Motorhome trip in Canada

darrenbilly

blindman said:

Fuel consumption is high.
Slower to drive than a car, so longer journey times.
Camp site fees can be high
Can't just park it in town easily.
Need specialist insurance, normal car insurance is not applicable.
Get one with a toilet-Pro-convenient-Con you have to empty it in special areas.
If the're just two of you, IMHO cheaper, better to hire a car and stop at AirBnb's

Absolutely no to all these points.
Your motorhome is your bed. 
If you want to drive 100km you could. It'd be windy and rocky, plus you would miss out on the views. In and around Banff and Jasper you are highly likely to see bear, moose, deer etc so why drive fast?
You do not necessarily need specialist insurance. If you rent from a company who's business is renting motorhomes, it's included. You will have a deductible which is entirely normal.
The places OP mentions going is designed for this. Jasper and Banff have places to park for the day. Campsites are often not far from the town, and you can get a local bus to town from your campsite. Campsites have places to empty your tanks and refill, all included in your fee. Plus there are places across the country specifically for this. When I did it last time I used and app which showed me where I could do it outside of campsites.

darrenbilly

Brie said:

someone was saying that insurance wasn't included in the price so make sure you look for that.

And be conscious of the distances you will travel..  I've met too many people who think that an inch on the map in Canada can be traveled in an hour.  Grew up there so I know this isn't true!!!

Praise the lord for Google Maps.

Nebulous2

darrenbilly said:

Nebulous2 said:

We are contemplating spending a month or so in Canada next year, with 2-3 weeks of that touring in a motorhome and the rest visiting family. Looking at Calgary / Banff / Jasper sort of area. I'm getting quotes for motorhomes that are cheaper than New Zealand, and even cheaper than at home. 

I'm wondering if I'm missing something with the motorhome rental - will I be hit with lots of additional costs? I know fuel and campsites aren't included. 

Any tips or suggestions? 

I really hope you make this trip, I can tell you now, you will have a great time. I've done it twice myself. First time in a car I owned, second time after I moved back to the UK I went over with my dad and we rented a lovely motorhome from Canadream. I'm looking to go again this year - same route, same experiences. The price on their site is the price you pay. Banff and Jasper are glorious must see places. 
Gas and campsite fees will be the second and third highest costs after the motorhome. However, of got fly into Calgary and rent/return there, the roadtrip out and back would be about 1500+1800kms if I remember correctly. Food and drink (groceries and eating out) might cost more than you spend on gas! 
Feel free to message me any questions.

Thanks very much - I appreciate your time. 

We caravan at home, so we are used to campsites, hooking up electric,  emptying waste etc. We wanted to try a motorhome trip in New Zealand, but couldn't believe how expensive rental was. I expected Canada to be the same, but tried some random dates, and discovered it was much cheaper than I expected. 

We had to go to Canada for the first time for family reasons last year. We spent a few days in Vancouver and some in Whistler. Unfortunately we couldn't extend our trip, but it gave us a taste for seeing a bit more of what was an amazing country.  

Flights to Calgary appear to be cheaper than Vancouver. We wouldn't need to do a lot of kms a day. If we managed to get a month in Canada, we could be flexible about how much was in a motorhome, and how much wasn't.

I've been trying at home to change my mindset with caravanning. There doesn't need to be a pressure to do a big drive in one day. I can split it up with an overnight somewhere and make the journey part of the holiday, rather than an endurance test. I'm slowly getting there! 

I've seen that I might need to book campsites ahead in Banff / Jasper areas as they fill up quickly in peak season. Did you find that? 

darrenbilly

Nebulous2 said:

darrenbilly said:

Nebulous2 said:

We are contemplating spending a month or so in Canada next year, with 2-3 weeks of that touring in a motorhome and the rest visiting family. Looking at Calgary / Banff / Jasper sort of area. I'm getting quotes for motorhomes that are cheaper than New Zealand, and even cheaper than at home. 

I'm wondering if I'm missing something with the motorhome rental - will I be hit with lots of additional costs? I know fuel and campsites aren't included. 

Any tips or suggestions? 

I really hope you make this trip, I can tell you now, you will have a great time. I've done it twice myself. First time in a car I owned, second time after I moved back to the UK I went over with my dad and we rented a lovely motorhome from Canadream. I'm looking to go again this year - same route, same experiences. The price on their site is the price you pay. Banff and Jasper are glorious must see places. 
Gas and campsite fees will be the second and third highest costs after the motorhome. However, of got fly into Calgary and rent/return there, the roadtrip out and back would be about 1500+1800kms if I remember correctly. Food and drink (groceries and eating out) might cost more than you spend on gas! 
Feel free to message me any questions.

Thanks very much - I appreciate your time. 

