Canada

[bk1981]

Hi. Dp and I are thinking about doing a road trip in a camper van next year in Canada for 2-3 weeks.
We love walking/national parks, rather than cities. Some time at the beach might be nice, but not essential. Although wale watching would be amazing.
Do you have any general recommendations of areas to start researching as we know nothing about Canada! TIA.

Look at the Canada self drive itineraries published by companies like Audley travel. You could do Western Canada or Eastern Canada or somewhere in between! I think I would choose Western Canada and the Rockies. I would try and add bears to the whales!

Watching as dh and I were just considering the same

We went to British Columbia, hotels, not camper van. Vancouver then over to Victoria for whale watching, botanical gardens, museums, then to Tofino, Nanaimo and Whistler. Whistler is great value in the summer and has loads of fabulous restaurants.
We went for just under two weeks, but with more time am sure you could include the Rockies.

We did the Rockies and Vancouver Island this year. Did hotels rather than camper van but I do like the idea.

We flew to Calgary, stayed in Banff then flew on to Victoria and then got the ferry to Vancouver and flew back from there.

Saw bears and whales. The Rockies were just breathtaking. The drive along the icefields parkway road is out of this world. The lakes are an impossible blue.

If hiring a camper I would fly in to Vancouver and out of Calgary via Banff and Jasper - there are various routes via Whistler or Kelowna.

We booked with Canadian Affair - we gave them an idea of what we wanted and they put a complete itinerary together and it worked out cheaper than what we could have done independently.

It was an amazing holiday. Already contemplating returning to the Rockies.

Worth considering Yukon/Alaska and Newfoundland. Good scenery and national parks.

Thanks for the ideas everyone. Flying into Vancouver and out of Calgary is exactly what we're trying to plan at the moment!
Does anyone have any advice on the camper side of things? We've only ever done a tent in England before, so any advice on what it would be like living in one for two weeks, or site recommendations would be great.

Sounds great watching with interest.

Want to do similar bug with two young kids. Deciding if it's really feasible or not...

The Vancouver to Calgary road trip is amazing. The drive down the Ice Fields Parkway from Jasper to Banff is stunning.

We've just got back from an amazing 3 week road trip from calgary to vancouver... It was stunning!... Will write more in depth when I get a little more time!... And a keyboard! (on my phone)

That would be great Bea!

I'm hoping to visit Canada next year, I'm planning on flying to vancouver, take the ferry over to vancouver island, then the ferry from port hardy to Prince Rupert (the inside passage which is supposed to be one of the most scenic boat rides in the world), from Prince Rupert take the train to Jasper, then hire a car and drive the ice fields parkway. I haven't decided yet whether or not to drive back to vancouver or fly home from Calgary, apparently there is a hefty one way fee for car rentals if I drop off at Vancouver although it sounds like the drive would be worth doing.

We did this a few years ago

Flew to Calgary then hired an RV to drive through the Rockies & Okenargon (sp?) ending up in Vancouver. Lake Louise, Banff etc all fabulous and no need to book sites in advance. The scenery is stunning

From Vancouver we visited Whistler for a couple of nights which was lovely too

We flew back from Vancouver

As I recall we had to pay a 'one way' fee of about an extra £1K because RV dropped off in different city to pick up. Think that is fairly normal

Right! Brace yourself... here's what we got upto

Flew from gatwick to Calgary
Calgary 4 nights
Calgary a huge city... really lovely... dh was meeting a few clients ther so it was a good place to get our bearings... we stayed just 20 mins walk outside of the city centre... whilst in Calgary we went to

• Horseshoe Canyon - amazing rock geological formation
• Drumheller Royal Tyrell Dinosaur Museum - loads of dinosaurs and more geology
• The Last Chance Saloon - lunch here was amazing... a real cowboy saloon ... sort of! (complete with live music and saddles to sit on!!!)

We drove through Black Diamond and Long View which had amazing views...Kananaskis was also beautiful! Lots of Bald Eagles spotted.

From Calgary we made our way upto Banff for 2 nights

• Drove upto Stanley Glacier for an uphill walk!
• Walked along Johnston Canyon to view the very lovely Falls (though very busy here!)
• Lake Moraine - went here instead of Lake Louise as Louise is rammed Moraine was beautiful and just as lovely as Louise I expect!... went very very early got there about 8 am and there were already queues to get there but it was doable I can imagine as the day wore on it would have been really busy!
• Icefields Parkway we did the whole touristy thing... it feels like you have too! Took the big trucks out onto the Glacier for a 30 min visit to the glacier... again busy but had to be done... then went on the skyway Walk which sacred us to death and very busy but again ... had to be done!!!

Jasper Valemount for 2 nights
Lovely little town... went for walks around the are and I had booked a Canoe trip on Pyramid Lake with guide Mike Lodge it was pricey but so much fun and worth it... we practically had the whole lake to ourselves as Mike took us out away from the busy areas... had homemade cakes and drinks (which Mike provides!) on a private little beach and then kids and dh went for a swim... it was stunning and idyllic!

