Honeymoon in Canada, late August - early September
Discussion
Just after a few suggestions from folks about stuff we simply have to do whilst we're out there, the schedule is pretty packed already, but things can be jigged around here and there to accommodate.
Day 1 - Calgary
Days 2, 3 and 4 - Banff - hoping to do some white water rafting whilst we're there, maybe some horse riding, visit to lake Louise, Moraine lake and the Emerald lake, perhaps do some canoeing on one of the lakes.
Day 5 will be spent driving up to Jasper, taking in the glacier on the way along with all the scenery.
Day 6 I'm hoping to hire a Harley for the day from Jasper and ride down to Maligne lake and a couple of other sights.
Day 7 will be spent driving to an overnight in Kamloops.
Day 8 we'll be driving from Kamloops to Northern Vancouver.
Day 9 we'll be getting the ferry over to Vancouver island, then driving up to Campbell River.
Day 10 we're going Bear watching, they should be hunting for Salmon at that time.
Day 11 we're heading back to Vancouver for the last few days, which signals the end of the mammoth amount of driving. Haven't got much set in stone here, want to see the Capilano suspension bridge whilst we're there, but that's about it so far. I was thinking of hiring a Harley here instead of Jasper and riding up to Whistler, but I think the scenery around Jasper will be better for that. Will still consider driving up to Whistler if people think it's worth it.
I realise there is a massive amount of driving involved, but the scenery should make up for a lot of that, and I'm no stranger to some long drives, having done London to Geneva in one particular long instance, so the 4-5 hour trips involved here should be fairly lightweight in comparison.
Just hoping you folks can suggest some must-see sights along the way, restaurants we simply have to go to, activities we might not have considered and some more suggestions on things to do in Vancouver.
Day 1 - Calgary
Days 2, 3 and 4 - Banff - hoping to do some white water rafting whilst we're there, maybe some horse riding, visit to lake Louise, Moraine lake and the Emerald lake, perhaps do some canoeing on one of the lakes.
Day 5 will be spent driving up to Jasper, taking in the glacier on the way along with all the scenery.
Day 6 I'm hoping to hire a Harley for the day from Jasper and ride down to Maligne lake and a couple of other sights.
Day 7 will be spent driving to an overnight in Kamloops.
Day 8 we'll be driving from Kamloops to Northern Vancouver.
Day 9 we'll be getting the ferry over to Vancouver island, then driving up to Campbell River.
Day 10 we're going Bear watching, they should be hunting for Salmon at that time.
Day 11 we're heading back to Vancouver for the last few days, which signals the end of the mammoth amount of driving. Haven't got much set in stone here, want to see the Capilano suspension bridge whilst we're there, but that's about it so far. I was thinking of hiring a Harley here instead of Jasper and riding up to Whistler, but I think the scenery around Jasper will be better for that. Will still consider driving up to Whistler if people think it's worth it.
I realise there is a massive amount of driving involved, but the scenery should make up for a lot of that, and I'm no stranger to some long drives, having done London to Geneva in one particular long instance, so the 4-5 hour trips involved here should be fairly lightweight in comparison.
Just hoping you folks can suggest some must-see sights along the way, restaurants we simply have to go to, activities we might not have considered and some more suggestions on things to do in Vancouver.
The Lukas said:
Sounds like a lot of driving: I doubt you'll have time to see anything! If I had just over a week, I'd stay in and around Vancouver.
There for two weeks, flying into Calgary and flying back from Vancouver. If anything it's Vancouver that seems to me like the least interesting place, which is why I'm hoping some Vancouver-Veterans can point out where we should be going.Even in 14 days that sounds like a pretty tight schedule. I personally have not yet been fortunate in visiting Vancouver but from what I've researched and heard (from here, Trip Adviser ect), it looks impressive and full of things to do.
You could take a float plane to Vancouver Island for example or visit the Capilino Suspension Bridge.
You could take a float plane to Vancouver Island for example or visit the Capilino Suspension Bridge.
The drive up to Whistler is well worth it.
