Canada for next year's summer holiday?

Question

We are thinking about Canada for next year's summer holiday. We have two kids (6 and 9 at date of travel) and have friends who recommend the Vancouver area. We also might like to take in the Calgary Stampede. What options might we have? Is it possible / practical to get to and from Calgary as part of a holiday based in British Columbia? Where else ought we to consider? Thanks!

Answer 1

im from the uk and go to canada at least once a year to visitg my dad but i love it there, there is big theme parks and water parks, you can go to cottages up north were it is all quiet and peaceful and do things like horse riding,swim in the lake, walk round the woods, play tennis then back to the city to see shows and big movie theatres, i go to toronto but have been up north too. go for it u'll all love it

Answer 2

Canada is a great choice... like one above says just like the US except the ugliness.

If you can, ideal to fly into calgary and then travel by car to Vancouver.  Its one of the world's nicest drives.  Its about 10 hours drive time but break it up in banff, okanagan etc and not so bad....

From calgary visit Banff, Lake Louise and on to BC. Stop in Kelowna for a couple days and see the "wine country" and on to the coast in vancouver.  If you have time take ferry to Victoria area,.  

Fly out of Vancouver back home/.

www.hellobc.com is a good place to start planning.

Hope you make it here and have a great time.

Answer 3

You are looking at a 12 hour trip by car from Van to Calgary.  You can scoot over by Ferry to Vancouver Island to Victoria and drive up the Island.

Answer 4

My family and I went to the Vancouver and Banff area's of Canada two summers ago for vacation, it was one of the nicest and coolest places i have ever been to. The weather is nice, but can be kind of cold for me (i'm from Texas) but the people there are mostly very nice and friendly, plus the scenery is beautiful. I would definately recommend it for vacation

Answer 5

my sis is coming to bc/alberta on thursday.

i have planned for her to land in calgary where i will pick her up, we will drive to creston bc to my house then to osoyoos

and through to vancouver, she will return to england from vancouver.

we will camp or stay in motels, so we can enjoy the scenery, the temps are higher in the south and the roads are more interesting.

we will stop in fernie to see the indian and horse on the mountain, the provincial park there to see the old forest and lake, island lake lodge is wonderful.

creston is orchard country... will pick our own fruit of the season... cherries coming in about 2 weeks.

take the ferry to visit ainsworth hot springs...

go thru the summit.. views are incredible..

cross the canada/us border at osoyoos stop at yakima for bargain shopping.. visit the old western style town..drive the going to the sun road to see 11 ft high snowbanks in july!!

pass thru seattle and into vancouver to english bay, take in the aquarium, ferry across to vancouver island and back..

hope to do some... zipline in calgary olympic park, camping by the creek in the mountains..rafting on a little #1 rated river..

sunbathing in osoyoos..

travel from england out of differant airports is easy using canadian-affair.co.uk

thomas cook flights..

check out the tourist sites you have already been given and that should be lots for you to work with, also google motels and hostels for reasonably priced accommodations

have fun there's lots to do..

Answer 6

Wow! Where did those first responders come from? Sounds like they rolled out of bed on the wrong side!

Oh Well. If you are planning to go to Vancouver and come through to Calgary you are in for a fantastic vacation. It's a bit early to tell you what will be going on next year but if you want a look at what's going on this year as an example, try this link

http://www.harbourliving.ca/events/2008-...

Vancouver is a great city! The kids should like Stanley Park and English Bay. If you come in July, well July 1st is Canada Day and there are always celebrations no matter where you are. We get a lot of American tourists and with July 4th being only a few days away from our National celebrations, the fun runs for the entire week in most places. Some of the things that went/are going on this July in British Columbia

http://canada.travelall.com/bc/eventcale...

A trip by ferry  from Tsawassen to Victoria on Vancouver Island will take you right past the Butchart Gardens. Golfing and gardening are a way of life on Vancouver Island, as are walking, hiking, cycling and birding. World-class attractions, museums, arts and entertainment, shopping, gourmet food and spas also delight visitors.

I would refer you at this point to starfish's post though I would recommend you take 3 or 4 days to do it as there is a tremendous amount to see in the 600 miles or there abouts between Vancouver and Calgary. Starfish does say she has done it many times as have I and her times are reasonable only if you have done it before I think. Take a little longer to do it the first time to really enjoy.

