Canada Tour 2009

PaulStat

PaulStat

PaulStat

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From the 18th to 31st October I shall be in Canada for my honeymoon, and then down to mexico for a week.

Whilst in Canada we will be doing a good old fashioned road trip from Vancouver to Calgary. We sat down last night and figured out the route we'll be taking so we know where to book lodgings.

All in all we will cover about 1700km (probably a fair bit more with trips out) of the Canadian frontier. And I can't wait!!! :D

canadaroute.jpg


Can anyone in the know advise on this route, we can't obviously take in everything BC has to offer in that time, but I think it's a pretty good route
 
i have done some great road trips around the east coast of america/canada and love it you will have a blast, my advise would be to get a sat nav with America and Canada maps, use the points of interest to find call stuff on route.
 
Wow I am very jealous!!! I bet you will have an awesome time.

I have looked into doing some interrailing in the US some time next year as car hire for under 25's is a bit of a joke (money wise). It's so annoying, I have been driving for 6 years and yet I get charged nearly twice as much because of my age (23)
 
Around Vancouver there are some truely beautiful sights!!!

I would definitely recommend dring down the coastal highway from Whistler down to Vancouver, taking it nice and slow and pulling in at every opportunity as some of the views are breath taking!!!

Around Vancouver, I'd recommend

Capilano Suspension bridge which is great,

A trip Up Grouse mountain for brilliant views of the city (make sure to get up their early enough to see it in the daylight and saty long enough to see it all lit up!!!)

When I went there we hired Kayaks at a place some where just outside vancouver but I can't remember the name of the place. It was really nice, got out on the water and paddled round a couple of little islands and saw a couple of seals too which was good.

Also Brandywine Falls is worth a visit too.

Vancouver Aquariaum in Stanley Park is worth a look aswell...Was an amazing array of frogs there when I went!!!

If I can remember anymore good places I'll add them.

Valve

PS also check out "The Keg" steak house (can't remember where we went to this, might have been in Victoria....) where I had one of the best steaks I've ever eaten!!!
 
Funny, me and the GF are planning a similar trip.

We have a few days on vancouver island for whale watching, bear spotting nd hiking.
Then drive to Jasper, Mount Robson on the way. 1 day short hiking in Jasper. 2 Day backcountry hike across skyline trail. 1 day driving and short walks from Jasper to Banff NP. 4 days in Banff with hiking, canoeing, horse riding and mroe hiking. Then to Yho national park for 2 day back country hiking., 1-2 days drive back to Seattle (flights way cheaper than Vancouver for us).

With regards your route. Seems very wobbly route... What is wrong with going direct from lilooet to Kamloops?
We are aiming to go from vancouver to Jasper as quick as possible. I know there is stuff on the way and the distance long but we don't have so much time (17 days).

I would add a detour to Yoho NP (about 1hour drive from Banff).
 
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D.P. said:
With regards your route. Seems very wobbly route... What is wrong with going direct from lilooet to Kamloops?
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Because down that route is Fraser canyon and hells gate, then over by Kelowna is the Okanagan which has some nice pastoral type wine areas apparently. Then from there towards Wells Gray and then on off up to Jasper :)

And we will be visiting yoho as well, I didn't include all the little detours :)
 
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will you need snow chains in Calgary at that time of the year? I know it gets very cold very quickly.
A friend did a road trip across the mid west border of Canada and America last week, he had to make a 200 mile detour to avoid a large snow storm.
 
I was in Kelowna in late Feb/early March this year (we went skiing in Big White) and there didn't really seem to be a great deal there. It's a pretty small town when compared to the likes Calgary and Vancouver. However, the Oakanagan valley is AMAZING and the scenery is fantastic. We took a greyhound from Kelowna to Vancouver and it was genuinely awesome.
 
Bill101 said:
will you need snow chains in Calgary at that time of the year? I know it gets very cold very quickly.
A friend did a road trip across the mid west border of Canada and America last week, he had to make a 200 mile detour to avoid a large snow storm.
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Unlike this country, it's mandatory to have winter tyres fitted to vehicles in winter. So if you rent a car, it will have them on it. So snow handling won't be anything like as treacherous as here.

