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Road trip, advice needed :)

Road trip, advice needed :)

Old Sep 17th 2017, 1:43 pm
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Default Road trip, advice needed :)

Hi all,

My fiancée and I are planning a honeymoon road trip in Canada next June. We are using a company in the UK who will be organising the whole trip.

We’ve never done a road trip like this before, but both thoroughly enjoy outdoor activities and love scenic views, etc.

The locations below are new to us but were highly recommended by the travel company (of course!), so would love it if we can have some feedback as to whether they are good choices, or are there better locations? Also, what are your thoughts on the price?

Duration 13 days – Price £4000 includes Ferries, rental car & insurance. Excursions, etc. are not included.

Day 1 – Calgary –Coast Plaza Hotel & Conference Centre
Day 2 - Kananaskis Village – Delta Lodge at Kananaskis
Day 3 & 4 - Banff - Modern – Elk and Avenue Hotel
Day 5 & 6 – Jasper - Chateau Jasper
Day 7 - Harrisons Hot Springs – Harrison Hot Springs Resort
Day 8 & 9– Parkville - Tigh Na Mara
Day 10 – Victoria - Harbour Tower Hotel & Suites
Day 11 – 13 – Vancouver Century plaza Hotel & Spa

Thanks!
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Old Sep 17th 2017, 3:33 pm
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Default Re: Road trip, advice needed :)

Wow, that seems crazy expensive to me! Does it include flights? Or any food? If not the I can't really see what you're paying for tbh, the hotels are very nice ones but have you costed it up to see what they'd total if you booked direct and just hired a car?

I am the queen of bargain holidays (my usual budget is no more than £2000 for the four of us, and we always have fab holidays, in school holidays - including several road trips), so that price is making my stingy side wince.

Last edited by christmasoompa; Sep 17th 2017 at 3:37 pm.
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Old Sep 17th 2017, 3:38 pm
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Default Re: Road trip, advice needed :)

Originally Posted by christmasoompa
Wow, that seems crazy expensive to me! Does it include flights? ....
It sounds like a bespoke package deal - so including flights, hotels, and car rental, so that is £1,000/ person/ week, of which half may be the flights, or around £70/night (excl flights) which seems pretty cheap, IMO. I certainly wouldn't compare it to staying in someone's spare room using Airbnb, and I am not even sure you'd save a whole lot anyway, without giving up a lot of the "luxuries" of conventional hotels.

Last edited by Pulaski; Sep 17th 2017 at 4:02 pm.
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Old Sep 17th 2017, 3:51 pm
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Default Re: Road trip, advice needed :)

Originally Posted by Matt88
Hi all,

My fiancée and I are planning a honeymoon road trip in Canada next June. We are using a company in the UK who will be organising the whole trip.

We’ve never done a road trip like this before, but both thoroughly enjoy outdoor activities and love scenic views, etc.

The locations below are new to us but were highly recommended by the travel company (of course!), so would love it if we can have some feedback as to whether they are good choices, or are there better locations? Also, what are your thoughts on the price?

Duration 13 days – Price £4000 includes Ferries, rental car & insurance. Excursions, etc. are not included.


Day 1 – Calgary –Coast Plaza Hotel & Conference Centre
Day 2 - Kananaskis Village – Delta Lodge at Kananaskis
Day 3 & 4 - Banff - Modern – Elk and Avenue Hotel
Day 5 & 6 – Jasper - Chateau Jasper
Day 7 - Harrisons Hot Springs – Harrison Hot Springs Resort
Day 8 & 9– Parkville - Tigh Na Mara
Day 10 – Victoria - Harbour Tower Hotel & Suites
Day 11 – 13 – Vancouver Century plaza Hotel & Spa

Thanks!
Do you know which ferry terminal you will be arriving in on Vancouver Island? It might be worth swapping around days and 8,9 and 10. The Century plaza is nice but is not high end and is right next door to the main emergency room in Vancouver, might be a bit noisy with sirens!
It does seem a little pricey, but the flights alone can be half of that!
Enjoy!
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Old Sep 17th 2017, 4:02 pm
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Default Re: Road trip, advice needed :)

Have to agree with Christmas, I love arranging travel, love road trips but your trip seems a bit expensive- even for me and I like spending! It also seems poorly thought out.
On the rare occasions I have let others arrange anything for me, there have been issues. I like to be hands on- its so easy to research everywhere now.

