British Columbia / Alberta in August
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British Columbia / Alberta in August
Hello, planning a trip with family of 4 ( all adults) in August. Drive from Vancouver for around 10 days before flying to New York. Hope it’s not too warm? We live in a hot country so want to go to a cold place for a holiday. Please suggest an itinerary. Had Vancouver , whistler, kamloops , jasper , Banff , lake Louise in mind. However am open to suggestions and advice before I start mak8ng reservations. Thank you
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HelloBC is a great resource for planning this type of trip. Since you are looking for cooler weather, avoid routing through the Okanagan, it gets pretty hot (stay north of Kelowna). Close to the coast or in the mountains would be preferred. So, here are a couple of links to get you started:
https://www.hellobc.com/british-colu...ng-routes.aspx
This link in particular might be the very thing:
Vancouver to the Rockies: https://www.hellobc.com/british-colu...e-rockies.aspx
The Rockies will be quite busy that time of year. For reservations, get on those now, since you are already late. Jasper will be the most challenging, so perhaps work your routing around where you can get rooms. I am also a fan of Wells-Gray provincial park, with its waterfalls and lake. It's on the routing just above.
https://www.hellobc.com/british-colu...ng-routes.aspx
This link in particular might be the very thing:
Vancouver to the Rockies: https://www.hellobc.com/british-colu...e-rockies.aspx
The Rockies will be quite busy that time of year. For reservations, get on those now, since you are already late. Jasper will be the most challenging, so perhaps work your routing around where you can get rooms. I am also a fan of Wells-Gray provincial park, with its waterfalls and lake. It's on the routing just above.
#4
Join Date: Oct 2013
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Agreed with the above comments. Don't book plane tickets until you have a place to stay. It's very late to be planning a trip - we generally suggest booking accommodation prior to March, best by January if you have more specific needs/more limited budget.
Your first priority needs to be to find accommodation - at this quite late date, that's likely going to dictate your itinerary. In some places like Jasper and Lake Louise, there is very little availability and if your trip overlaps the holiday weekend (August 3-6), you may struggle to find any rooms.
Also, with just 10 days, you are going to need to make some choices. Vancouver could easily take up 2-4 days just scratching the surface, and it's at least two days to drive to the Rockies. Then we suggest at least 5-7 days in the Rockies, split between 2-3 days in Jasper and 3-4 days in Lake Louise/Banff/Jasper. With 10 days, I'd probably drop Whistler (or day trip from Vancouver) and fly from Vancouver to Calgary. Wells Gray is nice, but you really need a couple of days there, and I think it doesn't fit into a 10 day trip. If you are going to drive across BC, best to take the far more scenic route via Revy/Golden.
I would get on accommodation ASAP. Jasper will be the hardest - hotels are pretty well booked solid for the summer. Try Private Home Accommodation - licensed, inspected B&B style accommodation within private homes -- www.stayinjasper.com You may need to split between two places, but Jasper is tiny so it's easy to get places very close together (just about everything is in easy walking distance). Then try Banff and Canmore as options to see Banff/Lake Louise/Yoho.
At that point, you will see what is actually feasible. If things aren't available in the Rockies, it might be better to focus on Vancouver, Whister and maybe Vancouver Island. Agreed that southern BC won't appeal if you are looking for cooler weather. Though be aware, that especially inland and in the Rockies (as opposed to the coast), our climate is quite dry. So temps into the 20s at day can easily become 5c at night. We can get temperature swings of 20+ degrees celsius in the Rockies.
Your first priority needs to be to find accommodation - at this quite late date, that's likely going to dictate your itinerary. In some places like Jasper and Lake Louise, there is very little availability and if your trip overlaps the holiday weekend (August 3-6), you may struggle to find any rooms.
Also, with just 10 days, you are going to need to make some choices. Vancouver could easily take up 2-4 days just scratching the surface, and it's at least two days to drive to the Rockies. Then we suggest at least 5-7 days in the Rockies, split between 2-3 days in Jasper and 3-4 days in Lake Louise/Banff/Jasper. With 10 days, I'd probably drop Whistler (or day trip from Vancouver) and fly from Vancouver to Calgary. Wells Gray is nice, but you really need a couple of days there, and I think it doesn't fit into a 10 day trip. If you are going to drive across BC, best to take the far more scenic route via Revy/Golden.
I would get on accommodation ASAP. Jasper will be the hardest - hotels are pretty well booked solid for the summer. Try Private Home Accommodation - licensed, inspected B&B style accommodation within private homes -- www.stayinjasper.com You may need to split between two places, but Jasper is tiny so it's easy to get places very close together (just about everything is in easy walking distance). Then try Banff and Canmore as options to see Banff/Lake Louise/Yoho.
