After The Cruise

[spanisheyes]

After our Alaskan cruise, we will be staying in Canada for an extended vacation. We would like to do the Rockies. Can anybody advise the best way of doing this, and is there an alternative to the Rocky Mountaineer. Also any recommendations of reasonably priced hotels in Vancouver. Also we might think of travelling across Canada to Montreal. Would you advise driving or the train. How long roughly would it take.

[eh2zed]

After our Alaskan cruise, we will be staying in Canada for an extended vacation. We would like to do the Rockies. Can anybody advise the best way of doing this, and is there an alternative to the Rocky Mountaineer. Also any recommendations of reasonably priced hotels in Vancouver. Also we might think of travelling across Canada to Montreal. Would you advise driving or the train. How long roughly would it take.

Many people rather than doing the Rocky Mountaineer would rent a car in Vancouver and drive to Calgary or Edmonton and see the Rockies, Banff, Lake louise, etc.. Via Rail, Canadas national railway, also has train service across the country but its not done in a tourist context although the scenery is the same as the Rocky Mountaineer. Driving from Vancouver to Montreal is like driving from LA to New York, its a long way. Straight driving at 10 hours per day would take 4 days at least. No use doing that, train would be better with some stops possibly.

[Kapricorn]

It is a drive of about 12 hours from Vancouver to Calgary, under normal traffic and weather conditions.

 

Donald.

[Schplinky]

I would not recommend the drive accross the country. It is long and monotnous at times. I would take the train or, because the train is surrisingly expensve, I would fly from Calgary onward.

[RonMarg]

After our Alaskan cruise, we will be staying in Canada for an extended vacation. We would like to do the Rockies. Can anybody advise the best way of doing this, and is there an alternative to the Rocky Mountaineer. Also any recommendations of reasonably priced hotels in Vancouver. Also we might think of travelling across Canada to Montreal. Would you advise driving or the train. How long roughly would it take.

 

My husband and I took the Rockie Mountaineer Train from Vancouver to Calgary after an Alaskan cruise about 3 years ago and it was fantastic. The "Gold Car" is the only way to go. I know it is expensive bit its worth every penny. We flew home to Toronto from Calgary. I highly recommend the Rockie Mountaineer.

Have a great trip.

Margie

[peteranddan]

We were on Infinity in July to Alaska return to Vancouver. We rented an SUV and drove from Vancouver to Calgary. The drive is very nice and a lot of the highway is twinned. Even on the parts where there is only two way traffic there are frequent passing lanes.

 

The drive through Roger's Pass and the mountains is exillerating. We stayed at The Post Hotel in Lake Louise and can not say enough good things about it. We had a private cabin with french doors that opend to a glacier fed river. All you could hear was the rush of the water in the river...breath taking! Expensive, yes...worth it...absolutely. So much better than staying at the Chateau which is OVER RUN with tourists.

 

The drive from Vancouver is a fair ways, about 9 hours. We did this in two days. The first night we stopped in Kamloops, which is about 3 hours away via the Coquahala (sp?) expressway. Then the second day to Lake Louise.

 

Peter

[RonMarg]

I meant to say, Glod leaf, not Gold Car.

[spanisheyes]

Thanks everybody for your help. We are Brits living in Spain, and had not much idea of the distances involved. Will have to do a bit more research I think, before we make up our minds.

[Bruin Steve]

We've done the trip--driving round trip from Vancouver--to the Canadian Rockies--and it took us a full week in all just to do it justice...Driove a long day the first day and didn't make it all the way from Vancouver to Banff...ended up stopping the night in Glacier...Then visited Lake Louise, Banff, the Columbia Icefields and Jasper before heading back to Vancouver...The scenery in BC is very nice...but yes, the distances are long...

 

Another possibility to see the Rockies would be to catch a flight from Vancouver to Calgary and rent a car in Calgary...and drive the loop from Calgary through Banff, Jasper and back, then fly out of Calgary or Edmonton...

 

Add: For hotels in Vancouver, we really enjoy the Sutton Place...Wonderful hotel in absolutely the best location in Downtown--corner of Robson and Burrard...