Are you stopping in Kamloops for any reason as it is a bit of a dump. There are some nicer places to stop in the Okanagon if you want to break the journey.
Stanley Park is nice to visit in vanmcouver. Also you mcan go up the moutains at Seymour and Grouse. There are several beaches worth a visit. Also get the ferry and drive up the Sunshine coast.
HTH
Are you stopping in Kamloops for any reason as it is a bit of a dump. There are some nicer places to stop in the Okanagon if you want to break the journey.
Stanley Park is nice to visit in vanmcouver. Also you mcan go up the moutains at Seymour and Grouse. There are several beaches worth a visit. Also get the ferry and drive up the Sunshine coast.
HTH
thenewf said:
The drive up to Whistler is well worth it.
Are you stopping in Kamloops for any reason as it is a bit of a dump. There are some nicer places to stop in the Okanagon if you want to break the journey.
Stanley Park is nice to visit in vanmcouver. Also you mcan go up the moutains at Seymour and Grouse. There are several beaches worth a visit. Also get the ferry and drive up the Sunshine coast.
HTH
Stopping in Kamloops purely to break the journey between Jasper and the next overnight near the ferry port in Vancouver. If you've got a suggestion of somewhere nicer that doesn't extend the drive in either direction too much then I'd be interested. Are you stopping in Kamloops for any reason as it is a bit of a dump. There are some nicer places to stop in the Okanagon if you want to break the journey.
Stanley Park is nice to visit in vanmcouver. Also you mcan go up the moutains at Seymour and Grouse. There are several beaches worth a visit. Also get the ferry and drive up the Sunshine coast.
HTH
Did a slightly shorter version of that in reverse last September (spent the first few days with in-laws in Toronto and Montreal).
- Calgary is just another big city. Unless there's anything special on, bypass it - Vancouver is better.
- Jasper park is worth spending a couple of days in - some very pretty places there, not least Mt Edith Cavell, which you can take a cable-car up 3/4 of the way and then walk the rest (on proper snow even in Sept - take warm clothes and proper boots!). From bases in Banff and Jasper you can get to almost all places in between easy enough - just the middle 1/4 or so that's best done on the "transit" day - anything north of Lake Louise, really.
- Jasper itself feels more 'homely' than Banff...and the wildlife clearly feel that way as we saw deer every day in/on edge of town and a coyote one evening. Some nice restaurants in town too...one almost directly opposite the 'parked up' old locomotive in town - up some stairs to get to it, on a corner. Will try and dig the name out for you - we ate there twice out of 3 nights. Good sandwich place a 2 min walk from the Tourist Info place too - head diagonally SW across the grass, then left down the 'long' road, and it's ~10 doors down on the right.
- Emerald Lake and Moraine Lake were my two favourite places, photogenically. Stunning, genuinely stunning. Lake Louise was nice but partly spoiled by the bloody great hotel on one side of it - conversely the 'lodge' at Emerald Lake fitted in beautifully...
- Kamloops should be nothing more than a last-thing-at-night stop. Nothing really there.
- Vancouver Island - make time to do a whale-watching cruise (1/2-day) from Victoria. We used Eagle Wing, who were excellent, stayed out an hour longer than they were supposed to, and on the way back drove the (speed)boat the way you'd want to!!!
Saw 2x Humpback and loads of Orca, plus a lot of seals (2 species - Harbour and ...?) We did that on a day-trip and saw virtually nothing of Victoria, which looks like it deserves a day on it's own if you can spare the time.
- Vancouver is a lovely city. Good restaurants everywhere, good bars, generally a really nice vibe. Bistro Bistrot (short taxi SW of the main tourist area) was probably our favourite restaurant, mainly because it was a last-minute recommendation and we didn't know what to expect, but service and food were genuinely very good.
- If you like walking then Stanley Park is a nice relaxed flat chill-out type of place which your Gran could manage, and the (national park-type) park just north of the city is a lot hillier but has some great short- and longer walks in it.
Photos here:-
http://s101.photobucket.com/albums/m54/martin-w/Ho...
Suggestions:-
Jasper 2+ days
Banff 3+ days
Vanc Island 2+ days
Vanc 3 days
travel probably 1.5 days in all that.
