Montana & Alberta trip with 9 and 7 year old? Love to find trip reports!

[ngl]

We are highly contemplating this trip for next summer and know that ages 4 and up can go but they recommend a minimum of 8. My son will be about 7.5 at time of trip. Besides the white water rafting, would he be too young to experience anything else? I can't seem to find anything else. Any other info on this trip is greatly appreciated!!!

 

[carpenta]

I think your son will be fine. On the raft trip there is a choice between white water and an easy float. I chose the float for I am on vacation. The bike ride is very easy as well as the hikes. Great experience. We went a few years ago and loved it.

 

[Bobo912]

I haven't taken this ABD but I have done everything that is listed in their itinerary except biking along the Bow River (but we hiked it) and there isn't anything a typical 7-year old couldn't do.

 

[sayhello]

There's a Trip Report in our Trip Report Sticky, but it's pretty old (although I don't know that the trip has changed that much).

http://www.disboards.com/threads/abd-trip-report-rocky-trails-mountie-tales.2562669/

It links to worldpress, which I can't access at work, so I don't know if the links are still active or not.

There's also a short trip report by @esulerzy from 2014 at http://disboards.com/threads/montan...rks-–-august-4-10-2014.3316504/#post-52072965

The pictures don't seem to work, but again, that might be because I'm at work.

I couldn't find anything else.

Sayhello

 

[Grifdog22]

We did almost everything on this trip and then some on our own before ABD was around. It would have been nice to have someone else handle the logistics! If your son is an active young man he should have no trouble. While ABD doesn't address it, and I don't know where you are coming from, if your son likes trains, arrival at the hotel by Amtrak is nothing short of spectacular. The station is walking distance from the Glacier Park Lodge, although they have a free shuttle to pick you and your gear up. You may be there well before the ABD folks, and that's a chance to explore the hotel and grounds and have some extra fun. The hotel was built by the railroad, and it's cool to re-live that part of history. The Amtrak trip on the empire builder either direction is constantly jaw dropping. The sleepers are pretty awesome too. Obviously, this doesn't work for the return trip, which is by air. The glaciers are receding pretty fast, and several we saw that were ginormous are gone. It might be more of an adventure than you realize to go see these while they last. If you go, and I hope you do, please write a trip report! Of all the trips my wife and I have made, with or without kids, with or without organized tours, this remains both of our very favorite places. Enjoy!

 

[ngl]

We did almost everything on this trip and then some on our own before ABD was around. It would have been nice to have someone else handle the logistics! If your son is an active young man he should have no trouble. While ABD doesn't address it, and I don't know where you are coming from, if your son likes trains, arrival at the hotel by Amtrak is nothing short of spectacular. The station is walking distance from the Glacier Park Lodge, although they have a free shuttle to pick you and your gear up. You may be there well before the ABD folks, and that's a chance to explore the hotel and grounds and have some extra fun. The hotel was built by the railroad, and it's cool to re-live that part of history. The Amtrak trip on the empire builder either direction is constantly jaw dropping. The sleepers are pretty awesome too. Obviously, this doesn't work for the return trip, which is by air. The glaciers are receding pretty fast, and several we saw that were ginormous are gone. It might be more of an adventure than you realize to go see these while they last. If you go, and I hope you do, please write a trip report! Of all the trips my wife and I have made, with or without kids, with or without organized tours, this remains both of our very favorite places. Enjoy!

Thank you so much for the info. My son LOVES trains. We did our "big city" trip this past year in Chicago and visited family in Milwaukee and the highlight was riding Amtrak into the city! (We live in FL so no "real" train service here). Where do you take the train from to get to Glacier Park?

 

[Grifdog22]

The train is called the Empire Builder. It originates in Chicago and heads to Seattle or Portland. We flew to O'Hare spent the night in Chicago to visit the city (And the hotel provided the shuttle from the airport to the hotel, and then on to Union Station). Sounds like you've already visited the main Union station; if you are in a sleeper you have access also to the Chicago Amtrak lounge which is neat. The train leaves about 2:15 pm and gets to Glacier about 6:45 pm the next evening. The sleeper cars are wonderful (the bedroom is great for three of you, with its own bathroom and shower) and meals are included with sleeper. If you ask, they'll wake you with coffee and the morning newspaper, and the porters for the sleepers are really helpful. Pull up the schedule on amtrak.com as well as the route guide that describes what you can see. They have the observation car with windows all the way up and across part of the roof of the car. Crossing the Mississippi is pretty cool too. The park service also puts volunteers on the train during all the periods ABD visits, and they provide a running commentary and amazing information in one of the lounges for those who are interested. The scenery was jaw dropping.

