Canada, British Columbia Travel Advice

[LaCerbiatta]

Planning a trip to Canada, probably BC next summer. We're 4, 2 dc who will be 14 and 18 at the time.

Thinking about flying to Calgary and then making our way to Vancouver with stops in the way. Thinking about 10-14 days. Probably renting a car although we'd love one of those scenic trains through the rockies as well!

Had a look at Trailfinders and the prices are a bit more than I was expecting: ~£2800 per person without flights, I'm guessing it works out cheaper if you organise everything? Although feels a bit overwhelming....

If you've been, how have you done it, via travel agency or just organised it wourself? And how much did it cost? Also any suggestions of places to go, places to stay, what to avoid, would be really welcome, thank you!

We went last summer with children 9 and 15. Fantastic but very expensive!
We had a few nights in Vancouver, picked up the hire car, then a few nights in Whistler, then an overnight in Kamloops to break the journey to Banff where we stayed for best part of a week. Just drove to Calgary to fly home, didn't stay there.
As well as all the amazing views we did some fantastic zip wiring at Whistler and white water rafting at Banff. The mountain biking at Whistler looked great too.

OMG so many suggestions! You're all so kind, thank you!

Will be looking at all these and deciding on a plan with the family!

Good luck with trip planning. I live in Northern BC (since my tag), and we do indeed have a beautiful province. Lots of good advice here, I don't have too much to add! If you do head to the Island via Nanaimo, spend a day in the Parksville or Qualicum Beach area before you go to the other side (Tofino). The eastern side of the island is quaint with lots of good beaches, and generally warmer weather. Victoria is a beautiful city, with a good museum.

Love that so many people enjoy this part of Canada.

Hello from Vancouver!

I agree with previous posters that it would be a good idea to use Vancouver as a gateway to exploring Vancouver Island and Whistler.

However, I would only recommend spending multiple days in Vancouver if you have something specific in mind - there are some great things to do in summer*, but as a previous poster noted, there is a serious problem with drugs and drug-related crime. There are areas of downtown Vancouver where I used to go regularly 5 - 10 years ago which no longer feel safe. (The same is true of downtown Victoria.)

*For example, hiking the North Shore mountains, eating Asian food (perhaps at the Richmond Night Market), spending time at the beach, going to the Museum of Anthropology, etc.

If you go to Whistler, I would second the recommendation to stay at Nita Lake Lodge. Also, if you are interested in visiting wineries, you might want to consider visiting Kelowna or the Cowichan Valley.

And one thing to note is that there are often forest fires in the summer, which could affect your ability to drive around the province. Unfortunately, it's hard to predict when the fire season might be next year - it used to be mostly later in the summer, but we've had earlier fires in recent years.

I hope that helps!

@mdinbc I’ve retired in Kamloops from Kitimat ;). Some absolutely stunning geography in BC. Lakelse Lake Provincial Park remains one of my favorite spots.

I was trying to remember where we stayed after Torfino- thanks for reminding me it was Qualicum Bay!

“*For example, hiking the North Shore mountains, eating Asian food (perhaps at the Richmond Night Market), spending time at the beach, going to the Museum of Anthropology, etc.”

The Museum of Anthropology is currently closed, but it’s a great museum to visit. We went to the Museum of Vancouver this time and really enjoyed it.

Highly, highly recommend Vancouver Island! It's a lot bigger than it looks. Victoria & Nanaimo are fantastic, not to mention STUNNING places to visit. Truly, truly stunning.

I think a lot will depend on what your young people want to do. What are they interested in? Do they like walking? Will they be happy to get up and go? Are they amenable to long distance car travel etc. Good to build in some downtime - moving on and getting acquainted with new places is quite tiring! We have just returned for the most amazing holiday taking in Vancouver, Canmore/Banff, Jasper, Golden and back to Vancouver - so I’m imagining how this might have played out when mine were teenagers. We really enjoyed Vancouver. I think every city has its areas where there are people with more issues but you don’t need to necessarily seek them out. We felt safe. Locals can better advise on this - maybe we were just naive. We enjoyed a guided cycle tour which gave us a good overview of Downtown - all areas. We spent some time at the beach - crossing the river on little ferry boats (Aquabus and False Creek ferries). One beach has a very large heated salt water swimming pool. We went to the Bard on the Beach and saw an engaging performance of As You Like It - chunks of text replaced with Beatles songs - it was very humorous - would they like that sort of thing? Granville Island is good for foodies - so it depends on what makes you all happy.
Our big finish was a scenic sea plane ride - yes a bit pricey but a memory that will last forever. Maligne Lake Cruise and the Gondola at Golden’s Kicking Horse resort were also great. If your teens are into Mountain Biking then you can hire bikes and take them up in the Gondola. It looked amazing but not for the faint-hearted!
A cheap day out and a must imo is the Moraine Lake/Lake Louise combination via the Parks Canada shuttle. Parking at Lake Louise ski resort you take the shuttle bus to one lake and an inter-connector shuttle to the other later before getting the shuttle back. I’d suggest Moraine Lake first - it’s absolutely breathtakingly beautiful - and get there early in the morning if you can. 40% of shuttle bus tickets are released around may and 60% are released 2 days in advance.
Another vote for Canmore from us too - it’s a charming place and a bit quieter than Banff if you don’t mind the extra few miles driving. We stayed at the Lodges of Canmore - self catering units and a nice swimming pool. Happy planning!

https://hullo.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw5MOlBhBTEiwAAJ8e1p6AEawMJpa8o_HaxuHRfGVNosYf8B-kTDNS35R08ApK8wKhYRBSnRoCrjUQAvD_BwE a new passenger ferry from downtown Nanaimo to Vancouver

We are going on Sunday for three weeks. We used to live there, so have organised it ourselves. I did look at a package and it was much more expensive than doing it ourselves. We are staying in Kitsilano (Vancouver beach neighbourhood), Whistler, across to Vancouver Island with a short stop in Parksville, on to Tofino and then a couple more days in Vancouver before flying home. It was so hard whittling it down to just those places. I also love the Sunshine Coast, Telegraph Cove and The Rockies but there's not enough time. I haven't been to Vancouver for a good few years but I think it's a fantastic city, with lots to offer.

See if Canadian affair still exists cheap flights to Canada

just an FYI at here are now weekly road closures on the road to Tofino
https://tourismtofino.com/bulletins/highway-4/

Thank you! We've planned to get up very early and get through that stretch before 9am.

Have a great time!

Thank you - we're very excited!

I think this is my favourite ever holiday we've done - and I really enjoyed doing all the planning! Think I spent months reading the Trip Advisor forums

We flew into Calgary for a trip to the ice hockey and picked up the car, before heading to Banff via a trip to the karting at the Olympic Park.

A visit to the Hot Springs and Sulphur Mountain Gondola in Banff before driving the Icefields Parkway up to Jasper (would recommend staying at the Alpine Village Cabin Resort)

Back down to Lake Louise for the Tea House climb and spent a night at the Moraine Lake Lodge (definite highlight)

Drove to Revelstoke (just a pitstop) and then to Kelowna where we went cycling on the Kettle Valley rail trail (another highlight)

Drove to catch the ferry to Victoria so we could go whale watching and then back to Vancouver itself.

I loved Vancouver - but like the others have said there were definite areas which felt quite dangerous, and I was surprised by the amount of homeless people around (and this was in 2015)

We stayed at L'Hermitage which was really good and central, and next door to Cafe Medina for an amazing breakfast.

Hope you have an amazing trip whichever way round you decide to do it, writing this has made me want to get planning another visit once DC is a bit older!

Check Westjet for flights - usually cheaper than Air Canada / BA