RE: British Columbia: PH Dream Drive
Discussion
I have enjoyed doing a broadly similar tour a couple of times on 2 wheels, nipping into the USA as part of the journey. In the summer it can be very, very, hot. The Canadians are extremely friendly and very courteous to motorcyclists.
If you can spare the time, Vancouver island is superb, the coast of the Pacific is something else and there is little to compare it to in Europe.
If you can spare the time, Vancouver island is superb, the coast of the Pacific is something else and there is little to compare it to in Europe.
David87 said:
I have a feeling this article is going to cost me a few grand. Thanks very much, PH. 
Me too, but wow, what an eye opener. I had not thought in those terms before.My last seven day tour of Scotland cost me 1100 miles fuel, six hotels at an average cost of £100 a night, meals in hotels and restaurants throughout because, of course, we had no cooking facilities. Total cost around £1300.
Doing the same tour in a motor home in the UK would be cheaper - our hired one last September was around £100 a day plus fuel at 25 mpg, plus meals etc. I seem to remember getting through about £500 in spending money.
Double that for two weeks, and a trip to Canada suddenly seems entirely viable and a lot more fun, because of the far cheaper motorhome hire costs.
I did a similar trip but started in Calgary then Jasper, Kamloops, Whistler, Vancouver, Kelowna, Banff and back to Calgary. Took 3 weeks but never booked anywhere just turned up, always found some where no problem. This year we are picking up a 32' Rv with slide outs from Happy holidays would love to here how you got on with the ferry.
QBee said:
Me too, but wow, what an eye opener. I had not thought in those terms before.
My last seven day tour of Scotland cost me 1100 miles fuel, six hotels at an average cost of £100 a night, meals in hotels and restaurants throughout because, of course, we had no cooking facilities. Total cost around £1300.
Doing the same tour in a motor home in the UK would be cheaper - our hired one last September was around £100 a day plus fuel at 25 mpg, plus meals etc. I seem to remember getting through about £500 in spending money.
Double that for two weeks, and a trip to Canada suddenly seems entirely viable and a lot more fun, because of the far cheaper motorhome hire costs.
2 weeks touring Canada for £2.5k all in.... good luck with that My last seven day tour of Scotland cost me 1100 miles fuel, six hotels at an average cost of £100 a night, meals in hotels and restaurants throughout because, of course, we had no cooking facilities. Total cost around £1300.
Doing the same tour in a motor home in the UK would be cheaper - our hired one last September was around £100 a day plus fuel at 25 mpg, plus meals etc. I seem to remember getting through about £500 in spending money.
Double that for two weeks, and a trip to Canada suddenly seems entirely viable and a lot more fun, because of the far cheaper motorhome hire costs.
QBee said:
Serious question - how far out am I, hiring an RV for the trip? Plus £1k for the flights.
The trip cost £4,500 for the two of us all in for 14 nights (two in a hotel in Vancouver and 12 in the RV). That's for everything so flights, RV hire, fuel, few nights eating out, activities, spending money, etc. I'd budgeted around £2K each so we went a bit over, but for most people, you only do this sort of trip once so may as well do it properly!Digger230 said:
I did a similar trip but started in Calgary then Jasper, Kamloops, Whistler, Vancouver, Kelowna, Banff and back to Calgary. Took 3 weeks but never booked anywhere just turned up, always found some where no problem. This year we are picking up a 32' Rv with slide outs from Happy holidays would love to here how you got on with the ferry.
Excellent. I booked a few campgrounds just in case, but the others we turned up to we were fine getting in. Ferry was an absolute breeze and it was nice to start off somewhere more remote with little traffic to get used to driving the RV. Only slight frustration was you have to pay the return trip, which I'd thought was covered but it was hidden in the small print. But still considerably cheaper than the competition and their customer service was brilliant, would definitely book with them again if I went back.Thoroughly recommend eating at the Smoke on the Water BBQ shack on Gibsons when you go back, the food is incredible! The Gibsons RV resort was full when we arrived so I'd recommend booking your last night there to save having to drive further afield. Gibsons was a really peaceful place to spend our last night and a great way to finish the trip.
Yes, I was thinking more like £5k and as above, that would include a bit of ‘home cooking’.
Each to their own, but I wouldn’t want to go there and then slum it for 2 weeks just to scrape by. Who wants to go on holiday to Canada and then cook every single meal on a camper van hob? Need to treat yourselves and it all adds to the experience.
Ben - next trip New Zealand, particularly South Island. Seriously. It’ll cost more, but you wouldn’t regret that one bit.
Each to their own, but I wouldn’t want to go there and then slum it for 2 weeks just to scrape by. Who wants to go on holiday to Canada and then cook every single meal on a camper van hob? Need to treat yourselves and it all adds to the experience.
