Trip to Canada - help needed please

[floridahippy]

Hi there all - if this is in the wrong place please move it to where i should of put it!!!

We have just booked up our holiday in Canada for next year and i am just so excited!!
We are flying Heathrow to Vancouver where we are staying for seven nights
First question - what is a must see? and how is travelling around the city?

We then are hopefully going on the Rockie mountaineer up to Banff
Any hotel recommendations for a one night here?

we are then going to Sunset resort for a week - we are not driving so any idea if there are any tour companies for day trips up to lake louise etc?

then we need to get to Calgary - any suggestions on a cheap way of getting from canmore to calgary?

and last of all any suggestions for accommodation for 1 night in Calgary.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[carolfoy]

firstly congrats, the west coast is fantastic!
in vancouver itself theres stanley park a really nice park area with gardens, a fab aquarium and totem poles etc, also a short trip out is grouse mountain and the capilano suspension bridge, you can do both trips in the same day, theres a really good tourist info place down at Canada place where the cruise ships come in, and they'll tell you which bus to catch, it wasn't expensive either! there are the usual nice touristy places like gastown and china town (which is pretty much like chinatown in all major cities!)
and if you get the chance hop across on the pacific coachline or seaplane to vancouver island, Victoria is beautiful, you can whale watch out of there - best months june, july and august and there are some lovely walks, butchart gardens and museums on native american history.
Banff is one of my favourite places in the world - its stunning! if you can stretch to it the banff springs hotel is the best, or the caribou lodge is nice. there are great horse riding opportunities, white water rafting, helicopter trips up the mountains and the gondola which also takes you up the mountain. again, beautiful walks, It really shouldn't be difficult getting to Louise from there, try greyhound busses or Brewsters who do short excursion packages.
And again the greyhound will probably be the cheapest way to get from canmore to calgary but brewsters will probably do an excursion that includes the athabasca glacier etc.
hope that helps

 

[wdwr]

Well Carolfoy did a wonderful job answering.

I might suggest also posting this over in the "Canadian Trip Planning and Community Board" if you don't get enough responses. You never know who might read it over there that could give you even more info.

Have a great trip!

Shelley

 

[floridahippy]

thanks so much for the info so far - We are in Vancouver April 26th till May 3rd - would there be any whales about then as its something we would love to do?
I plan to do a trip report on my return!!

Nearly a year to go - but it is so exciting to plan for it all - almost half the fun of the trip!!!!

Please please keep the ideas coming - anything else i need to know?

 

[KRIS10420]

Here is a little info for you. I was born & raised in the Vancouver area and now I live on Vancouver Island. IMO, Victoria is far more beautiful than Vancouver. Whale watching season is best from late April to late October. If you're into flowers and gardens then Butchart Gardens is a good choice. In Vancouver, there is a train that takes you to Whistler (home of the 2010 winter olympics), a nice trip. On a nice day take the gondola up the mountain for a nice view and possibly lunch on the hill. In the Rockies I would recommed taking a tour of the Athabasca Glacier at the Columbia Icefields. Here is the Brewsters website sightseeingtourscanada.ca. The Candian Rockies are magnificant. In Lake Louise, depending on snow pack, taking a gondola to the top of the ski hill has an incredible view.

 

[carolfoy]

Whales wouldn't be guaranteed at any time but there is a possibility of seeing them towards the end of April, expect to pay around £30 each for a 2 hour zodiac boat trip out.
Grizzly bear sightings are another wildlife option - you could do a very expensive Knight inlet trip that takes you up to a place thats very secluded, you travel by seaplane from vancouver and spend 2 nights in campbell river and kight inlet with all meals included, around £650 each! but you may not find they run as early as April so you may have to re jig to do it in May!
you could do a 2 hour bear watching trip out of Tofino, thats about £35 each.
we were lucky enough to see brown and grizzly bears by the side of the road during our stay!

