Forum menu
Got a fancy for one next year, maybe end of May for 3 or 4 weeks. The basic idea is to get to Vancouver & have a mooch round there then hire a car & head to Banff & Edmonton then back via Jasper. We'll give Calgary a miss cos I've been. So, anyone have a ballpark figure of the cost before I start searching?
Also, are there any websites better than others to search?
Ta muchly.
Yeah did a none biking one in 2017. I missed Calgary because didn't look that interesting and I only had 2 weeks, rather than having been before 🙂
Budget- £420 flight with Air Canada, £200 car rental with Hertz, £100 on petrol (had a pretty frugal Golf), mainly staying in HI hostels (say £25/night average). The log cabins in Jasper/Banff parks are actually great if you like that sort of thing (bears on the door step, flying biting things not so nice). Mosquito Creek even has a nice sauna. The only none-HI hostel I stayed at was the Dreamcatcher in Golden, which was excellent (looked like some great riding round there, which I was sad to miss). Was mainly cooking in hostels and preparing baguettes for hikes etc during the days so food cost was basically same as at home.
It was the 150 year anniversary of the Canadian national parks service and I got a free pass- I guess that's around 80 CAD.
Drove out the Whistler way and back via Okanagan. Was mainly mile munching in the middle.
Why go all the way back to Vancouver ? Last year we flew in to Vancouver out Calgary.
We were not that impressed by Vancouver itself but we only used it as a stop off to Vancouver island.
We drove Vancouver to Whistler, Whistler was busy, expensive and just a ski resort. Pemberton up the road was nicer.
Then we drove to just north of Kelowna via Lillooet. Very different area, wine region etc, swimming in the lakes.
We then took the long way round to Revelstoke via highway 6. Stunning drive. Revelstoke was a great place.
Then drove to Jasper. Quite a lot of nice stuff up that way. Rafting was great, as was guided walk up a glacier (avoid the bus!).
Then back to Banff, too busy, but disappointing.
Then only 1 1/2hr drive to Calgary and plane home same day
We've just booked flights for this year, £1150 for 2 from Manchester. Haven't booked the car yet but looks like it would be about 600 for 19 days. Also haven't looked into hotels but will be budgeting ~100 a night, would be nice if we're able to do it for a bit less though!
Long time ago now, but did Vancouver to Calgary via Okanagan valley (nice contrast to the big mountain stuff and vineyards if that takes your fancy), Jasper and Banff. As others have suggested, Jasper is a bit nicer than Banff and the log-cabin lake lodges are stunningly beautiful. Makes sense to fly out of Calgary if you can, keeps the backtracking down.
Then back to Banff, too busy, but disappointing
I found Canmore much nicer than Banf and still a relatively easy drive back to Calgary airport
Should have said we were with an 7 yr old.
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/21123399?location=Okanagan%20Lake%2C%20BC%2C%20Canada&guests=1&adults=1&s=qZrZYD7l That place was stunning near Kelowna, very near vineyards/nice walks.
Wife who is non biker loved this, as did our son
Guided ice walks
Highlight though was going to north Vancouver Island. Only place we would go back to again, if we could afford it! Completely different world, no roads, people etc. Eagles, bears, whales everywhere was stunning and magical
Excellent & thanks up to now! When I went over in 2000 I was staying with friends in Medicine Hat & drove to Calgary/Canmore/Banff in their car. Didn't see a lot of Edmonton except the Mall & the hockey game. (still use my Race Face windproof I bought in a bike shop in Canmore)
@Ebennett, that's kind of what I was expecting, who are you flying with?
Did a road trip back in the mid 90’s.
We did take our bikes but also did other things too.
Highlights were Jasper National Park for the bears, camping by the glacier fed lake by Mt Robson and Vancouver Island even though we didn’t actually get to go whale watching.
However the one bit I want to go back and do is the canoe trip we did on Bowron Lake circuit. Camping out where you can only get there by boat or helicopter. Beautiful scenery and great fun.
Yep, loved it, and it's a great idea. Car rental isn't too much, even for one way. May may still be a bit chilly - Whistler takes out full-page newspaper ads at the end of May every couple of years to brag that they still have snow, and especially between Banff and Jasper it'll be cold. But during the day it'll warm up, and it's beautiful up that way.
