Trans Canadian, Alaskan and more... 2027
Discussion
I promised in my bereavement thread I would start one about a dream trip I am in the midst of planning. I don’t know if this is a pipe dream but I have learned one significant thing – never ever put off anything, ever! Just do it, as the pumps man says!
Anyway, me and my late wife Lynn went on a holiday of a lifetime last year – an amazing road trip from Chicago to LA via a lot of Colorado, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Vegas, Death Vally and Yosemite, and of course Route 66. And some of the Pacific Coast Highway. It was utterly brilliant, and a lot of that was down to the great advice gained from here. The scenery, the people, the food was outstanding. We talked of doing another, and we always liked Canada so northern America became the focus if we were to do it again.
Sadly we never got to live that dream – but I am determined to see it through – there is trepidation as it will likely be on my own, but having chatted to the kids (well, adults), they are likely to be open to coming out for various stops en-route.
Noting the visa waiver gives us 90 days in the USA, I would expect to exploit all of that, or at least as much as I can. Also, am quite prepared to go for longer, and try to obtain a longer 6 month visa – but in the current climate not sure how easy they are to come by, or whether they are sensible!
I have plans for 2026, so this won’t happen till 2027at the earliest, and will tie in nicely with planned leaving the RN, or alternatively some long-extended leave.
Anyway, me and my late wife Lynn went on a holiday of a lifetime last year – an amazing road trip from Chicago to LA via a lot of Colorado, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Vegas, Death Vally and Yosemite, and of course Route 66. And some of the Pacific Coast Highway. It was utterly brilliant, and a lot of that was down to the great advice gained from here. The scenery, the people, the food was outstanding. We talked of doing another, and we always liked Canada so northern America became the focus if we were to do it again.
Sadly we never got to live that dream – but I am determined to see it through – there is trepidation as it will likely be on my own, but having chatted to the kids (well, adults), they are likely to be open to coming out for various stops en-route.
Noting the visa waiver gives us 90 days in the USA, I would expect to exploit all of that, or at least as much as I can. Also, am quite prepared to go for longer, and try to obtain a longer 6 month visa – but in the current climate not sure how easy they are to come by, or whether they are sensible!
I have plans for 2026, so this won’t happen till 2027at the earliest, and will tie in nicely with planned leaving the RN, or alternatively some long-extended leave.
Have been through various alternative strategies (which direction, from where to where etc)but still come back to:
Fly to Boston
Drive north to Nova Scotia, the across to Quebec.
Across Canada (Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, the north coast of the lakes) maybe nip downward to Duluth along the lake, before hitting Winnipeg and then Calgary.
My youngest wants to see the Calgary Stampede (another recommendation from PH!!), so that sort of dictates timings for travel.
Keep heading west to Banff/Jasper and head north to the Alcan, onward to Tok and Fairbanks – short detour to see the Arctic Circle before heading down to Denali, Anchorage and then the Kenai Peninsular. Do some whale watching, bear watching etc.
Then head east, back to Tok, then down to Juneau, before heading south to Vancouver (want to do the Whistler Gondola), and Seattle.
A good source of inspiration is YT channel “Art We There Yet” https://www.youtube.com/@ArtWeThereYet well worth a look.
Now I could head home from here or carry on south to San Francisco and do the PCH, some of which we never got to do last year because of land slides. And I could head home from SF (I guess the 90 days will be up by here) or carry on eastwards as I really want to see Lake Tahoe, and visit Reno, and then drive the Hwy 50 – The Loneliest Road.
I quite fancy visiting the Bonneville Salt Flats then heading up to Yellowstone and then to Mt Rushmore – some great roads in the Badlands, before heading down to Colorado and seeing some of the places there again that Lynn loved so much (Pikes Peak for instance). Denver being another possible return point.
Then time and money dependant, carry on east, and to the east coast (probably Washington DC), along the BlueRidge Parkway.
So minimum is Boston to Seattle via Alaska, but if time/money allows, San Francisco, Denver or ultimately DC.
Fly to Boston
Drive north to Nova Scotia, the across to Quebec.
Across Canada (Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, the north coast of the lakes) maybe nip downward to Duluth along the lake, before hitting Winnipeg and then Calgary.
My youngest wants to see the Calgary Stampede (another recommendation from PH!!), so that sort of dictates timings for travel.
