Hello everyone!
Our summer holiday is approaching and this year weÆll spend
it in Western Canada!!! We organize and plan everything
ourselves, so weÆd appreciate some comments and suggestions
from connoisseurs and locals! We travel by rental car and
take camping equipment with us, but from time to time weÆd
like to stay in a reasonably priced motel, B&B or cabin as
well à Canada is vast and our time is limited, so hereÆs
what we managed to plan. Please help us if you have any
suggestions, hints on what to do, places to stay, little
known sights (such as ghost-towns etc.) along the way.
Day 1: landing in Edmonton in the late evening. Spend the
night near or on the airport to have a good nightÆs rest
after a long transatlantic flight.
Day 2: Collect the rental car in the morning. Drive to
Jasper.
Day 3: Spend the day in Jasper.
Day 4: Drive from Jasper to Cache Creek (BC), or somewhere
near. This is only meant to interrupt the long drive to our
next point of interest.
Day 5: Drive from Cache Creek to Whistler.
Day 6: Visit something in the Whistler area/ Garibaldi
Park. Any suggestions for a good (not too strenuous) hike
or an off-the-beaten-track place to visit?
Day 7: Drive from Whistler to Vancouver. Suggestions for
accommodation?
Day 8: Spend the day in Vancouver
Day 9: Take the ferry to Nanaimo and drive on to long Beach
or Ucluelet. By the way, is it necessary to book these
ferries in advance? ItÆs high season (July/August) after
all.
Day 10: visit this area. Maybe a long beach walk or boat
trip?
Day 11: Drive to Victoria.
Day 12: Visit Victoria
Day 13: Take the ferry from Victoria to Vancouver, and
drive on to Osoyoos.
Day 14: Explore the region between Osoyoos and Penticton.
WeÆre particularly interested in visiting wineries (and
tasting of course). Any suggestions?
Day 15: Driving from the Osoyoos area to Revelstoke NP.
Day 16: Visit Revelstoke and/or Glacier. Which one is most
worthwhile?
Day 17: Drive from Revelstoke to Yoho or Lake Louise.
Day 18: Visit region Yoho/Banff
Day 19: Visit region Yoho/Banff
Day 20: Drive along Icefields Parkway up north to Athabasca
Falls or Jasper.
Day 21: Stay in that region
Day 22: Drive back to Edmonton International Airport. Catch
our evening flight.
WeÆre looking forward to your comments, and of course even
more to the trip itself!
Thanks a lot!
[There are 4 posts - the latest was added on Wed 26 May, 8:57]
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You don't need to make reservation for the ferry to and from
Vanc Island. The ferry journey is wonderful, and you may
even see some whales.
Long Beach - Pacific Rim is my personal paradise. So take
enough time there (I see your time is limited). A long walk
along the beach is a very good idea. If your into whale
watching: it's a good place with beautiful sceenery. We even
saw a humpackwhale jump about 5 times (even the guide was
really amazed)! But you'll be able to do both on one the: eg
whale watching in the morning and a long walk in the
afternoon/evening. But take enough time for Long Beach. As
campground I'd highly recommend the campsite in the National
Park (Pacific Rim Park), but here you should definetely make
a reservation, or arrive very early in the morning. This
campground is directly at lond Beach and the sites are just
wonderful! But make a reservation. (It's possible through
the internet: http://www.harbour.com/parkscan/pacrim/)
A nice thing to do is also a walk through the rain forest.
On your way back to the east coast (I forgot the towns
name, but it's at the first intersection when you come from
west with the highway going from Vic north) There's a shop
where they have goats on the roof.
Victoria is very nice too. Don't miss the BCMuseum. If you
want to have a nice dinner with good view, but not to
expensive: go to the Milestones at the harbour (on the right
hand side of the empress hotel, below the info center). Make
a reservation and say you'd like a window table. So you get
a beautiful view over the harbour and when they turn on the
lights the parliament building is kind of nice too. Don't
forget to drive to the southest point of Victoria (through
the gulf course) so you get a beautiful view of the
mountains in the states).
