Family of 5 heading to BC/Alberta June/July 2016 and wanting ideas.
Hi all,
We are just beginning to plan a short trip to British Columbia mid 2016. We will probably fly in and out of Vancouver. At the moment we are looking for ideas and general comments. We were thinking of either hiring a car or taking the train and going from Vancouver to Banff then up to Jasper. From there we're not sure whether to go back to Vancouver then across to Vancouver island or hubby's current preference is to go across to Prince Rupert and take the ferry down to Vancouver Island, where we have friends to visit. (and yes we know some of that is Alberta!)
We're a family of 5, the kids will be about 5.5, 3.5 & 1.5 years old when we go. Hubby and I are experienced travellers and the kids are pretty good on the road.
We'd really appreciate any ideas, suggestions, tips or anything to help us plan.
We have 2 - 2.5 weeks for this trip, not long I know but at the moment is the most we can squeeze out of the trip (we're on our way to visiting family in the UK).
Thanks, Karen
Reply to this I think your choices will depend on how much you like driving as opposed to using other types of travel. You are looking at 2500+ km of driving if you do the entire route including Northern BC. There are lots of sites to turn off in Southern BC but the North is less interesting until you likely get to Smithers where the Skeena River Valley starts creating one of the most beautiful road trips in Canada (Smithers to Prince Rupert). The 700 km from Banff/Jasper to Smithers will likely be the longest part of the trip.
I would suggest you look for the places to stop enroute for the longest parts of the drive between Vancouver and Banff/Jasper and Jasper and Prince Rupert. My recommendations would be to look at stopping in Salmon Arm or Revelstoke between Vancouver and Banff. They are nice towns with various activities that you can do with kids. In the North I would likely suggest stopping in Prince George and Smithers.
My recommendation would be to drive as the train is nice but does make for limitations in exploring locations as Canada is not very pedestrian friendly in terms of creating easily walkable spaces or having good public transport.
If you do take the ferry you will need to book well in advance as it is peak season when you are coming.
Reply to this Thanks for replying. Since posting this we have decided to hire a car and do a loop up through revelstoke, Golden, Lake Louise, jasper and Kamloops, then across to Vancouver Island to visit friends. Still a long way but more doable. So much to see and so little time. We are restricted a bit with time this trip.
Reply to this Hi. I'm from BC. Can I recommend renting an RV for your trip going to Banff and Jasper? Very easy to drive, clean and new usually, and I think you will find this way more accommodating for your family...plus nothing is more Canadian than camping! We have wonderful camping sites along the way and the scenery is amazing. Drop the RV off back in Vancouver and hire a car to go across to the island to save money and stay in hotels/BNB's.
The reason I don't recommend a train, is you are held hostage by their schedules and it is pretty expensive. Also, the ferry from Prince Rupert to Vancouver Island doesn't always run regularly, takes a long time, and expensive. You'd have to sell one of your children.
If you paced yourself. You could spend the day or two in Vancouver, plenty of sites and things to do. Some prefer taking the backroads behind Whistler to get to middle of province Kamloops, instead of main #1 highway. Expect a day or two for this. Then once through the mountain pass and into Banff, spend at least a couple days there, then drive on to Jasper, again a day or two there, head back towards Vancouver through Prince George, and Kamloops, stopping along the way. Once in Vancouver, take the ferry across to Vancouver Island and head north first past Nanaimo and see Tofino on the west coast, then back down to Victoria, for some sightseeing. Back over to Vancouver for your flight, or just fly out from Victoria.
Let me know if you have any more specific questions.
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