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?

I also like the doubletree by Hilton hotel downtown. Lovely staff.
BRYNN’S Bakery, small but what she makes she makes well.
fancy bakery Gold Leaf is decadent and lovely, although the location not dt.
Pricier option if quickly driving through but need food for the car ride, the grocery store in the Aberdeen Mall has very good sandwiches/salads to take with you.

If just driving through wanting to get closer to Jasper, the local Costco is not far off the highway entering town (cheap fuel), huge bags of chips/popcorn etc. A close friend runs a b&b guesthouse in Clearwater called Canadian Bear Guesthouse.

Canadian Bear Guesthouse looks lovely - noted.

Ucluelet and Tofino are only 20 minutes drive apart so if you find good accommodation in the former don't bother holding out for the latter.

If you're on to wildlife and activities I'd focus on VI and take an internal flight to Calgary then drive to Banff. Otherwise it is a minimum 9.5 hours drive from Vancouver to Banff and that doesn't include stopping for breaks. The scenery along the way is actually very beautiful but not worth it unless you have several weeks.

Strathcona Provincial Park is in central VI, access from the east side ie Comox. It has absolutely spectacular hikes and lakes, all very uncrowded and untouched.

Sproat Lake, just north of Port Alberni on your way to Ucluelet was voted best lake in BC last year. It is warm and crystal clear so stop there for a dip!

We did a 3 week trip and it felt a bit like two segments - Vancouver/Vancouver Island ( we stayed at Crystal Cove at Tofino which was amazing but expensive)/ Whistler, then the Rockies as a second segment.
I have to say out of the two of them I enjoyed the Vancouver end more, but the scenery is amazing at the Rockies so having travelled that far already, it would be a shame to miss it.

Yes, that drive was amazing... but, in September, when we were there, we found Port Renfrew shut, so no chance to get any food and no loos available!

Go whale watching (from either Vancouver or the Island, we went from Victoria).
Grouse Mountain and Capilano Suspension Bridge Park are both great, and have free transport from the centre of Vancouver.
Eat your way around the market at Granville Island.

Most of all, enjoy it!

Internal flight, smallest plane possible. Unforgettable. Beats driving thro miles and miles and miles of pine trees.

Going to Great Bear Rainforest and landing at Terrace was quite an experience. Leaving Bella Coola wasn’t definite either due to mist. Interesting flights in that part of BC.

We also did a flight-seeing flight from harbour air in Vancouver to see the scenery in a seaplane, which was a great experience

Really interesting only today my husband and I talked about this trip as our son is living in Vancouver. Great insight.