Mulan47

Hello,

We are planning a trip to BC in July 2009. I'm hoping you can answer some questions about our itinerary as well as our driving route.

Here is our itinerary so far; we'll be travelling with our 1 1/2 year old.

Arrive Thursday afternoon, rent car, stay overnight in Tsawassen
Friday take ferry to Salt Spring Island, overnight in Salt Spring Island at Harbour House (Opinion? It was a bit difficult to find a place that accepted children and only 1 night stay)
Saturday visit the Salt Spring Saturday Market, then take ferry back to Vancouver, overnight there (suggestions?)
Sunday drive to Whistler, overnight Whistler (suggestions?)
Monday drive to Okanagan Valley, stay in Pentiction for 3 nights (hotel suggestions?)
Thursday drive to Vancouver for a conference, stay for 5 nights (Pacific Palisades)

1) Do you think it will be too stressful to try to see both Salt Spring and Whistler? Once we return to Vancouver I have a conference, so we need to visit Whistler and Salt Spring at the beginning of our trip. If it's too much to see both, which place would you recommend?

2) Are 3 nights enough in the Okanagan? We won't be able to do tons of wine tasting since we'll have the baby with us, so probably just kick back and relax.

3) Do you have hotel recommendations for any of our destinations? We'd a like self-catering place if possible. I read great reviews about Pacific Palisades in Vancouver but wonder if they are credible.

4) When I used Google maps to map our drive from Vancouver to Whistler to the Okanagan, I noticed that it had us backtrack from Whistler to Vancouver before heading to the Okanagan, rather than taking us northeast through Lilloet- is there a reason that that route through Lilloet is not preferable?

5) Can you recommend the best places to stop between Whistler and the Okanagan and the Okanagan and Vancouver?

Many thanks for your help with any of this!

LJ

I know the Okanagan part and applaud your idea to rest up and relax there...you're going to need it...thats a lot of travel you've got planned for the part prior! You might want to double check those maps and ferry times. Getting in and out of Vancouver and on and off ferries is neither easy nor speedy: given that you are going to be there for an extended visit later could you plan around it in the earlier part? With a 1 1/2 year old at the moment, IMHO its an ambitious agenda!

Penticton is a great base for the southern part of the Valley. Do check out Summerland, too. I'm a bit lukewarm about Kelowna (the home of the greatest concentration of fast food places ever!) but it has some great nearby wineries and golf courses and other resort facilities.

Get your hotel for the Valley now, too. We just had to book hotel rooms in Kelowna for business in August(just north of Penticton) and we were stunned at the prices and lack of rooms in general...this is a VERY popular vacation area!

No idea about #4 and #5, but others will know.

Sam_Salmon

1-depends how good a traveller the child is.

2-That's lots-do you like Ice Cream? http://www.tickleberrys.com/

3-Pacific Palisades should be fine.

4-It's a winding road but <i><b>gorgeous almost beyond belief</b></i> I can't recommend it enough.

5-very subjective.

<b>Very Important</b>-did you know that if you rent a car withing 24 hours of arriving by air @ YVR you're charged an extra 17.5% tax on your rental?

So either be prepared to pay or lie on the rental form.

traveller69

Penticton is a great place to spend some time. What kind of accommodation are you looking for? The Ramada Inn and Suites is a favourite with a lot of tourists - good location and very clean etc. Read tripadvisor it ranks highly there. You are close to the beach, golf course and restaurants. There are a lot of motels along the main street closer to Skaha Lake as well. Penticton's location is excellent if you want to visit wineries - Oliver is just 30 minutes away and is the "wine capital of Canada" Decide relatively soon as the nice motels book up quickly.

leuk2

Depending on ferry schedules(you might have to go to Shwartz bay and then Saltspring Island). Try to get to Saltspring the same day you arrive. You can make reservations on the ferry. Spend two nights there insted of one.When you return, go directly to Whistler. It's about a 1 1/2 hour drive from Vancouver. Tsawassen is about 30-40 minutes from downtown Vancouver. THen you could overnight in Vancouver on your way to the Okanagan. Or you could just drive through. It's probably about a 5-6 hour drive to Penticton from Vancouver. Definately make reservations in Penticton in advance.