5. august - 26. august 2006.
We are a Danish couple, age 50, no physical problems, looking for an active trip, without extremes, giving us an insight in this part of the world.

By now we have got flight tickets, taking us into Calgary for a start an out of Vancouver for closure 3 weeks later.

We like not to be tied up to fixed schedules.
We like to experience nature - not crowds.
Must sees are National Parks and Vancouver Island. Preferably on some kind of round trip, where we do not cross our own path.

Can you provide some good proposals, advices, links on what to do and not to do?
Motorhome vs. cars/hotels? Do we need to make reservations in advance?
Tourist flight to remote places?

We look forward to hear from you.

Best Regards
Bock Family

Hello Bock Family,

>>>>>>We like not to be tied up to fixed schedules.<<<<<<

I sympathize with you. However, you'll be visiting the area during the height of the summer tourist season. Your itinerary will take you through some very popular but small towns with a limited amount of accommodation. It really is essential to reserve accommodation in the Canadian Rockies and on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

>>>>>>We like to experience nature - not crowds.<<<<<<

At a handful of popular scenic lookout points in the Canadian Rockies you will find that there are crowds. However, it is not at all difficult to get away from them. All you have to do is walk (in some cases as little as 50 metres from where everyone else is standing).

>>>>>>Must sees are National Parks and Vancouver Island. Preferably on some kind of round trip, where we do not cross our own path.<<<<<<

I will suggest an itinerary in the next post.

>>>>>>Can you provide some good proposals, advices, links on what to do and not to do?<<<<<<

The TIPS page of my website has links about Weather, What To Pack, National Park Entry Fees, Driving Distances and Times, suggested guidebooks, good websites from which you can get addition al information, and sources of <b>free</b> information.

http://groups.msn.com/CalgaryandCana...ips/tips2.msnw

&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;Motorhome vs. cars/hotels?&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;

I heard from someone who rented a motorhome and travelled through the Canadian Rockies to Vancouver that, by the time her family had paid for the rental on the motorhome, gasoline (petrol), campground fees, etc., it was no cheaper than renting a car and staying in hotels. On the other hand, it gave her family a different kind of experience.

Here is a recent thread in which I gave someone else links to information about RVing (travelling in a recreational vehicle):

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34757043

Here is another thread in which Cathy61 and nospam responded to a question about campground reservations:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34755948

More in next post ........

Here is a suggested itinerary:

Sat 5 – Land in Calgary. Drive 2 hours to Drumheller and spend the night there. Monday 7th will be a public holiday, so this will be a long weekend. Drumheller has a population of only 8,000 people. Yet it is the home of a popular museum. I highly recommend advanced reservations.

Sunday 6 – Be at the doors of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology when they open at 9.00 a.m. This is a museum that is very worthwhile, in my opinion. The dinosaur skeletons are incredible. Unfortunately the museum is crowded in summer, all the more so on weekends. A public holiday weekend in the summer is the worst time to visit. However, the crowds don't arrive until the museum has been opened for a couple of hours. So you can see it in relative quiet if you go first thing in the morning.

Spend as long as you like in the museum. Two hours is the minimum amount of time you need to do any kind of justice to the place, but you may want to spend longer.

Then have lunch in the town of Drumheller.

After that drive to Canmore, Banff or Lake Louise, whichever one you have chosen as your base for seeing Banff National Park. If you want quiet, I highly recommend that you stay in Lake Louise. Banff townsite is in a pretty location, but the town is a zoo in the summer. In the small village of Lake Louise you'll feel closer to nature, and you'll be in prime hiking country.

When you drive from Drumheller to the mountains, you can avoid Calgary's traffic if you drive Drumheller - Beiseker - Airdrie - Cochrane - Canmore - Banff - Lake Louise. By this route it'll take you 3 hours to drive to Banff and 4 hours to drive to Lake Louise.

Monday 7 – Visit Moraine Lake and the lake of Lake Louise, which is 5 km from the village of Lake Louise. There is some great hiking in this area. I recommend going to Moraine Lake first, because its parking lot fills up.

Tue 8 – From your Canmore, Banff or Lake Louise base, visit Johnston Canyon, Lake Minnewanka, Sulphur Mountain gondola, and Banff townsite. Go to Johnston Canyon first thing in the morning, because that is another parking lot that fills up.

Wednesday 9 – Consider going white water rafting in Golden, British Columbia, which is about an hour's drive from Lake Louise. On the way back from rafting, you may have time to take the side roads to see Emerald Lake and Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park, through which you will pass on the way to and from Golden.

An alternative is to spend one less night in Lake Louise and one more night in Jasper, and go white water rafting in Jasper. The rafting on the Kicking Horse River, which you access from Golden, is a bit more exciting than the rafting that is available on the Sunwapta and Athabasca Rivers in Jasper.

Thursday 10 – Drive the Icefields Parkway from Lake Louise to Jasper. There are many scenic lookout points and hikes on this drive. At a bare minimum, I recommend Peyto Lake, the Columbia Icefields (where you can go on an optional Snocoach ride onto the Athabasca Glacier), Sunwapta Falls and Athabasca Falls.

