Whistler Winter Tours

For a Whistler day tour from Vancouver between November and March, book Westcoast Sightseeing’s Whistler, Sea to Sky Gondola & Shannon Falls, from $121 per person. It is rated 4.7 from 1,398 reviews, runs daily all winter except Christmas Day, and keeps the Sea to Sky Gondola ticket in the price. The exception is 9 to 26 November, when the gondola closes for maintenance and the tour runs about eight hours with eagle viewing on the Squamish River in its place.

Which Whistler tours run in winter

Most gondola day tours stop in October. These are the ones with dates from November to March. Prices are USD on GetYourGuide.

Of the shared tours here, only three keep the gondola in winter: Westcoast, Jupiter Legend and Bearly There. Westcoast is the only one that says what it does during the November closure, so if your date falls between 9 and 26 November on the other two, ask the operator before you pay. Bearly There says it runs in rain, shine or snow, but at the time of writing its open winter dates were almost all weekdays. Our breakdown of the Westcoast tour has its full stop list.

Landsea’s winter route swaps the gondola for Squamish Canyon and Mamquam Falls, with about 90 minutes there and three hours in Whistler. Landsea also sells it on Viator as the Whistler, Squamish Canyon Walk and Mamquam Falls Tour, by mini-coach. Vancouver Premium Tours’ winter tour caps the group at five in an electric VW ID. Buzz and stops at Porteau Cove, Shannon Falls and Squamish. Its private version costs $1,081 for up to five, about $216 each if five of you share it.

Westcoast sells the same tour on Viator for $167, where it has 2,123 reviews, and the Viator calendar runs six days a week over Christmas week. It is booked on Viator:

Whistler, Sea to Sky Gondola, & Shannon Falls Tour from Vancouver

• ★ 4.8/5 (2,123 reviews)
• 10 hours
• Free cancellation
• Operated by Big Bus Vancouver / Westcoast Sightseeing

Includes Roundtrip journey via comfortable motorcoach · Downloadable walking tour of Whistler · Vancouver’s most trusted tour …

From $167 per person Check Availability

You'll choose your date and complete the booking on Viator.

The November gap

November is the awkward month for a day trip. From 1 to 8 November the Sea to Sky Gondola is open, 9am to 5pm, but nothing is running on Whistler Blackcomb. From 9 to 19 November neither is open. Whistler Blackcomb’s opening day is 20 November, when winter sightseeing on the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola starts, and the Sea to Sky Gondola reopens on 27 November, running 9am to 5pm daily through December. The Olympic Plaza skating rink opens on 26 November. If you can choose, go after 27 November and you get both lifts and the rink. The Sea to Sky Gondola tours page covers the gondola’s hours in detail.

What’s open in Whistler in winter if you don’t ski

PEAK 2 PEAK winter sightseeing tickets are valid from 20 November 2026 to 18 April 2027. The operator’s own pre-booked adult rate at the time of writing is CAD 158, and Tourism Whistler suggests allowing about two hours, which takes most of a tour’s three free hours. If you would rather have the tickets and transport arranged, Viator lists a private winter tour with PEAK 2 PEAK tickets from $477 per person, rated 4.7 from 10 reviews.

The Olympic Plaza rink runs sessions from 11am to 1:30pm, 2:30 to 5pm and 6 to 8:30pm, with adult entry at CAD 6 and skate rental at CAD 7, the town’s own CAD rates at the time of writing. The Audain Art Museum and the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre are indoors and open in winter. From 15 December to 31 March, Lost Lake’s trails are groomed for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, with tickets from the Lost Lake PassivHaus.

Vallea Lumina, a 1 km multimedia night walk, runs from November to April and starts after sunset, as early as 5pm, from $40. It suits a night in Whistler or a bus trip, since day tours head back to Vancouver before then.

A day tour plus one winter activity

With three free hours in Whistler, pick one activity that fits the clock. The Whistler Sliding Centre’s Passenger Bobsleigh, from $190 on Viator and rated 4.9 from 132 reviews, runs from 16 December to 4 April, except 21 December to 3 January. The visit takes about an hour with a trained pilot driving, and riders must be 14 to 75. A short helicopter flight fits too; both Whistler operators fly year-round and charge nothing for weather cancellations. See our Whistler helicopter tours.

Snowmobiling needs more time. Blackcomb Snowmobile’s Wilderness Snowmobile Tour ($205, new on GetYourGuide) rides the Callaghan and Brandywine valleys from bases 15 to 25 minutes south of the village, and drivers must be 19 or older with a full licence. Its Viator twin, $210 with 628 reviews, is the same tour. It fits a day when you come up by bus or car, not a coach tour’s three free hours; our snowmobile guide compares the operators. Superfly and Ziptrek both zipline in winter, as our zipline guide explains.

Two winter tours replace Whistler Village with the snow itself. Breakaway Adventures’ Snowshoeing at the Top of the Sea to Sky Gondola, from $132 and rated 5.0 from 6 reviews, is a 6-hour door-to-door trip with the gondola ticket and snowshoes included; it needs good fitness and is not for children under 10. Way Out West’s evening trip to Whistler Olympic Park, $99 with admission, rentals, a headlamp and a hot stew, leaves Canada Place on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 28 December to 3 March. For fitting an activity into any day trip, see Whistler day trips from Vancouver.

Driving to Whistler in winter

From 1 October to 30 April, Highway 99 is a designated winter tire route. Your tires need the M+S mark or the mountain-and-snowflake symbol and at least 3.5 mm of tread, and chains over summer tires do not count for a passenger car. Confirm this with your rental company when you book. Whistler Blackcomb puts a typical winter drive at roughly two hours; allow longer in snow. On a tour, the operator’s driver handles all of it.

Whistler weather and what runs, October to February

Temperatures and precipitation are Environment Canada averages for the village (658 m); the alpine is colder and snowier.

For the gondola, Whistler in the snow and a driver on the winter highway, check availability.