7-Nights Rainforest to Gold Rush Excursion Westbound: GoldLeaf + Standard Room

Edmonton

If you can, arrive in Edmonton at night. As you ride in from the airport, you'll see Edmonton's glittering steel-and-glass skyline rising on the far shore of the North Saskatchewan River. It's a dramatic introduction to the way oil money transformed this stretch of the north.

Founded by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1794, Edmonton today is Canada's most northerly big city, a provincial capital and an industrial center with an economy based on petrochemicals, biotechnology, engineering, forestry and agricultural goods.

Ideally situated between Canada's remote north and the picturesque Jasper National Park, Edmonton is gaining popularity as a sightseeing and tourist destination. Edmonton is Canada's fifth-largest city, with an educated and innovative workforce that fuels Canada's billion-dollar economy in its wealthiest province. The University of Alberta and the state-of-the-art National Institute for Nanotechnology in Edmonton are setting standards in education and research, establishing Edmonton as the biotech capital of Alberta.

Vancouver

Vancouver is a thriving metropolis surrounded by natural beauty. With parks, beaches, gardens, museums, art galleries and the second-largest Chinatown in North America, Vancouver lives up to its promise of offering something for everyone. With modern buildings set against green, rolling hillsides, this city is breathtaking; no location offers a more spectacular view than Stanley Park - with a zoo, aquarium, totem poles and honking geese. A short walk from the park leads to Robson Street, which offers the town's best window-shopping. Stores with European flavor share the avenue with delicatessens and tea rooms ready to serve. As architectural heart of the city, Robson Square features a central plaza with a food fair and an old provincial courthouse, which now houses Vancouver Art Gallery. Be sure to stop at 8 Pender St. - "the narrowest building in the world." Other points of interest include the Museum of Anthropology; Japanese-style Nitobe Memorial Garden; and VanDusen Botanical Garden. Capilano Canyon is site of the world's longest and highest suspension footbridge.

Whistler

Nestled in the spectacular Coast Mountains of British Columbia, just 75 miles north of Vancouver, lies Whistler Resort, a charming alpine village, and the Home of Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains. Rising one vertical mile from a village of award-winning West Coast architecture, Whistler & Blackcomb Mountains offer the greatest vertical rise of any ski area in North America, and its massive high-alpine terrain rivals the major ski resorts of Europe. Whistler is also a popular summer destination as well, with many recreational activities for the whole family.

Quesnel

Built at the junction of the Fraser and Quesnel rivers, this settlement grew rapidly as a way station on the route to the goldfields. By the early 1860's Quesnel Mouth, as it was known then, had two hotels, two stores, the Hudson's Bay Post, a telegraph office, grist mill and lumber mill. Paddlewheel steamers stopped on their way up the Fraser River from Soda Creek to Fort George (now Prince George). Saddle trains packed goods between Quesnel and Barkerville. As in the past, Quesnel continues to attract adventurers on their way to the goldfields and the restored gold rush town of Barkerville.

Reminders of a colourful past survive. Visitors will enjoy stopping at the original Hudson Bay Store (a log structure built in 1859). Across the street is a Cornish Water Wheel and boilers and iron parts from the first Fraser River riverboat to travel to the city. Then stroll the old Fraser River Bridge to west Quesnel. Built in 1928 the old bridge now serves foot traffic only. Continue through Riverfront Park and the walking trail that winds past historic points of interest and along the banks of the Quesnel River. Flower displays on streets and bridges add a picturesque charm to this modern thriving city.

Jasper

Located in the heart of Jasper National Park in Alberta's Rocky Mountains, Jasper's friendly alpine hospitality and the promise of adventure will make your visit unforgettable. It is easy to get to Jasper by car from a number of nearby visitor destinations including Edmonton, Hinton and Banff.