to Calgary
In summer it is challenging to avoid the crowds in Banff and Lake Louise but even though it can feel like tour buses and hordes of people have overtaken the parks there are always ways to get away from the crowds. Every year, Banff and the village of Lake Louise receive almost five million visitors. In 2025 a new regulation of accessing Lake Louise and Moraine Lake take the place as 2024 saw a total of almost 20,000 people a day!. A typical busy day in Banff sees around 9,500 unique inbound and outbound vehicles and parking is impossible to find!
accommodation
Let us make your hotel, lodge or cabin recommendations based on your travel budget.
trip details
tour type: Custom - Made travel
duration: 9 Days / 8 nights
Group Size: Limited to 2 couples
the essentials:
What's Included: Private Transportation, All Meals, All Tour Activities, 24 Hour Guide, All Park Entries
What's Not Included: Flights, Travel Insurance, Tips, Beverages
tour start/end: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Price: Budget Friendly to reflect Elite Brands Culture Discovery Tours business values, mission, and vision
how to sign up for this tour: Send email for booking a discovery call info@culture-discovery.com
memory line
You can see here an archive of our most beloved tours to Canadian Rockies and Badlands. Photos, memories, places we visited, you name it! Dive into memory lane with us and see with your own eyes experiences that others like you lived.
You will be in good hands when booking your next tour and adventure with Elite Brands Culture Discovery Tours.