Friday 11 – From your Jasper base, visit Maligne Canyon and Maligne Lake. At Maligne Lake there is an optional cruise to Spirit Island.

Saturday 12 – Ride the tram up Whistlers Mountain and do the hike from the upper tram station to the top of the mountain. Drive to Mount Edith Cavell and do the Angel Glacier / Cavell Meadows hike.

Sunday 13 – Drive back down the Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise, stopping to see things you may not have had time to see on the way up. At Lake Louise turn west and drive through Yoho National Park. If you did not see Tak Falls and Emerald Lake on Wednesday, see them today. After Golden continue through Glacier National Park and over Rogers Pass to Revelstoke. Drive the Meadows in the Sky Parkway just outside of Revelstoke. Overnight in Revelstoke.

Monday 14 - Drive to Salmon Arm, then turn south to the Okanagan Valley. You could turn south earlier, at Sicamous. However, it's worth continuing west to Salmon Arm, because you get nice glimpses of the Shuswap Lake. The two most popular towns in the Okanagan Valley are Kelowna and Penticton. Since you like quieter places, you might like a smaller town, e.g., Summerland.

Tuesday 15 – Spend this day relaxing at the lake or exploring the region's wineries.

Wednesday 16 - Drive to Tsawwassen, which is to the south of Vancouver. Catch the ferry to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island. View BC Ferries' website at www.bcferries.ca . Drive 30 minutes from Swartz Bay to Victoria. Overnight in Victoria.

Thursday 17 - Explore Victoria.

Friday 18 - More explorations of Victoria.

Saturday 19 - Drive to Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island. This area has wonderful old growth temperate rainforests and beaches that are popular with surfers. There also are whale watching cruises. It's a great area for hiking and being close to nature.

Sunday 20 - Tofino

Monday 21 - Tofino

Tuesday 22 – Drive from Tofino to Nanaimo and then catch the ferry from Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver. Drive to downtown Vancouver.

Wednesday 23 - Vancouver

I recommend the Vancouver page of my website. Near the bottom of the screen are links to websites that have been created by Vancouver residents:

http://groups.msn.com/CalgaryandCana...vancouver.msnw

Thursday 24 - Vancouver

Friday 25 - Vancouver

Saturday 26 – Fly home.

Hope that helps.

In looking over my suggested itinerary, I thought it might not be entirely obvious where I was recommending you spend each night. So, to clarify, here are the overnight stops that I suggest:

5 – Drumheller

6, 7, 8, 9 – Lake Louise

10, 11, 12 – Jasper

13 – Revelstoke

14, 15 - Okanagan Valley, in a town of your choice

16, 17, 18 - Victoria

19, 20, 21 - Tofino

22, 23, 24, 25 - Vancouver

26 - Fly home.

I also forgot to say what there was to see and do in Victoria. You can go to the Butchart Gardens, the Royal British Columbia Museum (highly recommended), and Parliament Buildings. You can walk past the Empress Hotel and along the Inner Harbour. You also might be interested in the Emily Carr House.

Another activity that is popular amongst visitors to Victoria is a whale watching cruise. With these cruises you see killer whales.

However, there also are whale cruises from Tofino. With the Tofino cruises you are more likely to see humpback whales and grey whales. Another thing about the Tofino whale watching cruises is that there is a chance of seeing bears and other wildlife.

For something out of the ordinary try this
http://www.bcferries.com/schedules/discovery/

To follow up on Sam_Salmon's suggestion, I've never sailed the Discovery Passage, but it sounds interesting. If you do that you might consider combining it with another idea. After you'd driven through Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper, you could drive roughly westwards through Valemount, Blue River, Clearwater (being sure to see Helmcken Falls in nearby Wells Gray Provincial Park), 100 Mile House, Williams Lake to Bella Coola. I myself have not drive the westerly portion of that route (i.e., I have not gone to 100 Mile House, Williams Lake, Bella Coola). I've read on the internet that there is a scenic descent down into a valley as you approach Bella Coola. From Bella Coola you can catch BC Ferries' &quot;Discovery Passage&quot; ferry to Port Hardy on the northern tip of Vancouver Island. From there you could proceed to Tofino and eventually make your way to Vancouver (with or without including Victoria).

Judy is certainly the premier resource on this board. I would only mention my favorite place to stay in the Canmore area. Mt Engadine Lodge. Off the beaten track, great hiking, great scenic area, quiet and lots of wildlife viewing opportunities. www.mountengadine.com

Judy always provides good comprehensive advice and provides you with the most efficient route through the Rockies. However for a route less travelled try turning south at Revalstoke and heading into the Nakusp area. The scenery is beautiful, you are right in the mountains and the road follows arrow lake for over a hundred kilometers and best of all the traffic is light. You can sense the feeling of peace the moment you turn off the transcanada highway and head into the valley. The whole valley is filled with natural hot spring both commercial and natural.
This will add at least a couple of days to your tip through the Rockies so you would have to cut something else out.
Once you are on Vancouver Island you do have to see Tofino, but for a change of pace you night want to consider Parksville which is just North of Nanimo. There is a great Provincial park for camping called Rathtrevor and there are about a dozen resorts along resort drive. The tide goes out about a kilometer at Parksville which provides long beach walks at low tide and warm water at high tide.
For sure you will need reservations in Tofino and Parksville in August either at campgrounds or hotels.
I just booked three nights camping at Bella Pacifica in Tofino and I got the last of their upper sites for that weekend. Don't wait too long to book. Some of the beachfront hotels in Tofino are booked a year in advance.

