canmore to whistler
 

has anyone comments on this itinerary - family of four mum dad and two teenagers - wanto to mix city and outdoors to keep everyone happy!!

26 june - 3 july(inc) in vancouver
4 july in kelowna/kamloops
5 july - 9 july(inc) in canmore

option 1
10 july overnight ??
11- 12 july(inc) whistler
13 july vancouver airport

option 2
10 july - 11 july jasper
12 july kelown/kamloops
13 vancouver airport

would it maybe be possible to drive from canmore to whistler without an overnight stay. all comments/suggestions gratefully received. tks

martina

Hello Martinaa,

In one of your previous posts you said you were coming from Ireland. It would be more efficient for you to fly into Vancouver and out of Calgary, or the other way round. I suspect, however, that you already are committed to flying into and out of Vancouver. This perhaps locks you into a circular route, so let's work with that.

Your second itinerary, the one that excludes Whistler, is the more realistic one, IMO.

In case you should want to take in some of the festivities associated with the Calgary Stampede (rodeo festival, July 9th - 18th inclusive), you could re-work your second itinerary a bit.

It it helps you to decide whether or not you want to see the Stampede, there is information about it in this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34493839

With all that in mind, here's a suggested re-arrangement of your second itinerary:

26 June - 2 July - Vancouver (including, I hope, at least a day trip to Victoria).

3 July - Drive to Kamloops (not because Kamloops is a special place but just because it's roughly half way to Jasper).

4 July - Drive to Jasper townsite.

5 July - Explore Jasper's environs.

6 July - Drive to Lake Louise, stopping at scenic lookout points on the Icefields Parkway and riding a Snocoach on the Athabasca Glacier. Overnight in Lake Louise. (Lake Louise is more centrally located with respect to the mountains than Canmore is, and makes a better base for this part of the Rockies than Canmore does, IMO. However, if you cannot find accommodation that suits your taste and budget in Lake Louise, it certainly would be possible to explore this area from a base in Canmore.)

7 July - Explore Lake Louise and Moraine Lake area. Overnight in Lake Louise (or Canmore if that's the option you've chosen.)

8 July - Visit Johnston Canyon and Banff townsite. Overnight in Calgary.

9 July - Visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller. The dinosaur skeletons are very impressive. I've never been to the Tyrrell on the day of the Stampede Parade. I imagine the Tyrrell would receive relatively light traffic that day, because many tourists likely would be attracted to the Stampede Parade in Calgary. Overnight in Calgary.

10 July - Visit Stampede Park. Overnight in Calgary.

11 July - Drive to Kelowna, stopping on the way to see sights in Yoho National Park and Glacier National Park (Takakkaw Falls, Emerald Lake, the railway tunnels, etc.). When you get to Sicamous, you could turn south on Hwy #97A, but it would be more scenic to drive along the Shuswap Lake until Salmon Arm, and then turn south on Hwy #97B. Overnight in Kelowna.

12 July - Drive to Vancouver.

13 July - Fly home.

Notes about Calgary. If you cannot find accommodation to suit your taste and budget in Calgary, because the city does tend to be heavily booked during Stampede, it would be possible to visit Calgary and Drumheller from a base in Canmore.

If you have no desire to see the Stampede festivities or visit Calgary, you could re-assign the Calgary day elsewhere. Skipping Calgary would allow you to spend an extra day in Victoria, for example.

Regardless of whether or not you visit Calgary, I still think the above itinerary makes sense, from the point of view that it's a sort of circular route that minimizes double backing.

Hope this helps.

Martina - if you are planning to spend 26 June to 3 July in Vancouver, why not plan an overnight trip to Whistler from there?? You'll have plenty of time for it, and it's only 120 km from Vancouver to Whistler.

Although theoretically it is possible to drive from Canmore to Whistler in one day, it would be a very very long day sitting in a car and driving, driving, driving!! The distance is approximately 1000 km., it would make everyone really cranky indeed!!

Judy has given you a nice alternate plan, and your option #2 looks good (if you stay in Kamloops on your way back to Vancouver -July 12th -, vary your route by staying in Kelowna on your way to the Rockies - July 4th).

... and when you've fixed on a specific date for visiting Victoria, make a car reservation with B.C. Ferries, return, to avoid possible (more likely, probable) long, family-feuding line-ups. See http://www.bcferries.bc.ca/ .

Cheers,
Linda

tks a lot for all you suggestions which have been really useful. you are absolutely right judy had i been really organised i shd have flown into vancouver and out of calgary - will know for the next time. will definitely be taking in an overnight in victoria although don't plan on hiring a car until we are leaving vancouver. my seemingly 'odd' itinerary is based around my family not being keen on moving a lot from hotel/motel. this is why i have chosen canmore as i thought it might make a good base for banff/lake louise and calgary more driving during the day but a set base to return to. reason i had thought of whistler instead of jasper is that the kids are not really big into the outdoors and i thought that maybe after 5 days in and around canmore they might not really appreciate the beauty of jasper whereas from what i have read there seems to be more going on around whistler plus the scenery. also thought we could maybe make better use of our last day if we were in whistler and would not need to spend it driving as vacnouver is a relatively short drive away and we do not fly out until late evening. with these thoughts in mind do you have any further comments. judy really appreciated your detailed driving suggestions re the journey to kelowna. would you have a preferred route for driving from vancouver to kelowna/kamloops on our way to the canmore. tks martina

Martinaa, given what you've said about your family, I'm wondering if you wouldn't have a better vacation if you stuck to Vancouver, Vancouver Island and Whistler. I love the Rockies. I personally think the scenery is spectacular. But it would be a long way to drive for something your kids might not appreciate. Perhaps Whistler would provide your family with enough mountain scenery. I've never been to Whistler, but if one does a word search for it here at Fodors one finds that folks have had very pleasing vacations in Whistler. Perhaps your flying in and out of Vancouver may work out well for you after all.

If you still want to go to Kelowna and Canmore, the shortest way from Vancouver to Kelowna is to go east on the TransCananda Highway (Hwy #1) past Chilliwack to Hope. At Hope turn north onto the Coquihalla Highway (toll road). At Merritt turn east on Hwy #97C. Mapquest says this route takes 4.5 hours.

The scenery on that route is pleasant enough, but there are two other routes that are more scenic, although considerably longer.

One route, Lytton, would allow you to see the Fraser Canyon. Another route via Princeton and Penticton would take you through Manning Provincial Park.

To find directions and driving times and distances for these routes, go to www.mapquest.com and do enquiries for Vancouver - Lytton and then Lytton - Kelowna. Repeat the exercise for Vancouver - Penticton and Penticton - Kelowna. This will force Mapquest to give you the longer routes rather than giving you the shortest route between Vancouver and Kelowna, which is Mapquest's default position.

Hope this helps.

judy, tks again. have thought myself about just doing vancouver and whistler but we all, kids included, want to see the spectacular rockies. friends have told us that while vancouver island is very nice it is not that different from some places we could see at home whereas the rockies are to die for. so we will definitely leave vancouver for canmore on 4th via kelowna and will just have to decide how we will fill those last few days - aren't i so lucky that i have so little to worry about as choosing between spending a couple of days in japser or whistler!! when final decisions are made and holiday complete will post a review. martina