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Marie-Christine Desjardins

I feel very lucky to live in such a beautiful country and to be able to share it with the rest of the world!

How did you get involved in travel?

"When I was in high school I traveled for the first time to the Caribbean and I fell in love with traveling - literally. I then decided to study in Tourism and pursue a career in this wonderful industry."

Please share a unique travel experience you will never forget.

"All of my travel experiences are unique to me, but probably walking on the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia, it was just amazing."

Marie-Christine is part of the following groups: British Columbia Travel Agents, Canada Travel Agents
View of Grouse Mountain
British Columbia Road Trip: From Vancouver to Kelowna - 7 Days

Get a taste of British Colombia during this week-long road trip chock full of summits and lakes. Start in Vancouver, where you'll explore Granville Island and cross the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Visit the chalet village of Whistler and see its towering twin peaks by gondola. Discover Okanagan Valley's sumptuous views as you visit nearby markets and go wine tasting. Finish your trip exploring the shores of Shuswap Lake and the pristine wilderness of Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park,

Alpine lake in the Canadian Rockies
Self-Drive Western Canada: Vancouver to Calgary - 10 Days

Marvel at western Canada's beauty on this adventurous 10-day journey through British Columbia and Alberta. Set off from Vancouver along the Sea-to-Sky Highway and enjoy stunning landscapes on your way to Whistler. Go hiking and wildlife-spotting in Jasper National Park and cruise across the turquoise waters of Lake Maligne. Soak in hot springs, climb summits, and walk across glacial ice, then head to the charming town of Banff for gondola rides and two-stepping at the local saloon.

Canoes with a backdrop of the Canadian Rockies
Scenic Drive Through Western Canada: From the Rockies to the Pacific - 10 Days

Hit the road for a spectacularly scenic 10-day road trip that starts and finishes in Vancouver. Wind through the Okanagan Valley, stopping for wine tasting and hot springs, then enjoy the quaint town of Banff before taking a gondola ride to Sulphur Mountain. See the Athabasca Glacier, witness the alpine lakes of Jasper National Park, and spot wildlife on the way to Whistler. Head into the mountains for bear-watching and hiking, then take the famed Sea-to-Sky Highway back to Vancouver.

British Columbia's Sky-to-Sea Highway
Western Canada Road Trip: From the Rockies to the Pacific - 15 Days

Beginning and ending in Vancouver, this epic 15-day road trip takes you on a counter-clockwise journey through Western Canada's greatest hits. Explore the pristine wilderness of five national parks as you wind your way through diverse and remarkable landscapes—from the rugged Canadian Rockies to the old-growth rainforests of Vancouver Island—with plenty of adventurous excursions in between.

Autumn on the Icefield Parkway in Jasper National Park, Alberta
Western Canada Panorama: Calgary to Vancouver Road Trip - 10 Days

See the best of two provinces and three national parks on this spectacular 10-day road trip through the Canadian Rockies. Setting out from Calgary, you'll drive west along some of the world's most scenic highways, traveling through a landscape of rugged mountains, alpine lakes, and wide-open skies. Your adventure ends at the Pacific, where nature meets metropolis in the coastal gem of Vancouver.

Helmcken Falls, Wells Gray Provincial Park
10 Days in British Columbia - 6 Unique Itinerary Ideas

With 10 days, you can opt to see it all with a faster-paced road trip across British Columbia or enjoy a slower-paced trip that focuses on two regions. Vancouver and Calgary both serve as great starting points depending on whether you want to focus on the coast or the mountains. Here, we've outlined a number of our favorite routes that can be customized based on your interests.

Recent trip reviews for Marie-Christine

Good communication and when we had to make ch...
British Columbia | Sep 5 - Sep 12, 2022

J
Jose R.
Bloomingdale, FL | Reviewed on Sep 20, 2022

Good communication and when we had to make changes due to forest fires the team came thru!! read more

Good communication and when we had to make changes due to forest fires the team came thru!!

Hotel Reviews
Irwin's Mountain Inn
Banff
Authenticity & Character
Old hotel
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Applause Hotel by CLIQUE
Calgary

Nice room and food was excellent

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Stoneridge Mountain Resort
Canmore

Room was nice, pool was not heated but overall workd out well.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Local specialist: Marie-Christine Desjardins
Marie-Christine
Marie-Christine Desjardins
Local specialist in Mont-Tremblant | Reviewed on Sep 20, 2022

Thank you for your review Jose! It was a pleasure helping you organizing this trip and I am glad that you enjoyed it even with the wildfires events.

