Canada

[EvilTwins]

We're thinking about Canada for Sunmer 2016. We'll have twins aged 10. Has anyone been with kids that age? Any recommendations? We've no idea really other than it looks beautiful.
Thanks.

We've been to Vancouver, Niagara Falls and Toronto with kids, ages 3-7, really recommend it. Without kids I've been to Calgary, Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise, Edmonton, Winnipeg, the Great Lakes and driven through Saskatchewan via Saskatoon. You can't fail to enjoy Canada!

We covered a relatively small area in British Colombia when dd was 9 - Vancouver, Vancouver Island and whistler - great scenery, museums, parks, whale watching, beaches and not too much time in the car.

Hey I live in Canada. For summer I would probably suggest Vancouver Island and Tofino.
I live in Banff in Alberta which is beautiful as is nearby lake louise and canmore.
With the kids I might be inclined for the van island as Shanghai said above for the beaches and whale watching etc but also having a large city nearby too

what would you like to do or see?

As PP stated it all depends what you want to do. Each area has different things to offer

we did a 3 week driving tour from Vancouver upwards. message me if you want details.

Is it west or east coast you want to go to

I recommend Vancouver Island, especially the Saanich Peninsula and Tofino. The Gulf Islands are also really lovely and easy to get to from the Island. Fly to Vancouver and take the ferry to the Island.

Avoid Toronto, it's a big boring city.

Hello @EvilTwins, did you go to Canada? We're thinking about it at the moment.
How did you go about booking the different parts of your trip? Any hot tips?

We went last summer and had an amazing time. We flew into Vancouver and out of Toronto, stopping at various places on the way. Itinerary was: Vancouver, Victoria, Tofino, Whistler, Revelstoke, Lake Louise, Banff. If we were to go again, we'd do fewer places but stay longer in each. We could easily have missed Revelstoke & Lake Louise, though that would have meant a very long journey. We loved Tofino, Whistler & Banff. We booked it with Trailfinders and they were fab.

Thank you, off to investigate!

Just come on to ask the same question. How long did you go for evil and can I ask how much (ballpark) it was. Did you have an RV or car?

twofalls - we did a 3 week trip with young teens and stayed in 4 different places. it was expensive but so well worth it. kids still talk about it. message me if you want details of our trip as happy to send them on.

would definitely go for a car and not an RV. with an Rv its only worth it if you have places to stay. just driving around we saw most RV parks showing as full and talking to people on their hols it seems they book out months in advance. our original idea was to get an rv and just drift from place to place but really that isn't possible due to people booking them out. met up with a fair few people who did have rvs and were spending most of their hols just driving around looking for places to stay. also with an rv some places are less accessible and parking in a small attraction car park is a nightmare.

Thanks mummy. Will pm you later, that's great. I was feeling that way about an RV tbh and have a feeling the potential for arguing would be quite high!!

We had a car. Went for three weeks in total with our 10 yr old DTDs. We stayed mostly in hotels and did the final week in a self catering place in Banff. I reckon all in we paid about £10K but it was without doubt one of our best ever holidays.

Any recommendations on best way to get from Vancouver to
Victoria , and where to stay in Victoria?

This is an old post but has some useful info.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/loriexploring.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/road-tripping-vancouver-island-the-ideal-family-itinerary/amp/?client=safari

We did W Canada in 2013 with 13 & 15 yo. Flew into Vancouver with BA and out of Calgary. We didnt get any change out of 10k, was prob more but didnt do a final reckoning! Can be cheaper if you dont go BA, there is a charter airline.

We booked through trailfinders and they were excellent. We spent hours one Sunday in their store going through cost difference of RV versus hotels & car. We went for latter as little cost difference and thought it would be easier to get around. We left the store with a list of hotels in each of our destinations, enabling me to do research on them before finalising the itinerary.

We spent the first week in Vancouver in a mini suite within a hotel, doing a 2 day trip to Victoria in that week. We had booked all hotels other than Victoria via TF, we just booked Vic hotel (Embassy Inn) separately ourselves. It did mean that we paid for 2 hotel rooms for the night we stayed in Victoria, but worth it not to cart all luggage to the island! And in the overall cost of such a trip, one extra hotel night is not much.

We booked a scheduled coach from Vanc to Victoria, which incorporates the ferry to the island. We did a whale watching trip in Victoria, then a potter around the harbour the next day.

After Vanc, we did Whistler, Revelstoke, Lake louise, Icefields parkway to Calgary, back down IP to Banff and then onto Calgary to fly home. Most places after Vanc were 2 nights although we did 3 at LL and only 1 in Calgary. 3 weeks in total. A lot of driving after Vanc, but I had been years ago with parents and wanted the DH and DC to experience some of similar things esp Rockies.

If we go again we would do either Rockies OR vanc, island and Whistler. We did a lot of driving.

Looking at maybe doing similar thing in W USA this summer, but need to think about distances between places.

Those asking for 2017 - Feel free to PM me if you need any more info

Kath, we are doing pretty much exactly that but starting in Seattle, this coming summer. Kids will be 14 & 16. 11.5k, through Trailfinders.

Kath interesting you said that about what you would do again. I think either rockies OR whistler/van/van island.

Twofalls - we didnt regret doing the whole trip as a first off (for DH and DC at any rate) but I think to see things thoroughly, more than 2 nights is needed in places. We loved Whistler and I know the island has loads more to do on it than a quick trip to Victoria.

My PIL have been a few times, but are retired and tend to do 4weeks, staying for up to a week in Lake Louise area as a base for Rockies. They also have old friends on the island so tie in seeing them.

Its difficult, as when you are going that far, you want to see as much as possible (which will be the dilemma if we go USA) but moving on a lot is tiring.

If anyone is planning to be in Vancouver in late July or early Aug, it is worth taking in the celebration of light, a firework competition between 3 countries, held on 2 consecutive Saturdays and the middle Weds. Google honda celebration of light.

Everyone congregates in the beach area, there is food, music, it is a great atmosphere. We went on the first Sat (despite only just arriving and being v jet lagged) and again on the Weds.

Try flying with Air Canada - fantastic service and cheaper than BA too.

Loved our trip there last year - we did Vancouver and Vancouver Island, lots to do and see. Agree re PP about the fireworks.

You can take a ferry to Vancouver island... look on the BC ferries website for fares, you could either rent a car and take that or there is a bus that takes you to the ferry terminal, and then another bus on the other side takes you to Victoria.

Or you could fly either by air Canada or West Jet.

or you could take a helicopter with heli jet or a float plane with harbour air..... depends on how much luggage you plan on taking.

I live in Victoria if you need any advice just send me a PM

I would recommend the ferry - there are lots of options, depending on where you want to end up in on the island and I know someone who chose to flew over on a seaplane but luggage is very restricted.