family trip out west Calgary/Vancouver
 

Help!
I'm planning on taking my family out west for 2 weeks (2 adults, 2 kids age 7 and 9). I would love to do the fly to Calgary, drive to BC trip. We have the availability of a time share including kitchen to keep eating costs down at the Fairmont Hot Springs for a week and also at Stanley Park in Vancouver for a week. It's the flights that are killing us (over $3500 for the family flying to Vancouver). Its less than half that if we fly into Seattle and drive to Vancouver freeing up some cash for the car and sightseeing.

Couple of questions:
1. Does a week at each place provide a good base for seeing both areas?

2. Does it make sense to fly in and out of the same airport or should we be paying the extra to avoid driving a big circle. Can't really get a good idea of driving times as I hear people can do it in as little as 6 but as much as weeks (depending on the route/stops etc.

3. The time share options we have are for Fairmount Vacation Villas, Fairmount Hot Springs and for the Lord Stanley Suites in VC. Each are approx $1000/week but we can only choose one. In advantages re location/costs for either.

Any suggestions from budget friendly, kid friendly folks out there would be appreciated.

>>>>>>Does a week at each place provide a good base for seeing both areas?<<<<<<

A place that's close to Stanley Park would be a great base from which to explore Vancouver and nearby places.

Fairmont Hot Springs is pleasant, but is not a premium base -- from a scenery point of view -- from which to explore the Canadian Rockies. But then I guess it depends why you want to go on this vacation. In my experience scenery is lost on children. So, if you want a fun family time in a setting that by most standards is beautiful, Fairmont Hot Springs and the surrounding territory would provide that. Still, if you aren't going to go to Lake Louise and Banff, then I wonder if the long drives to and from Fairmont Hot Springs are worth it.

>>>>>>Does it make sense to fly in and out of the same airport or should we be paying the extra to avoid driving a big circle. Can't really get a good idea of driving times as I hear people can do it in as little as 6 but as much as weeks (depending on the route/stops etc.<<<<<<

From a cost point of view, it definitely is worth it to fly in and out of the same airport. Aside from the airfare, there's the matter of the one-way drop-off fee on a rental car. That can be prohibitive even if you pick up in one Canadian city and drop off in another Canadian city. But if you want to do a cross-border drop-off, get ready to sell a kidney to finance the transaction.

I don't know where you heard that Vancouver to Fairmont Hot Springs was 6 hours. Not even a suicidal maniac could do it in that short a time. It's more like 10 hours, not counting stops.

I find Map Quest's driving times to be quite accurate:

www.mapquest.com

>>>>>>The time share options we have are for Fairmount Vacation Villas, Fairmount Hot Springs and for the Lord Stanley Suites in VC. Each are approx $1000/week but we can only choose one. In advantages re location/costs for either.<<<<<<

I'm sorry, but I'm confused. When I first read your post, I thought you wanted to vacation for 2 weeks, 1 week in Vancouver and 1 week at Fairmont Hot Springs. I thought you would have a week's use of a time share in each place. Your third point, however, seems to suggest that you have to choose between one and the other. I don't know the properties in question, and cannot comment on them from personal experience. If you are forced to choose between Vancouver and the mountains, I feel that there is more stuff that would appeal to children in and around Vancouver.

Take a look at this website created by a real life Vancouver family with 3 children:

www.findfamilyfun.com

I agree- as a large family we have done the Calgary - Vancouver drive at least 2 dozen times over the years. If you can fly into Calgary the zoo is terriffic and it is a great gateway into the west. For your crew Baff and Lake Louise would be great visits especially enroute to the Oakanagan (you will want the break and sun and beach time) and then on to Vancouver. If you only have 2 weeks it is too much to drive both ways and your kids will not have much fun. If you have to choose 1 time share I would definitly go with Vancouver over Fairmont as Vancouver and the coast will keep your kids busy for a very long time. There are a lot of seat sales right now - perhaps if you have some flexibility in your schedule you can do better (not knowing where you originate from).

Thanks to you both for the valuable info. To clarify, we do have 2 weeks available to vacation with respect to time and thought of spending one week through the rockies and one in Vancouver. We will have to find alternate accomodations for whichever location we don't select through our time share option.

>>>>>>Thanks to you both for the valuable info.<<<<<<

You're welcome.

>>>>>>To clarify, we do have 2 weeks available to vacation with respect to time and thought of spending one week through the rockies and one in Vancouver. We will have to find alternate accomodations for whichever location we don't select through our time share option.<<<<<<

Well then I would say it's a no brainer. Since the Vancouver property sounds as if it's in a prime location and the Fairmont Hot Springs property is not, I would take the Vancouver one (assuming the quality of the property is acceptable in other respects).

If open jaw flights and one-way drop-off fees make it too expensive for you to fly into Calgary and out of Vancouver or Seattle (or vice versa), I don't know if it's worth your while to travel from Vancouver to the Rockies and back again. It would be a lot of driving in a short amount of time, even for adults, but I think it would be just horrible for kids. I think you would be better off going to Vancouver Island or alternatively the Okanagan Valley (around Kelowna / Pentiction) for your other week.

It would be much easier to base yourself in Vancouver for a week as there is at least a weeks worth of stuff to do in a very tight radius.

The Canadian Rockies, however, are much more spead out with their various top level sights and you might be better served planning your own overnights there to serve your interests as you travel through the area.

And whoever told you it was 6 hours from Fairmount to Vancouver needs some meds.

Hi famtogo. Re: Fairmont Hot Springs - Weather there is very nice, but there really isn't alot to do, other than golfing, the springs of course, and sitting at the beach. Be aware, summer and especially the weekends is very busy in that area (alot of Calgarians have weekend homes there). If this is your first trip to the Rockies, there are definitely better places to be based out of, albeit probably a bit more pricey - but will be a better jumping off point to more things to see and do.