Vancouver/Rockies/Vancouver Island tips

[Sarvanga38]

We are off in September, flights booked in and out of Vancouver.

Seventeen nights out there (although first night a late landing so doesn't really count) - just planning our route.

Have spent many hours arguing with myself about the Rocky Mountaineer, but I think I'm coming down on the side of just too much money for something I'm not entirely convinced I'm going to love - see if anyone convinces me otherwise. We are very used to driving ourselves about.

We will probably do two/three days in Vancouver to start with, then head up to Lake Louise/Banff, across Jasper National Park to Valemount-ish, then back down to Vancouver to catch a ferry to Vancouver Island.

The only accommodation I have booked at the moment is five nights on Vancouver Island.

Does anyone have any tips for me, or suggestions of things I'm planning wrong please?

We preferred Uclulet to Tofino, so I'd advise to stick with what you have booked! Tofino is still lovely (and not far away at all by car), but Ucluelet is smaller and just so charming. We did a boat tour from here (Jamie's Whale Trips) and saw an eagle, sea lion and dozens of sea otters before we even left the harbour! Then we saw humpback whales 🐋

I would strongly recommend stopping if you can at Wally Creek on the drive to Ucluelet - just a beautiful place to stop and swim (water is cold but if the sun is out it is just glorious).

I was going to say about Moraine Lake and Lake Louise - to book the park and ride, as they close the car parks, but i was beaten to it 😀

The hike up to the Lake Agnes teahouse from Lake Louise is lovely.

September usually brings lovely weather, but it will be quite cool in the evenings in the mountains.

@BarrelOfOtters /anyone- we’re doing a similar trip this year. Considering a day trip to Tofino from Vancouver by sea plane. Do you think it’s worth going for a day? What would you do? Thank you!

I wouldn’t. You miss so much of what’s great about VI. Nothing beats seeing more of it.

We did a similar trip a few years ago. We flew to Vancouver and stayed just one night there, but there's so much to see there that at least 2 nights would have been better. From there we took the ferry over to VI and drove down to stay in Victoria which is amazing! We didn't have time in our itinerary to travel elsewhere in VI but would love to go back and see more. From there we took the ferry back over and drove to Whistler. I highly recommend spending some time there! We then drove up the rockies (a long drive BTW, we broke it up a bit by staying one night in Kamloops) to Jasper for 2 nights. The icefields were fantastic! We then continued our journey to Lake Louise for 2 nights then Banff for 2 nights. We stayed in the Fairmont at Lake Louise and had a view from our window onto the lake. There is a beautiful hike that I highly recommend that goes up to Lake Agnes and has a lovely little cafe at the top. Banff is definitely worth a visit and I recommend taking the gondola up Sulphur mountain. We drove over to Calgary and timed it perfectly to experience the stampede. Once in a lifetime trip for us that I still look back on very regularly. Hope you have a lovely time. I would love to go back!

You can take Skytrain from the airport into Waterfront station in downtown Vancouver. While in Vancouver try the seabus to North Van and perhaps Stanley Park. Make sure you book a reservation for the ferry to the Island. I live here and I know the ferries are busy in the summer. Victoria is nice, also the Courtenay/ Comox area. Ucluelet is very isolated but I’ve never been there. I hope you enjoy your trip. Welcome to BC

We did the RM Gold Level and the views were superb and service brilliant but it was such a long journey we were ready to get off both days. We did Banff to Kamloops then Vancouver. The Rockies were lovely. We did Lake Louise and Lake Moraine and the Icefields plus the cable car near Banff.

Vancouver and Vancouver Island were beautiful. I recommend the whale watching trips. We did cycling round Stanley Park. There is a lot of homelessness in Vancouver. They have an area called tent city. I liked Vancouver Island better.

My son is working in Vancouver and the drive out to Whistler is beautiful. About a 2hr drive. He FaceTimed me this week whilst skiing for the day. Cannot wait to visit in July. Vancouver Island looks absolutely stunning.

We did 3 days in Vancouver then hired a car and went over to VI - we stayed in Victoria then drove up to Tofino for a few days. We caught the ferry back to Horseshoe Bay and drove up to Whistler for a couple of days then on to Clearwater, Jasper, Banff and finally to Calgary. It was a lot of driving but so worth it - an amazing 16 days!

I did similar itineraries to the above, just to say driving distances are loong; so make sure you intersperse driving days with rest days. The scenery is spectacular and the air is fresh and clean. And the wildlife! Have your camera at the ready for bears, mountain lions, and eagles.