I'm sure you will have a great time though. I spent two years working out in Whistler and it's still the place I want to go back to more than anywhere else in the world.
 
We did something similar for our honeymoon in 2007. One place that is truely stunning is the area around Tofino on Vancouver island which is definitely worth the trip to go and see. there is also a fantastic restuarant at the south end of Long beach (I think that was what it was called).

Jasper and the surrounding area is fantastic too and its well worth a trip up to the columbian icefield while you are there. Lots of mountian biking in the area if you are interested. We hired bikes for a day and had a great time going round the easy routes.

Banff - have a meal at the maple leaf restaurant. Its reasonably expensive but got to be the best meal I've ever had. probably about £100 for the 2 of us including a bottle of wine (one of the cheapest at around £30)
 
Rivey said:
I was in Kelowna in late Feb/early March this year (we went skiing in Big White) and there didn't really seem to be a great deal there. It's a pretty small town when compared to the likes Calgary and Vancouver. However, the Oakanagan valley is AMAZING and the scenery is fantastic. We took a greyhound from Kelowna to Vancouver and it was genuinely awesome.
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Yeah the tour books I have recommended the Okanagan too, helps that it's the wine region :D
 
latercomer2 said:
One place that is truely stunning is the area around Tofino on Vancouver island which is definitely worth the trip to go and see. there is also a fantastic restuarant at the south end of Long beach (I think that was what it was called).
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VI is well worth the ferry trip, we stayed in Tofino in 2003 and had a gorgeous time. We ate at the restaurant mentioned above and it was great, so was one in Tofino itself it had a small boat's hull as an entry porch. The waitress was lovely and the food was yummy.

There was a beach that you walked to through some rainforest just south of Tofino that is one of the most perfect places I have ever been to. My GF and I just sat there for about 2 hours just gob smacked by how unspoilt and beautiful it was....

Just about here
 
That is a huge area to cover in just 13 days, bearing in mind the length of the flight and all you will be knackered, but adrenaline will kick in as soon as you see the scenery!

I would recomend taking it slow and seeing less. The drive between Banf and Jasper alone is breathtaking at every turn and descending to Vancouver from the Rockies is superb. As someone else mentioned the Whistler road is a cracker but bear in mind that there are a lot of roadworks as they are busy getting ready for the 2010 winter olympics.

All in all I am very jealous!
 
We did sit down and try and figure out driving times etc. one of the longest days will be somewhere between 4-5 hours, so not too bad. I think it's broken up quite nicely
 
That looks like a great trip. I did something similar with my mum when I was younger, we took the road through Salmon Arm and Golden though. Make sure you take in Lake Louise, I think it's in Banff and it's really beautiful.
 
Vixen said:
That looks like a great trip. I did something similar with my mum when I was younger, we took the road through Salmon Arm and Golden though. Make sure you take in Lake Louise, I think it's in Banff and it's really beautiful.
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Yeah we'll be staying near there at the emerald lake in Yoho :D
 
Thats pretty much the route I took in a coach trip in 2006. The pics on my site here:
http://johnspencer.smugmug.com/People and places/260802

will give you an idea what to expect. Only things i'd advise in a car trip is to know the location of gas stations as you can be driving for hours between them and be perpared for snow. We got caught in heavy snow drifts in September, though the coach driver had snow chains so we were able to tank it past all the stranded cars :D
 
great trip

did the same over 11 days ten years ago
used a lot of places to stay from the rough gide to the pacific north west
had to leave it with our canadian friends they thought it was very usefull
we drove back from banf to vancouver so doing a loop
some of my favourite pictures of all time are from that trip
take some time looking around vancouver as well
have a great time
 
Wow jealous big time, one of my dream’s when l was young was to do an easy rider round USA. Hope all goes well and enjoy big time, post some pic's when you get back.

Bon voyage
 
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