Secrets of the Rockies and Glacier National Park

This was our third Trafalgar trip because our last 2 had been very good experiences. In fact based upon our previous trip experiences we convinced some very close friends to join us on this trip to the Canadian Rockies and Glacier NP. Unfortunately our anticipation of a third great Trafalgar experience did not happen as Trafalgar "overpromised and underdelivered" on this trip. Day 1 we had a "Be My Guest" experience (which we have always enjoyed in the past) that was an hour and half in the opposite direction of our first National Park experience in Waterton National Park. Consequently we spent the majority of the first day on the bus arriving in Waterton just in time for dinner. If the "Be My Guest" experience had been along the way toward Waterton NP we would have likely had several hours to actually explore Waterton instead of just in time for dinner and then off to bed. Disappointing. Oh well, Day 2 itinerary says we are off to Glacier National Park and an anticipated drive through the park on the Road to the Sun in the famously restored 1930 "red jammers" with the open roof giving us a stupendous view of Glacier National Park. Oops, Trafalgar screwed up and we couldn't get on to the red jammers as advertised when we booked the trip, so we got to go on a tour bus instead. Dang 2 days of pretty country, but not what we believed for. Our overall trip and experiences Trafalgar included was certainly beautiful, but we felt like there was more time on the bus then anything else. The rare opportunity we had time to actually explore, go on a hike, at any of the parks, Glacier, Banff, Jasper, etc, was less than an hour. I suppose since we had so many opportunities (hours of free time) to explore and hike on our previous Trafalgar trips to Utah's Mighty 5 and California's Yosemite/Sequoia/Kings Canyon NPs (many hikes recommended by our Travel Directors) we expected at least a few opportunities for the same on this trip. Oh yes Trafalgar has a referral program for travelers that you refer to them in which you are to receive a $100 credit towards your Trafalgar trip for both those you refer as well as yourself. We referred our 2 friends (husband & wife) who traveled with us on this trip and they both received the promised $100 credit, but my wife and I never did receive our promised credit. Again overpromised and undelivered.

This was our 3rd trip with Trafalar. The other two Trafalgar trips were excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed them. This trip we invited close friends with us this time and it did not meet our expectations. I'm sorry our friends experienced this. They have said they will do their own planning of a trip next time. We expected much more hiking, and only 1 time was there the opportunity to hike and we only had 20 minutes to do so. I turned back so not to miss the bus, and my husband had to run back to make the bus. We were supposed to have the open air red jammer bus on the Road to the Sun (as advertised in the trip), but Trafalgar dropped the ball and we did not have an open air bus. Disappointing. Also, we drove 1.5 hours in the opposite direction for our 1st day to Painted Warriors. The meal was delicious, but we chose foraging and we foraged about 20 feet. Not what I would call foraging. Also, Painted Warriors was 1.5 hours in the opposite direction of our destination of Waterton Park. If we had not wasted the 3 hours for this side trip, we might have been able to go hiking in Waterton. We arrived too late to hike. Also, the room we stayed at was fine, but the place on the outside looked run down. On prior Trafalgar trips, our bus driver would drop us off in the town and wait and drive us back. This trip we had to find our own way into several towns, except in Jasper, after everyone asked the driver if he would drop us off. We did enjoy the Glacier excursion and Fairmont was very nice as the sites were beautiful, but we disappointed on some of the activities. I would have much more enjoyed an extra day in Glacier National Park without the Painted Warrior stop. I'm not sure I will use Trafalgar for my next trip.

Could have gone without the Painted Warriors experience. We also skipped the hockey experience, not only because I played competitively, but also not a site seeing experience in my mind. Too many other things to see in the Canadian Rockies. We hiked near the hotel instead. That was a much better experience. It would be good to clearly know before booking, how much hiking and free exploratory time would be available. We like to hike.

The glacier national park in Montana while interesting was too long of a trip. The scattered lunches especially the one in the shopping center was terrible. The tour guide seemed ill informed at times. The knelling feature of the bus was out of order for two days a step stool should have been purchased.

There was alot of time wasted, traveling far to see next to nothing.l Day 2 saying at a hotel that had bugs, attached to a taco restaurant, so it smelled, could not open windows, blinds were all bent and badly needed to be replaced. Being left in a parking lot for a scattered lunch, supermarket. Dollar store, somewhere a tim hortons... come on. No water on bus from tour director, but the bus driver was charging $1 a bottle for warm water. Our group of 8 people were scattered all over the hotels. No consideration for our traveling companions. No considerations for our age, 2ed floor with no elevator. Average age p this trip was 71. And our tour director told us he was not a tour guide but a tour director. He got that right, His lack of knowledge about out tour was very limited. He would make stuff up. Or point out things after we passed them. TRAFALGER SHOULD DO BETTER WE SPOKE TO MANY DURING OUR TRAVELS, NO ONE HAD THESE ISSUES. TARA & RICH DAILEY

