Canada - Must do's around Calgary - Vancouver
Discussion
Hi, Thanks for your help guys.
I'll elaborate a bit about our basic plan, it was;
Calgary 3 nights for the Stampede
RV for 22 nights starting and finishing in Calgary; going to Drumheller, Jasper, Kelowna, Revelstoke, Lake Louise, Banff, Calgary.
Then fly across to Vancouver for 10 nights, possibly hire car and Vancouver Island or up to Whistler.
I've taken your points on board, particularly about pre-booking a few campsites and letting that guide us.
I'm thinking more now about trying to not do too many places but spend more time at each stop. It does sound as though we could just drive up to Jasper and spend a month there though!
Is it worth buying/renting cheap MTBs for getting about for the duration or just renting the days we need them?
I'll elaborate a bit about our basic plan, it was;
Calgary 3 nights for the Stampede
RV for 22 nights starting and finishing in Calgary; going to Drumheller, Jasper, Kelowna, Revelstoke, Lake Louise, Banff, Calgary.
Then fly across to Vancouver for 10 nights, possibly hire car and Vancouver Island or up to Whistler.
I've taken your points on board, particularly about pre-booking a few campsites and letting that guide us.
I'm thinking more now about trying to not do too many places but spend more time at each stop. It does sound as though we could just drive up to Jasper and spend a month there though!
Is it worth buying/renting cheap MTBs for getting about for the duration or just renting the days we need them?
havoc said:
Vancouver Island, definitely.
We did a day-trip there and wished we'd had more time.
Victoria is a great town, you HAVE to do a whale-watching tour (we did this by large speedboat...more ground covered and a very entertaining journey back, courtesy of twin inboard-somethings that you could hear over the water roar), and that completely ignores the other 90% of the island.
Plus it's completely different from all the mountain stuff you'll have done up at Banff/Jasper/Whistler.
Hi, We’ve booked the whale watching tour from seaplane then covered boat as I thought the speedboat option might be a bit uncomfortable for 1.5-2 hours. Is the speedboat a better option?We did a day-trip there and wished we'd had more time.
Victoria is a great town, you HAVE to do a whale-watching tour (we did this by large speedboat...more ground covered and a very entertaining journey back, courtesy of twin inboard-somethings that you could hear over the water roar), and that completely ignores the other 90% of the island.
Plus it's completely different from all the mountain stuff you'll have done up at Banff/Jasper/Whistler.
havoc said:
Possibly depends on the size and the weather.
We (13 years ago) did a half-day (~4hr) afternoon cruise with Eagle Wing, did loads, saw loads (the boats all talk to each other, so a faster boat can reach a sighting quicker, but it's nothing like a safari where 6 jeeps all crowd round a lion with kill...we saw one other boat the whole trip), good crew, who stayed out as late as possible then sat us all down and turned the taps on full to get back before twilight!
The boat we were on was open and had a capacity of ~20 pax or so, so not a little speedboat, but definitely not slow either. Weather was good, so hard to comment on what it might be like in rough seas, but neither my wife nor I (both 30-somethings at the time) had any problems whether cruising, sitting watching or full-chat, and she notoriously gets seasick on sailing boats.
Some photos from our trip on this link...also with Jasper and Banff in.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/48052912@N05/albums/...
Seaplane + covered boat sounds like it might be a good alternative, to be fair. You're wrong time of year for the migration of the grey whales, so it'll probably be orca pods, seals and whatever pot-luck might throw-up.
Hi, Thanks for your reply, but also the pictures We (13 years ago) did a half-day (~4hr) afternoon cruise with Eagle Wing, did loads, saw loads (the boats all talk to each other, so a faster boat can reach a sighting quicker, but it's nothing like a safari where 6 jeeps all crowd round a lion with kill...we saw one other boat the whole trip), good crew, who stayed out as late as possible then sat us all down and turned the taps on full to get back before twilight!
The boat we were on was open and had a capacity of ~20 pax or so, so not a little speedboat, but definitely not slow either. Weather was good, so hard to comment on what it might be like in rough seas, but neither my wife nor I (both 30-somethings at the time) had any problems whether cruising, sitting watching or full-chat, and she notoriously gets seasick on sailing boats.
Some photos from our trip on this link...also with Jasper and Banff in.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/48052912@N05/albums/...
Seaplane + covered boat sounds like it might be a good alternative, to be fair. You're wrong time of year for the migration of the grey whales, so it'll probably be orca pods, seals and whatever pot-luck might throw-up.
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