bright

We are 2 couples (ages 50-60), planning a trip to canadian rockies in late august. We like hiking and enjoy nature. We want to do Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper. We definetely want to see, and don't want to miss
Moraine lake
Peyto Lake
Lake Louise
Emerald lake
Columbia icefield
Mount Edith Cavell
Maligne Canyon
Sulphur Mountain Gondola
Takakkaw Falls
We will start and end our trip in Vancouver. We can spend 7-8 days total, and want to be back in Vancouver on Sep 1st. We first thought about doing this trip with a tour company, because it seemed like we can enjoy the scenery more if we don't have to drive. Also, we liked what we read about the "rocky mountaineer" train travel. But after reading the posts here, I feel like renting a car and driving on our own will give us more freedom, flexibility. Also, the tour companies seem quite expensive. We have never travelled with a tour company, and not sure if we will like it or not. So we are re-thinking about this. We like the idea of train travel, and do want to experiene rocky mountaineer, but also want to drive on our own. Please give your feedback with my following plan:
Day 1 & 2: Rent car and drive from Vancouver to Banff (with an overnight stop in between)
Day 3: Banff
Day 4: Banff to Jasper
Day 5: Jasper
Day 6: Drive back to Banff
Day 7 & 8: Return the car in Banff, and take the rocky mountaineer train ride from Banff to Vancouver.
The reason we want to come back the same way we will go is because, it will give us a chance to see everything again, and also spend more time or revisit a spot that we didn't get enough time for.
I don't want to return the car in Jasper and take the train from Jasper to Vancouver, beause I have read that the travel from Banff to Vancouver is more scenic than Jasper to Vancouver. I do not know or haven't looked at the rocky mountaineer train times, etc. Has anyone travelled this way? Please give your feedbak, suggestions. Thank you very much.

Judy_in_Calgary

Hello bright,

Thanks for explaining your rationale. In responding, it helps to know the context of the query.

Your tentative itinerary has good points and bad points.

First of all, I’ve never travelled on the Rocky Mountaineer, so cannot comment on it. Generally speaking, the posters who have travelled in Gold Leaf class have been very complimentary. (Apparently they are served hot meals in a dining car.) I’ve heard mixed reports of Red Leaf class. (Apparently passengers are served cold meals in their seats.) Some people who have travelled Red Leaf have said they would have welcomed Gold Leaf’s extra perks. Other people have said that there is a friendlier, more fun atmosphere in the Red Leaf coaches.

One of the things I have against the Rocky Mountaineer is the fact that it departs from Kamloops at something like 6.30 a.m. Goodness only knows what time you have to get up in order to dress and catch the shuttle bus from your accommodation to the train station. That is not my idea of luxury when I’m on vacation!

The other question I have about the Rocky Mountaineer is its price. It strikes me as very expensive.

But the RM does mean that everyone in the party can look at the scenery. Also, the overnight stop does allow passengers to see all of the scenery along the route.
If you do decide to catch the RM, and if one of your reasons for backtracking is to see stuff you missed on the first go round, I don’t understand why you’d do the RM on the return journey. The train isn’t going to allow you to stop where you want to.

Another limitation of your itinerary, at least it would be a limitation for me, is the number of one-night stops.

Be aware that the RM sets out from Vancouver on its eastbound journeys on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays (Aug 22, 24, 27). Its westbound journeys also start on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Relevant dates for you are Aug 29 and 31.

Another factor that will add to the expense of your trip, if you catch the RM, is the one-way drop off fee you’ll incur on your rental car. There is a one-way drop off fee between Vancouver and Calgary, but it’s steeper between Vancouver and Banff or Vancouver and Jasper.

If you drive from the mountains back to Vancouver over two days, you’ll have to keep up a fairly steady pace. You’ll have a limited amount of time in which to stop and smell the roses. So I don’t see how that will enable you to fulfill your goal of visiting places that you missed on the outbound journey from Vancouver. If you want to do more justice to the route, I think you’d be better off traveling it at a slower pace in the first place. If you have not booked your flights yet, and if it doesn’t make them too expensive, you might consider flying into Vancouver and out of Calgary or vice versa.

Check flights and rental drop off fees in both directions. At that time of year it doesn’t matter, from a weather point of view, in which direction you travel. But you may find there’s a difference in prices in one direction versus the other direction.

I’ve never done a guided coach tour through the Rockies, but I would be very leery of them. I’ve seen the brief photo opportunities those buses give their passengers at scenic lookout points. It sure as heck isn’t a way I’d like to travel. Besides that, tour buses cannot negotiate the winding road to Mount Edith Cavell, and not all of them attempt the road to Takakkaw Falls. To my astonishment, not all of them include Moraine Lake in their itineraries. My test of a tour company, if I was going to use one at all, would be if it included Moraine Lake, Peyto Lake and Maligne Canyon. If it doesn’t include those places, which I consider to be the MINIMAL “must sees” in the Canadian Rockies, I’d say forget it. On the travel discussion forums I’ve seen favourable comments about Tauck and Collette (Tauck apparently being a small notch up from Collette in the sense that it provides SLIGHTLY more upscale accommodation and includes more meals in its base price).