Keep heading west to Banff/Jasper and head north to the Alcan, onward to Tok and Fairbanks – short detour to see the Arctic Circle before heading down to Denali, Anchorage and then the Kenai Peninsular. Do some whale watching, bear watching etc.
Then head east, back to Tok, then down to Juneau, before heading south to Vancouver (want to do the Whistler Gondola), and Seattle.
A good source of inspiration is YT channel “Art We There Yet” https://www.youtube.com/@ArtWeThereYet well worth a look.
Now I could head home from here or carry on south to San Francisco and do the PCH, some of which we never got to do last year because of land slides. And I could head home from SF (I guess the 90 days will be up by here) or carry on eastwards as I really want to see Lake Tahoe, and visit Reno, and then drive the Hwy 50 – The Loneliest Road.
I quite fancy visiting the Bonneville Salt Flats then heading up to Yellowstone and then to Mt Rushmore – some great roads in the Badlands, before heading down to Colorado and seeing some of the places there again that Lynn loved so much (Pikes Peak for instance). Denver being another possible return point.
Then time and money dependant, carry on east, and to the east coast (probably Washington DC), along the BlueRidge Parkway.
So minimum is Boston to Seattle via Alaska, but if time/money allows, San Francisco, Denver or ultimately DC.
It is long, it is extravagant, it will not be cheap. But I figure I can go for as long as I want to – but with 18 months planning time, I just need to work out how lonely it will be. I like the idea of the romance of an RV, but not having RV’d before, that might be too big a step. Plus, RV does not seem a cheap option… El Monte and Cruise America both will offer a rental but wow, the price is huge! Plus, I have never holidayed on my own – but if the kids come out at various places, it breaks it up. It’s like man maths isn’t it!!!
An SUV (and I won’t need a Ford Expedition like we had last year), and fuel with hotels (we did too many hotels/motels last year where we should have exploited AirBnBs more) … I think would be 25-30% cheaper than an RV, fuel (they are ½ the economy at least of an SUV, but I read some are V10s…!!) and camp site passes. Now an RV allows for some free camping … which is where the romance comes in... so maybe there is a ½ way house in there somewhere. More to think about.
I also want to look to see the pros and cons of taking my dog. Getting him there is probably the biggest hassle – need to research some real experience of dogs on a plane! Also thinking maybe the QM2 – there and back with Reggie in kennels on board would approximately (ish) be the same price as two people return flights Business class (approx. £4.5K) – and in the greater scheme of things, that might be an option – will be very relaxed for Reggie! But my sister will have Reggie so not the end of the world. Just thought it might be good to take him if I go alone – but then what restrictions would he impose on what I want to do.
Lots to think about, but I do enjoy this planning phase of things like this!
An SUV (and I won’t need a Ford Expedition like we had last year), and fuel with hotels (we did too many hotels/motels last year where we should have exploited AirBnBs more) … I think would be 25-30% cheaper than an RV, fuel (they are ½ the economy at least of an SUV, but I read some are V10s…!!) and camp site passes. Now an RV allows for some free camping … which is where the romance comes in... so maybe there is a ½ way house in there somewhere. More to think about.
I also want to look to see the pros and cons of taking my dog. Getting him there is probably the biggest hassle – need to research some real experience of dogs on a plane! Also thinking maybe the QM2 – there and back with Reggie in kennels on board would approximately (ish) be the same price as two people return flights Business class (approx. £4.5K) – and in the greater scheme of things, that might be an option – will be very relaxed for Reggie! But my sister will have Reggie so not the end of the world. Just thought it might be good to take him if I go alone – but then what restrictions would he impose on what I want to do.
Lots to think about, but I do enjoy this planning phase of things like this!
We RV'd in Canada this summer, trip of a lifetime. It is quite pricey unfortunately. Much more so on the West but still not exactly cheap on the East. I'd recommend Fraserway over Cruise Canada. I thought the latter was very poor for the money. Work on 10-12mpg to a US gallon too!
North America is really set up for it though. Lots of free parking, more often than not there's free wild camping spots too, most Walmart's will even let you stay overnight which can be used at a pinch.
Municipal campsites are great and reasonably priced. In the summer every 10th vehicle is a camping vehicle of some description it seemed.
To be honest on a longer trip I'd be tempted to ship over my own camper. The Germans seem to do it a bit, we saw a few. When you're paying £1-2k a week to Cruise Canada I don't think you'd have to be there that many weeks for the sums to work out in your favour. You could also triple your fuel economy.
