markex

Hi all
We (Julie, myself, Joe 16 and Georgina 7) are finally going to experience Canada in an RV. Flights are booked for the end of June '06 to Vancouver and returning from Calgary, RV booked for 14 nights, tickets brought for the Calgary stampede. Then I looked at a map, which way do we go, how long will it take, are we there yet?

Part of our plan is to spend 2/3 nights on Vancouver Island, whale watching. experience Whistler, a Ranch, drive to Jasper and then to Calgary for the Stampede.

We would be grateful for any info on campsites, ranches, route planning or any knowledge and wisdom.

Thanks in anticipation
Mark

nospam

Hi there!
Take a look at the thread called Jasper/Banff itinerary. It will answer alot of your questions with respect to the Alberta leg of your trip. Have fun!

Judy_in_Calgary

Hello Mark,

You're going to have to travel at a pretty steady pace if you want to experience Vancouver itself, Vancouver Island, Whistler, a ranch, the Canadian Rockies and the Calgary Stampede.

For example, look at this sample 12-day itinerary on my website to see what I mean. This itinerary has a person landing in Calgary, going through the Rockies, then spending a night in the Okanagan Valley (in Kelowna or another Okanagan town), and finishing up with 4 days in Vancouver, one of which is a day trip to Victoria on Vancouver Island. (For the purposes of your trip, you obviously would need to reverse the directions.)

http://groups.msn.com/CalgaryandCana...s/712days.msnw

My itinerary does not include Whistler, Vancouver Island (other than a day trip to Victoria), Whistler, a ranch, or the Stampede.

So you're really going to have to sharpen your pencil and decide what you do and don't want. For example, with your tight schedule you might decide to omit Whistler on the basis that you'll see plenty of mountains when you travel through the Rockies to Calgary.

To get other itinerary ideas besides mine, you could look at Vancouver resident Paul Beddows' "Recommended Circle Route around BC." Paul's suggested trip starts in Vancouver, goes through the Rockies, and returns to Vancouver again. Since you'll be doing the drive in only one direction, you'll have to consider Paul's eastbound journey as one suggested route and his westbound journey as another suggested route.

http://www.vancouver.hm/drivebc.html

Here is a web page that was written by Tanis, who lives in Nanton, Alberta (about an hour south of Calgary). She is a keen RVer (a person who travels in recreational vehicles). She has written a good description of the logistics that are involved in RVing:

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/adecc/

On the topic of RVing, there is a forum, the Open Roads Forum, that is devoted to that pasttime. The people who post there are experienced with the equipment and the campgrounds:

http://www.rv.net/forum/

Although I am not an RVer myself, my website includes a page with links to websites about the national parks' campgrounds and some other Internet resources for campers:

http://groups.msn.com/CalgaryandCana...s/camping.msnw

The TIPS section of my website has links to practical information like Weather, What To Pack, National Park Entry Fees, etc. The link to a website that provides Driving Distances and Times is predicated on car travel. I don't know how RV driving times compare with car driving times. Also, I'll mention that if the driving times website defaults to miles, you can go to its Settings (near the top of the screen) and request distances in kilometres:

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

The Vancouver page of my website has a few of my own thoughts about Vancouver. But near the bottom of the screen there are links to brilliant websites that have been created by residents of Vancouver. They represent a wealth of information on the city. The Find Family Fun website is particularly useful from the point of view that you can sort attractions by location. Because of Vancouver's geographical layout, it's useful to group attractions by location:

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

Something you'll want to be aware of is BC Ferries' website:

http://www.bcferries.ca/

You should ask the west coast experts whether or not you need to make ferry reservations. The ferries are busy on summer weekends. Also, from your late June arrival time, it seems to me you may bump up against the July 1st long weekend, when I expect the ferries to be especially busy, so I think there might be merit in making reservations.

Hope that helps.

April

The Douglas Lake Ranch changed hands a while back if I remember correctly and don't know what it's like now except it would still be huge. You could check to see if they have any RV camping facilities.

I believe you have to rent a cabin to ride the horses at the Flying U Ranch but you can ride all over the property unsupervised. It's very rustic but an interesting experience.

http://www.douglaslake.com/
http://www.flyingu.com/

I would skip Whistler. It pales in comparison to the Rockies.

Tagish

You have an ambitious trip planned. It takes 8 hours to drive from Calgary to Vancouver, via Lake Louise, Golden, Kelowna, Coquihalla toll road to Vancouver. Ferry trip to Vancouver Island is 1 1/2 hours, make a reservation. Ferry fare for the motor home might be expensive, check it out. For whale watching, I don't know if you will have much success in June. Check out Stubbs Island Whale Watching Tours which runs out of Telegraph Cove.Good luck, any chance you can extend your vacation another week?

taggie

It takes way longer than 8 hours to drive from Calgary to Vancouver!!! Even without stopping! It's 10.5 hours MINIMUM.