Canada for a novice? Tips, ideas please

[itwillbebetter]

I didn't want to hijack the other thread about the RV trip but would be grateful with any insight into planning a trip to Canada as it is not a country I am at all familiar with.

Husband has been many many years ago and we would like plan a visit for the first 3 weeks of next July. We have 2 Ds who will be 15 and 12. Having had a brief look at brochures I think we would like to include a visit to the rockies/lakes and Vancouver but would love to do Niagra & Quebec as well!
Ideally we would car hire and stay in hotels with interconnecting flights if needed to reach Niagra. We want to do some white water rafting and we are quite active, although not too much as DS2 is diabetic so need to plan carefully.

Any must see places, tips ,advice would be really helpful as I know nothing about Canada at all!

I love Canada! I would definitely recommend spending the bulk of your time on the West Coast, and make sure you include Vancouver Island - great for whale and bear watching. You can do a good loop around the West Coast area in/out of Vancouver, or maybe even go one way from Vancouver to Calgary and then fly across to the East Coast from there. But I think a loop is easier to visit all the places of interest.

Unless you have unlimited time for the trip I would fly internally rather than take the train.

On the East Coast I've been to Niagara Falls and Montreal/Mont Tremblant in Quebec but that was for skiing rather than much else so can't really recommend what to focus on there.

You could easily spend three weeks just on the West Coast, and I wouldn't try and do it on less than two weeks, so if you don't have more than 2/3 weeks it might be better to focus on just one coast rather than trying to cram all of it in, and missing lots!

we had a 3 week trip this summer with 3 teens. we had a 4 centre holiday having decided that van island was just too big to do justice to it as part of the holiday (gives us an excuse to go back again) we stayed in Sechelt, Vancouver, Jasper and Golden dividing our time equally. we did a one night stay in a motel between van and Jasper. we felt that 3 weeks on the west coast actually wasn't enough and could have done much more with more time so think trying to do both would be a bit of a nightmare rush to be honest. pm me I have loads of details which I am happy to share. you could always do the rocky mountaineer from one side to the other.

Who did you book through mummy?
It sound great.
I would live to go to Canada with my teens.
Is it lovely and warm in summer or is Easter time better.

did it all myself Ihatethecold. pulled the trip together from the internet. flight into Vancouver then back from Calgary plus hire car and some great places to stay. the teens preferred a 5/6 nights in each place rather than 2 or 3 nights and move. this worked well for us.

When did you go?

Niagra and Vancouver are at opposite sides (3000 miles) with Quebec about a third of the way from Niagra so driving may not be an option. Summers are lovely but remember that in the high areas eg Lake Louise the snow may still be present in April. Vancouver lots of fun with great outdoors stuff

ihatethecold we went this school summer holidays. have loads of info if you want it so just pm me. definitely the trip of a lifetime as far as my teens were concerned.

Pre DC (about twelve years ago) I flew into Edmonton, in Alberta, then caught the train with viewing car (2 story train carriage upper storey like a conservatory so you could look in every direction) up into the Rockies. It was amazing and not that expensive. I couldn't comprehend the vastness and emptiness of the flat before starting the climb up into the breathtakingly beautiful mountains.

I stopped in Jasper for a few days before catching the train back to Edmonton but would have loved to have caught the train onwards, after the stay in Jasper, to British Columbia and maybe had a mini cruise along the coast.

link to train schedule and prices

We found an amazing amount of information online before travelling and found we could book just about everything from the UK. We also printed out loads of coupons for discounts in restaurants etc which saved a small fortune.

Hi there,
I just had a look at your thread and was wondering if you could give me some advice. Myself, husband and 3 kids (11,9 & 8) are heading to Canada for a months this summer (finally persuaded my husband to take a sabbatical after 10 years asking!). We are flying in and out of Vancouver - but the rest of the itinerary is scarily blank as we simple can't decide what to do! Would you be able to advise pls given you have kids of a similar age I'd be hugely grateful, Many thanks Ali

Hi there,
Where would I look to find the coupons you mentioned, Many thanks