Canadian Rockies with 9yo and 12yo

[magicWandPlease]

We're thinking of a 2 week fly-drive holiday in the Canadian Rockies this summer. I'd love to get a motorhome, so we can stay off the beaten track, but DH has more-or-less talked me out of it on the grounds that some roads may be inaccessible in a large vehicle. I'd be interested in people's experience of both options.

I'd also like to hear suggested itineraries and recommendations for places to stay. We don't want to be driving every day, and would like plenty of time for kid-friendly walks and activities along the way - maybe some canoeing or some (not too scary) white water rafting. We'd also like to maximise our chances of seeing wildlife (I'd like the kids to think we at least have a chance of seeing a bear, although I know sightings are rare).

My 9yo loves fossils and we'd love to see the Burgess Shale but I've heard it is a day-hike with a guide. Has anyone done it with kids?

Also, is "taking the waters" at a hot spring worth the hype, and if so are some better than others?

I know some tours start at Calgary and end in Vancouver, or vice versa, but I'm not clear on the advantages of that. It must bump up the cost of the flights and car hire? DH and I have been to Vancouver and Vancouver Island before so we're not fussed about spending time over there.

once you have found somewhere to stay and booked it they are only too happy to help you to find trips. you might want to try telephoning alpine and a few other places because many shut in the winter. we did this and got a place when the website said it was full.

We stayed at Patricia Lake Lodge when at Jasper.

There's a wide variety of cabins and it's not immediately obvious what's what from their website, nor in my experience are they particularly forthcoming by email so it's worth giving them a ring to discuss.

We stayed in a duplex 2 bedrooms which is the cheapest 2bed unit which I thought was plenty spacious enough - we could see the play area and DS went out and made a few friends. Last night they were sold out so we swopped to a one bed cottage with another bed in the living area - personally I didn't like it as not enough room and no sofa as far as I can remember.

The actual site is really nice, it's a few miles out of Jasper - I think there's one restaurant at the pyramid lodge that's within cycling distance, but otherwise you'll need to drive, but great for wildlife spotting and there's a nice open BBQ and shared hot tub facility.
Wifi is fairly non existent from about 7am - 11pm when others are using it, but they have a stock of dvds and board games behind reception.

When we stopped at Lake Louise we stayed at Paradise Lodge in a 2 bed saddleback suite - lovely staff and not bad value for the location and walking distance ( just at about 20 mins or so) to the lake. Get one away from the road as we couldn't use our porch area.

At Banff we stayed at the Rocky Mountaineer Lodge. We had a 2 bed refurbished condo wolf suite, it was pretty good, there is a pool there which DS enjoyed despite it being freezing cold.

Enjoy your trip.