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I have 13 nights in an RV booked from the 28th of June this year. Flying in to Calgary and heading for Banff and Jasper. Unfortunately we didn't realise the 1st of July weekend is a holiday weekend and most of the national park sites are fully booked.
Do any of you guys have recommendations for
A) Good sites which are likely to be less busy
B) top things to do in the area including hikes and sights.
Thanks in advance
I did the same route with a hire car and hotels about 13 years ago on my honeymoon. The route is spectacular and Banff and jasper are both nice places. Jasper is quite small though. We stayed at a place called "beckers roaring River chalets" in jasper and I'm sure they had pitches for rv's. The sound of the river at night was so relaxing.
There were a load of mtb loops around jasper and Banff and things like bear sightseeing trips etc... We just happened to stumble across one at the edge of a road eating berries one day, thankfully we were in a car!
There is the big glacier on the route to jasper and places like lake Louise have boat and canoe hire, it will probably be beautiful weather in July too.
Wish I could do it again.
Edit. If you get the chance to go to vancouver then I'd take it, really nice city to wander around with Stanley Park and Granville Island etc...
Head straight out of calgary
could walk jumping pound ridge and wish you had brought a bike
Head into Canmore rather than Banff (the blackpool of Canada)
Take the walking/biking Rundle/Goat trail from canmore to Banff - works either way
Take the back road from 1a off trans Canada highway (just past Banff) to lake louise - prettier and more chance of seeing elk/moose etc
Nice walk at Lake minne****a near Banff follow the signs
Lake moraine is close to Louise and much nicer
Side trip to visit truffle pig restaurant at Field (its a tiny town just of the highway) don't blink or you will miss it then Visit Golden
Never went further toward Jasper but many people say its a great trip
Some great stuff there thank-you.
Any more for any more?
Depending on your flight arrival time, staying a night in Calgary might be a good idea. I wouldn't fancy doing long haul then jumping straight into a big lump and driving off
Banff is a big town, Jasper isn’t much smaller, they are not nice small villages etc.
We stayed on the outskirts of Banff last year. I went for a run around the edge of the RV park and it was a 3 mile run.
Found RV parks very odd, full of people living the outdoor dream with campfires (that much smoke you couldn’t breath) drinking, concrete picnic tables, about 1 ft between each van. Glad we made the decision not to hire an RV.
might be a good idea. I wouldn’t fancy doing long haul then jumping straight into a big lump and driving off
The three times we've done it we have always got on the road and headed to Canmore and that's been far enough after the flight but gets you going
Much prefer Canmore to Banff, I quite like the place, we went up to the biathlon range and arranged to have a lesson with the rifles , great fun.
We have a night in Calgary before we pick up the RV. Also we are looking at sites with more space between plots so far. Thanks for the replies
+1 Canmore, it’s about an hour’s drive from Calgary. Athabaska glacier on the Icefields Parkway from Lake Louise towards Jasper. Lake Louise is pretty but the ‘village’ is a bit of a dump.
Highway 1 to Vancouver is a spectacular drive. Kamloops is a railroad town. Golden, Revelstoke, Hope, Salmon Arm all very nice
Sort of the wrong way (but close by Canadian standards!!) is the 'Badlands':
https://www.travelalberta.com/ca/places-to-go/canadian-badlands/
I just found it rad standing on a glacier (Athabasca) one day, and being in a desert the following one.
Oh and you can check out Vulcan on the way there more for comedy value than anything else. Prepare to be underwhelmed 😉
Your current route is basically the default so it'll be pretty busy everywhere. If you haven't booked condcons Kananakasis which will give you the same mountain view but with less people.
Yoho valley is fantastic but busy (and tricky with an RV).