Advice over trip to Canada - Vancouver

isplumm

northwest1965 wrote: »

Who are you booking that with. We haven't found one yet with no one way

Trailfinders have told me that if I rent a car from Alamo at an airport & drop off at an airport then there is no one way drop off charge.

Of course I can not get any prices for car hire as to early!

So we will see.

Thanks Mark

northwest1965

isplumm wrote: »

Trailfinders have told me that if I rent a car from Alamo at an airport & drop off at an airport then there is no one way drop off charge.

Of course I can not get any prices for car hire as to early!

So we will see.

Thanks Mark

Is that Alamo.co.uk? If so it is $300 one way fee

Alan_Bowen

I agree on the one way fee, I used Avis renting in Vancouver and dropping it in Calgary, in fact a day early as the snow was beginning and decided to cut our losses and fly down to the sun of San Diego. I seem to recall the one way fee was $150 but it is a few years ago.

Much preferred Jasper to Banff, rented a log cabin on the outskirts of town and had moose coming up to the front door, log fire in the lounge, absolutely wonderful. Banff seemed to be full of Japanese tourists, I love the Japanese, but the town was geared up for them, prices in yen, Japanese staff and higher prices.

We travelled towards the end of September, enjoyed 4 nights in Vancouver, drove up to Whistler but really didn't see the point at all. Took the bus and ferry to Victoria, a great day out, we had been before on the fast ferry from Seattle ( I love Seattle but the weather was typically wet, no wonder they drink so much coffee) and after leaving Vancouver drove up to the mountains and avoided Kamloops since everyone seems to stay there and the hotels are full of passengers from the Rocky Mountaineer which stops there every night going both east and west.

The icelands parkway was a great drive but the weather was wet and misty and that can happen at any point. Arrived at the Glacier just after lunch when the snowmobiles were just staring for the day, everything was covered by warnings that they deny liability if you slip on the ice, so I presume quite a few people must do.

Lake Louise is another possible stop, walk through Chateau Lake Louise and around the lake for free, stunning scenery. There are a number of cable cars to take you up the mountains but vertigo stops me from attempting to do them

It has always been one of our favourite holidays, I am sure you will enjoy it.

John259

As well as Lake Louise, be sure to also visit nearby Morraine Lake. It's just as beautiful but far less developed. It's accessed by a good quality paved road.
Map: https://goo.gl/maps/293L3Fd8ofN2

isplumm

Hi

Thanks for your advise & comments - I have spent some time on TA and have come up with the following schedule:

Seattle 2 nights - fly to Vancouver.
Vancouver 3 nights.
Kelowna 2 nights.
Lake Louise 1 night
Jasper 4 nights
Banff 4 nights
Calgary 2 nights (Las 2 days of Stampede).

18 nights.

I just to make a decision about Jasper & Banff - which one to stay longer at or take one of those nights & add it to Seattle.

Mark

isplumm

northwest1965 wrote: »

Is that Alamo.co.uk? If so it is $300 one way fee

Alamo - but booking through Trail Finders - obviously I haven't actually booked this so might not be correct.

Mark

isplumm

Hi

Someone on TA suggested "Look at Canadian Affair for one way car rental, Vancouver to Calgary with no drop fee and insurance included."

Mark

northwest1965

isplumm wrote: »

Hi

Someone on TA suggested "Look at Canadian Affair for one way car rental, Vancouver to Calgary with no drop fee and insurance included."

Mark

Will ring them and get a price. One thing I will make sure of and that is, if we have a delay or are bumped off a flight (like this year) the car hire can be changed without penalty

isplumm

northwest1965 wrote: »

Will ring them and get a price. One thing I will make sure of and that is, if we have a delay or are bumped off a flight (like this year) the car hire can be changed without penalty

I would also try trail finders - it is them that are saying there is no one way drop off fee if I pick up at airport & drop off at different airport.

Thanks Mark

A_Kay

We did a very similar trip last September, though starting from Calgary and finishing in Vancouver.

If you haven't already come across it then I'd highly recommend looking into the GyPSy Guide series for Banff/Jasper/Icefields Parkway - gives you so much information on the things you're seeing as you're driving and recommends diversions that you otherwise might pass.

And in terms of whether your time is better spent in Banff and Jasper it'll depend on the kind of activities you have planned, to us Jasper definitely had much more a feel of the 'wilderness' which meant we did more hiking/canoeing here and then more of the 'touristy' things like the Gondola and Hot Springs in Banff.

And it may be slightly too early for restaurant recommendations but dinner at Evil Dave's Grill in Jasper was one of the foodie highlights of our trip