Rockies road trip- RV or hotels?

[Clouddrifting]

Hi, we are planning a trip across the Rockies this August and can’t decide whether to hire an RV or stay in hotels.

We like camping, have stayed in campervans before but aren’t sure if the extra cost if worth it. Plus it looks like we meet to book most of the campsites in advance so no advantage in flexibility.

2 adults and 3 kids so looking at needing 2 hotel rooms/apartments. We've got between 7-10 days to travel from Vancouver to Calgary, and will have spent a few days in Vancouver and Vancouver Island before that.

RV. We did it in a tent many years ago and spent 3 months travelling up the coast. When we HAD to use a hotel we felt our freedom was taken away.

You don't need a campsite, there are national parks. We camped in them discretely. I assume that hasn't changed. Thinking of it we did now and again use a campsite, but just rocked up.

We have done RV holidays in the Rockies twice. Once just DH and I and once when DD was about 9. Both times really enjoyed it and can definitely recommend RV.

We found there are two sorts of campsite really. The more commercial ones with hook ups etc and the National Parks ones. Our experience was that it is best to book in advance for the National Park sites if you are traveling during the school holiday season. For some you can just turn up but for popular places like Jasper and Lake Louise it's best to book.