roadtrip... calgary to vancouver via rockies and whistler
Discussion
Lets see.
Banff, take a trip up Sulphur Mountain.
Columbian ice fields are worth a couple of hours.
Athabasca falls these are a few miles from Jasper
Jasper for an hour, some of the lakes are fantastic also take the gondola ride.
I haven’t taken the trip past Jasper to BC so I have nothing to add there.
Whistler, take the peak2peak gondola ride. 4.2klm no towers fooking scary. Night life is good but still a small town.
Vancouver Island / Victoria excellent place to visit, whale watching. then you have Chinatown.
oh forgot to add lucky b
d.
Banff, take a trip up Sulphur Mountain.
Columbian ice fields are worth a couple of hours.
Athabasca falls these are a few miles from Jasper
Jasper for an hour, some of the lakes are fantastic also take the gondola ride.
I haven’t taken the trip past Jasper to BC so I have nothing to add there.
Whistler, take the peak2peak gondola ride. 4.2klm no towers fooking scary. Night life is good but still a small town.
Vancouver Island / Victoria excellent place to visit, whale watching. then you have Chinatown.
oh forgot to add lucky b
d.Mike - we're off in a couple of weeks, doing the trip the other way (Vancouver-Kamloops-Jasper-Banff).
The best (quick) bit of research I did was looking and reading through this guy's slideshow trip-report - some beautiful photos with explanations:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Mjneenan/CanadianRocki...
They clearly like their walking, but they mention some good shorter-hikes and close-to-the-road stuff as well.
Vancouver - stay Downtown, definitely visit Stanley Park, and Granville Island is good during the day.
Vancouver Island - whale watching is a must, by all accounts - most out of Victoria at this time of year (wrong season for Grays and there's only the non-migratory Humpbacks, plus the 3 pods of Orca in the bay off Victoria) - Nanaimo is supposed to be better earlier in the year. Depending on what your plans & budget are, you can get a seaplane over, do a whale-cruise, and then get and a bus back in a single day if you've ditched the car.
If you don't mind, could you PM me with your experiences out there - any tips, any must-sees / must-avoids, and any good places to eat, too!
Have fun,
M.
The best (quick) bit of research I did was looking and reading through this guy's slideshow trip-report - some beautiful photos with explanations:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Mjneenan/CanadianRocki...
They clearly like their walking, but they mention some good shorter-hikes and close-to-the-road stuff as well.
Vancouver - stay Downtown, definitely visit Stanley Park, and Granville Island is good during the day.
Vancouver Island - whale watching is a must, by all accounts - most out of Victoria at this time of year (wrong season for Grays and there's only the non-migratory Humpbacks, plus the 3 pods of Orca in the bay off Victoria) - Nanaimo is supposed to be better earlier in the year. Depending on what your plans & budget are, you can get a seaplane over, do a whale-cruise, and then get and a bus back in a single day if you've ditched the car.
If you don't mind, could you PM me with your experiences out there - any tips, any must-sees / must-avoids, and any good places to eat, too!
Have fun,
M.
Hot tip: For a route that avoids the dump that is Kamloops try going via Kelowna instead. We did Kelowna out Kamploops back in a Vancouver,Calgary,Banff,Jasper,Vancouver loop and Kelowna was delightful in comparison. In fact we did a wine tour there of the Okanagen (interesting) and actually didn't stay in Kamloops at all - we headed to a deserted Ski resort called Sun Peaks and got a 5* room for 1* prices in the summer!
Thanks guys. getting really excited now.
Havoc - that link is great, thank you. I am happy to send you any recommendations I can
Don - we are actually making an overnight in kamloops so I don't think there will be much avoidance. the journey to whistler was just slightly too long to comfortably do in one day whilst maintaining a leisurely feel, so we had to break it up a bit.
Havoc - that link is great, thank you. I am happy to send you any recommendations I can
Don - we are actually making an overnight in kamloops so I don't think there will be much avoidance. the journey to whistler was just slightly too long to comfortably do in one day whilst maintaining a leisurely feel, so we had to break it up a bit.
Well. All I can say is that I hope you can come on this thread after your break and put me right about how excellent a stay you had in Kamloops. Good luck. 
(meant sincerely!).
I've probably had far worse overnight stops.
The Truckers stop in Holbrook, Arizona comes to mind. There were two Best Western places in Holbrook. We got the one next to the Wigwam Motel, no less.
The magazines in the room were Trucking Today, Truckers Weekly, Truck Buyer etc.
Surprisingly good steak house next door but the roof practically caved in everytime a train went past and blew its horn...once an hour...throughout the night!
(meant sincerely!).I've probably had far worse overnight stops.
The Truckers stop in Holbrook, Arizona comes to mind. There were two Best Western places in Holbrook. We got the one next to the Wigwam Motel, no less.
The magazines in the room were Trucking Today, Truckers Weekly, Truck Buyer etc.
Surprisingly good steak house next door but the roof practically caved in everytime a train went past and blew its horn...once an hour...throughout the night!
DangerousMike said:
Havoc... First tip. You must visit Moraine Lake. More spectacular and quieter than lake louise and pretty nearby.
..and if you can, stay at the Lake Moraine Lodge. Once the tourists have left for the day the lake becomes very still and beautiful for an after dinner stroll.You can also do a hike directly from the Lodge to Lower Consolation Lake which is excellent. Beware: We did it in early June and the trail was still covered in snow in places!
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