Traveling Banff, Vancouver and Seattle
 

We are planning on flying to cCalgary in Juky and then driving to Banff. How long should we plan on being in Banff, then Vancouver and ending up in Seattle. I want to get the max travel pleasure in each place and I would like to do this in 10 days

Where are you starting from? Are you going back once you reach Seattle?
Don't bring a Canadian rental car into the US. Take the Amtrak train or Amtrak bus from Vancouver to Seattle.

when are you arriving in calgary - ate ? are you aware of the one way drop off fee for rental cars? how long are you wanting in calgary, vancouver and seattle? 10 days is not a lot of time considering most people want at least 4 days in banff, 2 days to drive to vancuver and this is not allowing you time to do the icefield parkway and jasper.
more details please so we can help you. also need to take into account the "calgary stampede" which uses up a lot of accommodations in calgary and banff.

My initial vibe is to suggest excluding Seattle and then allowing yourself more time, and more <I>convenience</i> in renting a car in Alberta and returning in Vancouver, flying home from Vancouver instead. (OR, if you simply have to fly home from Seattle for some reason, taking a <u>train</u> from Vancouver to Seattle for the last leg. If you've never been to Seattle, you won't need a vehicle to see most of the immediate priorities in the central downtown area) (and the light rail would zip you directly to the airport upon your departure from central Seattle)

So, we are flying into Calgary approx Juky 28 or 29th, renting a car and enjoying our drive to Banff. After (???) days in Banff planning on flying from Calgary to Vancouver and again renting a car (and again, hiw many days do you all think) and then either taking train or nice bus to Seattle. Never been and really want to go. Would love all helpful suggestions for planning our special family vacation. Thanks

first off, just so you know, july 31-august 3 is a "long weekend" here. it's a very busy time. some places, especially in the national parks, may have minimum 3 night bookings. extremely tight schedule. i would suggest staying in banff from the date of your arrival to august 3 - that would be 5 nights (if you get there the 29th). then i'd do 3 nights vancouver, 2 nights seattle. is there a reason you are going to seattle?

Banff is beautiful and so is Jasper. Why not drive up the Icefield Highway and spend at least one night in Jasper?
The ViaRail Canadian leaves Jasper at 2:30PM Sunday August 2 and arrives in Vancouver (downtown) before 10AM on Monday.
Brewster bus tours are an alternative to driving a rental car.