Sights are all fantastic. Athabasca Glacier's tour guide, Eliz, provided the best and most engaging commentary. Hence the best experience of the tour.
The main tour vehicle sound system could be better as the sound quality at the rear end ..was muffled for me, a senior. But when we sat in front the guide's comments were clearer. Video system in the coach could be activated for schedule reminders and synchronised with the location via GPS or pre-recorded messages to enhance tourists' experience. The management of the coach mechanical stalling and delay departing from the Icefield Center could be better.
For a first time customer of T4F, I did not find my queries during reservation, not adequately responded by T4F. Now I understand better T4F's standard format, a "one size fit all" approach. A more personal attention to initial enquiries would improve customer service. While the actual tour operation was contracted out and not wholly controlled by T4F, the initial reservation and engagement with customer is. Hence my low rating for this.
C K Tan.Read full review
Less time at Johnston Canyon. At our age we needed more time to complete uneven 865 m walk to see the first falls. It will always remain a regret as we couldn't view such exciting attraction due to lack of sufficient time. Good luck for oth..er senior tourists.Read full review
100% Outstanding tour of the Western Canadian Rockies!
By: Anonymous | Fri Sep 20, 2019 at 12.00 AM
Can’t say enough good things about this tour. From start to finish the Tours was professional, friendly, knowledgeable and shared in the excitement of our upcoming tour.
The tour itself was outstanding. A small groups tour that is perfect..ly designed to showcase the highlights of the Canadian Rockies. Our guide was so much fun, giving a ton of interesting commentary and local stories making sure we had plenty of time to enjoy the parks.
The scenery was amazing and the hotels of a very high quality.
We really enjoyed our tour with them and will certainly be returning for more tours in the future!
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By: Francois Bredenkamp | Tue Sep 17, 2019 at 08.12 AM
A fabulous tour through what could possibly be some of the prettiest areas in the world! It's so nice to leave all of the logistics in the capable hands of the tour guide and bus driver and just enjoy the experience. I commend Gordon for th..e excellent way he managed the tour.Read full review
I am usually the taking-a-rental-car type of traveller, but I am so glad that I did the tour cos it gave me a great introduction not just to the park, but also to all the practicalities around. I would never be able to recognise all the mou..ntains and lakes and all the stories behind if I were to do it on my own.
Also I am glad to see that the national parks in Canada have stricter rules on how many people/cars are allowed to each spot, the parking lots are generally smaller and off-site and people would need to take a shuttle to get there. Not to mention that even the road to the Moraine lake is closed (already around 10pm in early September) when the parking lot (for private cars) is full. However, being on a tourbus you don't have to worry abou none of that since they are designated parking for that.
Note that the cruise to the Maligne lake is very weather dependent, all cruise on the morning of Sep 5 (sunny day) was cancelled due to the heavy fog just surrounding the lake area. The lake staff the best time is to come here in a hot clear day in the afternoon.
I was on two different busses during the 4-day tour with two different guides. The first driver we had – Mike, was a great driver and full of charisma. I saw him documenting each stop we made with his logbook very carefully, also sang for us and explained about the park environmental issues.
Some improvements would be better cleaning of the buses, I could see stains on the bus windows which is not so pleasant when you wnat to take lots of pictures.
And yes the tour is mostly catered to Chinese tourists, some guides are better in English than others, but generally I think all the non-Chinese speaking on our buses were quite content.
You might not get the best hotel rooms with a view, or do an upgrade.
Afterall very content with the tour, ready to go back and explore on my own now I know which are my favorites.Read full review
Good bang for the buck!!! Clarion hotel & conference centre for 4N was not a good one especially the old lady at their front desk. Good tour guides except for their very thick accent...hard to understand the words they’re saying. Excellen..t driver in Mike!!!Read full review
The tour was good and the places shown were very nice. However, few areas for improvement remain:
While our tour guide David was nice and helpful, his english could have been better. Many times it was hard to understand him.
Also, a lot.. of time (3-4 hours a day) was wasted bringing the tour bus back to calgary after day trip in Banff or Jasper - however, some tourists got hotels in Banff/Jasper, while we got hotel in Calgary. Not sure why we didn't get a hotel in Bannf/Jasper (aside from one day). So we spent a lot of extra time in the bus going back and forth. This could have been planned better. I understand the cost aspect but don't know why some tourists got better treatment than others?
The driver - Mike - was excellent.
The Clarion hotel in Calgary was older but ok for the price paid. The hotel in Jasper was nicer.Read full review
Though we booked the tour on short notice on 27 August 2019 it was only after ascertaining that the tour was available for 30 August 2019 and the booking was calculated as per tour itinerary listed, was accepted and full amount charged to m..y credit card. Our ordeal started after that. The tour operator based in US (our tour was in Canada) had very poor communication and sent us the confirmation only 29th evening when our tour was to commence from 7Am on 30th and that too after numerous calls. Second shock came after they cancelled our meal plan and optional tours citing short notice as the reason and were asked to buy these on site waiting in long Qs. Third shock was that they totally dropped Jasper which was part of itinerary as per their original itinerary advertised and booking accepted for. Instead they changed itinerary by unnecessarily adding one day/night stay at Calgary on 30th night when we had already booked hotel at our own cost in Calgary for 29th night assuming our tour would start at 7 AM on 30th. So, the actual tour started on 31st. All this was communicated to us only at the last minute without any scope for change or cancellation. Our purpose of visiting Rocky mountain in Jasper (most beautiful part) besides Banff was defeated having gone all the way from India via Vancouver (where tour was booked). Final shock came when hotels in Calgary and Banff were found to be totally substandard (only one night they upgraded to a slightly better hotel citing reservation in their substandard hotel was unavailable). The actual tour operator, WESTAR based in Calgary was good and only saving grace. Would never recommend anyone this tour operator.Read full review