From Jasper we went back through Banff and stayed in Golden for one night just as a stopover as we were making our way through Revelstoke went for walk at Meadows In The Sky - Stunning and well worth it!,,,, walked through the amaing trees at Hemlock Grove Boardwalk.... had ice cream at Dutchman dairy... and stayed at the most amazing treehouse in Sunnybrae Tappen for 2 nights

from Sunnybrae we made our way to Vancouver for a one night stay near the ferry prt as we then had a week on Vancouver Island

Stayed at Nanoose Bay 5 nights
Drove over to Tofino to go whale watching... didn't see anything as it was so misty... but still a great trip out saw lots of sea otters (they are HUGE!)
Long Beach Tofino - lovely but water freezing!

Back over Nanoose way
Rathtrevor Beach... busy and beach was miles away!!!

Found a secret hidden beach (can't remember name as it was sooo hidden!)which was stunning... very private and spotted deer in the sea... gorgeous! kids played ion the sea for hours (they found a giant floating log!)

Campbell Park Elk Falls... lovely walk and falls are inpressive... however worth walking a little long along the track away from the intial sight as you come to some amazing secluded pools and again the kids/dh went swimming for hours!

Duncan 2 nights
stayed in lovely secluded eco lodge... in the middle of nowhere off grid! stunning... we did nothing! looked at the view, jigsaws/ read/ chess... watched the wildflife
Rock Cod cafe - yummy!

then ferry from Victoria back to Vancouver for 2 nights..
Vancouver amazing city ... loads and loads going on!
Walk along the seawall was lovely
Dh and DD went to the aquarium
Granville Island great shopping for independent little quirky shops
River boats handy way for getting around
Then back home!!!! Sob! Sob!

Anymore detailed info on where we ate... accommodation (in case you want to get out of the RV!) just private message...

Canada .... just absolutely stunning! would go back in a heartbeat!!!

I'm so jealous that you're planning stage!!!!

Thanks everyone. The sound of all of these places is making me feel very excited!
If anyone did the trip in a camper, do you know when the campsites release their availability? Some are saying no availability, but I'm not sure if its just too early?

@Bea do you mind me asking how old your kids are - mine will be 4 and 7 and I'm not sure if they are too young.

@bk1981 I haven't looked at campers individually but the Trailfinders book has packages including them that are bookable now.

Landed back from 27 days in Canada yesterday. We did cities on the East Coast and then flew to West Coast and picked up RV for 18 days.

Booked through trailfinders. They do bookings for trips, excursions, flights and the RV but you have to book the campsites yourself. Some campsites have booking availability now for next year others will not release dates until 4-6 months before.

Most of the campsites we went to were fully booked so not sure I would have risked just turning up.

Not sure how many you are travelling with - we were 5 and we booked the RV for 7 and pleased we did for a little bit of space but it did make it slightly harder for travelling 30' is not the easiest to park in towns!

We did Vancouver island, then made our way up Whistler, Wells Grey National Park (stunning), Jasper, ice fields, Lake Louise and then Banff. It was $can400 (approx £250) one way drop off fee for picking up RV in Vancouver and returning to Calgary. We also pre-paid mileage of 3,000km. We used 2,530 and they refunded us the difference! It is expensive to go over the agreed allowance.

Take a fitted sheet with you. They give you flat sheets as the personal pack (and duvet, towels) but the sheet kept coming off the double bed and we found ourselves sleeping on the plastic mattress which was not that much fun! Also be aware you have gas rings and microwave only. There were fire bans in all campsites when we were there so couldn't cook outside the van unless had a propane bbq - expensive to buy for a couple of weeks.

It also can get really cold at night in the Rockies - naively we didn't realise. Down to 3 in the early hours.

I'm sure there is tonnes more - still a bit jet lagged - so ask as many questions as you would like.

@Bellie99 was it nice in the day though?

spabglylycra.... Kids are 16/14/12
Our trip was a real road trip... Longest day of driving was about 6 hours... But it was OK... We were always moving! (it wasn't m25!) and the scenery is just breath taking!

It was anything from 20-30 during the day. We did have some days of haze/smoke from the forest fires but agree with all pp that the scenery is stunning. Our longest drive was 5 hours and our kids 13/12 and 9 were fine with it.

Placemarking

Can recommend Telegraph Cove on Vancouver island in the north for orca spotting . We went with North island bc kayaking or an overnight trip. Very good. We stayed at the marina the night before but there is an rv Park there.

Yes, packing is interesting - we went in early June and had everything from snow in Banff to 30 degrees in Victoria. Pack layers.

To be honest I wasn’t wild about Vancouver itself - it wasn’t our last stop and such a shock to be in a city after all that stunning scenery. If I’d gone there first I’D probably have felt differently.

the bc provincial parks "release" camp sites on a first come first served basis beginning 4 months in advance. so in january you can book for may etc.
some sites are way more popular than others Rathrevor Beach Provincial Park is my fave but you have to be on the ball and on your computer ready to book (you need to know the size of your camper).
Book the ferry as well unless you want to wait a sailing or two or get stuck on the 0515 from Duke Point to Tswassen...

Placemarking also - having done a 3 week road trip this summer of Nevada/Arizona & California, not sure camping in France will cut it anymore 😂 would LOVE to do Canada