Conschanze

Howdy from the rainy Germany.
First of all, it is so helpful finding your questions, answers, ideas and reviews in this forum!! We´re coming in September and I know we´re the No 132 who needs some help in planning. It´s a self drive tour with two couples in the age of 38-42 (sorry no kids).
We alredy did a similar tour in 1998, but its 8 years ago....
Our trip is planned as follows:
2 nts Calgary (nearly booked)
2 nts Banff or Golden or Yoho
3 nts Jasper (nearly booked)
1 nt Wells Gray
2 nts 100/108/105 Mile House or Lac La Hache
3 nts area Kamloops
1 nt Hope (is that a nice idea?)
1 nt Greater Vancouver (maybe Harrison hot springs?)
3 nts anywhere on Vancouver Island or Gulf Island
2 nts Victoria (already booked)
1 nt airport Vancouver (already booked)
My husband loves horseback riding, so I´d like to include it. But the ranches are so expensive. Assume that September is to cold for canoeing? And there´re no more rodeos in Sept?
So we have the great nature in the beginning of the tour, and now I´m looking for a highlight at the end. Is the salmon still running in September? Did someone ever made a Grizzly Tour during the Salmon period? Please excuse my bad english....
Can you recommend one of the gulf islands? I already looked on Salt Spring Island.
All in all, we aren´t travelling on low budget, but we´re really surprised about the price rising during these 8 years (for example Calgary, Rafter Six, Fairmont former Jasper Park Lodge and also Vancouver etc.).
Just an idea for everyone looking for a good travel rate in Ramada, Howard Johnson, Super 8, Days Inn: They all offer best guaranted rate or first night free. We already booked some short stays on this way. So, if I can help you....
Looking forward to your ideas.
Regards
Constanze

nospam

Sounds petty good to me...just keep in mind that your one night stops should really be planned as pit-stops vice "lets get out there and do a bunch of stuff" stops, as driving these distances can get tiring. The Lac La Hache area sounds great, and I see you will have a full day to spend there. Hope is a great idea, especially as a pit stop, and the Hot Springs are a great idea. Don't forget about the Miette Hot Springs in Jasper National Park -- they are a ways from the townsite, but are definitely less visited than the Harrison ones. As for Vancouver Island, try Tofino or if you want to splurge, go for the Wickaninnish Inn on the Island, right near Tofino/Uclulet. A bit pricy, but consistently rated one of the nicest places to stay on the Island. Go to www.wickinn.com for details. You might want to stay there a few days vice travelling to the other islands, especially to relax, and there is more than enough to see near Tofino/Uclulet.
Other than that, you have a good plan. For Horseback Riding, you can do a day trail ride out of Pyramid Stables in Jasper. Go to www.discoverjasper.com and click on the link for "more" under the heading "tours and activities". I have done a trail ride in Jasper and highly recommend it!
Have fun!

nospam

Sorry - keyboard is spazzing out -- I meant "pretty good", not "petty good"! As for the rest of the typos, well, hey...

Judy_in_Calgary

To add to the good information nospam has given you .........

I have heard good things about Pyramid Stables in Jasper. Other horseback riding options include Warner Guiding in Banff and Brewster Stables in Lake Louise.

One thing that puzzles me is your idea of spending one night in Hope and another night in Harrison Hot Springs. Hope does not have any particular charm that I am aware of, and it's pretty close to Harrison Hot Springs. So, if you want to visit Harrison Hot Springs, why not just go straight there?

Actually, now that I come to think of it, I'm not sure what I would do in Kamloops for 3 nights.

It would be fine to travel from Kamloops to Hope / Harrison Hot Springs and then on to Tsawwassen to catch the ferry to Vancouver Island. If you did that, it would be interesting to take the TransCanada Highway (Hwy #1) and follow the Fraser River Canyon, if you have not already done so.

An alternative route would be to go from Kamloops to Whistler, and then from Whistler down to Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver. From Horseshoe Bay you could catch the ferry to Nanaimo / Departure Bay. From Nanimo you could drive to Tofino, as nospam suggested.

Also, if you subtracted 2 nights from Kamloops and the night in Hope, it would give you 3 nights to go up to the northeast part of Vancouver Island. Then you could go to Knight Inlet for bear watching.

Vancouver and the Island generally are warm in September. I'm confident you could go canoeing then.

Hope that helps and, trust me, your English is <b>waaaaaaay</b> better than my German.

bob_brown

You should have no concerns about your English.

I am wondering why you want to spend the night in Hope. It is close to Kamloops, and driving from Kamloops to Vancouver, even Victoria in one day is possible without much of a problem.

I also have no idea why you would spend 3 nights around Kamloops. I have been through there 3 times and have yet to see anything to even slow up for.

To me it is a saw mill town in the middle of the fir forests of BC. I don't recall that I was even tempted to do more than eat lunch there.

I can suggest other places that are far better from the tourist point of view.
(I don't deny that the lumber produced in Kamloops is vital to the economy.)

For example spending the time in Kamloops while cutting your time short in the Banff - Lake Louise - Yoho area is not a good use of your time. Nothing around Kamloops compares with the scenery of the Canadian Rockies.

Conschanze

Thank you very much for your replies. I thought, Kamloops is s a swirly Westerntown. Ups, thanks for clearify. We also have an offer from Wildhorse Mountain Ranch in Summerland. Maybe this is nicer? Or what would you recommend in the Okanagan Valley, are the wineries or farms who acommodate guests?
For Hope is a trip to Manning Park planned. I thought that town was beautyful with many wood carvings.
A friend of mine spent 3 nights in Tofino, but there´s only one street to get there. And so it must be very boring to go that road again and again, if you want to visit other regions. Or is the Tofino surrounding so attractive, that we can spend at least two full days there? I maybe prefer the East coast of Vancouver Island. But staying where?
Thank you very much for your help.
Sending spring greeting (the first birds are trying to sing the winter away).
Constanze

nospam

I think that the area around Tofino/Uclulet is really, really pretty. There are a number of trails available to hike on in the area -- try the tourism BC website for stuff to do in this area. Don't forget that you might just want a few days to relax and walk the beach at this point in your vacation.
One other area you might want to include is Barkerville -- it is Western Canada's largest Heritage site, with over 100 historic buildings to tour. It was a town resulting from the Gold Rush, and at one time was larger than San Fransisco in terms of population. I really, really, enjoyed it. Go to http://www.wellsbc.com/Barkerville1/Main1.html
for more information!
Have fun!