I've really started reminiscing about our own trip to Canada.Here's a suggested itinerary based on you preferring wildlife and activities over towns:

• Vancouver 1 night - Hotel Sylvia is probably very tired now, but is in great location at the beach. Hire your car at the airport
• Early ( because that's when you'll wake up) ferry to Van Island. As you're squeezing so much in I'd possibly go 4 nights not 5.
• Ferry and drive to Whistler- 2 nights - loads of cheap ski rentals in the summer often with hot tubs and pools
• Drive up to Banff, possibility break up journey at Revelstoke - we stayed at a gorgeous apart-hotel where you got the cable car up to breakfast - 1 night
• Banff area 3 nights - Accommodation is quite expensive but you can save by staying a bit out of town
• Drive to Jasper - 3 nights. We stayed at the Patricia Lake Bungalows. Its out of town but the setting is gorgeous and we saw bears on the road driving up, and there were elks wandering round the grounds
• Drive back to Calgary and fly from there back to Vancouver
• Vancouver for rest of trip

We aren't great city people so there may be things you want to see in Calgary, it's just a suggestion as planning this trip can be overwhelming.

That way you've only got two big travelling days.

I live in Victoria, and travel up and down the island all the time.
The drive to Port Renfrew is amazing, Botanical Beach and Botany Bay are must sees out that way, the old growth trees , Cowichan river tubing, Telegraph Cove if you are going up Island, lots of grizzly and whales , Alert Bay , Sointula, so much to see and explore!

We did a similar trip in 2018. Our highlight was seeing the orcas at Telegraph Cove, it was amazing & would love to go back there! Tiny place though so need to plan ahead

This sounds really useful, thank you. Would probably do it the opposite way and end up on VI, as that feels the most restful part (which is what we preferred to finish on), but will map this out.

I was wondering whether to junk time in Vancouver city, but it sounds nice (and we normally end up finding some gigs somewhere in cities LOL).

So many choices … !

We stayed in Ukluelet a few years ago now. It’s a lovely place - Long Beach is amazing! We booked a whale watching trip with Jamie’s Whaling Station.
More recently we stayed in Sooke, which again was lovely.

Absolutely loved Tofino, we also used Jamie's to go whale watching and bear wstching. Had the boat to ourselves when we went whale watching which was brilliant.

In Vancouver highly recommend FlyOver Canada at Canada Place and the Top of Vancouver Revolving Restaurant (although the views were amazing on one side of the mountains, bay, Stanley Park and Lions Gate Bridge - not so interesting the other side 🤣

In Banff if budget allows take a helicopter over the Rockies from Canmore. It was just breathtaking. One of the best days of my life!

Can also highly recommend the tube parks in both Whistler and Banff - great fun and the views from the one in Banff are stunning!

@Sarvanga38 If you want to save time in Vancouver, as opposed to money, check out any hotel along the Skytrain route. You don’t need to go all the way to the waterfront. But it saves a lot of hassle with getting taxis and other modes of transport.

I think when we go next, we will stick to Vancouver Island but do want to see more of BC. The Great Bear Rainforest is amazing and on that holiday we met Canadians who lived on VI. We heard from them about how special it is. If we do three weeks, then we go into the Rockies but I agree with others, driving for hours and hours doesn’t appeal to us. So smaller distances definitely suit us better. Or we will see BC and end at Calgary leaving VI out. Just depends on time but I’m not rushing about!

I am getting half tempted to just do Vancouver for a few days, then do the rest on VI. Hmmm.

I suspect what we'll do is at least an internal flight up to Banff.

All great ideas here for 'planning meeting' with husband.

We drove from Vancouver to Jasper in a day. It was long but manageable.
With the Icefields rather than the vehicles than take you onto the ice, we booked a day’s hike on the glacier with a guide. It was simply one of the best things I’ve ever done - we got to look in the moulins on the glacier.
We did the Plain of the Six glaciers hike at Lake Louise. Breathtaking!
I’m jealous now and want to go back!

We did it this way -
Flew to Calgary, based ourselves in Banff for 5 days and did Lake Louise, Peyto lake, Athabasca glacier, Sulphur mountain and ( my favourite), Lake Minnewanka all by public transport/day trips.

Flew Calgary to VI and based ourselves there for a week, doing boat trips etc.
Ferry to Vancouver and four nights there.

I wasn’t keen on Vancouver itself though we did go to a baseball match there which was tremendous fun on a sunny afternoon.

I tend to think after a long flight with a big time difference, chilling in Vancouver for a couple of days makes sense before you drive anywhere. We see it as a safety issue primarily. We’ve found enough to see and do in Vancouver but we’ve been a few times now!

waving from Kamloops if you want hints on hotels/restaurants should you drive through.

I quite like the look of Vancouver for three days max. Could do that then go straight across to VI, but I do fancy Banff/Rockies - it's just the bit in the middle that am not so keen on, so suspect it will come down to an internal flight or two.

All roads lead through Kamloops, it seems, so would be appreciated.

The Sandman downtown is new and overlooks a nice park. The main street Victoria is a stone throw away with some good food options, plus a decent grocery store as well.
Downside, the homeless situation is fairly visible BUT you will see that in Van and Vic.
Kamloops has an excellent farmers market on Saturdays again easy walking from the Riverside Sandman.