Hi

My husband and I are celebrating our silver wedding anniversary with a trip to Vancouver and the Rockies. (We spent our honeymoon in Niagara and the East of Canada). We then plan to head East after about 10 days to stay with my sister in Kingston for the latter part of our three week stay. To date we have only booked our return flights from England to Vancouver arriving Sunday 28th Sept. Every where looks wonderful and its proving difficult to prioritise where to go. Any suggestions to get the most out of our stay would be greatly appreciated. We are thinking about hiring a car but would like to include train travel in the rockies too.
Also we have been given different advice re booking car, train travel, accomodation etc. Is it better to prebook on line or is it easy Sept/Oct to book whilst there?

Many thanks

The Rocky Mountaineer is a great train trip to the Rockies because it travels during the daytime, overnighting in Kamloops on the way. I would book that now. There are two levels of service - Goldleaf and Redleaf. My hairdresser took the considerably less expensive Redleaf service recently and said it was fine. She just said it is a good idea to take your own snacks along.
www.rockymountaineer.com

Are you flying into and out of Vancouver, but going to Kingston in between?

My husband and I visited Vancouver Island and the Canadian Rockies for the first time last September. I don't believe that you will have trouble getting accommodations without reservations at that time of the year, but if there's a special spot where you'd like to stay, I'd book it now.

I believe that your thoughts regarding train travel in the Rockies are sound. This spring when driving in Ireland, we found that we had trouble adjusting to driving on the left and were rather unsure of where our car was on the road, often getting too close to things on the left hand side. Once above the timber line in the Rockies, there's no margin for error; I'd advise using train or bus travel for those areas so that you both can enjoy the scenery.

I'd suggest trying to visit the ice fields arounnd Jasper NP as well as Banff and Lake Louise. If you can afford the time, ferry over to Vancouver Island, rent a car, and spend some time driving up the coast. A half day's journey will take you beyond the tourist towns along the coast to the logging and fishing areas in the northern part of the island. Twa Kwa Luten Lodge on Quadra Island across from Campbell River is a favorite of mine. If you can only spare a day, go to Victoria and see The Royal BC Museum and Butchart Gardens which were created in an old gravel mine. Happy anniversary!

Congrats on your 25th!!

If you are coming from England, then perhaps you need to know some of the distances that you are considering for your trip.
For a start, Vancouver is more than 800 km (driving) west of the Canadian Rockies.
The two most travelled (shortest) routes are:
1. Vancouver - Kamloops - Rogers Pass - Banff is 830 km (my calculation from our trip taken three weeks ago)
2. Vancouver - Kamloops - Jasper is 875 km (distance taken from map).
Counting stops for meals etc., this would take you a long tiring 12 hour day of driving (for those Fodorites out there who have made the trip in less time, yes it can be done, but only if you don't stop for more than 10 minutes when necessary to refuel and for a "bio-break&quot.

So your best bet for a more restful trip might be to take a train (of course as a round trip).
The trip through Rogers Pass to Banff and Calgary is more spectacular than the one to Jasper.

If you wanted to drive the Icefield Parkway between Banff and Jasper and back, you would have to rent (hire) a car - there is no train trip on that route. (Banff to Jasper is about 280 km, one way).
The Columbia Icefields are a "must see", and are about 180 km north of Banff on the Icefield Parkway.

I would recommend reservations, even in the off season it is sometimes difficult to get accommodations (the nicer "in demand" accommodations go quickly).

Have a wonderful trip!!

I prefer to take two days to drive the distance between Vancouver and the Rockies.

The Rocky Mountaineer brochure shows some car rental rates. For instance, pick up in Banff and drop off in Vancouver (2 day rental) in October is listed at about $350. For the most part I find the BC highways quite relaxing to drive as compared to, say, those in Washington and Oregon.

Or, instead of going back to Vancouver, could you fly from Calgary to Kingston and then home?

A question for you April -
What car rental company did that $350 rate for one way (Banff - Vancouver) come from??
Just curious, because whenever we have inquired about car rentals with a drop off point that is different from the pick up point, they quote a ridiculous surcharge of several hundred dollars :-< !!!

I agree with driving Vancouver - Banff in two days.
A great place to stop is Kelowna; visit the wineries etc., the autumn wine festival is at the beginning of October, I am not sure of the actual festival dates this year. Also don't know how the fires have affected the festivity planning. Perhaps someone in Kelowna could comment??

Thanks for all the helpful advice/info/congratulatins to date. Our flights were booked pre deciding to fly out East so do have to return to Vancouver - good idea though to fly to Kingston from Calgary.

Borealis, it may be a special package deal arranged with Rocky Mountaineer. The rates are listed on page 47 of the Rocky Mountaineer Railtours brochure and the company is Hertz. Minivans cost about $50 more than 4-doors.