North America is really set up for it though. Lots of free parking, more often than not there's free wild camping spots too, most Walmart's will even let you stay overnight which can be used at a pinch.
Municipal campsites are great and reasonably priced. In the summer every 10th vehicle is a camping vehicle of some description it seemed.
To be honest on a longer trip I'd be tempted to ship over my own camper. The Germans seem to do it a bit, we saw a few. When you're paying £1-2k a week to Cruise Canada I don't think you'd have to be there that many weeks for the sums to work out in your favour. You could also triple your fuel economy.
We've been to a lot of places on that list and going to many more of them in the next year, so I'll reserve comments until you've come up with a more detailed plan, but it sounds amazing. Two thoughts at this stage though:
For the 90 day ESTA rule your time in Canada won't count. It'll be effectively three separate trips, one in the US, then leave the US and do one in Canada, then a longer second visit to the US, so this might help your planning if you hadn't already taken this into account.
I would also personally avoid an RV, I looked into it and with high RV rental costs, overnight camping stay costs and poor fuel economy, it's far cheaper to rent a car and stay in hotels unless you're travelling with a bigger group. I would also prefer to have the security of a big trans-national business that can easily fix/replace my vehicle anywhere in US/Canada on such a long/remote trip. Oh and on some of the long boring journeys I'd want to be doing 70-80mph on the interstate and I'm not sure I'd be ok doing that in an RV.
If you rent a car in the US check that your firm allows use in the whole of Canada, as some have regional restrictions.
For the 90 day ESTA rule your time in Canada won't count. It'll be effectively three separate trips, one in the US, then leave the US and do one in Canada, then a longer second visit to the US, so this might help your planning if you hadn't already taken this into account.
I would also personally avoid an RV, I looked into it and with high RV rental costs, overnight camping stay costs and poor fuel economy, it's far cheaper to rent a car and stay in hotels unless you're travelling with a bigger group. I would also prefer to have the security of a big trans-national business that can easily fix/replace my vehicle anywhere in US/Canada on such a long/remote trip. Oh and on some of the long boring journeys I'd want to be doing 70-80mph on the interstate and I'm not sure I'd be ok doing that in an RV.
If you rent a car in the US check that your firm allows use in the whole of Canada, as some have regional restrictions.
As George Michael famously said, if you’re gonna do it do it right! That’s one hell of a trip, firstly if you do indeed cross the Atlantic on QM then make sure you visit the Samuel Cunard statue in Halifax NS…..
Starting from Boston makes a great circular route, films have always played a huge part of our trip planning and the story of the Andrea Gail meant a must do stop in Gloucester Massachusetts to pay respects at the memorial to those who have been lost at sea.
The expanse between Quebec and the Rockies is vast and bleak, hgv’s and brutal cross winds make day after 500 mile day monotonous, maybe cross the section in the US? The Upper Peninsula, Michigan is far nice and there’s a ferry to cross to Wisconsin crossing Minnesota North Dakota, Montana then up the Eastern side of the Rockies, the journey back down from Alaska via the Stewart - Cassiar Hwy to Vancouver.
If you haven’t already have a look at the “epic rides” section at:
https://advrider.com/f/forums/ride-reports-epic-ri...
It’s motorcycle biased but there’s a good few round trips from east coast US up to Alaska, plenty there for inspiration and often some great tips on off the beaten track routes.
Happy planning and I genuinely hope you get on and do it, we have a family member in life's departure lounge and have spent the past few weeks putting there life possessions in a skip, absolutely heart breaking but the stark realities of our short time on this beautiful rock.
Starting from Boston makes a great circular route, films have always played a huge part of our trip planning and the story of the Andrea Gail meant a must do stop in Gloucester Massachusetts to pay respects at the memorial to those who have been lost at sea.
The expanse between Quebec and the Rockies is vast and bleak, hgv’s and brutal cross winds make day after 500 mile day monotonous, maybe cross the section in the US? The Upper Peninsula, Michigan is far nice and there’s a ferry to cross to Wisconsin crossing Minnesota North Dakota, Montana then up the Eastern side of the Rockies, the journey back down from Alaska via the Stewart - Cassiar Hwy to Vancouver.
If you haven’t already have a look at the “epic rides” section at:
https://advrider.com/f/forums/ride-reports-epic-ri...