 

[Ensusieasm]

The train is called the Empire Builder. It originates in Chicago and heads to Seattle or Portland. We flew to O'Hare spent the night in Chicago to visit the city (And the hotel provided the shuttle from the airport to the hotel, and then on to Union Station). Sounds like you've already visited the main Union station; if you are in a sleeper you have access also to the Chicago Amtrak lounge which is neat. The train leaves about 2:15 pm and gets to Glacier about 6:45 pm the next evening. The sleeper cars are wonderful (the bedroom is great for three of you, with its own bathroom and shower) and meals are included with sleeper. If you ask, they'll wake you with coffee and the morning newspaper, and the porters for the sleepers are really helpful. Pull up the schedule on amtrak.com as well as the route guide that describes what you can see. They have the observation car with windows all the way up and across part of the roof of the car. Crossing the Mississippi is pretty cool too. The park service also puts volunteers on the train during all the periods ABD visits, and they provide a running commentary and amazing information in one of the lounges for those who are interested. The scenery was jaw dropping.

The Adventure by Disney price for this trip is also "jaw dropping". I love to research and plan our own travel, but do you think that would be possible for this itinerary? I've put together Yellowstone and Teton, and also Grand Canyon and Sedona. This one seems a bit more daunting to me. Would a one way rental car work for this itinerary?

 

[carpenta]

I Think that this itinerary would be very easy to do on your own. A problem might be getting reservations in the Glacier National Park hotel for I don't know how far out they book. The rest are public hotels open to everyone and when we went there was no exclusive dining places. You should look into a car rental because starting in one country and ending in another I just don't know what the rules are for that.

 

[sayhello]

I Think that this itinerary would be very easy to do on your own. A problem might be getting reservations in the Glacier National Park hotel for I don't know how far out they book. The rest are public hotels open to everyone and when we went there was no exclusive dining places. You should look into a car rental because starting in one country and ending in another I just don't know what the rules are for that.

I agree. They could have issues taking a rental car across the border into Canada. Especially as a one-way rental. But I guess it couldn't hurt to check.

Sayhello

 

[Ensusieasm]

I Think that this itinerary would be very easy to do on your own. A problem might be getting reservations in the Glacier National Park hotel for I don't know how far out they book. The rest are public hotels open to everyone and when we went there was no exclusive dining places. You should look into a car rental because starting in one country and ending in another I just don't know what the rules are for that.

Thank you! Yes I was worried about that. The rental will be the first thing I look into.

 

[Ensusieasm]

I agree. They could have issues taking a rental car across the border into Canada. Especially as a one-way rental. But I guess it couldn't hurt to check.

Sayhello

Yes. Thanks for your input.

 

[Bobo912]

We did this trip our own in 2013. I combined the ABD and Tauck itineraries - ABD does GNP, Banff and Lake Louise, Tauck does Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise. I stayed in the park at GNP and Fairmont hotels in Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise. I did everything on both itineraries and then some. I spent around half of the listed price of the ABD at the time and our trip was 4 days longer. And, of course, there are meals and time on your own with ABD, as well as the guide's tips that aren't included in the listed price, so it was actually considerably less than half. I booked a rental car in Kallispell and had no issue taking it into Canada, but we did return to Kallispell to fly home. I'm not sure if I could have returned the car at the Calgary airport, but at the time, I think it was possible but just a lot more expensive. Not sure if it's allowed now. I booked both Lake McDonald and Many Glaciers at GNP about 8 months out. If you can't get a hotel within the park, hotels in Whitefish are a good option. It is nearby and it's a very nice little town. We loved this trip and were actually glad that we didn't do a tour for this one, because there is so much beautiful scenery and wildlife and we were able to stop whenever we saw something interesting. Also, we loved Jasper and it's not included in the ABD itinerary. The trip was super easy to plan and execute. It's was just me and my son, so I had to do all the driving, but it's an easy drive with no traffic to speak of.

 

[Ensusieasm]

We did this trip our own in 2013. I combined the ABD and Tauck itineraries - ABD does GNP, Banff and Lake Louise, Tauck does Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise. I stayed in the park at GNP and Fairmont hotels in Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise. I did everything on both itineraries and then some. I spent around half of the listed price of the ABD at the time and our trip was 4 days longer. And, of course, there are meals and time on your own with ABD, as well as the guide's tips that aren't included in the listed price, so it was actually considerably less than half. I booked a rental car in Kallispell and had no issue taking it into Canada, but we did return to Kallispell to fly home. I'm not sure if I could have returned the car at the Calgary airport, but at the time, I think it was possible but just a lot more expensive. Not sure if it's allowed now. I booked both Lake McDonald and Many Glaciers at GNP about 8 months out. If you can't get a hotel within the park, hotels in Whitefish are a good option. It is nearby and it's a very nice little town. We loved this trip and were actually glad that we didn't do a tour for this one, because there is so much beautiful scenery and wildlife and we were able to stop whenever we saw something interesting. Also, we loved Jasper and it's not included in the ABD itinerary. The trip was super easy to plan and execute. It's was just me and my son, so I had to do all the driving, but it's an easy drive with no traffic to speak of.

