RV Across Canada Halifax-Vancouver

[joharims]

Hi,
My first experience with RV travel South Island New Zealand. I'm planning RV across Canada begin from Halifax to Vancouver. Really need advises and tips to get my dream become reality.
1. How much time needed to complete the journey?
2. Suggestion for RV type and reliable company which I can rent?
3. Recommended route?
4. Recommended itinerary?

Any advises and tips from you guys?

[canadafan]

Hi,

You have to be very keen on driving to do your proposed trip (over 6000 km without side trips) remember the rental will charge about $0.30 per Km, unless you can get an unlimited mileage deal (unlikely with such a long distance one-way), it might be better to do the Eastern bit from/to say Montreal or Toronto with a local rental, then fly to Calgary and do a one way from there to Vancouver.

Have a look at the BCAA route planner.

You did not say if your plan was for 2014 or the future. It is now VERY expensive to reserve a rental unit for June, July & August.
Best time for lowest cost rental reservations is around October/November the year before you want to travel especially with the companies offering so called Flex Rates.
My rental from Vancouver would today cost around twice the the price I paid for a reservation made last November!!

Another tip, if you use one of the three companies already mentioned try to get a quote from agents outside Canada/USA they can frequently offer better prices ( not usually available to Canadian/US residents).

Type of rental unit is dependant on the number of travellers, a "C" class works best for me, what ever you do don't "pack them in"

[K_Reeve]

quick side story, I have friends from the Dominican Republic, they look at an atlas and see the DR is two pages, they look at Canada and its 2 pages, he is 38 years old and has NEVER been to the other side of his own country, its a huge trip to him ( 270 km's) and that's un heard of, Heck Regina Sask, to its closest Large City Saskatoon is 250 km's.

I would seriously reconsider your trip plans depending on what you are used to driving, and the shear size of our Country, you would be better to spend the month on the east, if you really want to go across Canada, as has been suggested, rent a local RV, tour the maritimes, jump a plane to Toronto, rent local, tour area, jump a plane to Calgary or Edmonton, rinse and repeat.

you still have not told us what your interests are to help you out. I know personally I could spend a few days just around south western Saskatchewan walking the T.rex fossil trails, the exhibits there, while in Regina you can check out F division of the RCMP that is there training area, watch the Musical ride that is something to see, plus there museum that's another day.

I don't want to discourage you, but your trip sounds like it will be very rushed I know myself I could easily spend a week in each province to see the sites, and know I am missing a lot.

Good luck with the trip. take lots of pictures and really don't want to discourage you but I think you should seriously break down your trip into much smaller bites.

[jspence1]

You may be better off doing some flying and doing a local rental. If you were to pick 3 locations Halifax, Toronto, and Vancouver and spend a week around each it will probably be more relaxing.

My plan has me doing a straight run from Toronto to Calgary in 9 days and as the dates get closer I'm starting to worry I've not given myself enough time to make the trip.

[dieharder]

joharims wrote:
You guys really awesome..trigley,gaetan,jspence1,dieharder,tripalot,little kopit and for sure orion.
Your information and suggestion really precious to me. Sure I will take it as serious consideration into my planning.
I'm still doing research how to spend my stop, where to stop and how much time do I need.
My intention the route will stay in Canada in 30days still not divert to State if any diversion will not far away from the original route...leg#1,leg#2 and leg#3. Maybe shorten certain legs and extend another legs. Next trip will explore into the state.

Orion, I really appreciates your time to write a long suggestions. Your words really make me excited to travel along the Rocky Mountains. For the journey probably driving +/-3hrs/day with distance 250-350km/day. Trying to arrive the next campsite around 4-5pm. Will stop if any tourist attractions along the way/route.

We will travel in group probably 3-4 Motorhomes/RV. Considered Canadream RV/Cruise Canada are the best option for me but still doing some research about rules and regulation from Canadream/Cruise Canada and also from local authority.

Comments,suggestion and tips are most welcome.

Keep in mind... if you're doing 250-350km a day... just your last leg alone from Thunder Bay to Vancouver is in the area of 3500km including Jasper and Banff. At that rate, the driving alone will take you 10 days and not the 8 you have assigned for it.