It’s motorcycle biased but there’s a good few round trips from east coast US up to Alaska, plenty there for inspiration and often some great tips on off the beaten track routes.
Happy planning and I genuinely hope you get on and do it, we have a family member in life's departure lounge and have spent the past few weeks putting there life possessions in a skip, absolutely heart breaking but the stark realities of our short time on this beautiful rock.
ChocolateFrog said:
We RV'd in Canada this summer, trip of a lifetime. It is quite pricey unfortunately. Much more so on the West but still not exactly cheap on the East. I'd recommend Fraserway over Cruise Canada. I thought the latter was very poor for the money. Work on 10-12mpg to a US gallon too!
North America is really set up for it though. Lots of free parking, more often than not there's free wild camping spots too, most Walmart's will even let you stay overnight which can be used at a pinch.
Municipal campsites are great and reasonably priced. In the summer every 10th vehicle is a camping vehicle of some description it seemed.
To be honest on a longer trip I'd be tempted to ship over my own camper. The Germans seem to do it a bit, we saw a few. When you're paying £1-2k a week to Cruise Canada I don't think you'd have to be there that many weeks for the sums to work out in your favour. You could also triple your fuel economy.
That you for this. The issue with me and an Rv is saying I am inexperienced is an understatement. If I don't like it, it is going to be very disappointing, so am very inclined to stick with "better the devil I know" and SUV/Motels/AirBnB. I think I wills tick to an RV trip some other time, and maybe with someone who knows what they are actually doing!North America is really set up for it though. Lots of free parking, more often than not there's free wild camping spots too, most Walmart's will even let you stay overnight which can be used at a pinch.
Municipal campsites are great and reasonably priced. In the summer every 10th vehicle is a camping vehicle of some description it seemed.
To be honest on a longer trip I'd be tempted to ship over my own camper. The Germans seem to do it a bit, we saw a few. When you're paying £1-2k a week to Cruise Canada I don't think you'd have to be there that many weeks for the sums to work out in your favour. You could also triple your fuel economy.
Guyr said:
We've been to a lot of places on that list and going to many more of them in the next year, so I'll reserve comments until you've come up with a more detailed plan, but it sounds amazing. Two thoughts at this stage though:
For the 90 day ESTA rule your time in Canada won't count. It'll be effectively three separate trips, one in the US, then leave the US and do one in Canada, then a longer second visit to the US, so this might help your planning if you hadn't already taken this into account.
I would also personally avoid an RV, I looked into it and with high RV rental costs, overnight camping stay costs and poor fuel economy, it's far cheaper to rent a car and stay in hotels unless you're travelling with a bigger group. I would also prefer to have the security of a big trans-national business that can easily fix/replace my vehicle anywhere in US/Canada on such a long/remote trip. Oh and on some of the long boring journeys I'd want to be doing 70-80mph on the interstate and I'm not sure I'd be ok doing that in an RV.
If you rent a car in the US check that your firm allows use in the whole of Canada, as some have regional restrictions.
I understand about the 90 day rule and Canada, but I don't think dipping into Canada means the 90 days resets... The 90 days thought is if I end up trekking back to the East Coast - I will go over the 90 days (I think) but maybe it won't be many days over, and it can be trimmed. Will have to see on that one. Also, having read the latest re ESTAs and SM addresses, I am not sure if I need to be worried: I entered all my SM addresses when I just did an ESTA for my trip in '26 - more importantly they won't change the expiry date so effectively I am already covered ESTA wise.For the 90 day ESTA rule your time in Canada won't count. It'll be effectively three separate trips, one in the US, then leave the US and do one in Canada, then a longer second visit to the US, so this might help your planning if you hadn't already taken this into account.
I would also personally avoid an RV, I looked into it and with high RV rental costs, overnight camping stay costs and poor fuel economy, it's far cheaper to rent a car and stay in hotels unless you're travelling with a bigger group. I would also prefer to have the security of a big trans-national business that can easily fix/replace my vehicle anywhere in US/Canada on such a long/remote trip. Oh and on some of the long boring journeys I'd want to be doing 70-80mph on the interstate and I'm not sure I'd be ok doing that in an RV.
If you rent a car in the US check that your firm allows use in the whole of Canada, as some have regional restrictions.
Thanks for the tip on regional Canada use - Likely to go with Hertz as that's who I went with last year (via Expedia) and it worked, although to be fair we never had an issue. I would estimate I would need a car change for this trip... servicing, tyres etc will be needed as mileage will be quite high.
