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As some of you may have read, despite the likelihood of freezing cold, we were planning to take advantage of the fact that the San Jose Sharks are playing in Edmonton over the US' Thanksgiving weekend -- we were planning to fly into Calgary, spend one day in Calgary, drive the icefields parkway, spend a night and part of the day in Jasper, then on to Edmonton, where we'd have one entire free day. That is still a strong possibility.
Given this other choice - a couple of days in Vancouver and a couple of days in Whistler, which would you do? Again, we'd arrive late at night on November 24th, so we would have four full days, returning on the 29th.
Thanks for your help.
Choices for 4 day weekend in late November
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Vancouver/Whistler for sure.
Your Alberta itinerary is just too much driving for four days, and the weather and road conditions could be dicey, particularly on the Icefields Parkway. The hours of daylight will be short as well. This is best done in the summer or early fall. If you do want to see Jasper this time, I'd do it as an overnight from Edmonton.
Nothing against Calgary and Edmonton, but Vancouver is a more attractive city, especially at that time of year. You could even take in a Canucks game while you are there
The two options are quite different, sort of like comparing apples to anchovies.
!!), although in November that's not such a good idea. I love the mountains, the scenery is gorgeous anytime of the year, and if I had a choice between Vancouver and Banff or Jasper, I'd always choose the mountain resorts (even though we live close enough to them we are constantly travelling there for weekends).
Vancouver is indeed beautiful, but it is a big city. If city activities and amenities are what you prefer, and that's where you'd like to spend your Thanksgiving - go for it!! In November Vancouver can have misty drizzly grey and damp chilly days which block out the scenic views. Whistler is nowhere near as spectacular as the Rocky Mountains.
The Calgary - Banff - Jasper - Edmonton tour is very do-able in four days. It can even be done in one day (have actually done that
If you do choose the Calgary and mountain option, have a plan A and plan B. The weather is unpredictable, and this year it has been even more strange than usual, so you can't count on it being perfect during your visit.
Plan A could be the trip you described above, in the event that the weather is ideal.
Plan B could be your one day in Calgary, then drive up to Edmonton the next day, and do an overnight trip to Jasper the following two days.
There's also a Plan C which might actually be more relaxing in terms of driving: One day in Calgary, then another day in Banff and Lake Louise, then the third day drive to Edmonton for the remainder of your trip.
Calgary to Edmonton is a 3 hour drive. Calgary to Banff is a bit more than an hour (some people say it takes 2 hours but it's never taken us that long). It's a 45 minute drive between Banff and Lake Louise. The main highways are in good driving condition all seasons of the year except if a blizzard/snowstorm is happening when you are driving (we've also done that, wouldn't recommend it, it usually doubles your driving time and can be dangerous).