Hi Folks:<BR><BR>Me, my wife & 4 year old twins will be visiting the rockies in September. We plan to fly in to Vancouver, rent a minivan one way and fly out of Calgary.<BR><BR>The plan is to spend 2 days in Vancouver / Victoria area and a day each in in Kamloops, Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff, & Calgary.<BR><BR>I have read thr' many other discussions and taken tips from those. I have made all reservations other than those in Jasper, Lake Louise, & Banff.<BR><BR>Has anyone done a one-way trip like this? Any suggestions for sightseeing (top 2-3 sights per location - the most we can cover), do's/dont's (considering 4 year olds will be around)? We are vegeterians and would also appreciate any suggestions for specific restaurants in these locations as well. Also, regarding the parks / lakes in Jasper, Lake Louis, & Banff, do I need to be aware of which side of the park I should be staying at? (Like at the North & south rim at Grand canyon)?<BR><BR>One tip for others: For our vacations, we have always flown in to one city and flown out of another. As long as you are returning to the same location, this is considered a return ticket and does not cost nore (call the airlines and you will be surprised). We then rent a car one way. In the US (Florida, CA & TX), typically National does not charge extra for one-way rentals. For this trip to Canada, our one-way rental is about US$125 more expensive but beats wasting 1-2 days & money driving back.

you are planning too much. one day in each would have you driving constantly. kamloops is not that interesting a city but it is a decent half way point to stop at between vancouver & jasper.<BR>personally, i'd consider going from vancouver to banff (with a night somewhere to break up the drive) and stay there. you can drive (45 minutes i think) to lake louise for a day from banff. (take hwy 1A on your way and stop at johnson's canyon & return on hwy 1 - a good restaurant in the village of lake louise is the caboose - old train station). then you can relax in one hotel and there is plenty to see & do from there. there is a hotel on tunnel mountain road (in banff) that has a water slide which might be fun for your kids.<BR>the banff-jasper hwy is fabulous and i love jasper but you are just trying to pack way too much in. (i'm sure the kids would prefer to be OUT of the car) i'd also stay in banff rather then a day in calgary. unless your flight is leaving early in the morning, you can drive up from banff the same day.

Thank you for your suggestion. I will consider doing that. Kamloops for us is just a stop over - excatly as you are suggesting. I intend to leave vancouver in the afternoon and come up to Kamloops in the evening.<BR><BR>Are you sugesting that going from Vancouver to Banff (with an overnight in Kamloops) and then visiting Lake Louise and Jasper will be less overall drive? We are flying out of Calgary, so I will need to come back from Jasper again to Calgary. Am I not better off going from Kamloops to Jasper and then driving south to Lake Louise, Banff & Calgary?<BR><BR>

hi, what a great trip you have planned! the colors in the mountains will be splendid & i might suggest that you do spend time at the pull outs to "ooh & aahh" and let the kids stretch their legs. the distances are deceptively great ~ vancouver to kamloops is about 5 hours (if i recall correctly) & it is a busy tourist town. the drive up to jasper is spectacular & you may find that you are simply trying to pack too much into the entire trip. each of vancouver & victoria are spectacular & a day in each will leave you w/ little but racing around ~ busy big cities w/ lotsa heavy traffic. that said, they are equally beautiful & maybe just focus on vancouver as you are flying into there. so much for your pre-schoolers to love ~ the aquarium, the park, beaches, stanley park, granville island. it will take you a good 1/2 day to just get to victoria from vancouver. i would say the same about trying to fit so many destinations into the remainder of the journey to calgary. it would be great fun to enjoy more fully either jasper or lake louise/banff. the distance between them is about four hours (someone correct me here) without stopping to see spectacular sights. you all might enjoy some easy hiking in either place. calgary has a great zoo & the kids might enjoy the trip up the calgary tower. there are some really helpful hiking books that you can search an on-line bookstore, (like www.indigo.ca). plus, another area to explore is kananaskis outside of banff. there is just so much to explore in any one place. as to vegetarian restaurants ~ i cannot speak to specific ones, however you will not have any trouble finding food to meet your needs anywhere you are going. bon voyage!!

