Heading over there in June…can't wait – would like some advice on car/van hire and accommodation recommendations.
Any guide book I should purchase before hand?
Any other useful tips?

Cheers

Drop us a line,

We're set up to get you the most from your time in Whistler.

Jonny @ Bear Back Biking

Cuts – mind me asking who you're flying with, when and how much your ticket was?
I've been out there in summer for the last three years – got a mate there. Amazing place – you'll love it. For great downhills try Pemberton and Squamish too. And if you have time, visit Nelson, BC – incredible riding, but a 10-hour drive from Whistler. You can buy a Whistler guide book, not sure what it's called but it looks decent – just check online or in shops once you're there. Warner Lake with Tyax is a mint xc day ride with a float plane drop-off: highly recommended.

we used allura direct to book our condo

they came highly recommended and we got a good deal on a nice place

it's an aggregator for owners to sell there properties direct

we stayed here: http://www.alluradirect.com/463/

wi – canadaffair? i think. £480 return June
Mrmick – probably looking at camping/rv rental – anyone any exp with renting a motor home etc in canada?
Cheers Bear back – will check you out

I can recommend staying with Bearback. Stayed with them for 2 weeks each year for last 3 years and had great time. Transfers have always been spot on (even when we missed our connecting flight one year), guides were cool and meals were excellent.

we rented an RV for our honeymoon from http://www.cruisecanada.com/

it was great, drank fuel like god knows what but at the time fuel was cheap. The collection place in not too far from the airport and we just popped into a home depot to buy a bbq, cleaning gear and camping chairs, we then donated them to a family who were picking up as we dropped off.

It's a cracking way to get around but make sure you research your fuel costs, everywhere in Canada is a LONG LONG way away!

http://michael-wright.fotopic.net/p18614138.html

http://michael-wright.fotopic.net/p18614319.html

Happy Happy times 🙂

Car hire – shop around for the best deal. It worked out cheapest for us to book through Canadian Affair than go direct. We hired a 4×4 to get off the beaten track. Some roads were just gravel roads that we travelled on and a 4×4 definitely made for a more pleasant journey.

Accommodation – because we flew to Calgary and home from Vancouver we booked some accommodation over here before we left and book the rest as we travelled round which worked well. Had taken a phone and took advantage of free wifi.

Places to stay in Whistler – we have stayed at First Tracks Lodge a few times, its condos rather than a hotel but is really nice, has a pool and hot tub (nice for relaxing after a days biking), secure bike storage. Check their own website and Expedia to see where you get the best deal. The only thing you may not be keen on its that its in Creekside, but we really didn’t mind, we got the bus into Whistler village for nights out and taxi back and used the car.

Guide book – the best guide book we used is called 'Hidden BC' http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-British-Columbia-Including-Vancouver/dp/1569753296

Anything I have missed??

wl – canadian affair/thomas cook/air transat (all the same thing) are consistently the cheapest

Cheers. I've used Canadian Affair twice and they've been good. Prices seemed to take a big hike last year, but I still bit the bullet. Same this year, with July and August coming in around £650 or more, before adding a bike into the equation. It's a lot of brass, although I know it's worth every penny.

I'll be working for Ticket2Ride for the summer.

I've not actually worked with them yet, but all the people I've talked to from there have been really friendly, including a couple of guys who are heading out for a second time. From everything I've read about them I'm very happy to be working there – infact I'd probably be staying with them anyway.

another vote for bearback. They've got a hottub on the balcony ffs!

For flying from the UK to Vancouver with Canadian Affair you can save 10% when booking by using the promotional code T2R10 when booking on line. Simply stick the code T2R10 in the promotional code box on the Canadian Affair website and 10% will be discounted from your flight price when booking. This pretty much covers the cost of taking your bike. This code will work until the end of April.

Every little helps