16-21 days in Canada - hit me with it!

[tlrBeta]

Hi all,

I'm planning a Canada trip in April 2025 with me and the family and I'm looking for any experience on the most do's

My initial plan is to visit both sides, starting East then heading over West. We would also like to get up into BC and Edmonton (we have some friends there). Travelling will be me, my wife and 2 kids (9 and 7 by the time we go) - they are well used to travelling, however still need some fun spots / things to do

Lots of stuff online of course, but any guidance or experience is more then welcome (particularly those that have done it with young kids)

Thanks in advance

 

[tlrBeta]

Hi all, apologies - I didn't see any of these replies!

Let me take a good read and come back over the next couple of days.

Thanks

 

[tlrBeta]

A little more time today then I expected to go through all these replies - thanks again.

So I can ideally aim towards more mid-April onwards, really depends on when Easter falls - so I don't have to pay the ridiculous missing school fees.

Personally for 16-21 days, pick one side and stick with it. The country is ginormous.

I do appreciate its a big country - maybe I am trying to do too much. We are happy to move around a lot, we tend to be people that do things instead of just relaxing. The last time we did something similar though of this scale, would have been pre-kids - 2014 we did the West Coast of USA (Vegas, Yosemite, Death Valley, San Fran, down to LA and a flight over to Hawaii - it was honeymoon). Maybe if we did look to start West and do Toronto on the way back.

Vancouver looked ridiculously expensive when I looked at hotels etc about a year ago, ive been wanting to go for ages.

I've looked at Toronto so far, pretty pricey also but between 4 of us (potentially 6) - but then I just remember its the same as going to London.

In early April not much will have thawed in the Rockies (Alberta, BC). You could

1) Skate Lake Louise (although as someone has already said, its not more than a lake and a hotel - incredibly pretty but the kids might get fed up any longer than a couple of hours there)
2) Ski Sunshine Village.. hire stuff and get lessons for a day or 2. Great, easy, well run resort. Amazing views.

We went to Banff, Jasper and Vancouver in 2022, also tagging on Whistler after we had to leave Jasper early due to wildfires. It's a stunning part of the world and great if you enjoy hiking. In April I would be concerned that it's still very wintery though, so bear that in mind when planning any activities.

In terms of the cold, that doesn't bother us. Me and my eldest can both board / ski - so actually if we did make it to Banff or somewhere similar, it would definitely be on our list to do for the day Although, I've heard some horror stories of costs of skiing in Canada vs Europe.

On my bucket list is definitely to take a dip in Lake Louise or something similar - regardless of temps, from the photos it looks beautiful.

Lots of ideas above, thanks all - more research needed.