Thanks so much! For my husband and me, I figured I could put this together for half the cost of ABD even with the super expensive Fairmont hotel at Lake Louise.

 

[laceltris3]

Thanks so much! For my husband and me, I figured I could put this together for half the cost of ABD even with the super expensive Fairmont hotel at Lake Louise.

We were looking at this trip as well and it seems quite pricy for a family of 5. While I would like to see the Montana part, the Tauck Bridges Canadian Rockies trip (round trip out of Calgary) is more than $1K less per person. As I recall, they adjust their trip pricing down for currency fluctuations, where as ABD does not. They also have some quite fun pieces to the itinerary, like meeting a Mountie and taking an arctic explorer up on a glacier.

 

[Ensusieasm]

We were looking at this trip as well and it seems quite pricy for a family of 5. While I would like to see the Montana part, the Tauck Bridges Canadian Rockies trip (round trip out of Calgary) is more than $1K less per person. As I recall, they adjust their trip pricing down for currency fluctuations, where as ABD does not. They also have some quite fun pieces to the itinerary, like meeting a Mountie and taking an arctic explorer up on a glacier.

Thanks for the information. I will have to check into that.

 

[sweetpeama]

We did this trip our own in 2013. I combined the ABD and Tauck itineraries - ABD does GNP, Banff and Lake Louise, Tauck does Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise. I stayed in the park at GNP and Fairmont hotels in Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise. I did everything on both itineraries and then some. I spent around half of the listed price of the ABD at the time and our trip was 4 days longer. And, of course, there are meals and time on your own with ABD, as well as the guide's tips that aren't included in the listed price, so it was actually considerably less than half. I booked a rental car in Kallispell and had no issue taking it into Canada, but we did return to Kallispell to fly home. I'm not sure if I could have returned the car at the Calgary airport, but at the time, I think it was possible but just a lot more expensive. Not sure if it's allowed now. I booked both Lake McDonald and Many Glaciers at GNP about 8 months out. If you can't get a hotel within the park, hotels in Whitefish are a good option. It is nearby and it's a very nice little town. We loved this trip and were actually glad that we didn't do a tour for this one, because there is so much beautiful scenery and wildlife and we were able to stop whenever we saw something interesting. Also, we loved Jasper and it's not included in the ABD itinerary. The trip was super easy to plan and execute. It's was just me and my son, so I had to do all the driving, but it's an easy drive with no traffic to speak of.

I would honestly check out the towns of Columbia Falls, Hungry Horse, and West Glacier as they are closer than Whitefish to Glacier National Park. The one time I was in that area and the multiple times my DH was in the area growing up were based just outside of Hungry Horse at a privately owned facility. There are several places that show up using google maps just be sure and zoom in as much as you can.
For places to dine I honestly recommend the smaller mom and pop places. The meals are typically very simple without a lot of fan fare but your chance to have a conversation with locals is extremely high. Because these places serve more to locals and have to keep them happy year round ( tourist season is a very short time of the year and can be shortened by late spring floods, fire ( 2015 there were many severe fires in that part of Montana in fact we didn't know if family in the area would have to evacuate or not quite a few times), and early snow fall) they have some great deals and a lot of homemade items-pies are not a reheated frozen but usually homemade. Be sure and try something Huckleberry if you get a chance even if you order one item and share it so everyone can have a taste. I am really found of the ice cream and Montana Lemonaid which has huckleberry syrup added to it.

 

[ngl]

We were looking at this trip as well and it seems quite pricy for a family of 5. While I would like to see the Montana part, the Tauck Bridges Canadian Rockies trip (round trip out of Calgary) is more than $1K less per person. As I recall, they adjust their trip pricing down for currency fluctuations, where as ABD does not. They also have some quite fun pieces to the itinerary, like meeting a Mountie and taking an arctic explorer up on a glacier.

Thanks re the Tauck mention. I had not heard of this before. Will check it out. Much appreciated!

 

[laceltris3]

Thanks re the Tauck mention. I had not heard of this before. Will check it out. Much appreciated!

Also remember that the Tauck price includes the gratuities for the director, which is an additional savings over ABD as well. I think they'll release 2018 trips in April. They used to have recommended and minimum ages, but now they have some weird language about 8 and up being welcome. But they let us go to Costa Rica last year with my 4 year old and he and my 6 year old got to zip line despite the fact that it says you have to be 8+.

ETA: It says in a different place Recommended age: 8+. Rafting is available for children 6 and older.

So I assume a 6 year old can go.

 

[carpenta]

Truck seems a little "looser" when it comes to the rules IMO.