Ben - next trip New Zealand, particularly South Island. Seriously. It’ll cost more, but you wouldn’t regret that one bit.
rossub said:
Yes, I was thinking more like £5k and as above, that would include a bit of ‘home cooking’.
Each to their own, but I wouldn’t want to go there and then slum it for 2 weeks just to scrape by. Who wants to go on holiday to Canada and then cook every single meal on a camper van hob? Need to treat yourselves and it all adds to the experience.
Ben - next trip New Zealand, particularly South Island. Seriously. It’ll cost more, but you wouldn’t regret that one bit.
Yes. thanks for this. My wife is both a vary good cook and incredibly picky about what she eats, so I plead special case. And she loves cooking.Each to their own, but I wouldn’t want to go there and then slum it for 2 weeks just to scrape by. Who wants to go on holiday to Canada and then cook every single meal on a camper van hob? Need to treat yourselves and it all adds to the experience.
Ben - next trip New Zealand, particularly South Island. Seriously. It’ll cost more, but you wouldn’t regret that one bit.
Many is the time we have gone for a pub lunch and she has found nothing, out of the 120 dishes on the menu, that she actually wants to eat.
But I will set the budget higher and thank you all for your advice
QBee said:
But I will set the budget higher and thank you all for your advice
If you're flying to the west coast I'd suggest stretching the budget even further to make sure you don't have to sit in economy for that part of the journey. It's an expensive luxury, but well worth the consideration. Cold said:
QBee said:
But I will set the budget higher and thank you all for your advice
If you're flying to the west coast I'd suggest stretching the budget even further to make sure you don't have to sit in economy for that part of the journey. It's an expensive luxury, but well worth the consideration. 
Just spent two weeks in BC from Prince George to Wells to Vancouver, everything seems dear apart from fuel. Beer is expensive, some places charge 10GBP for 6x330 Heineken.
Nice scenery though, a lot of speed cops.
Snowmobiles are cool until you crash and then they're still cool. 2 broken ribs here. Boo Hoo.
Canadian beers taste horrible apart from Cariboo which is passable.
A&W serve a Beyond Meat burger which is awesome.
The supermarkets don't sell Dairylea which is not awesome.
Nice scenery though, a lot of speed cops.
Snowmobiles are cool until you crash and then they're still cool. 2 broken ribs here. Boo Hoo.
Canadian beers taste horrible apart from Cariboo which is passable.
A&W serve a Beyond Meat burger which is awesome.
The supermarkets don't sell Dairylea which is not awesome.
rossub said:
Yes, I was thinking more like £5k and as above, that would include a bit of ‘home cooking’.
Each to their own, but I wouldn’t want to go there and then slum it for 2 weeks just to scrape by. Who wants to go on holiday to Canada and then cook every single meal on a camper van hob? Need to treat yourselves and it all adds to the experience.
Ben - next trip New Zealand, particularly South Island. Seriously. It’ll cost more, but you wouldn’t regret that one bit.
We ate out a few times and had some great meals, but cooked on days where we were travelling or weren't arriving somewhere until late. The supermarket prices caught us out, as food was pretty pricey compared to the UK. Apparently it's similar in the US so for what it costs you to cook a meal at home/in the RV, you can eat out for not much more.Each to their own, but I wouldn’t want to go there and then slum it for 2 weeks just to scrape by. Who wants to go on holiday to Canada and then cook every single meal on a camper van hob? Need to treat yourselves and it all adds to the experience.
Ben - next trip New Zealand, particularly South Island. Seriously. It’ll cost more, but you wouldn’t regret that one bit.
Having said that, we had four gas hobs, an oven and a microwave in the RV so we weren't lacking in equipment and knocked up some good grub. Plus a freezer full of Reese's ice cream and probably a kilo of marshmallows over the campfire
Thanks for the advice on NZ, that's definitely on the shortlist along with Japan. Would probably make sense to combine the two!
Excellant read.
Reminds me of a few of our trips driving (before kids and of america).
Not been to canada - it is on the list to do, will wait for the kids to get a little bit older, not sure about driving a RV my self, but when we toured america, we were quite happy staying in 2 star motels, its a bed for one night, if we need extra nights we would push up the budget slightly to 3 star holiday inn type places.
Would very much like to do another driving adventure, although with my 5 year old moaning about a 30 minute car journey, I can't see it being too fun. One certainly for when they are older.
Reminds me of a few of our trips driving (before kids and of america).
Not been to canada - it is on the list to do, will wait for the kids to get a little bit older, not sure about driving a RV my self, but when we toured america, we were quite happy staying in 2 star motels, its a bed for one night, if we need extra nights we would push up the budget slightly to 3 star holiday inn type places.
Would very much like to do another driving adventure, although with my 5 year old moaning about a 30 minute car journey, I can't see it being too fun. One certainly for when they are older.
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