The Rockies and Alaska, by train and then by ship

The north-west corner of North America is one of the great wild landscapes of the world. There are the peaks and glacial lakes of the Rocky Mountains, the forested coast of British Columbia, and the islands, fjords and glaciers of south-east Alaska. It is also one of the few regions where it is possible to see all of it in a single journey without driving long distances. The Rockies and Vancouver are linked by one of the world's famous train journeys, and Vancouver is the departure point for cruises north along the coast to Alaska. Put together, they make a trip that moves from mountains to ocean, with the scenery changing every day.

The Rockies

The journey usually begins at Calgary, the gateway to the Rockies. A short drive west, the mountains rise abruptly from the prairie. Banff, in Canada's first national park, is a small resort town among the peaks, with hot springs and a grand railway hotel. Lake Louise, a short distance away, is the famous turquoise lake beneath a glacier, with walking trails to teahouses above it.

Across the mountains by train

From the Rockies, the Rocky Mountaineer train runs west to Vancouver through some of the most spectacular railway country in North America. It climbs over passes and through spiral tunnels, follows deep river canyons such as the Fraser, and passes forests, lakes and ranching country. Unlike most long-distance trains, the Rocky Mountaineer travels only in daylight, so that passengers miss none of the scenery. On its route from the Rockies to Vancouver, passengers spend a night in a hotel in Kamloops, in the dry interior of British Columbia, before continuing to the coast.

Vancouver, at the end of the line, is a city of glass towers on a peninsula between the sea and the mountains, with the great forest of Stanley Park on its doorstep.

Vancouver deserves a day or two between the train and the ship. Stanley Park, the great forest park at the tip of the city, has a seawall path around its shore. Granville Island has its public market, and Gastown, the oldest district, has cobbled streets. The North Shore mountains rise across the water, reached by cable car. It is a fine city in which to rest between the two halves of the journey.

North to Alaska

From Vancouver, cruise ships sail north along the Inside Passage, a sheltered route between the mainland and the islands that fringe the coast of British Columbia and Alaska, through channels lined with forest and backed by snowy mountains. Whales, especially humpbacks, are often seen, along with sea lions, porpoises and bald eagles.

Juneau, the state capital of Alaska, is a small city that can be reached only by sea or air, with no road connecting it to the rest of the continent. The Mendenhall Glacier lies just outside the town. Skagway, at the head of a long fjord, was the gateway to the Klondike gold rush of the late 1890s, when tens of thousands of prospectors poured through on their way to the Yukon. Its wooden false-fronted streets are preserved as a national historical park. Ketchikan, further south, is a fishing town on stilts, known for its salmon and its totem poles, carved by the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian peoples of the coast.

The great set piece is Glacier Bay National Park, a great fjord system where tidewater glaciers flow down from the mountains to the sea. The number of ships allowed in is limited, and park rangers come aboard to explain what you are seeing. When a great slab of ice breaks off the glacier face and crashes into the water, the sound echoes across the bay.

Travelsphere's Rockies, Rail and an Alaskan Cruise, fourteen nights, makes the whole journey. Its places include Calgary, Banff and Lake Louise, Kamloops and Vancouver, then Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and Ketchikan.

For those who would rather stay on land, Travelsphere's Spectacular Rockies and Vancouver, eleven nights, includes Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, Kamloops, Victoria and Vancouver.

The season is short, from about May to September. Early summer brings long days and snow on the peaks, and late summer brings the salmon runs, with bears gathering at the rivers to feed. Pack layers: it can be warm in the Rockies and cold on deck in Glacier Bay on the same trip.