Family Holiday to Canada

[Loopyloo97]

Hi, we've booked flights to Toronto in July with our 12 year old , we are planning to also go through Trail finders to hire a care & arrange an itinerary this is what we thought of doing
Fly into Toronto see Niagra falls is it worth staying two days her?
Vancouver, Whistler, Clear Water, Jasper, Saskathewan, Lake louise , Banff then flying back from Calgary to the UK
Has anyone done this route? any advice please ?

We've booked the first flight from the UK to Toronto , after reading your advice we have decided to book everything ourselves
However Trail Finders did suggest Jasper Wildlife discovery which doesn't have good reviews , Ultimate Rocky EXplorer , and we would also love see the Whales , I'm confused whats the best way to fine the best companies?

If you end up on Vancouver Island, highly recommend Eagle Wing Adventures for whale watching. I've been on a couple of trips which have both been great.

You can also arrange float plane and whale watching packages direct from downtown Vancouver.

Thankyou all so much for your advice & recommendations we have everything booked , I was just wondering about what clothes to pack? We will be visiting the glaciers as well , our lugguage allowance is 23kg
Do people do some washing whilst travellling?

Answering your question about washing, yes, American and Canadian hotels/ lodges etc are so much better at providing laundry facilities. Plus they are huge and fast! We had 2 weeks in the States last summer taking 2 cases for 5 of us and did a load of washing every few days generally all in the hotels we stayed at save for one rather retro trip to a launderette. I’d also recommend buying a cool bag/ box pretty much as soon as you arrive to keep drinks/ snacks and lunches in on the road!
We are off to Canada this summer and we’ll take layers - for me probably a packable light down coat (uniqlo), a few sweatshirts (inc one wool), a heat tech top for glaciers and cool evenings, a few long sleeve t shirts and short sleeve t-shirts, , one smarter top, cargo jacket, couple of pairs of jeans, 2x shorts, gym kit, one skirt and one dress. Trainers and sandals and that’s probably about it!

You really need to listen to people saying that your itinerary is too tight.

We did vancouver and Rockies in 2013 over 3 wks, first week seeing Vancouver and island, then Whistler and onto Lake Louise, Jasper, back to Banff and fly out of Calgary.

Distances are huge in Rockies and you will be driving a lot, so really need a minimum of 2 nights in places to have a chance to do things on the middle day, otherwise you will do nothing but drive!

You will be trying to do a similar itinerary to us, but in about 11 days. Ok you can cut Vancouver down (though it is a lovely city) and miss out the island, but Whistler is lovely, deserving of at least 2, if not 3, nights, as are other places. Driving the icefield parkway to/from Jasper can take a full day, especially if you go onto the Glacier, and there are things to do from Jasper.

When we go back, we will EITHER do Rockies for 2-3 weeks OR the island and Vancouver/Whistler, seeing things we missed last time.

Ours were 13 & 15 when we went to Canada, we did a similar 3 Week road trip in W USA last year, and the consensus was, like Canada, that it was a wonderful break, but not a restful holiday as we crammed a lot into 3 wks. To do it in 11/12 days would be exhausting I think.

Even at 17 and 19, my two found that moving on every 2 days in USA was very tiring and we all cherished the 5 nights we spent at a lodge in Yosemite.

We’re off to Banff, Vancouver and Vancouver Island in June. Was wondering what to pack - useful list Chimper, thanks.

Are you mad??? You'll spend the whole holiday in the car! Do Toronto, Vancouver and drive to Banff than fly out of Calgary. That's it. That's MORE than enough!