Canadian Rockies Road trip (Banff & Jasper)
British Columbia | Aug 1 - Aug 7, 2022

V
Virender V.
United Kingdom | Reviewed on Aug 15, 2022

Overall our Rockies Road trip (Banff & Jasper) was a wonderful and unforgettable experience. Our specialist Marie-Christine quickly understood what we wanted and tailored a trip plan to suit our needs, including booking hotels, rental car and the Banff Gondola ride (which was amazing!) .
The drive from Banff to Jasper and back was exhilarating. Even though we only stayed overnight at Jasper It was worth doing - the views of the Rockies on the drive were fantastic and we stopped off at... read more

Overall our Rockies Road trip (Banff & Jasper) was a wonderful and unforgettable experience. Our specialist Marie-Christine quickly understood what we wanted and tailored a trip plan to suit our needs, including booking hotels, rental car and the Banff Gondola ride (which was amazing!) .
The drive from Banff to Jasper and back was exhilarating. Even though we only stayed overnight at Jasper It was worth doing - the views of the Rockies on the drive were fantastic and we stopped off at several places en-route to see the sights such as Maligne Canyon, Athabasca and Sunwapta Falls and lake Peyto.
On the negative side, picking up the Budget rental car was not smooth Their rep (whose English was not good) said no cars were available for 1-2hours and actively tried to encourage us to try the other rental companies! Also I am glad we got a Parks Pass online for the duration of our stay on advice from a friend rather than buy as you go as suggested by M-C. It is cheaper and saved us having to queue at the highway checkpoints. Also it was not pointed out that you have to book online for a Lake Louise Excursion to get a slot for the park & ride. LL is so busy that we missed a morning slot while doing this process and, unfortunately , the day turned out to a damper in more ways than one as we were caught and utterly soaked by full a Rockies thunderstorm :( . Apart from this we were lucky with the weather.
We have returned with wonderful memories. If you are thinking about doing this - do it!

Hotel Reviews
Coast Canmore Hotel & Conference Centre
Canmore

Helpful staff. We enjoyed our stay there as a base into Banff (only about 30km away)

Authenticity & Character
Location
Easy access to H=highway to Banff
Staff
Prompt response for more coffee and tea
Cleanliness & Comfort
Layout of room.
Jasper Inn & Suites
Jasper

Beautiful Swiss style Inn Hotel.

Authenticity & Character
Our split level suite!
Location
View of the peaks from our bedroom window in the morning - breath-taking!
Staff
Friendly and attentive waitresses at the Inn's diner
Cleanliness & Comfort
The suite was presented to a high standard!
Applause Hotel by CLIQUE
Calgary

Good place to crash overnight. Well designed rooms.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Close to airport with free shuttle service
Staff
Man at reception (Shehzad) was polite and extremely helpful.
Cleanliness & Comfort
The shower head!
Activity Reviews
Explore around Banff
Canada

Banff is obviously the main tourist hub town. On our first day we did not find the rep at the Visitor Information Centre helpful - he was more interested in selling us multi-day bus passes which was irrelevant since we had a car. Anyway we figured it out ourselves by the second day.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
See comment above on Visitor Information Centre
Transport
Availability of parking space (except Lake Louise).
Take the Banff Gondola to Sulphur Mountain
Canada

Super way of seeing Banff, Bow River Valley and the surrounding peakis.

Quality of Experience
The whole shooting match!
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Staff are helpful and efficient.
Transport
Plenty of parking space next to Gondola station.
Local specialist: Marie-Christine Desjardins
Marie-Christine
Marie-Christine Desjardins
Local specialist in Mont-Tremblant | Reviewed on Aug 23, 2022

Thank you Virender for your review - I am so glad that you had a wonderful trip in the Rockies!
Thank you as well for your feedback, it is very helpful. I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with the car rental company, we'll follow up with them. As for the Parks Canada Passes, we've never had any issue before in terms of waiting time at the gates, but it's good that your friend recommended to buy the Discovery Pass ahead of time! In regards to access Lake Louise, finding a parking... read more

Thank you Virender for your review - I am so glad that you had a wonderful trip in the Rockies!
Thank you as well for your feedback, it is very helpful. I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with the car rental company, we'll follow up with them. As for the Parks Canada Passes, we've never had any issue before in terms of waiting time at the gates, but it's good that your friend recommended to buy the Discovery Pass ahead of time! In regards to access Lake Louise, finding a parking spot can be challenging in any season, so we'll definitely share this information moving forward.
Do not hesitate to reach out again for any future requests. :)
Take care!