We caravan at home, so we are used to campsites, hooking up electric,  emptying waste etc. We wanted to try a motorhome trip in New Zealand, but couldn't believe how expensive rental was. I expected Canada to be the same, but tried some random dates, and discovered it was much cheaper than I expected. 

We had to go to Canada for the first time for family reasons last year. We spent a few days in Vancouver and some in Whistler. Unfortunately we couldn't extend our trip, but it gave us a taste for seeing a bit more of what was an amazing country.  

Flights to Calgary appear to be cheaper than Vancouver. We wouldn't need to do a lot of kms a day. If we managed to get a month in Canada, we could be flexible about how much was in a motorhome, and how much wasn't.

I've been trying at home to change my mindset with caravanning. There doesn't need to be a pressure to do a big drive in one day. I can split it up with an overnight somewhere and make the journey part of the holiday, rather than an endurance test. I'm slowly getting there! 

I've seen that I might need to book campsites ahead in Banff / Jasper areas as they fill up quickly in peak season. Did you find that? 

The fact you are experienced in the UK will help. I'm not experienced at all, and still had a great time and figured everything out. Even when the camper start making a weird noise at 3 in the morning and woke me up. Thankfully there is a 24/7 helpline.

I would recommend using Canadream. Everything is clear on their website. If you did Calgary out to Jasper and back, you could get away with the standard Kms and add the 500kms package. 

It depends which time of year you go, as to whether you need to book a campsite. I went end of May/beginning June because I wanted to avoid the busy season and when it was less hot. We went up Whistler mountain and there was more snow still up there than you'll ever see your entire life in the UK. It's phenomenal.
We booked all our sites ahead of the trip. But as you said, avoid driving too much in a day. In Banff and Jasper you can stay at one site the whole time. Also, be sure to check out the amazing hot springs around Banff and Jasper - just outside both towns and well worth the trip. We stayed at Tunnel Mountain in Banff, the town bus comes through the site and straight downtown. Saw cow moose a few times on that short roundtrip. Also plenty of bear to be seen along the Rockies. Cant fault any element of the trip. 

heatherw_01

I have looked into this myself many times in the past.

One thing is that they often have a miles cap and you pay more to do more miles, so just check that.

For example, lets say up to 500 miles is included free. Up to 1000 miles costs extra. Up to 2000 costs extra etc.
This is the thing that put me off when I was looking to do similar as if you want to drive around and see lots, you are paying lots to do more miles.

Other than that, there is pretty much just fees for wherever you wish to "camp", gas prices of course will be a bit higher as they use a lot of fuel.

blindman

darrenbilly said:

blindman said:

Fuel consumption is high.
Slower to drive than a car, so longer journey times.
Camp site fees can be high
Can't just park it in town easily.
Need specialist insurance, normal car insurance is not applicable.
Get one with a toilet-Pro-convenient-Con you have to empty it in special areas.
If the're just two of you, IMHO cheaper, better to hire a car and stop at AirBnb's

Absolutely no to all these points.
Your motorhome is your bed. 
If you want to drive 100km you could. It'd be windy and rocky, plus you would miss out on the views. In and around Banff and Jasper you are highly likely to see bear, moose, deer etc so why drive fast?
You do not necessarily need specialist insurance. If you rent from a company who's business is renting motorhomes, it's included. You will have a deductible which is entirely normal.
The places OP mentions going is designed for this. Jasper and Banff have places to park for the day. Campsites are often not far from the town, and you can get a local bus to town from your campsite. Campsites have places to empty your tanks and refill, all included in your fee. Plus there are places across the country specifically for this. When I did it last time I used and app which showed me where I could do it outside of campsites.

I do not see any valid arguments in your reply to say all my points were wrong?

Fuel consumption. 
Motorhome  10 miles per gall
Car 40  miles per gallon
Unless you know different.

Speed
Motorhome is slower -Not saying you need to tear around at top speed BUT if you are planning a cross country journey then that 300 mile trip will be slower than a car.

Camp site fees.  Jasper\Banff can be $40 per night...IIRC

Bus to town-Think there was an irregular service but not exactly convenient.

Insurance-Yes the rental place can ADD the insurance for you but it will not be the cheapest option.
Cheap thrid party car hire insurannce is about £40 PER YEAR, To find one with Motorhome cover (I only found TWO policies) will be about £100 per year.

Grey and Black water disposal-You do need to be on a special location that has this facility. You cannot just dump it in a nearby layby.\drain

I used several APPS that showed where to find these dumps and also ones where you could "free" camp. Walmarts were good for long journey stop overs. You could even use their toilets!

Also used APPS for fuel prices.

It was still an expensive option even though the motorhome was my bed and diner.