Driving in Canada

[notyoueither]

Bump.

Got 3 weeks off in September, maybe more. Anything decent to do at that time of the year, over in the Rockies area?

Lots.

Are there any areas you are focused on?

Any preferred activities (climbing, touring, hiking, sight-seeing, etc)?

[RedFred]

I was surprised to see this thread get bumped. But...no different than December really. It is still cool and rainy on the left coast and still snowing on the prairies.

Maybe wait a few MORE months.

[notyoueither]

September can be quite nice. Much better than March.

I have never figured Krill for a great winter sport enthusiast.

[Krill]

Sightseeing,hiking, both of those sound good. Looking at BC/Alberta,not bothered about outside that atm.

Thanks NYE

[gwillybj]

Toronto to Montreal is boring as hell!

But didn't the excitement of driving in Montreal make the trip worthwhile?

[Asher]

I imagine it was mostly the excitement of leaving Toronto. It's a visceral thrill every time.

[notyoueither]

Sightseeing,hiking, both of those sound good. Looking at BC/Alberta,not bothered about outside that atm.

Thanks NYE

As a place to start, I'll say what I'd do.

I'd fly into and out of Vancouver. I'd do this so I could kick around that city for three or four days. Could be at either end of the trip. Vancouver is supposed to be one of the nicer cities on the planet. It is in sort of a temperate rain forest zone (or whatever) is on the sea and pushed up against mountains. Lots to see and do both urban and excursion on boat or into the mountains. Being on a boat among Orcas may be something of interest to you. The only problem with Vancouver is the people who live there, but this is true of a great many places and there are some good people there if you look hard enough.

I would jump onto a train from Vancouver and travel to Jasper or Edmonton. Once there, rent a car for burning around in the mountains and getting back to the port of departure (Vancouver by my plan, but could be Calgary). I mention Edmonton as it may be a better place to rent a car. You could stop at the town of Jasper as you are nearly through the mountains by that point.

There is quite a bit to see in the Northern part of Jasper National Park, but it is a bit wilder and maybe less for organised, guided activities. Although, if you could get on a horseback tour for day (or a few) it would be up in the North I'd do it.

There is a highway that links Jasper and Banff. I think they call it the Icefields Parkway. Travelling down it will get you to the Columbia Ice Fields. There you can kick around a bit and get a tour of a glacier. The tour of the Athabasca glacier is supposed to be quite cool. These glaciers would be the remnants of those that covered where Asher and I are from in about a mile of ice, and likely will again someday soon (geologically speaking). Did I mention we encourage you to drive an internal combustion auto as much as possible?

A little further down from the icefields will get you to Banff National Park and Lake Louise. There, and at many other lakes along the route, there should be some great hiking. At the Southern end of this trip is Banff itself. Banff, the town, is probably the most tourist trappy place on the whole tour, followed not too far by the town of Jasper. There will be lots of other touristy places in the mountains though.

One of the touristy places in the mountains is a little South-West of Banff. Radium Hot Springs is pretty cool for a hot spot. The name says what it is. There is a small town and should be some good hiking somewhere abouts. The road trip from around Banff should be quite good for scenery.

Now, I've typed all this up and realise that I did not ask about plans for accomodations. Do you plan to camp, hotel/motel, hostel? It is assumed that you will rent a car and drive, or travel will be quite a bit less under your control. We don't have the density of population to have the sorts of transit options you are accustomed to in Europe.

There is quite a lot to do and see in the interior of BC as well as up the coast and into the Alaska Panhandle. RedFred is going to know a lot more about it (and possibly the parks) than I. Another person we might try to round up is Joncha, since he is from Vancouver (or lived there). kontiki might be another person to dragoon for advice.

One thing I'll mention is the Queen Charlotte Islands. I would imagine they might be of some interest to you, and you should be able to catch a boat tour from Vancouver or someplace up the coast.

A couple things you will want to research a bit are bears and weather. When you hike in the mountains or foothills, you stand a decent chance of getting much closer to large bruins than is advisable for continued enjoyment of your life and limbs. There are ways to deal with them when encountered (and to avoid those encounters) but you're going to want to know what your options are prior to the event. Reading a manual as you look at the cubs and listen to the enraged mother charging you from behind is not advisable.