I agree that this is way too much driving for one trip especially with little ones. The trip from Jasper to Banff is approximately 4 hours - of course that is dependant on weather and if indeed the highway between Jasper and Lake Louise is open. It has been known to close if there is a heavy snowfall - not impossible in the mountains in September. I would put off a side trip to Jasper until another time.

Thank you all for your feedback. I am truly amazed at how much people are willing to give honest feedback.<BR><BR>I agree that we are packing too much in 8 days. To an extent me and my wife are like kids in a toy store when it comes to enjoying natural scenary, as I am sure most of us are.<BR><BR>I included Jasper on my itenerary knowing that Icefield Parkway is a must drive and would have been difficult without putting Jasper on the itinerary.<BR><BR>Since we live in San Diego and considering the needs of 4 year old twins to be outdoor, we have decided to forego the zoo (San Diego zoo, as many of us know is one of the best), aquarium, museum, etc, so that we can focus on nothing but sight-seeing and letting kids play in parks and by the swimming pools at the hotel. Not knowing when we will be back to the rocky mountains again, we decided we will pick all the toys in the store.... so to speak...<BR><BR>Having made that choice, I intend to come into Kamloops in the late evening (giving us almost 3 days in Vancouver / Victoria combined) and leave next morning (no sight seeing in Kamloops) so that we can enjoy the drive to Jasper and do some sightseeing in Jasper that day. The next day, is to do some more sightseeing in Jasper and enjoy the drive up to Lake Louise. Also, we are trying to find accomodation in Lake Louise, so as to save time on having to drive south to Banff and come back north again the next day. Any suggestions on accomodation in Lake Louise will be appreciated.

I hate to disuade people from coming to Victoria, but cut it from your itinerary. That would leave you with a couple of days in Vancouver and a more leasurely drive up to Jasper and down through Banff to Calgary.<BR><BR>I am afraid you are setting yourselves up for a 'reststops of B.C. tour.<BR>If you look closely at a good map you will find you can drive from Vancouver through Whistler and out the other side on the 'Duffy Lake road'.<BR><BR>

Thank you all for your feedback. I am truly amazed at how much people are willing to give honest feedback.<BR><BR>I agree that we are packing too much in 8 days. To an extent me and my wife are like kids in a toy store when it comes to enjoying natural scenary, as I am sure most of us are.<BR><BR>I included Jasper on my itenerary knowing that Icefield Parkway is a must drive and would have been difficult without putting Jasper on the itinerary.<BR><BR>Since we live in San Diego and considering the needs of 4 year old twins to be outdoor, we have decided to forego the zoo (San Diego zoo, as many of us know is one of the best), aquarium, museum, etc, so that we can focus on nothing but sight-seeing and letting kids play in parks and by the swimming pools at the hotel. Not knowing when we will be back to the rocky mountains again, we decided we will pick all the toys in the store.... so to speak...<BR><BR>Having made that choice, I intend to come into Kamloops in the late evening (giving us almost 3 days in Vancouver / Victoria combined) and leave next morning (no sight seeing in Kamloops) so that we can enjoy the drive to Jasper and do some sightseeing in Jasper that day. The next day, is to do some more sightseeing in Jasper and enjoy the drive up to Lake Louise. Also, we are trying to find accomodation in Lake Louise, so as to save time on having to drive south to Banff and come back north again the next day. Any suggestions on accomodation in Lake Louise will be appreciated.

I'm sure you're going to have a great time. The drive Vancouver to Alberta is really quite easy (at least until you get to Golden, BC). Just try not to do any highway driving late at night. Large semis barrelling down the road at 90 mph and moose wandering in front of your car are not my idea of fun. As for accomodation in Lake Louise, depends on budget. The area is rather touristy so quite expensive (lots of Asian tourists). If it's within your budget try staying at the Chateau Lake Louise. It really is beautiful, with a postcard perfect view just outside the door (or from your room).

