The Kootenays

  Day 1: Friday, May 19, 2023 – Home to Nelson

This morning we leave home to arrive in Nelson, the Queen City of the Kootenays. Check in to your lakeside hotel. Tonight, celebrate your arrival in the Kootenays at a delicious dinner. 

Today’s breakfast and dinner are included

Day 2: Saturday, May 20, 2023 – Nelson 

After a leisurely breakfast, set off on a city tour of Nelson with its eclectic mix of Victorian era buildings and heritage sites. Visit Touchstones Nelson Museum of Art and History to see fascinating works of art and local history. Take a ride on the historical Streetcar #23 along Nelson’s waterfront. The evening is free for you to further explore the charm and character Nelson offers at your own pace. You may well agree with the New York Times dubbing it as “the prettiest small town in Canada”. 

Today’s breakfast is included 

Day 3: Sunday, May 21, 2023 - Nelson – Kaslo – New Denver - Nakusp 

After breakfast, depart for Kaslo, known as “the little Switzerland of Canada”. One of BC’s prettiest villages, Kaslo sits on the shores of Lake Kootenay and is home to the world’s oldest intact passenger sternwheeler SS Moyie. Next, we visit The Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre in New Denver on the shores of Slocan Lake. The Memorial Centre is dedicated to the tragic story of Japanese Canadians who were relocated to internment camps during World War II. The site has five buildings of which three are original shacks built to house the interned people with many preserved artifacts and even some personal effects of the displaced people. Later, we arrive for an overnight stay in Nakusp overlooking the beautiful Arrow Lakes and set with a backdrop of stunning alpine peaks. 

Today’s breakfast and dinner are included

Day 4: Monday, May 22, 2023 – Nakusp to Revelstoke 

After breakfast we head out to one of the rarest rainforests in the world, Revelstoke ,with notable status as the home of the first ski-jump in North America. Be camera ready on the short ferry ride from Galena Bay to Shelter Bay for the stunning views of the Selkirk and Monashee Mountains. 

Traversing this road will give you personal viewing choices – look down, look up or sideways. Whichever way you choose, it is spectacular everywhere and keeps getting better as you approach the unmistakable peak of Mount Begbie in the heart of BC’s Monashee Mountains. 

Refresh before enjoying dinner with your fellow travellers. 

Today’s breakfast and dinner are included

Day 5: Tuesday, May 23, 2023 – Revelstoke 

After breakfast, leave for an exciting day of excursions starting with the Revelstoke Railway Museum that reveals the history of the Canadian Pacific Railway that was constructed through the mountains of Western Canada and helped unify the newly created Dominion of Canada. Next, we view the Revelstoke Dam - the most powerful hydroelectric dam that spans the Columbia River. Later, we walk the Giant Cedars Boardwalk in the heart of Mount Revelstoke National Park. The short trail will take you among the massive cedars that make up the ancient rainforest. Return to the hotel for a relaxed evening, where you will have the opportunity to sample the tastes of Revelstoke which has many award-winning breweries and distilleries. 

Today’s breakfast is included 

Day 6: Wednesday, May 24, 2023 – Revelstoke to Ainsworth 

Today you can sit back, relax and recapture the wonders of nature on the drive to Ainsworth. We encounter some ghost towns on the way. Sandon, heart of BC’s famous valley of the ghosts and the unofficial capital of the mining region known as the "Silvery Slocan". Sandon has the longest continuously operating power station in BC. We enter the ghost town of Retallack previously known as Whitewater when founded in 1895. The mines at Retallack and Sandon produced more money than the Klondike, California and Caribou Gold Rushes combined. Arrive in the oldest surviving community on Kootenay Lake, the village of Ainsworth, founded in May 1883 and check into the hot mineral rich waters to soothe and rejuvenate in your choice of pools that are naturally heated and varying in temperature. Ainsworth is famously known for its unique horseshoe shaped underground cave formations carved by miners in times past allowing you to have a novel experience of soaking close to stalactites. 

Today’s breakfast and dinner are included

Day 7 – Thursday, May 25, 2023 - Ainsworth – Cranbrook 

This morning you will cross from one time zone to another as you take a scenic ferry on Kootenay Lake which is the delimiter between the Mountain and Pacific time zones. Later enjoy a tour of Cranbrook 

and a visit to the elegant Royal Alexandra Hall, the showpiece of the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel. Check into your hotel in Cranbrook for the night before enjoying dinner with your new friends. 

Today’s breakfast and dinner are included

Day 8 – Friday, May 26, 2023 - Cranbrook to Home

After breakfast it is off to the airport to fly home with a collection of memorable moments from the Kootenays to add to your treasure trove of life experiences.

Today’s breakfast is included