Marie Christine was super to deal with. She responded quickly to any questions I asked!
British Columbia | May 26 - Jun 1, 2022

S
Sue P.
Canada | Reviewed on Jun 08, 2022

Marie Christine was super to deal with. She was attentive and listened to my requests for destinations. All of our accommodations exceeded our expectations.

The only disappointment was the itinerary said breakfasts were included, when in fact most of our accommodations did not (there is a discrepancy from the itinerary and the information about the hotels.). If I had noticed this at the beginning of the trip, I may not have taken advantage of the KimKim service as pricing was now... read more

Marie Christine was super to deal with. She was attentive and listened to my requests for destinations. All of our accommodations exceeded our expectations.

The only disappointment was the itinerary said breakfasts were included, when in fact most of our accommodations did not (there is a discrepancy from the itinerary and the information about the hotels.). If I had noticed this at the beginning of the trip, I may not have taken advantage of the KimKim service as pricing was now higher than what I had expected.

Hotel Reviews
Best Western Plus Merritt Hotel
Merritt

Convenient, clean and friendly hotel. Nice to have a great selection for the breakfast which was included.

Authenticity & Character
Large room, great shower!
Location
Convenient to the highway
Staff
Friendly front desk staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Rooms were spotless
Kelowna Bed and Breakfast
Kelowna

Fantastic place and friendly hosts.

Tips for future travelers

Book it before you miss the opportunity to stay here!

Authenticity & Character
Spacious room with private patio!
Location
We could easily walk to downtown Kelowna. Beautiful neighbourhood
Staff
Made sure we knew where everything was located and made us feel at home.
Cleanliness & Comfort
Spotless!
Fairmont Banff Springs
Banff

This is a unique hotel and the rooms are much smaller than newer hotels. We stayed here because of the history of the hotel.

Tips for future travelers

The rooms are very small - we went for the ambiance of the building and the grounds.

Authenticity & Character
The history of this hotel is amazing.
Location
Bus stop outside the hotel can be used for free to take you into town. Otherwise it is a 15 minute walk.
Staff
Extremely friendly and went out of their way to make us feel comfortable
Cleanliness & Comfort
Spotless!
Blackstone Mountain Lodge
Canmore

Lovely hotel with spacious rooms. Each room has a complete kitchen!

Authenticity & Character
Large rooms and full kitchen
Location
Close to downtown, great coffee shops and a nice walking trail along the river.
Staff
Everyone was super friendly!
Cleanliness & Comfort
Spotless!
Activity Reviews
Arrive in Kelowna
Kelowna

We arranged a last minute wine tour with Gerry of Wine Boss Tours. He graciously waited while we met him at his first pick up. The tour was fun and Gerry provided great insight into the wineries we visited.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Gerry was extremely knowledgeable and entertaining!
Transport
Clean van and water was provided for us!
Banff to Lake Louise
Banff

Banff is a beautiful town but busy with tourists. We enjoyed the delightful coffee shop and went there twice for the fresh breakfast sandwiches made with their “made on the premises” bread. They were delicious and so was the coffee!

Quality of Experience
Local specialist: Marie-Christine Desjardins
Marie-Christine
Marie-Christine Desjardins
Local specialist in Mont-Tremblant | Reviewed on Jun 08, 2022

Thank you so much for your review, Sue. It was a pleasure organizing your trip - it took me back a few years ago when I did the almost same itinerary! As for the breakfasts, I understand it was disapointing. It was raised to kimkim support and we are all working on a solution so it does not happen again. I am so glad you enjoyed your trip and do not hesitate to reach out if you are planning another roadtrip, maybe Eastern Canada this time? :) Take care!