Substandard . TOO MUCH DRIVING. Tour Director was not knowlable in this location. He told us he was not a guide only director. Watched movies on bus instead of getting some info on area. Scattered lunches was awful, left in middle of parking lot choice of walking to Walmarts or Supermarket or 15 minutes to a Taco place or Popeyes. No lunch on last day. Director took a vote, Honesty hardly anyone heard him, didn't use microphone and people don't hear . A women on bus was diabetic, should eat 3 meals. Excursion to Lake Mariane not available even though 14 signed up. Hotel accommodations included being on 2nd floor of building with no elevators. Whitefish , bldg attached to taco restaurant with bugs. majority of tour is plus 70 years, Fairmont needed reservations and our arrival is too late to get reservations. Our group of 8 people always in different units never in a main bldg . Walk to town approximately 1 mile. Hotel restaurants for dinner rate a one In Calary and Whitefish. Trip cost approx $12,000 with lunches dinners and our own private tour of Calgary. Hilton in Calagary is in a poor, drug addict area, homeless etc. Airplane travel no direct flights. We left Lake Louise at 9am on Sunday and arrived back in Newark at 12 noon on Monday. Too much time wasted going to Glacier between the distance and time spent crossing The border back and forth. Sights in Canada were beautiful but I am sure other tour groups do a better job.

Good pace, excellent hotels, enjoyed the guest guide. Tour director and bus driver did a great job. Enjoyed conversing with both of them throughout the trip.

Thoroughly enjoyed the ttip, guide & driver were excellent, knowledgeable, friendly & helpful. Loved the experience

Amazing tourist itinerary in the Canadian Rockies. Fairmont Banff Springs was a highlight hotel, while others were comfortable. , our tour director was knowledgeable, caring, energetic and very effective. This was our second Trafalgar Tour, and as experienced luxury tourists, we continue to be impressed

This trip provided lots of variety and unique experiences through both the included activities and optional excursions. For the most part, the daily schedule was well-paced. A draw for us was the inclusion of Glacier NP in addition to the Canadian Rockies.

It could have included more meals and less free time

Very detailed

Good trip Some days too much bus time Fairmont Banff Springs fantastic top notch guide

Firstly pack a rain coat as you never know when it's going to rain. Our tour guide *personal info removed by Feefo* and coach driver *personal info removed by Feefo* did and excellent job which was appreciated by all on the tour. The accommodation was always first class and if there is one extra I would like would to have baked beans each morning to go with the rest of the food available. This was my second tour with Trafalgar and as before I will enjoy telling my friends on how excellent it was and if there is an opportunity to travel again I will look towards Trafalgar Tour's. Thanks. *personal info removed by Feefo* Australia.

Trip was definitely enjoyable. Each day the scenery got better and better and built up the excitement. Helped to have good weather. The tour guide, was very knowledgeable and presented a lot of information about the views, locations and experiences. The driver, was great and assisted our guide with additional information. It is a bus trip so not designed for a lot of hiking or exploring so make sure to have the right expectations for this trip. It’s a lot of driving and viewing the mountains but it’s a great way to view everything.

In two separate mailings from Trafalgar it was stated while in Glacier National Park we would ride in “a restored 1930’s vintage red “jammer” . Glacier is known for the jammers and I was excited to finally ride in one. I was extremely disappointed when we were driven in a white van by a local native. Driver of my van kept singing and chanting in his native language. I wanted the driver to tell us all the spots to be looking out for. By you folks not honoring what you promised I was very disappointed.

Fantastic. Very pretty scenery. Lots of rocks and trees and water.

False advertising on the red jammer, going to the sun ride in Glacier NP. It was a bus ride. I don't recommend the float trip, the guide told us nothing about the river or fur trading. He was just trying to dip us in the rapids to get us wet. You couldn't relax and look for animals. I do recommend the Maligne Lake cruise, but it is included on other tour company itinerary's. The mountains, lakes and glaciers were beautiful.

Even though its emphasis is beautiful mountains and scenery, the other events were appreciated. The Painted Warrior experience was especially appreciated.

Last hotel stay of the week, No Air-conditioning.

tour should start in Montana; would be able to have a full day tour of Glacier National Park; tour director made sure we were able to see many outstanding places during our tour; we were extremely happy with Corey

Need to do more stops in Glacier Ntl Park, not just drive through it.

Itinerary was great but think there was too much time in the bus. Driver and guide weee wonderful. Hotels were what I expected in the parks, Lake Louise Inn was pretty bad. There was no AC and they messed up dinner time, did not notify guide about Time change from 6:30 to 5PM. We should have been notified that if we wanted to eat at Fairmont in Banff, we needed to make a reservation..