Oh my, I hope you are not feeling overwhelmed with the choices, Bock.

Everyone who has responded to you has given you a good idea or ideas.

I like stanbr's suggestion. If you want to follow it, it might be an idea to cut out Victoria. In that case you might like to drive to Tsawwassen and catch the ferry to Nanaimo / Duke Point. Then you could visit Tofino and Parksville, as stanbr suggested. After that you could catch the ferry from Nanaimo / Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver.

Hope that helps.

Hi Bock Judy's plan looks very good. Although Stanbr has a good suggestion with one night in Parksville or Qualicum beach. Here are some of my favorite things along your route. The Royal Tyrrel Museum is phenomenal. amazing that it's in the middle of nowhere but surely not to be missed. Stay in Canmore or Lake Louise. If you go through Manning Park on your way from the Okanagan to the ferry, stretch your legs by driving up to the alpine meadows, across from the lodge and go for a walk. this is only good for a clear day. Tsawassen ferry terminal is in Delta. There are signs along the # 1 hwy for Victoria ferry take Hwy# 10 which is really just a 2 lane road. follow it along the signage is good. Try to avoid the ferry on Fridays and Sundays because these are the busiest and you could have to wait. Watch for Orca whales off the ferry. When in Tofino take a zodiac trip through the Qlayquot sound to hotsprings cove. This is a beautiful day trip. You hike 1/2 hour along a boardwalk to hotspring pools that flow down to the ocean. If the weather is O.K. they will take the outside passage home. We saw grey whales on our trip. Also go to Chesterman beach ,during low tide, and go to the left. There are sea cave you can hike into. Watch the tide schedule you don't want to get caught in the incoming tide. It comes in very quickly here. Also be careful,never turn your back to the ocean, we get rogue waves every so often {a wave that is maybe 5 x larger than average} Several people have been swept out to sea. Just last week a couple was injured while sitting on a log with there backs to the ocean. It's rare but it does happen.

I am sorry to momentarily hijack this thread, however I have a question for weazel.
You are talking about Chesterman beach and the sea caves. Could you be a bit more specific in your directions. Where would one enter Chesterman beach? At the parking lot furthest away from Tofino or at the Parking lot near Wikinnish Inn. I am thinking it is most likely at the far end?

Hi, yes its the parking lot farthest away from Tofino. You take a path to the beach that goes between two houses and then you go to the left, walk out around the point{remember it's low tide} and then keep walking and exploring. I think the largest cave we found was around 3 other points. The tidal pools among the rocks also have lots of creatures. My kids loved this area. This beach is also a great place to watch the sea kayak surfers.

Thank you weasel. We'll try this in August.

topping

Everyone has their own idea of an ideal B.C. experience but, with apologies to Stanbr, Parksville isn't mine (and I've been there many times, with babies and toddlers in tow).

For something beautiful, different and active, take a look at http://www.ladyrosemarine.com/ and consider travelling down Port Alberni Inlet on the working freighter, the Lady Rose, and enjoying a kayaking trip (guided or not) out of Sechart Lodge. A really magnificent part of B.C.

My two sons and I jumped off the Lady Rose at Sechart and joined my husband and a friend on a sailboat. Sailed/kayaked/rowed the Sound - a piece of heaven on earth.

Hi BowanLinda. I suspect there must have been something in Parksville that attracted you as you have &quot;been there many times&quot;
I am recommending Parksville to people who are on a tight time schedule with only a day or two available. Parksville has great beaches and warm water and is a good location for people who love to walk the beaches. The fact that it is very difficult to get a reservation on Resort Drive in the summer speaks to its popularity.
I have never had the time to take the Lady Rose, but I will someday someday, it sounds wonderful. For people on a tight schedule with two or three days available, Parksville remains a good destination and I will continue to recommend it.

Another often overlooked freighter adventure is the <u>Uchuck</u>.

www.mvuchuk.com

It travels to parts of WCVI seen by very few.

Thank you for that info about the Uchuck, Sam_Salmon. It looks wonderful!

And you're right, Stan, Rathtrevor Beach and Park are beautiful - it was a perfect holiday spot for different trips of moms with kids on hip to enjoy sun and sand. We were pretty indifferent, though, to Parksville and Qualicum.

I think that active 50 year olds might enjoy a half-day walking the beach and park, having lunch in a waterfront restaurant. Just my opinion.

Sam, thanks for the Uchuck site - I've bookmarked that one.