Essarell said:
As George Michael famously said, if you re gonna do it do it right! That s one hell of a trip, firstly if you do indeed cross the Atlantic on QM then make sure you visit the Samuel Cunard statue in Halifax NS ..
Starting from Boston makes a great circular route, films have always played a huge part of our trip planning and the story of the Andrea Gail meant a must do stop in Gloucester Massachusetts to pay respects at the memorial to those who have been lost at sea.
The expanse between Quebec and the Rockies is vast and bleak, hgv s and brutal cross winds make day after 500 mile day monotonous, maybe cross the section in the US? The Upper Peninsula, Michigan is far nice and there s a ferry to cross to Wisconsin crossing Minnesota North Dakota, Montana then up the Eastern side of the Rockies, the journey back down from Alaska via the Stewart - Cassiar Hwy to Vancouver.
If you haven t already have a look at the epic rides section at:
https://advrider.com/f/forums/ride-reports-epic-ri...
It s motorcycle biased but there s a good few round trips from east coast US up to Alaska, plenty there for inspiration and often some great tips on off the beaten track routes.
Happy planning and I genuinely hope you get on and do it, we have a family member in life's departure lounge and have spent the past few weeks putting there life possessions in a skip, absolutely heart breaking but the stark realities of our short time on this beautiful rock.
So sorry to hear about your relative. Always tough times. This is a great place though to chat with relative strangers, and a great place to write down your feelings on it all. The good thing is, people are quite honest, and offer some decent advice. I mentioned all this to my counsellor yesterday - she seems to think it was a great idea.Starting from Boston makes a great circular route, films have always played a huge part of our trip planning and the story of the Andrea Gail meant a must do stop in Gloucester Massachusetts to pay respects at the memorial to those who have been lost at sea.
The expanse between Quebec and the Rockies is vast and bleak, hgv s and brutal cross winds make day after 500 mile day monotonous, maybe cross the section in the US? The Upper Peninsula, Michigan is far nice and there s a ferry to cross to Wisconsin crossing Minnesota North Dakota, Montana then up the Eastern side of the Rockies, the journey back down from Alaska via the Stewart - Cassiar Hwy to Vancouver.
If you haven t already have a look at the epic rides section at:
https://advrider.com/f/forums/ride-reports-epic-ri...
It s motorcycle biased but there s a good few round trips from east coast US up to Alaska, plenty there for inspiration and often some great tips on off the beaten track routes.
Happy planning and I genuinely hope you get on and do it, we have a family member in life's departure lounge and have spent the past few weeks putting there life possessions in a skip, absolutely heart breaking but the stark realities of our short time on this beautiful rock.
The QM2 idea is if I want to take Reggie - the more I think about it the more I would love to, but does bring restrictions - I notice no dogs in the Stampede, nor on some of the mountain Gondolas, and unlikely to be taken if I do whale watching trips in Alaska. Now I know these are not insurmountable issues, doggy day care being quite a thing, but pros and cons lead me to think sadly I don't think Reggie will come.
Have to admit the section between Lake Superior (I want to do that North Shore section) and Calgary is the bit that bothers me the most - and am considering doing that bit in the US. Plan A is to stick with the Trans Canadian Hwy but taking on board the comments about the boredom (this is not the first time I have read that). Also, North Dakota & Montana would be great to see. However I I do want to do the Trans Canadian (or as much as I can)... but if it is really dull...
That website is golden - thanks. That's my next couple of days occupied!
Another YT channel I have found that I quite like is https://www.youtube.com/@ridetofood - another bike one but what a life! I should probably try to start a wiki with decent links in... so many RT threads - especially across North America, that a central resource point would be useful to many.
I am really worried though about doing this alone. One of the major things I miss about Lynn is the natural way we were able to talk utter b
ks to each other. I noticed I was talking to myself whilst in the traffic jam this morning on the way to work... some guy stuck going the other way seemed to notice and seemed to be knowingly laughing at me. All good natured as we all do it don't we? One part of me says doing it alone will give me chance to properly get into my thoughts and prep for the future, (I do it now but it usually is accompanied with a bottle of wine)... but I do like the banter with a co-pilot! I did little trips through the autumn, just me and the dog, and I do like the solitude... but it is not just about that - it is also about the type of person you are to be able to do it. Lots to consider.
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