At that point, you will see what is actually feasible. If things aren't available in the Rockies, it might be better to focus on Vancouver, Whister and maybe Vancouver Island. Agreed that southern BC won't appeal if you are looking for cooler weather. Though be aware, that especially inland and in the Rockies (as opposed to the coast), our climate is quite dry. So temps into the 20s at day can easily become 5c at night. We can get temperature swings of 20+ degrees celsius in the Rockies.
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I sympathize about wanting cooler weather. We live in Central Florida now, which is hot and humid most of the time, but I was born in Seattle and grew up in San Francisco. We look forward to a late summer/early fall vacation to cooler climes. This September it will be Prince Rupert and similar areas in B.C. - we are sticking closer to the coast to get the most of the marine layer.
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If you are driving from Vancouver to Rockies,(Banff and Jasper) it makes more sense to fly to NYC from Calgary or Edmonton rather than circling back to Vancouver.
Echoing others that reservations should be made soon if you are at all fussy about lodging. Winging it is feasible but you may not get your choice, especially Banff and Jasper.
Echoing others that reservations should be made soon if you are at all fussy about lodging. Winging it is feasible but you may not get your choice, especially Banff and Jasper.
#8
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Thank you all for your response. Is the drive to jasper (from vancouver) more scenic via whistler / kamloops OR through kelowna / golden / banff ?
we plan to start our drive from vancouver - and either fly back to nyc from calgary or come back to vancouver.
Option 1 - vancouver - whistler - kamloops - jasper - banff - calgary (we spend 3 nights each in whistler / jasper / banff )
Option 2 - vancouver - whistler - kamloops - japser - banff - golden - kelowna - vancouver (we spend 2 nights in whistler / jasper / banff) and increase the duration of trip by a day.
Please advise .
Thank you
we plan to start our drive from vancouver - and either fly back to nyc from calgary or come back to vancouver.
Option 1 - vancouver - whistler - kamloops - jasper - banff - calgary (we spend 3 nights each in whistler / jasper / banff )
Option 2 - vancouver - whistler - kamloops - japser - banff - golden - kelowna - vancouver (we spend 2 nights in whistler / jasper / banff) and increase the duration of trip by a day.
Please advise .
Thank you
#9
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Driving in Alberta / british columbia
Thank you all for your response. Is the drive to jasper (from vancouver) more scenic via whistler / kamloops OR through kelowna / golden / banff ?
we plan to start our drive from vancouver - and either fly back to nyc from calgary or come back to vancouver.
Option 1 - vancouver - whistler - kamloops - jasper - banff - calgary (we spend 3 nights each in whistler / jasper / banff )
Option 2 - vancouver - whistler - kamloops - japser - banff - golden - kelowna - vancouver (we spend 2 nights in whistler / jasper / banff) and increase the duration of trip by a day.
Please advise .
Thank you
we plan to start our drive from vancouver - and either fly back to nyc from calgary or come back to vancouver.
Option 1 - vancouver - whistler - kamloops - jasper - banff - calgary (we spend 3 nights each in whistler / jasper / banff )
Option 2 - vancouver - whistler - kamloops - japser - banff - golden - kelowna - vancouver (we spend 2 nights in whistler / jasper / banff) and increase the duration of trip by a day.
Please advise .
Thank you
#10
Join Date: Oct 2013
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You cannot "wing it" in Jasper or Banff in August. Nor really in places like Kelowna and Golden. At this point, hotels in Jasper are pretty much booked up, especially on weekends. There are a few spots, plus cancellations, but the best bet now are PHAs (www.stayinjasper.com). Still some availability in Banff/Canmore, but the longer you wait, the more expensive the options. At this point, you're looking at $300+ for a standard hotel room, a bit less if you can find a B&B or PHA.
If you don't want 30c+, then stay away from Kelowna and the lakes, and opt for Revy/Golden and the Rockies. It was 30c in Penticton and near that in Kelowna this weekend.
Don't fly to Edmonton - either drive one way from Vancouver to Calgary or round trip from one of the two. Edmonton is a long, boring drive from the mountains. And at this point, if you don't book, Jasper isn't going to be an option anyway.
If you don't want 30c+, then stay away from Kelowna and the lakes, and opt for Revy/Golden and the Rockies. It was 30c in Penticton and near that in Kelowna this weekend.
Don't fly to Edmonton - either drive one way from Vancouver to Calgary or round trip from one of the two. Edmonton is a long, boring drive from the mountains. And at this point, if you don't book, Jasper isn't going to be an option anyway.
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