Another thing I don’t know, from the information you’ve provided, is whether or not you’ve built in time to look around Vancouver. It’s located in a beautiful setting, and really deserves some time. I think it takes 3 – 4 days to do it justice, but you should spend a MINIMUM of a full day there.

In the next post I'll make a couple of itinerary suggestions.

Judy_in_Calgary

If you want to stick to your original idea of doing a round trip out of Vancouver, part of it by train, you could consider this itinerary:

Aug 24 – Train from Vancouver to Kamloops (a date that is necessitated by RM’s timetable).
Aug 25 – Train from Kamloops to Banff.
Aug 26 – From your Banff base, visit Moraine Lake, Lake Louise, Tak Falls and Emerald Lake.
Aug 27 – Explore Banff and its environs, e.g., Johnston Canyon and Sulphur Mountain gondola (better than Lake Louise gondola).
Aug 28 – Drive the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. Stop en route at Peyto Lake, Columbia Icefields, Sunwapta Falls and Athabasca Falls.
Aug 29 – Explore Jasper’s environs (Maligne Canyon, Mount Edith Cavell, etc.).
Aug 30 – Drive from Jasper to Kamloops. When you reach Clearwater, take a detour into Wells Gray Provincial Park to see Helmcken Falls.
Aug 31 – Drive from Kamloops to Vancouver. You don’t have to decide now which route to take. You could decide on the morning that you set out for the drive. You could take the Coquihalla Highway (Hwy #5) to Hope. That is the quickest route. It’s scenic, but it’s not the most scenic option available. You could travel on the TransCanada Highway (Hwy #1), and repeat the Fraser River Canyon, which you already would have seen from the train on your eastbound journey. Finally, you could drive to Whistler and on to Vancouver, which is a very scenic route.
Sept 1 – Look around Vancouver.

Here is an alternative itinerary to consider:

Aug 24 – Train from Vancouver to Kamloops.
Aug 25 – Train from Kamloops to Banff.
Aug 26 – From your Banff base, visit Moraine Lake, Lake Louise, Tak Falls and Emerald Lake.
Aug 27 – Explore Banff and its environs, e.g., Johnston Canyon and Sulphur Mountain gondola (better than Lake Louise gondola).
Aug 28 – Drive the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. Stop en route at Peyto Lake, Columbia Icefields, Sunwapta Falls and Athabasca Falls.
Aug 29 – Explore Jasper’s environs (Maligne Canyon, Mount Edith Cavell, etc.).
Aug 30 – Drive from Jasper back down the Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise. Then turn west and drive through Golden and over Rogers Pass to Revelstoke.
Aug 31 – Drive from Revelstoke to Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley.
Sept 1 – Drive from Kelowna to Princeton, then through beautiful Manning Provincial Park to Hope, and finally on to Vancouver.

My website has some other itineraries that might give you some other thoughts about how you could handle your trip. The TIPS section of my site also has info on weather, what to pack, national park entry fees, driving distances and times, maps, other good websites about Vancouver and the Rockies, etc.

http://groups.msn.com/CalgaryandCana...kiesTravelTips

Hope that helps.

bob_brown

Let me encourage you to do the trip on your own with a car. There is no substitute for it. I have visited the Canadian Rockies so many times I have lost count, but one thing always impressed me very negatively: People on tour buses really got short changed.

I really don't think you want to drive back the same way you come, unless it is over Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park. The trip from Revelstoke to Lake Louise (or the reverse) can be awesome on a clear day. From Rogers Pass the views of the jagged Selkirks are fantastic.

I also encourage you not to plan too much in one day. Weather has a way of changing plans, you almost always will find something unexpected that demands your time, and your expectations and realizations might dictate a change of strategy on the fly.

Before you get there, acquire a copy of The Canadian Rockies Trail Guide by Brian Patton and Bart Robinson. The guide is a classic that is in its 7th edition.

Another book that for me is indispensible if you want an understanding of the whole ecosystem of the Rockies is the Canadian Rockies Handbook by Ben Gadd. This work is a huge one, around a 800 pages of incredible information about the flora, the fauna, the climate, and the geology.
I cannot recommend either book highly enough. One book alone will enhance your experience; both of them will help you make a very informed trip that you will enjoy forever.

I think most people ride through those mountains semi embalmed, mostly ignorant of what lies in front of them. With the Handbook of the Canadian Rockies, you will not be in that category.

As a final comment, you have a lot to see and do. I don't think you will have time for the Iceline Trail, but put it on the list of future "must do events" in Yoho. Another one is the Whaleback Trail, but is a long, arduous hike for one day.

April

I don't know how flexible the Rocky Mountaineer self-drive packages are but they might be worth looking into. For instance, they show a car rental pick up at Banff and drop off in Vancouver at the bottom of this page:
http://tinyurl.com/r6uap