Canada

[arielswimming]

Looking for any advice or tips and recommendations on going to Canada with 3 young children aged 4-8 please

We have just started planning this as the prices of Europe are going up and up it now seems a better idea to go further for the same money but I dont know where to start!

we did a 3.5 week trip to the west coast staying in 4 different places. it was fab. if you message me I will send you my trip report. lots of outdoor stuff to do and Vancouver was child friendly as well.

if you want something different, have a look at Oregon. just had a fantastic trip there, loads do but maybe more for older kids than Canada.

Vancouver is very friendly. Beaches, Grouse Mountain with a cable car, carriage rides through Stanley Park. There are trains and minibus tours to the tourist spots through the Rockies; Banff, Whistler and Jasper are beautiful. Moose bus tours are for backpackers and families and take you on various routes but are quite expensive for four. A sleeper train between cities might be your best option, flying into Vancouver and out of another city, if your kids like trains and you want a great view of the mountains.

we hired a large family car and drove easily from Vancouver up through the rockies and flew back from up there. very easy to get around in Canada and a car is so much better than a camper van. we saw most camper van sites were already full and there were lots of folks who hadn't booked in advance driving round and round trying to find somewhere to stop. also most of the attractions are difficult to park at with a big van. we found accommodation really easily as well online and overall reasonable value for money as well.

I’d caution using trains. Freight takes priority so passenger trains can face very long delays. Our train from Jasper to Vancouver recently was late into Jasper by about 7 hours (the week before it had been a staggering 21 hours late) and you can spend quite a bit of time in sidings en route too.VIA caution against making immediate onward travel plans. Basically, give yourself a day in hand.