Road Trip Canada - Vancouver to Edmonton

whats_my_name

Hi all,


Traveling to Canada in the summer for 2 weeks to visit friends. Planning on flying into Vancouver & flying home from Calgary. Friends are based in Vancouver & Edmonton so would ideally like to spend a few days with them. Planning on driving to Edmonton from Vancouver and flying out the same day we arrive into Calgary.

The route I was planning on taking was Vancouver > Kelowna > Banff > Lake Louise > Jasper > Edmonton > Calgary. Has anyone done anything similar to this before & if so is this the best route you would recommend to take?

I'm quite active & would love to do a bit of hiking, maybe white water rafting if I can convince the other half, cycling, kayaking etc. It's a once in a lifetime trip & I don't want to miss out on anything that I'll never get to do/see again. So all suggestions are very much welcome & appreciated!


Thanks

Greg81

Hi,

5 years ago I have made Edmonton - Vancouver.

I need to run through my old photos to check everything but from the top of my head places a must visit are:

- Whistler (Sea to Sky highway from Vancouver). I have liked it much better than Jasper
- Moraine Lake (near Lake Louise but much better, less people. Road to the lake is open only in Summer)
- Canyon Hot Springs
- Glacier National Park
- Icefield parkway
- Peyto Lake


Will check more when back home.

whats_my_name

Thanks very much !



Exactly the sort of info I am looking for!

polarbearhead

Drove direct from Edmonton to Vancouver 2 years ago. 6 hours each day stopping in blue river for the night. Savage scenery

whats_my_name

polarbearhead wrote: »

Drove direct from Edmonton to Vancouver 2 years ago. 6 hours each day stopping in blue river for the night. Savage scenery

It looks unreal! Planning on spending 3 nights in Vancouver & 2 nights in Edmonton so the rest on the road travelling between the 2. I was looking at going through Kamloops rather than Kelowna either, would make more sense to go that way if I wanted to incorporate Whistler into the trip also!

barneygumble99

whats_my_name wrote: »

It looks unreal! Planning on spending 3 nights in Vancouver & 2 nights in Edmonton so the rest on the road travelling between the 2. I was looking at going through Kamloops rather than Kelowna either, would make more sense to go that way if I wanted to incorporate Whistler into the trip also!

We drove from Vancouver to Jasper in the one go. Long but doable. Few nights in jasper with lots to do and then drove to Banff via Lake Louise, down the icefields parkway, stunning scenery. Stayed a few nights in Banff. Lots of hiking, rafting, kayaking etc Drove down across the border to do the ‘Sun Road’, google/YouTube it. Then up to Calgary for a night before flying to Toronto. So much to do in the rockies, you won’t regret spending most of your time there.

kerry4sam

Thread moved to where it would be better suited.

Thanks,
kerry4sam

el diablo

Vancouver, Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton, Lilooet, Kamloops, Revelstoke, Golden, Lake Louise, Moraine Lake and Peyto Lake, Banff etc would be the route I'd recommend.

micayla

whats_my_name wrote: »

Hi all,


Traveling to Canada in the summer for 2 weeks to visit friends. Planning on flying into Vancouver & flying home from Calgary. Friends are based in Vancouver & Edmonton so would ideally like to spend a few days with them. Planning on driving to Edmonton from Vancouver and flying out the same day we arrive into Calgary.

The route I was planning on taking was Vancouver > Kelowna > Banff > Lake Louise > Jasper > Edmonton > Calgary. Has anyone done anything similar to this before & if so is this the best route you would recommend to take?

I'm quite active & would love to do a bit of hiking, maybe white water rafting if I can convince the other half, cycling, kayaking etc. It's a once in a lifetime trip & I don't want to miss out on anything that I'll never get to do/see again. So all suggestions are very much welcome & appreciated!


Thanks

I hope you still get to do this trip!

I didn't go all the way from Van to Edmonton but I did do Van to Jasper and definitely recommend the route you're planning. You can do white water rafting near Kelowna, some of the best in that area I believe.

If you go via Penticton there's some great wineries & vineyards you can visit in the Okanagan region.

Banff will provide lots of hikes! The road trip from Banff to Jasper is one of the best, stops at Peyto Lake and the Athabasca Glacier should be on your to do list.

Jasper has some amazing attractions including Maligne Lake & Canyon. It's also where I saw most of the bears and other wildlife I've seen in Canada.

Don't know much about the road trip to Edmonton though, the one from Banff via the main highway was pretty boring when I did eventually end up visiting. But Edmonton is a better city than Calgary for sure!