If you've got more questions, just send me a mail, I'd be
happy to help (as Vanc Island is my favourite place).
You will have a fabulous trip. Your route is wonderfully
planned with plenty of time. I can suggest 2 heritage
park/towns. One would be Barkerville which is a gold rush
era town that has been totally restored and maintained as an
attraction and the other is Fort Steele, another restored
heritage park/town. I also humbly suggest that you consider
a day in the Kootenays somewhere. Ainsworth Hotsprings are
amazing, as is the city of Nelson. You may also want more
than 1.5 days in Vancouver, but it's up to you.
Barkerville:
http://www.cariboo-net.com/barkerville.htm
If you arive about 1- 1.5 hrs before the saling you'll most
likely make the ferry. You can make reservations if youlike
though. See www.bcferries.com
have fun!
Ft. Steele :
http://www.islandnet.com/~bcma/museums/fsht/virt.html
Nelson:
http://www.discoverNelson.com/flash.html
http://www.city.nelson.bc.ca/html/tourism.html
You don't need to make reservation for the ferry to and from
Vanc Island. The ferry journey is wonderful, and you may
even see some whales.
Long Beach - Pacific Rim is my personal paradise. So take
enough time there (I see your time is limited). A long walk
along the beach is a very good idea. If your into whale
watching: it's a good place with beautiful sceenery. We even
saw a humpackwhale jump about 5 times (even the guide was
really amazed)! But you'll be able to do both on one the: eg
whale watching in the morning and a long walk in the
afternoon/evening. But take enough time for Long Beach. As
campground I'd highly recommend the campsite in the National
Park (Pacific Rim Park), but here you should definetely make
a reservation, or arrive very early in the morning. This
campground is directly at lond Beach and the sites are just
wonderful! But make a reservation. (It's possible through
the internet: http://www.harbour.com/parkscan/pacrim/)
A nice thing to do is also a walk through the rain forest.
On your way back to the east coast (I forgot the towns
name, but it's at the first intersection when you come from
west with the highway going from Vic north) There's a shop
where they have goats on the roof.
Victoria is very nice too. Don't miss the BCMuseum. If you
want to have a nice dinner with good view, but not to
expensive: go to the Milestones at the harbour (on the right
hand side of the empress hotel, below the info center). Make
a reservation and say you'd like a window table. So you get
a beautiful view over the harbour and when they turn on the
lights the parliament building is kind of nice too. Don't
forget to drive to the southest point of Victoria (through
the gulf course) so you get a beautiful view of the
mountains in the states).
If you've got more questions, just send me a mail, I'd be
happy to help (as Vanc Island is my favourite place).
I live in Edmonton and have travelled the route you
describe a few times, mostly by motorcycle. The
International Airport in Edmonton is in fact about 40km
outside the city. It is a CAN$25.00 cab ride into the city.
There are shuttle buses but they don't run all night. There
are a couple of smaller towns close to the airport (Leduc
or Nisku) but I would suggest that picking up the car when
you land would give you the option of driving into
Edmonton. There are no accomodations at the airport.
Jasper is a 4 hour drive from Edmonton on divided highway.
I would suggest that Kamloops would be a better stop that
Cache Creek; it is a nice city. If you are going to take
Highway 99 (Sea to Sky) that travels from Cache Creek to
Whistler be prepared for some amazing but somewhat extreme
roads. It's all 2 lane and at some points there are 18%
grades up and down. But what a road! Once past Lilloett the
road winds in between mountains with hardly a straight
stretch for 3 hours. On a motorcycle it is heaven on earth.
Only one day in Vancouver will drive you crazy with regret.
My favorite place to stay in Vancouver is the Sylvia Hotel
(604)681-9321. It is an older hotel, a little run-down, but
its location on English Bay is perfect; out your door you
are on the beach. It is right next door to Stanley Park.
The one thing to remeber is it books up early, since it is
reasonably priced, so you need to book ahead.
Have a great time in Canada...