[Orion]

I personally think that you really need to rethink your goal of around 300 km a day. You will have to drive every day at that rate, where as several of your stops will require a few days each. Without going into any details, some parts of your trip you will need to really eat up the miles as you will be seeing the same scenery out of your window from morning till night! As an example in Northern Ontario you might be lucky to see the Northern Lights! Stay up all night and sleep all the next day. I'm not that familiar with the prairies, so I didn't write much about them, but you might come across something that really appeals to you and may want to stay for a day or so. For example Banff & Jasper will need at least two full days and then only scratch the surface. Same with Vancouver, Stanley Park, Lynn Canyon, Chinatown, Gas Town, Little Italy, Museum of Anthropology, Grouse Mountain Skyride, Whistler, day trip on the bus, Ferry through the Gulf Islands to Victoria. You wouldn't want to miss any of that!
Ask more questions when you have a clearer idea of your itinerary. I came here as a foreigner many years ago so I do realise that people from other countries have a very different view of things from people who have lived here all their lives. Sorry I can't help you with your rental questions

[Little_Kopit]

North American jargon.

"The States" is the term used to refer to the United States of America in short form.

Or.... you might say "in the US",

Or.... just USA.

Currency might be US$
& CA$

Do you know about searching via domain name. Especially for subjects

Go to: www.google.ca
Or to: www.yahoo.ca

In one of those sites for visitors guides to each province, use search term 'name of province' & 'tourism', as in 'Manitoba tourism'

Essential site: http://weather.gc.ca/canada_e.html, interactive map looks like (if I'm lucky)(and it should adapt to the time of the day here, at time of posting it is the night time image.)





:C

[joharims]

You guys really awesome..trigley,gaetan,jspence1,dieharder,tripalot,little kopit and for sure orion.
Your information and suggestion really precious to me. Sure I will take it as serious consideration into my planning.
I'm still doing research how to spend my stop, where to stop and how much time do I need.
My intention the route will stay in Canada in 30days still not divert to State if any diversion will not far away from the original route...leg#1,leg#2 and leg#3. Maybe shorten certain legs and extend another legs. Next trip will explore into the state.

Orion, I really appreciates your time to write a long suggestions. Your words really make me excited to travel along the Rocky Mountains. For the journey probably driving +/-3hrs/day with distance 250-350km/day. Trying to arrive the next campsite around 4-5pm. Will stop if any tourist attractions along the way/route.

We will travel in group probably 3-4 Motorhomes/RV. Considered Canadream RV/Cruise Canada are the best option for me but still doing some research about rules and regulation from Canadream/Cruise Canada and also from local authority.

Comments,suggestion and tips are most welcome.

[Little_Kopit]

In response to Orion.

Yes, do historic sections of Quebec AND MONTREAL. Montreal is distinct in comparison to Quebec City. I lived in Montreal 3.5 years.

Toronto is more average vs. N. American cities.

Stay in Canada. Do an American trip another time.

:C

[Orion]

Part III.
Head west into the Rockies and stay in Banff or nearby. Depending on your vehicle take side trips into Kananaskis, Johnson Canyon, Yoho, Sulphur Mountain, Lake Louise, Morraine Lake, Bow Lake, Peyto Lake, Columbia Icefields, Jasper, Maligne Lake, Mt. Robson. In fact it might be better to split this part of your trip between Banff & Jasper, there is so much to see. At least go as far as the Columbia Icefields!
If you end up in Jasper & have seen Mt. Robson, do not make you way to Vancouver via HWY 16 and HWY 5, as the map would indicate, but head back the same way as far as Lake Louise & then take Hwy 1 west. This way you have a choice to go through the Okanagan Valley, without backtracking, and Hwy 5 can be a bit tedious (many disagree with me on that) So by going 'MY' way you get to see the spiral railway tunnels in Kicking Horse Pass, and the mountain sheep around Golden. You also get to go through Rogers Pass and lots of Glaciers. You pass through Revelstoke a nice town. At Sicamous, you may notice a change in the Vegetation, its beginning to dry out, farther on depending which way you go, you will pass through some semi desert with annual rainfall about 20cm.
At Sicamous you have a choice of routes. You can either stay on Hwy 1 through Kamloops, Cache Creek, Thompson & Fraser Canyons to Hope, or Hwy 97 through The Okanagan Valley, Princeton and Hope. From Hope it is about 160K to Vancouver.
The Okanagan Valley is a fruit growing area full of vineyards, tourism and nice but busy towns. You can leave the OK Valley by a couple of different routes. Depends how much time you have left. The first about half way down the Valley is a 4 lane freeway all the way to Hope, but sparsely populated, only one small town on the way. Or you can go all the way to the bottom of the Valley, almost at the US border, and take the vey scenic but slower Hwy 3 to Hope.
The other route goes through the very dry part of BC. Thompson Canyon does a lot of white water rafting. At Lytton, Canada's hot spot, 45C, you can see the muddy Fraser & the clear Thompson meet. If the light is right it's a great sight. Farther down the Fraser Canyon you can take a cable car across the narrowest deepest fastest part of the river at Hells Gate!
At Hope you are 1-2 hours from Vancouver.

