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Best way to do Vancouver to Calgary as a group

Best way to do Vancouver to Calgary as a group

Old Mar 12th, 2017, 01:36 AM
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Best way to do Vancouver to Calgary as a group

Hi
I wonder if you can help please? A group of us, 3 couples and my 2 grown up sons are travelling to Vancouver on 18 Aug. We then need to be in Calgary by 26th & Canmore the next day for a wedding. Someone has suggested we travel via the wine country to Calgary. Can anyone suggest the best way to do this so we get to enjoy the best of this part of Canada? I'd be grateful for any suggestions regarding type of accommodation to book, where to book, how long to stay in each place & travel suggestions. Many thanks in advance.
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Old Mar 13th, 2017, 07:21 AM
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Well your first issue will be transportation. Even if you could rent a long wheelbase van that will carry 8 people and their luggage, do you really want to be in a vehicle with 8 people in it?

So I would say you need at least 2 cars with enough luggage space for all. Your family of 4 in one car and the other 2 couples in the other car.

Next is route. For me the best route is via Hwy 3 from Vancouver to Osoyoos at the very south end of the Okanogan Valley. You then travel north on 97 till you join Hwy.1, the Transcanada Highway which will take you through the Rockies to Banff and Calgary. That route takes you through the best of the wine country.

Where to stop along the way depends on how many winerys you want to visit etc. and how long you will spend in Vancouver. With only 7 days between your arrival in Vancouver and your arrival in Calgary on the 26th, you aren't going to have a lot of time to play with.

If you spend 4 nights in Vancouver before heading out, you really aren't going to have enough time to do more than just make the drive to Calgary with little time to stop anywhere for more than an hour or two. If you spend less time in Vancouver, will you be able to see and do what is of interest to you in Vancouver? What about the Rockies, do you want to spend time in the Banff area? Again, not enough time. Do you want to spend say 2 nights staying in Penticton perhaps and visiting a half dozen or so winerys in the area?

The problem is you are talking about 3 areas that I would say you may want to spend time in. Vancouver, the Okanogan and the Rockies, but you only have enough time really for one of the three in any real depth.
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Old Mar 13th, 2017, 10:39 AM
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You also need to sort accommodation ASAP. August is peak season, with this summer expected to see record crowds in tourist locales in BC/AB (free parks admission, weak CAN $$).

Finding a place for 8 people is challenge enough, let alone in August. Some hotels in the Rockies are already booked solid for the summer, and I'm guessing the major tourist destinations in BC are also seeing high demand.

BTW, I assume that if the wedding is in Canmore, the query is about getting to the Rockies.
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Old Mar 13th, 2017, 11:00 AM
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Hi
Thanks very much for reply.Basically we have been invited to travel and stay in canmore for a wedding end of August where we will stay until mid Sept before travelling back to UK. We thought we'd take the opportunity to travel a bit earlier, see Vancouver and travel across to canmore via the wine country.
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Old Mar 14th, 2017, 09:24 AM
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Thanks for the clarification.

I assume you have accommodation in Canmore for the duration. If not, that should be arranged ASAP as peak season is expected to last to the end of September and it will be very busy over the Labour Day holiday.

I would also strongly suggest taking 3 nights to head to Jasper. The drive from Lake Louise to Jasper (Icefields Parkway) is one of the most scenic in the world, and the highlight of the Rockies. You definitely want time to see those sights and to explore around Jasper. Jasper is quite small, so accommodation books quickly. Sounds like you have flexibility, so do Jasper in September and during the week.

Great advice above on where to go in the wine country, so I'd start looking for place(s) to stay. Again, with a larger group, you might be better off looking for a hotel that has suites or a B&B or condo with a configuration that allows for you to be in one place. But be aware that regulations often limit the number than one B&B can host, so you may not all be able to stay in the same place.

(As a note, in Jasper, 8 is the max allowed in a PHA (private home accommodation, Jasper variation on B&Bs), and very few have that many beds. So you'd likely need to stay in a hotel or split between 2 or 3 PHAs. Doing the latter is not difficult as there are a lot and Jasper is small, so you can stay very close together. Very few offer breakfast, so you'd probably eat out anyway.
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Old Mar 19th, 2017, 12:50 AM
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Thank you very much ☺
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