- Calgary is just another big city. Unless there's anything special on, bypass it - Vancouver is better.
- Jasper park is worth spending a couple of days in - some very pretty places there, not least Mt Edith Cavell, which you can take a cable-car up 3/4 of the way and then walk the rest (on proper snow even in Sept - take warm clothes and proper boots!). From bases in Banff and Jasper you can get to almost all places in between easy enough - just the middle 1/4 or so that's best done on the "transit" day - anything north of Lake Louise, really.
- Jasper itself feels more 'homely' than Banff...and the wildlife clearly feel that way as we saw deer every day in/on edge of town and a coyote one evening. Some nice restaurants in town too...one almost directly opposite the 'parked up' old locomotive in town - up some stairs to get to it, on a corner. Will try and dig the name out for you - we ate there twice out of 3 nights. Good sandwich place a 2 min walk from the Tourist Info place too - head diagonally SW across the grass, then left down the 'long' road, and it's ~10 doors down on the right.
- Emerald Lake and Moraine Lake were my two favourite places, photogenically. Stunning, genuinely stunning. Lake Louise was nice but partly spoiled by the bloody great hotel on one side of it - conversely the 'lodge' at Emerald Lake fitted in beautifully...
- Kamloops should be nothing more than a last-thing-at-night stop. Nothing really there.
- Vancouver Island - make time to do a whale-watching cruise (1/2-day) from Victoria. We used Eagle Wing, who were excellent, stayed out an hour longer than they were supposed to, and on the way back drove the (speed)boat the way you'd want to!!!
Saw 2x Humpback and loads of Orca, plus a lot of seals (2 species - Harbour and ...?) We did that on a day-trip and saw virtually nothing of Victoria, which looks like it deserves a day on it's own if you can spare the time.- Vancouver is a lovely city. Good restaurants everywhere, good bars, generally a really nice vibe. Bistro Bistrot (short taxi SW of the main tourist area) was probably our favourite restaurant, mainly because it was a last-minute recommendation and we didn't know what to expect, but service and food were genuinely very good.
- If you like walking then Stanley Park is a nice relaxed flat chill-out type of place which your Gran could manage, and the (national park-type) park just north of the city is a lot hillier but has some great short- and longer walks in it.
Photos here:-
http://s101.photobucket.com/albums/m54/martin-w/Ho...
Suggestions:-
Jasper 2+ days
Banff 3+ days
Vanc Island 2+ days
Vanc 3 days
travel probably 1.5 days in all that.
Cheers Havoc, our flight doesn't land in Calgary until late afternoon, so we're going to stop over there that night as we've been told that we have to do the drive to Banff during the day to appreciate the mountains appearing over the horizon. We probably could make it to Banff easily before it gets dark, but after the flight over I'm not sure how tired I'll be, will have another look at the flight times and may revise this to stay the first night in Banff.
I'm now considering a longer day driving from Jasper, maybe stopping at Lillooet instead of Kamloops, then driving down the Sea to Sky Highway via Whistler the following day, taking in the sights there on our way to the Ferry port at Horseshoe Bay in North Vancouver, rather than taking the southerly route via highway 1 from Kamloops.
Whilst we're in Jasper I've booked a Harley for the day, the two things I want to ride to are Mt. Edith Cavell and Maligne lake, obviously packing my wide-angle lens to take everything in.
I'm on the lookout for a National Park Pass on ebay now as I've just discovered we need to pay for one of those.
I'm now considering a longer day driving from Jasper, maybe stopping at Lillooet instead of Kamloops, then driving down the Sea to Sky Highway via Whistler the following day, taking in the sights there on our way to the Ferry port at Horseshoe Bay in North Vancouver, rather than taking the southerly route via highway 1 from Kamloops.
Whilst we're in Jasper I've booked a Harley for the day, the two things I want to ride to are Mt. Edith Cavell and Maligne lake, obviously packing my wide-angle lens to take everything in.
I'm on the lookout for a National Park Pass on ebay now as I've just discovered we need to pay for one of those.
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