[Orion]

Part II
Head north out of Toronto, make sure you don't do this at rush hour, especially on a Friday evening. You have a choice, you can either head towards Tobermory and then take the ferry over to Manitoulin Island, which has the largest lake on an island in a lake in the world. Or drive on the East side of Georgian Bay towards Sudbury. The road from Manitoulin will meet the road from Sudbury at Espinola. Only do the Island route if you check the cost & the schedule so you dont waste a day waiting for the ferry. BTW, you can drive off the Island to the North.
You are now in the 'Canadian Shield' a vast area in which very old rocks are at the surface, with thousands of Lakes. going up over the top of Lake Superior you are actually in a sub polar vegetation region but it wont be that cold! Many will disagree, but I found this part of the trip a bit tedious, apart for looking out for the many moose & bears! However I do remember the area around Lake of the Woods being quite pretty.
You now begin to cross the prairies, it is VERY flat in parts of Manitoba but there is a slight roll in the land in Saskatchewan and Eastern Alberta. You could stop at Calgary, it's a nice clean big city, lots of malls etc!
At Calgary, actually a little before, you will see the Rocky Mountains off in the distance.
What you do now depends on how much time you have left. If this were me I would want to have half my time left. Let's assume you do!

[Orion]

It can be done in 30 days! However you will have to be more selective in your stops.Of course more time, a lot more would be better. You have to remember that a lot of folks on this forum are retired and have a lot of time to travel, unlike someone is coming from another country.
If this were me, and I had never been to Canada before, these would be my thoughts.
Starting at Halifax, I would spend a day there and leave the next day by heading EAST! I have never been to Nova Scotia, but from what I've heard I would head to Cape Breton to get more of the Gaelic feel, which may not be that apparent in a city like Halifax. I stand to be corrected by the Maritimers here.
Then head west. Spend at least a day in Quebec City, very quaint and picturesque. You can camp on the other side of the river & then walk on the ferry to do a walk around of the old walled city.
You've seen Quebec City, so you can miss Montreal.
Now Toronto, mmm? It's a really big (5th biggest in North America) clean, very cosmopolitan city. You could go there and go up the CN Tower, but I wouldn't! You'll be seeing Vancouver and while nowhere near as big, it has a much more scenic location.
Niagara Falls, mmm? yes spend a full day there but only if you do more than LOOK at the Falls. Take the trip on the Maid of the Mist, take a jetboat ride, take the kids? to the attractions on Clifton? Hill.
Here's a thought, I know its a Canada trip, but if you don't have any problems with visas and Medical Insurace, after you have driven past or through Montreal, drop across the border and travel on the south side of the lake and enter Canada again at Niagara Falls. It's not that far but you would see a couple of US cities and some nice countryside. Then at Niagara, you could just park for a while, look at the Falls and then head north again through Toronto. This way you dont have to drive down from Toronto and back again. While driving through Toronto, you can decide whether you want to stay there. If not, you will see the CN Tower out of your RV window.

[Tripalot]

I suspect the OP has no idea how big Canada is. Note he is from Shah Alam which is in Malaysia. It appears he has done some research as he knows places/destinations he wants to visit but probably has NO idea of the distances.

Maybe we need to help in this regard.

[dieharder]

Your entire trip is rushed, sorry to say. I honestly don't think you're going to enjoy this at all. Just looking at it, 8 days for each of these legs might look good, but by the time you're finally set to start relaxing at a stop, you gotta pack up and move on.

[jspence1]

joharims wrote:
Hi,
Really appreciate for you guys tothil, mayo30 and little kopit. Probably spend 25-30 days for the whole journey. Maybe can be divided into 3 legs.
1st leg# Halifax-Riviere du Loup-Quebec-Montreal-Toronto and Niagara Falls - 8 days
2nd leg# Niagara Falls-St Jacob-Tobermory Harbour-Manitoulin Island-Sault Ste Marie -Thunder Bay 8 days
3rd leg# Thunder Bay-Winnipeg-Calgary-Banff-Jasper-Kamloops-Vancouver - 8 days.

Need advise tourist attraction along the route maybe i cannot miss then....must see.

Any suggestions?

I'm planning a western Canada trip this summer I'm going to start from west of Toronto to Vancouver with a 1 week side trip to yellowstone NP, I have 61 days to make the trip and I'm struggling to get the trip done in that time frame.

I think you may be overly optimistic as to what you will be able to do. Even if you only spend 1 day in each location you mentioned you will only have 8 days to drive across the country.