Where in Canada for a combination of city and nature/adventure

[Labbingtons]

Inspired by the amazing scenery in Race Across the World, we are hoping to go to Canada with DS12 and DD14 next summer. DD loves visiting new cities, culture and heritage (and would love to explore some First Nations history and culture). DS12 loves nature, wilderness and a bit of adventure (ziplining, kayaking, wildlife etc.) DH and I enjoy a bit of everything, and really good food.

Any ideas for a Canada holiday that would work for us? We are not looking for luxury (happy with cabins etc.), can hire a car but would prefer not to be driving all the time. DH has said no to an RV (boo!) We love a train ride.

Budget about 10k, including flights.

Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

Agree with @CobraChicken

100% Vancouver Island - it’s amazing

We also love the Bay of Fundy and the surrounding area, but I think the west coast would suit your wants better

Try to get up to Banff and the Icefield Parkway. The colour of the lakes is unbelievable.

Defo Vancouver

Yep - fly to Vancouver, visit Whistler, jump on a ferry to VI - Nanaimo - then stay in a cabin on the Pacific Coast on the West coast of the Island. You will need a car - theres a lot of distance to cover but the scenery is amazing!
You may need more than 10K - flights could cost £1200 each, hire car maybe £1000 and accommodation £150+ a night. canada is NOT cheap!

On the flights - have a look at Canadian Affair, they can have some good deals

Totally agree with Vancouver and Vancouver Island. On the island I did surfing and then a three day kayaking trip where we camped, saw killer whales and caught fresh fish to eat. Honestly it was like a dream.

Agree with Vancouver and environs. But be aware that the area to the north is the region getting hit by forest fires.

Nothing productive to add but Race Across the World was fantastic!! Canada has definitely creeped up my travel list into the top 5!

@Iloveanicegarden

I'd strongly recommend that the OP doesn't try to fit that into the same trip, unless they're planning a 3wk+ visit. Certainly doable (assuming flying into Van and out from Calgary) but it'd be too rushed.

2-3 weeks based solely around coastal BC wouldn't even be long enough to see everything worth seeing.

We have just come back from an amazing trip to Canada. We went with our adult and a teen daughter. We did everything you have mentioned.
Went for 16 days and could easily do everything we wanted.
Canadian affair is a good shout.
We flew to Calgary, stayed in an airport hotel
Did Banff, icefield parkway , Jasper, drive back icefield parkway drive again to Calgary. Flew into a local airport in Vancouver island and spent a week in VI.
Went bear watching, saw dolphins, orcas, otters. Stayed in an Indian reservation, went to First Nations museum. Enjoyed white water rafting, lots of hiking, surfing and had a fabulous time.

Agree with Vancouver, Whistler and Vancouver Island. I live in northern BC, my daughter lives near Victoria.

Whistler for good food, scenery, ziplining (it's amazing!) and even downhill mountain biking in the summer. You take the bikes up the ski gondola and bike down the trails. There are nearby lakes for kayaking and there is Squamish Lil'wat cultural centre nearby.

Then over to Van Isle for a week. Over to the west coast for the wild beach and perhaps surfing, then go south to Victoria area, lots to do there as well.

We have such lovely scenery, and there is lots to see and do. I'm sure the kids would love it. RV's are a nice idea, but it's really hard to get spots to overnight. They book months in advance.

If you decide on the Rockies; Banff and Jasper etc, then try to plan for July. We have had so many forest fires the the past few years and they tend to be in August. The coast doesn't get as much smoke since the winds tend to be westerly.

Have fun planning!

Loved race across the world. Thought it would be boring compared to the other series but it was amazing! So much to see.

I loved the look of Montreal, Quebec and Vancouver island.

It is scary to see forest fires and missed it luckily. We did not want to drive from Jasper to Vancouver so flew from Calgary to VI. Highway 4 was closed when we went to Tofino and we had to plan our trip so can go across to Tofino.

You live in a beautiful part of the world.

@mdinbc

Agree with Vancouver, Whistler and Vancouver Island. I live in northern BC, my daughter lives near Victoria.

Oooh, I wonder if you're anywhere near me? I don't know of any other Northern BC MNers.

Although I'm down at the southern end of "Northern BC" and it is fucking massive so you could easily be >1000km away 😀

Thank you so much for these great ideas. It sounds wonderful and you’ve all given me some great ideas. Planning is half the fun of this sort of holiday! Now I just need to start saving my pennies.

@Labbingtons Not sure if this has been mentioned, but Vancouver has a first class First Nations Museum. It’s at the university of British Columbia. It’s not the easiest to get to as the uni isn’t on the rail transit but you can get there on a bus. Check out the details. We found it wonderful. Anyone interested in the First Nations and their culture, must go.

@CobraChicken northern bc? spent 30 years in kitimat and 3 in kemano. now more central in kamloops. retired rn 😎good years and good stories.

I'm only just inside the boundary of Northern BC - actually way closer to you now than where you were living before! I'm only ~3.5hrs drive from Kamloops 🙂

:) okay so a ways to go to be north, but still cold cold winters.

Totally second that, amazing museum (and university), I don’t know if they still do it but in the past you could stay in university halls during the summer. I ended up with a very nice room in a period building overlooking a lot of greenery and close to the museum and it costed me less than the Vancouver Youth Hostel.

I started in Yukon, spent some time in Northern British Columbia and then a week in Vancouver and VI.

Disclaimer: this was a looong time ago.

Oh, for sure, but I don't mind the cold winter temperatures as much as the crazy short growing season. Last frost here is beginning of June and average first frost is early September. Just 3 months! Makes gardening quite a challenge...

But, it IS absolutely gorgeous, so that mostly makes up for it 😍

Waves to @greenspaces4peace and @CobraChicken from Northern Alberta, where we know a bit about very cold winters and wildfires in May.

@MooseBeTimeForSnow i was going to comment on the smoke fire/praying for rain situation but didn’t want to jinx anything since we’re not out of the woods yet.