The itinerary wasn't well planned out and below Trafalgar standards. Jasper was hit by devasting wild fires a year ago which we were not aware of. We still spent two days here which was time not well spent seeing thousands of burnt trees. Excursions in this area were a rip-off as a result. The trip highlight for us in Lake Louise was not executed as described and we missed out on a trip highlight at Lake Moraine. Hotel accomodations except for the one in Banff were average to below average. Trafalgar thought it was fine to book a hotel without A/C and thought the hotel providing a fan when our room was almost 80 degrees was a good solution. When traveling between locations we often had less than an hour to try and eat never mind do any shopping. When we shared many of the poor experiences we had with Trafalgar they weren't willing to own it and provide any reduction in the trip cost. We have had two other great experiences with Trafalgar, but this experience and lack of follow-up makes me wonder if it is worth paying extra for the Trafalgar experience going forward. Buyer beware.

Although the tour descriptions were not completely accurate, the trip and excursions far exceeded our bucket list expecations. Great trip.

We had a great time. The Director and the driver were excellent. Everything was well planned we got to see and do things we would never know about. All the accommodations were made all the tickets were bought and we did not have to wait in line. We Loved the Fairmont Springs Inn in Banff for two days. We walked on the Glacier, rode the Gondola, went to the glacier in a Red Jammer antique convertible bus it was fun . We went on hike around lakes,we even shot a bow and arrow at Painted Warriors they were very gracious and fed us a great meal too. especially liked all the fun people friends from all over US lots of fun and memories!!!

Don't be afraid of the hockey experience near Banff. It was fun and informative. So much better than expected! I can't believe I had the nerve to do this!

Canada has beautiful scenery, it's mountains, rivers and lakes are amazing. Our bus ride was comfortable although too long for most of the trip.

First of all there were too many days spent just on the bus. Going from Calgary to Waterton was a very long trip. What made this trip even longer was the stop at the Painted Warrior ranch. This stop was out of the way and road construction slowed up our progress to Waterton. We got into Waterton too late to do any exploring. We only had time for dinner. Then we were off early the next morning to go to Glacier National Park. I think the Painted Warrior ranch, although fun, was a waste of our time and totally out of the way. If anything this stop should be dropped from the itinerary so that one could spend more time exploring Waterton. As for the places we stayed -- (1) the Waterton Lakes Lodge was quite Skeevy! Ewww! (2) the Lake Louise Inn was not a great place to stay either. We had no heat, an extra blanket with holes, and it really grossed me out! Can't Trafalgar find better lodging accommodations for its guests? Let's talk about Danielle. She was nice and everyone seemed to enjoy her BUT she was not a tour director. She told some guests that she is a logistics person and proved that because she did not provide a lot of information or history about various things we saw along the way. So, this made for long, silent, bus rides. She could have given us information about the geology of the various land formations or other types of information. I'm sure there is lots of information that she could have told us but she did not seem interested in learning the information so she could pass it along. AND, as for her being a logistics person, she did not get a passing grade on that issue in Waterton. Keep in mind that we had been on the bus for hours and hours. We got to the Waterton Lakes Lodge and there was no one at the front desk to give her the keys to our rooms. So, we waited on the bus while she tried to find someone to give her the keys. Wouldn't a logistics person have phoned ahead to make sure someone was going to meet her at the Lodge when we arrived? Did I say that the rooms were skeevy????? I would NOT recommend this trip. I was quite disappointed. For the cost of this trip I expected to have better lodgings and learn a lot more about the various stops along the way.

Get better hotels in Watertown and Lake Louise. Skip Painted Warrior.

The itinerary was fabulous!!! our tour director could have used a little more help from corporate, however. I understand that our original tour guide got ill right before the trip started. did an amazing job picking up but there definitely was some confusion. I highly have recommended this trip to several of our friends and would do it again in a heartbeat. Best vacation we have ever had!!

Overall it is a very good trip. The sites that we did see were, for the most part, excellent. Our tour director was good. She was a last minute substitute for the tour director we were supposed to have who was sick, but she did the best she could. Our bus driver was excellent. Not only was he a good driver but he was very knowledgeable about all of the places we toured and helped out quite a bit. There were a few days where because of the distance between our tour stops, we were on the bus a long time with not a lot to see. Most of the hotels were good. The Fairmont hotel in Banff was magnificent. The Waterton Lakes Lodge and the Lake Louise Inn rooms were old and not in the best shape. Glacier National Park, the hockey talk in Canmore and Lake Louise were the highlights of the trip. The optional show in Jasper was a waste of money as it was very amateurish and only a little more than a half hour long. The WiFi on the bus was poor. I believe if we had the original tour director, the trip would have been even better as he would have been more knowledgeable about the areas we passed through and visited.