A possible fly in the ointment of any trip to the mountains is weather. You will want to be prepared for wet and or cold weather. You will not want to go hopping about on a trail, or driving on a highway if there is an early blizzard or threat of one. If you do not want to pack a parka or heavy coat, you might want to allow for the purchase in your backup funds/credit card limit. There are likely some guidelines for hiking in the mountains even in the summer. I do not know, as I am not a hiker. RedFred should have some nice pointers there too. IIRC, he is a hiker.

I'll leave off here, but this should be a beginning to help you plan a trip.

[Asher]

I can't promise anything, but I know the areas of the rockies around Calgary (Banff, Lake Louise, Radium, etc area) pretty well. I may or may not have a job in September...if I don't I'd be happy to either meet up with you somewhere in the area or take you there from Calgary. I like to go on hikes.

You may've mentioned this, but is this just you? I'm assuming you're going with other people.

[Krill]

NYE, thanks! I'm definitely looking at renting a car, it seems that I'll have to pay slightly more because of my age (blah). I'm thinking that motels/hostels is the way to go, I've never really done much camping, and never outside summer. On renting a car, how would you suggest I go about that? Book one before I travel, or just turn up and ask for one?

Asher, just me, and thank you for the offer I hope you get/keep a job though.

[Krill]

NYE, thanks! I'm definitely looking at renting a car, it seems that I'll have to pay slightly more because of my age (blah). I'm thinking that motels/hostels is the way to go, I've never really done much camping, and never outside summer. On renting a car, how would you suggest I go about that? Book one before I travel, or just turn up and ask for one?

Asher, just me, and thank you for the offer I hope you get/keep a job though.

[notyoueither]

OK. Car rental is not as straight-forward as I'd thought.

Do you have an international license? Is it hard to get there? I got inconsistent answers, but some will not rent on a British DL.

It also depends on your plans for touring. It might be easier to pick up a car in Alberta, do the National Parks, drop off in Alberta, then fly to Vancouver and pick up a new car and do the touring in BC. Or whatever. The point is that car rental policies and the provincial border affect the planning of the tour.

As for being young driver, yep a small charge per day (amount varies by company, $10 to $15). There's also insurance (through the rental outfit).

[Asher]

When I rented a car in Ontario when I was under 25, it was far more than a "small charge per day". They charged a $15 premium and mandated I buy their overpriced insurance even though I'd had coverage through my own insurance for rental cars. It was twice the price per day.

[notyoueither]

Like I said, $10 to $15 per day.

Budget is $37 per day ($167 per week) for a mid size car, plus $25 per day for insurance, and $10 per day for young driver. Unlimited milage, but they charge up the hoop to drop the car off in a different province.

Enterprise is $50 per day ($199 per week) for a mid size car, plus $20 per day for insurance, and $15 per day for young driver. They allow unlimited milage within the rental province (add $50 charge for unlimted milage in neighbouring province). They do not allow for drop off out of province.

Enterprise said any license from an English speaking country (they can read the license). Budget said an international DL is required. I think the person at Budget was probably right and the one at Enterprise thought that Britain was a suburb of Boston.

I was thinking the insurance would be an automatic need for krill as I've never heard that he owns a car in Britain.

[Wezil]

Discount will also rent with a British DL (at least they used to).

If he owns a Gold Card he can bypass the insurance as well as most of these cards cover rental car insurance (with a deductible).

"One way" rentals are usually very expensive as many lots are private franchises and own their own cars (they aren't fleet). When a car ends up a long way from "home" it needs somehow to make it back. The high "one way" fee is to discourage people from asking for it.

NYE is right - separate rentals at each location would be cheaper.

[notyoueither]

Good to know about the British DL. Lots of details, like Enterprise allows for drop off anywhere in province, but charges $50 to drop at the airport (all? just Edmonton?).

Knowing a bit more about what krill would like to do could lead to more phone calls and more precision on options and costs.