Based on the feedback I am getting, I was wondering if skipping Butchart Gardens in Victoria and adding Van Dusen Gardens & Queen Elizabeth park in Vancouver would be a better use of our limited time? Any suggestions from those who have seen them all?

Those of you saying not to do this drive too late at night - how late is late? (7pm, 10pm, later?)

like the writer above, it is hard to say not to see victoria. it is just lovely. but, i think limiting the driving will have rewards. queen elizabeth park is lovely, and you could spend several hours at stanley park. start at english bay, walk the sea wall, the kids can play on the beaches (oops, you are from california so that is perhaps not a huge priority), the aquarium is well worth the stop & is in stanley park, the tea house is a lovely place to eat & you might be able to get an early seating & then go outside to watch the sunset on the bay. as to not driving too late ~ in the mountains between vancouver & calgary, i would suggest day light driving not only for safety, but for the beauty. remember, that at dusk, there will be more animals around & seeing large animals on the highway in your headlights @ 65 miles per hour is darn scarey. plus, check your map b/c when you reach the town of golden, british columbia the highway turns into a two way road (i.e., not a divided highway). there are many idiots on the road, & depending on traffic, it can be very slow going. i would not drive that in the dark unless i absolutely had not choice. it is the kind of road you want to do fully awake, calm & at a leisurely pace. besides, the scenery is spectacular. oh, in vancouver, check out granville island. the parking is quite challenging, so you might want to arrive early morning & have breakfast/coffee ~ on a mid-week morning would be best (avoid the w/end crowds). it is fun to wander around. we used to live in both calgary & vancouver & miss both places a bunch. i hope you have a safe & wonderful journey. let us know!

It's a tough call with regards to Butchart v Van Dusen & Queen E. How much do you like flowers? Butchard is quite beautiful and its easy to spend hours just leisurely walking the grounds. Van Dusen and Queen E aren't nearly as impressive but if you're pressed for time they definitely aren't bad second choices. Also, they are very close to each other. I have no idea if this would matter to you but B Gardens costs much more (a family of 4 would cost about $25-$30US). QE is free (if you don't want to go into the conservatory) while VanDusen would be about $10US for the family. Whatever your decision, you really can't lose. As for AD's question, I think rbp's post is excellent in conveying many elements of the drive from V to C. After sundown, animals become a concern. As for large trucks, I really noticed them after 10-11 pm. I've had to drive Vancouver to Calgary return several times and I've driven through the night a couple of times. rbp is absolutely right about the road eastward from Golden...don't do it after sundown if you can help it.

Thanks a lot guys for all the tips.<BR><BR>What I am thinking, based on the feedback so far, is that we will spend the first 2 days in vancouver. If we feel like we have covered most of the things there then on the third day, go to Victoria for the Butchart Gardens. One question in that regard, should we take our rental car with us there or do we really not need the car there? In my intention is to be back in Vancouver by 8 pm or so, willI get time for anything other than Butchart Gardens?<BR><BR>I have no intention of driving at night for safety as well as from the point of view of enjoying the scenery. Thanks for that suggestion as well.<BR><BR>One thing I realized during my planning for this trip is that Jasper is the most expensive place on my itenerary for the hotels (probably becausee of the limited number of hotels compared to the number of tourists this time of the year. However, there are so many bed & breakfast places there. I search bbcanada.com and found several for 80-100 $ (Canadian) / night.<BR><BR>Will keep you posted...<BR>

sounds like you have this well planned! we will look forward to your report. re: taking the rental car to victoria to see the gardens. i might do it. you will need to get to the ferry terminal (allow about an hour to get there from vancouver --??) & it is about a two hour ride. spectacular ride. might need a reservation. check the BC Ferry website. also, check the butchart garden website where they have phone numbers posted so that you can call them w/ specific questions. www.butchartgardens.com the website seems fairly helpful. good luck!! safe journey.