 

[carolfoy]

forgot to add as well that if you're in Victoria a train trip up to Nanaimo is very scenic

 

[Ziggy]

You must go to Grouse Mountain its brilliant and make sure you watch the lumberjack show while up there it is really funny

 

[Hilary]

In Vancouver, as well as the places already mentioned, we also enjoyed Granville Island and a boat trip across the harbour to Lonsdale (?) Quay.

 

[Gonz Of Lancashire]

My favourites, in no particular order. On Vancouver Island Tofino, Alert Bay, Victoria and the ferry to the mainland through the Gulf Islands. On the mainland Whistler, Grouse Mountain, Stanley Park, Capilano Bridge, Lake Okanagon. The museum of anthrapology is worth a look.

 

[Ziggy]

In Vancouver, as well as the places already mentioned, we also enjoyed Granville Island and a boat trip across the harbour to Lonsdale (?) Quay.

Granville Island is great , I wasn't too keen on Lonsdale Quay though.

Where are you staying Floridahippy?

 

[floridahippy]

Hi there -
Thank you so much for your posts so far.
While we are in Vancouver we are staying at Residence Inn Vancouver Downtown which I hope will be ok!!!
Then we have exchanged into Sunset Resorts in Canmore for the 2nd week.

I am so excited

 

[Kilted_Yank]

I can only echo what has already been said. My wife and I loved Vancouver. The city itself was beatiful, and the people were friendly.

I very much enjoyed Granville Island... especially the brewpub there.

 

[Ziggy]

I'm not familiar with that hotel but I'm sure it will be good . We have family that live just outside Vancouver so have been there a couple of times and totally love it, DH even wants us to emigrate there

Kilted Yank that brewery is *good* at Granville Island

 

[katytrott]

We are in the process of emigrating to Vancouver ourselves - wonderful area. All the hotels in the main centre are pretty much all the same, the basic ones are fine particularly if you are going out to most of the time doing the touring bit. Last visit there we had a meal to celebrate our 5th anniversary at the tall rotating restaurant thing. I'm afraid I can't remember it's name, but I assure you won't miss it, it's the tallest structure in Vancouver. It was probably the most romantic meal we have had as we were able to watch the sun setting over the harbour and the mountains and the view always changed. That is a must. Our favourite things everyone has mentioned - Stanley Park, Gas Town, Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver Island. We really enjoyed Victoria the capital on Victoria Island. Really beautiful, lively and a great atmosphere. The other favourite thing was spending a day at Stanley Park. We hired bicycles and rode leisurely round the coastal path, stopping off for lunch, sunbathing, visiting the Aquarium (fantastic), it was probably our favourite day.

I would recommend the tours you can attend. We did quite a few as we found it a reliable, comfortable way to get and see everywhere, and were told all about the things we were seeing. We found, on our first visit, this left us feeling we had a good overview of the whole city and had seen everything. We could book them from our hotel and I think that is so for most of the hotels

 

[Ziggy]

katy you are so lucky to be moving over there, when do you go?

 

[Kilted_Yank]

Kilted Yank that brewery is *good* at Granville Island

Innit?

 

[Kilted_Yank]

We are in the process of emigrating to Vancouver ourselves...

Lucky you! My Mrs and I have thought seriously about emigrating there, but it is much easier for you Brits, I think, because Canada is a Commonwealth country.

My Mrs gets lots of points beacuse of her education and her profession (she is an Historian), and although I am bi-lingual, I don't speak a language that is particularly useful in Canada (I'm nearly fluent in German). Add to that, my field isn't particularly useful in Canada either...

Anyway, good luck to you.

 

[Ziggy]

We have family who have said they will sponsor us but I'm not sure that I really want to go, its such a big step however my husband would be there in a shot if I said yes.

 

[katytrott]

katy you are so lucky to be moving over there, when do you go?

Yes it's all really exciting and a little nervewracking! My husband is physiotherapist and I am staff nurse, so we were snapped up pretty quickly. On our last trip there we went to a hospital and they gave us jobs on the spot. We didn't take them as it was way too impractical, so we are waiting to hear when my husband can take his examination to register over there, before moving. We are currently looking into areas we would want to live and looking into the rental market.