After a successful first summer, the Rocky Express budget bus service will once again take travelers on “do-as-you-please” weekly tours of the Canadian Rockies.
True North Tours, in association with Hostelling Alberta, is offering these five-night programs, which depart each Sunday now through October. A 15-seater passenger van picks up a maximum of 14 travelers from the Calgary and Banff Hostels and transports them to a different area of the Rockies each day, where a variety of activities are planned. Stops include Lake Louise, the Columbia Icefields, Athabasca Falls and Jasper.
Activities range from hiking, canoeing, touring a glacier on an all-terrain vehicle, horseback riding, white-water rafting and biking.
Each evening the bus delivers passengers to a different hostel, for which beds have been booked. The total price for the transportation is about $100.
The hostels range in price from $8 to $16 per night for dormitory accommodations. Passengers must provide their own meals. All of the hostels have their own kitchens, and in some locations it is possible to dine out.
The tour is available to anyone, any age, whether they are members of an affiliated hostelling association or not.
For further information, contact: Banff International Hostel, P.O. Box 1358 Tunnel Mountain Rd., Banff Alberta T0L 0C0; 800-363-0096 or 403-762-4122.
The YMCA network, known as the “Y’s Way,” now offers economical accommodation to travelers at 27 centers in the USA and Canada and 13 locations in overseas countries.
The mandate of the Y’s Way network is to provide clean, safe, comfortable and conviently located accommodation at rates ideal for students or young travelers.
A bonus for guests is that they also can use the recreation facilities, which can include gyms, swimming pools and fitness equipment.
The overseas facilities are located in Bangkok, Barcelona, Christchurch, Jerusalem, Hong Kong, London and Paris.
You can make a reservation at any of the participating locations in North America or aboard by calling the Y’s Way Worldwide Reservations System at 212-308-2899. A fee of $3 (for rooms in the USA and Canada) for $5 (for rooms in Hawaii and overseas) is charged to defray the cost of telephone and telex.
The Y’s Way also offers economical “do-it-yourself” tour packages for visiting New York and New Orleans. Each package includes accommodation, a variety of meals, sightseeing and excursions.
For a brochure, contact: Y’s Way International, 224 E. 47th St., New York N.Y. 10017. Include a self-addressed business-sized envelope.
