How to make a trip to Canada as memorable as possible??

[ruggedscotty]

got to remember the lure of the coast with Canada and America,

Lots live miles from the coast. its a big thing for them to head for the coast. Those towns on the BC coast cater for that,

Us brits not to impressed with the coast and can feel a little underwhelmed by it all.


Vancouver is great. lived up near grouse for a year or so, so north and west Vancouver can be nice, the mall park royal is good for shopping although be careful as west Vancouver has a huge number of millionaires and the prices reflect that.

I liked Capilano suspension bridge, there is a free one at lynn valley that isnt as tourist

https://lynncanyon.ca/?utm_content=cmp-true

Grouse mountain and Cypress mountain for views.

vancouver is famed for good food too.

[DodgyGeezer]

ruggedscotty said:

I liked Capilano suspension bridge, there is a free one at lynn valley that isnt as tourist

https://lynncanyon.ca/?utm_content=cmp-true

Grouse mountain and Cypress mountain for views.

vancouver is famed for good food too.

very touristy (ie loads of people!) when we went - very nice to visit to be fair

[Big Worm 1]

ruggedscotty said:

got to remember the lure of the coast with Canada and America,

Lots live miles from the coast. its a big thing for them to head for the coast. Those towns on the BC coast cater for that,

Us brits not to impressed with the coast and can feel a little underwhelmed by it all.


Vancouver is great. lived up near grouse for a year or so, so north and west Vancouver can be nice, the mall park royal is good for shopping although be careful as west Vancouver has a huge number of millionaires and the prices reflect that.

I liked Capilano suspension bridge, there is a free one at lynn valley that isnt as tourist

https://lynncanyon.ca/?utm_content=cmp-true

Grouse mountain and Cypress mountain for views.

vancouver is famed for good food too.

We did all the "Vancouver" stuff (Capilano, Grouse Mountain, etc) when we were there in February. Might go up Grouse again as the bears in the enclosure won't be hibernating, so she can see them if we haven't seen any on the road.

We're going to take a trip to Seattle for a day with it only being a couple of hours drive, and take a trip over to Vancouver Island also for a day or two.

I think the route we'll take for the big road trip will be Vancouver - Whistler - Kamloops - Jasper - Banff - Okanagan - Vancouver.

Can anyone recommend the best way to break it up in terms of accommodation and places to stay? Because it's a 4hr+ drive between each of those points, are we best staying at/around each of them? Or are there better places to stay?

Also what activities would you recommend on the journey? Unfortunately hiking isn't an option, but canoeing, cycling, etc would be good.

[djc206]

I won’t chip in too much with accommodation suggestions, I have stayed in all of those places but Kamloops we fired on through stopping only for lunch, the rest are all great places to stay. Revelstoke is not exactly close but it’s a cool little town but I understand your driving limit.

I would recommend hiring bikes in Jasper, we saw a grizzly whilst cycling there. At least on a bike you stand a chance of outrunning the bd… joking aside there’s a good selection of flat rides up the river vs mountain biking up in the forests, make sure you hire appropriately! Cheating with an electric bike is fine. Definitely definitely hire bikes in Whistler it’s stunning to ride around and properly geared up for it, you can get mountain biking lessons if you’re not too confident. I went conventional and my wife electric, she was right, I was wrong, she will never see this post so I can admit it here.

The icefields parkway I would take the walk up to the glacier, it’s not a hike just a short walk. You can take the bus up onto it but it’s quite pricy and having done it elsewhere in the world I have to say that standing on a grubby bit of ice isn’t that magical. Standing in front of it hearing it creak and groan is much better. Abraham lake is a nice spot for lunch just off the parkway. Peyto lake is the big one to visit, the viewpoint is nice but gets busy, there is a trail that runs through the woods from a remote parking spot to the lakefront, take a bear bell, stunning view, if you get a clear day truly magical.

Lake Louise. Busy but very nice. As touristy as it is afternoon tea at the fairmont with a view of the lake is very pleasant. They hire kayaks/canoes out, it’s a total rip off but if you aren’t going to hike it’s going to be the next best thing to enjoy the beauty of the lake.

There’s a good little restaurant on the road from whistler to Vancouver on the sea to Sky in Squamish called the waterside grill, it features in a Netflix series about some whiny Californians, don’t hold it against them. Further up the road is Joffre Lakes, very beautiful but there is a bit of a hike to even the lower lake, you also need a permit but there’s no data signal there so make sure you book tickets before you go or at the very least stop at the bottom of the mountain and get them before you head up.

Banff has some incredible restaurants. If it didn’t get to -40C in winter I’d already be living there.

To be quite honest we’ve winged a lot of our trips through the area. That whole part of the world is absolutely stunning, every corner you turn, every person you meet, every town they all have something that you’ll remember. I’m quite annoyed with myself that I left it until my mid 30’s before I visited Canada because it’s like the US but better on every level.

[DodgyGeezer]

This was, for us Brits, a little unusual in Banff - actually IN the town...

[djc206]

We saw them at the welcome to Banff sign! Not unusual to have bears wandering around towns too. I’m kinda glad my stagger home from the pub rarely involves anything more deadly than a pissy squirrel.

[havoc]

djc206 said:

We saw them at the welcome to Banff sign! Not unusual to have bears wandering around towns too. I’m kinda glad my stagger home from the pub rarely involves anything more deadly than a pissy squirrel.

I know what you mean.

Years ago on safari we stayed on the crater rim at Ngorongoro. We had to be escorted back to our room from the restaurant after dark...because buffalo wander through the grounds!
(and yes, we did see one, and stood well back while the porter waved a torch and shoo'd it away! )

[Whoozit]

havoc said:

djc206 said:

We saw them at the welcome to Banff sign! Not unusual to have bears wandering around towns too. I’m kinda glad my stagger home from the pub rarely involves anything more deadly than a pissy squirrel.

I know what you mean.

Years ago on safari we stayed on the crater rim at Ngorongoro. We had to be escorted back to our room from the restaurant after dark...because buffalo wander through the grounds!
(and yes, we did see one, and stood well back while the porter waved a torch and shoo'd it away! )

I was skiing in Whistler the last two weeks. The bears are already awake. On one walk around the Valley Trail I saw two bears on the golf course. They seem to love it there in the mornings.

[fttm]

IMO you've got Kamloops in the wrong order , do North of the Trans Canada highway then cut across to Kamloops and The Okanagan along highway 3 to Hope and back into the sthole that is Vancouver . Save a lot of driving time , enjoy your trip .