We’re planning a trip to Canada, beginning in Calgary, travelling through Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise and a few other places on route to Vancouver.

I’m looking to book a car for about a week, can anyone offer any experience/local knowledge that could simplify things? Would a small town car suffice given the nature of the national parks? I’ve no idea. Any help is welcome.

Can i suggest one of these…?

😀

I did that 2 years ago, picked up a Pontiac G7 at Calgary Airport. about the size of an Astra, perfectly big enough for 2.
the drive to Vancouver is an overnighter, although you could do it in 1 day at a pinch.
Jasper is a long way north of Banff & Lake Louise, which are about as close to each other as Leeds & Sheffield, and is really a big detour if you’re heading to Vancouver

would you want to take a small town car from London to Glasgow through the peaks & the Lakes? Highway 1 is a pretty good motorway standard road most of the way, with one or two big hills in the middle 😉

the drive to jasper is def worth it but its a day up and a day down. then another day to vancouver. If your trip is in the summer, a regular car is fine, any other time i’d prefer a 4×4, did the icefield parkway in october and much of it was covered with snow.

yeah I forgot to mention I did it in August

Thanks the feedback. We’re going from the end of this month through to mid May. Allowing for the length of the journey we’ll probably look for something mid-sized. Hostels all the way…!

Thanks again.

some photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnhooper_drum/sets/72157621868287748/

MTT, looks like we’re on the on the same schedule! I booked through Canadian affair (but booked with Avis) and got a mid sized car for £200/week. Seemed a fair price considering the stupidly cheap price we’d paid for the flights.
Some rental companies can be funny about using their cars on the gravel roads you get in the boonies but never had any problems before

Fuel is only slightly cheaper than here so get something economical.

Vancouver is a great place, just come back from there, really enjoyed it.