Jasper is a great place to visit but it adds at least 4 days to the trip if you are to see anything of it at all. I would leave it for your next visit unless time is not an issue to you.

I like tinker's suggestion about Drumheller a lot. Dinosaurs are always a hit with kids and Drumheller has to be one of the best Badlands spots around.

You might want to check out the answers to this earlier question about Calgary

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 7

it depends where your coming from. if your coming from the US, theres really no point in visiting canada. its exactly the same except everything is a lot more expensive. especially with kids, it wont be much of a get away

Answer 8

The Stampede would be cool - I've been wanting to go for years but I never get around to it.  It's a bit of a drive, but it's a beautiful one.  The Rockies are gorgeous.  But I'd schedule that for 5-6 days.  2-3 days driving total (it's about a 12 hour drive - which I wouldn't recommend doing all at once with kids) and then another few days in Calgary itself.

If you're down there you might want to check out Drumheller.  It's famous for its awesome Dinosaur museum and its in the Badlands which are pretty neat.

Vancouver is okay.  It's got the big parks and a cool science museum.  It's got a lovely aquarium.

But if you're doing that I wouldn't recommend doing much else - Calgary/Vancouver would probably take up a whole vacation unless you're going for more than 2 weeks.  Trying to fit much more of the country in would put you in a rush and that's no fun.  I suppose you could do some of Vancouver Island, but as an Islander I'd think you'd find it pretty disapointing.  It's a boring place, to be frank.

Answer 9

Depends on how long you have. Last year my wife, 2 kids {then aged 10 & 8} & I hired an RV from www.alldrive.com & drove from Calgary to Vancouver. I have done this before when I was single but this was the first time the kids had been. We where met @ the airport, taken to the depot shown how everthing worked on the RV & the truck as I hired what is called a 5th wheel, so you can just use the truck for getting around. We stayed 3 days in Calgary then went to Banff, Radium Hot Springs & along the Crows nest Highway, this is not the typical tourist route. Stopping for a couple of days in various places. Like Osoyoos near the wine growing region, We stayed the last five in Vancouver, We dropped of the RV & where dropped off @ the airport. We took 25 days in total lots to see & do depending on the stopover. Booked all the campsites on line it was quite easy. Kids & wife loved it so much we are going again next year. After we have tried California this year.

Answer 10

You could try Ontario you could see the cn tower ,Niagara Falls,the Science Center ,African Lion Safari and  Canada's Wonderland(which are in Toronto).

hope u have a great summer next year!

GO TO TORONTO!

Answer 11

are u serious =( tats going to suck for your kids go to disney land or world do something fun ... CAN CANADA as ur vacation

Answer 12

It rains in Vancouver ... alot!

Answer 13

IT'S NEXT YEAR! THINK ABOUT IT LATER

Answer 14

Go to Toronto! Trust me, it's a very beautiful town. Very busy but a lot of tourist attractions too. Canada is the best country in the entire world! We're multicultural and at total peace.

Well, Vancouver to Calgary is a long car ride. I suggest you taking a plane.

Answer 15

With kids that age, you will want to take about 2 days to drive from Vancouver to Calgary.  It can be done in one day, but it's a very long day (13-14 hours, because you'll probably need to stop a lot with the kids).  But there are a lot of interesting things to see along the way, and a lot of nice little mountain towns in the interior of BC that you can stay over night in.  You can also go see Jasper and Banff on the way to Calgary, so check out those places.  Here's a list of towns on the way in British Columbia that you might want to stay in:

-Kelowna

-Kamloops

-Salmon Arm

-Penticton

-Golden

-Revelstoke

Some of them are bigger than others.  I recommend checking out places that you might want to visit on Wikitravel, http://wikitravel.org

There are tons of things to do all over British Columbia and Alberta.  It really doesn't rain that much in Vancouver in the summer time; it mostly rains in the winter.  Alberta is nice in the summer.  Temperatures in Calgary are usually in the 80's and 90's, although it can get hotter and it's pretty dry.  Calgary is a pretty big city.  It has a really nice Chinatown and a big zoo, and tons of other things to do.  There's an amusement park called Calaway park, and there's a huge children's festival at the beginning of the summer with outdoor activities, plays, crafts, games, clowns, face painting, music, and lots of other stuff.  This would be a perfect trip for kids that age.    :)