Check out accommodation before you get too far into booking things; especially between Banff and Jasper things can get booked up early.
Summer 2009, flew into Calgary for my sister’s wedding.
One week in Canmore to see mountains, Banff, Lake Louise, Icefields Parkway. Back to Calgary fir the wedding itself. Then a drive to Vancouver via Kamloops (overnight stay).
Desert !?!?? In Canada? Yup.
Three nights in Vancouver then back to Calgary for return flight. Bad planning, could have had another night in Vancouver had I planned return flight better.
Awesome views but I got a lesser view than Mrs_d as I was trying not to fall off the side of the mountain. If you can afford it, take the train
Separate trip, Vancouver Island is fantastic. Flew into Vancouver, ferry from Horseshoe to Nanaimo, stayed in Parksville, then back to Vancouver for return flight to Manchester. Flights with Air Transat were half the price in 2017 as original flights in 2009
I’d only echo what a few others have said and fly in to Vancouver and out of Calgary, saves loads of time. Vancouver is one of my favourite cities in the world, though as with many places there’s a big divide between the rich and the poor.
If you can squeeze a trip to Vancouver Island in too it’s well worth it.
We're flying with BA, have to connect in LHR unfortunately but it worked out cheaper (and the dates were better) than doing it direct with Air Transat. Plus the idea of a budget airline for that distance makes me a bit twitchy 🙂
+1 also for Vancouver Island - went with my parents when younger and, even as a grumpy teenager, it was amazing!
We did a good tour round after a ski season a few years ago. Place markers to tack a route round were all the microbreweries we sourced the beer from in the restaurant I worked in. Plus stuff we'd head about, wanted to see, occurred to us on the way round. Route was Fernie, Nelson, Revelstoke, Kelowna, Penticton, Kamloops, Spences Bridge, Hells Gate, Hope, Vancouver, Whistler, Lillooet, Prince George, Terrace, Prince Rupert, Inside Passage ferry to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island, Campbell River, Tofino, Beaver Creek, Great Central Lake and Della Falls, Nanaimo, Victoria.
Can't really help with the cost, but it can be as cheap as you like after flights. We camped in free Forestry campgrounds, "Camp free in BC" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Camp-Free-B-C-Explore-Paddle/dp/0973509937 , cooked on stoves, eating out as a treat, drove around in a 1979 Buick Century we'd bought for $750.
With a month, it might be worth buying a car and selling at the end. Big V8s, straight roads and low speed limits meant they don't get that stressed, so older cars can be a good buy. And a breakdown cover!
Flippin' ace trip. Some unasked for itinerary advice: With the time you have, I'd go Duffy Lake road to Highway 1 to Alberta, Banff and back, maybe up to Jasper if you want to make time for it, back to Kootenays, various hotsprings on Highway 95, turn right onto 3, 3A, definitely stop in Nelson (visit the brewery, do the Roxanne walking tour!), Up and across on 6, to Okanagan, more breweries and wineries, 97C and 8 back to the bit of Highway 1 that you didn't do before, stop at Hells gate and Hope, walk through the Coquihalla canyon tunnels, back to Vancouver, eat at the Twisted Fork bistro, over to Vancouver Island and Victoria, chill out on the west coast if you've got any time left.
And post some photos on here!
aging snowboarders might be able to date this photo by the sticker on the passenger door. clicky bigger: https://farm1.staticflickr.com/956/39925993060_7820bd87eb_k.jp g" no googling!
Have you been watching Michael Portaloo's railway series on Canada? It's very good indeed.
We did a week walking in the Rockies (cold) and a five day walk up the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island. One the last day it rained hard so we yomped about 25 kms to the trail head and got the last room in the hotel, where a pissed-up redneck fisherman in the bar thought my walking buddy and I were "a pair of fags" and tried to get us to go back to his place.
The roads are so good and the distances so long that we started playing "guess the distance to the next bend". I was driving at about 65 and failed to notice the Police car that passed me in the opposite direction and next thing there were flashing blue and red lights in my mirror. The Officer was a verrrry attractive young woman, who, if I hadn't been travelling with my buddy (gayboy obviously) I would have asked out that night. She let me off a speeding fine with a warning.
The museum of Native American history in Victoria was fantastic, really excellent. Vancouver and victoria were great cities.