So a few comments.
Huge distances in 2 weeks.
2 nights in Parkville!!!! Switch to Tofino and miss Kananaskis- lovely place ,but its not as good as Banff/Jasper so save for another trip and then join with Waterton ( if there is anything left after the awful fire).
Harrison is supposed to be nice if you want a hot spring- never been. Its a 7 hour drive from Jasper to Harrison though.
I personally would spend a night at Clearwater for a brief jaunt into Wells Grey NP,( Helmcken falls is worth a stop) then a night at Whistler, then over to Tofino and back to Vancouver- I assume you fly in YYC/out YVR. If you want outdoors I would miss Victoria. I love Victoria but its a small city - great for a weekend when you move over.
But the hotel in Victoria I have stayed at because it has apartment style rooms and I was catering for 7! Nice hotel, great views- fairly central.

Another place to consider:
Emerald Lake- stunning, lovely resort, busy during the day ( coach tours) but at night and early mornings it is beautiful. Not cheap but worth the money.

But you say you want to be outdoors and want views- so why not rent a small RV.
The views, smells, sounds as you wake in the morning in a forest will stay with you forever.
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Old Sep 17th 2017, 4:17 pm
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Default Re: Road trip, advice needed :)

Originally Posted by snoopdawg
But you say you want to be outdoors and want views- so why not rent a small RV.
The views, smells, sounds as you wake in the morning in a forest will stay with you forever.
+1. We all did 2.5 weeks around California/Nevada in an RV last year and just had the best time. Magical.

OP, you didn't mention flights as being included so I'd assumed they weren't - if they are then the price isn't so bad (although still a lot more than I'd spend, but then I'm not a high end hotel kind of girl - give me an RV or a self catering apartment any day!).
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Old Sep 17th 2017, 4:38 pm
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Default Re: Road trip, advice needed :)

Originally Posted by Tootlepootle
Do you know which ferry terminal you will be arriving in on Vancouver Island? It might be worth swapping around days and 8,9 and 10. The Century plaza is nice but is not high end and is right next door to the main emergency room in Vancouver, might be a bit noisy with sirens!
It does seem a little pricey, but the flights alone can be half of that!
Enjoy!
Hi Tootlepootle, thanks for the advice! I would definitely find sirens quite annoying, so i guess that hotel is crossed off

The itinerary says Parkville (Ferry – Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo) and then Ferry – Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen. I'm just looking at google maps to figure out the locations of these!

Originally Posted by christmasoompa
OP, you didn't mention flights as being included so I'd assumed they weren't - if they are then the price isn't so bad (although still a lot more than I'd spend, but then I'm not a high end hotel kind of girl - give me an RV or a self catering apartment any day!).
Sorry, as Pulaski mentioned, It does include flights. We'd definitely enjoy a road trip in an RV and self catering, but thought as it will be our honeymoon that we would go a little more extravagant. Although, i still think we will take a look at that option

Originally Posted by snoopdawg
Have to agree with Christmas, I love arranging travel, love road trips but your trip seems a bit expensive- even for me and I like spending! It also seems poorly thought out.
On the rare occasions I have let others arrange anything for me, there have been issues. I like to be hands on- its so easy to research everywhere now.

So a few comments.
Huge distances in 2 weeks.
2 nights in Parkville!!!! Switch to Tofino and miss Kananaskis- lovely place ,but its not as good as Banff/Jasper so save for another trip and then join with Waterton ( if there is anything left after the awful fire).
Harrison is supposed to be nice if you want a hot spring- never been. Its a 7 hour drive from Jasper to Harrison though.
I personally would spend a night at Clearwater for a brief jaunt into Wells Grey NP,( Helmcken falls is worth a stop) then a night at Whistler, then over to Tofino and back to Vancouver- I assume you fly in YYC/out YVR. If you want outdoors I would miss Victoria. I love Victoria but its a small city - great for a weekend when you move over.
But the hotel in Victoria I have stayed at because it has apartment style rooms and I was catering for 7! Nice hotel, great views- fairly central.

Another place to consider:
Emerald Lake- stunning, lovely resort, busy during the day ( coach tours) but at night and early mornings it is beautiful. Not cheap but worth the money.

But you say you want to be outdoors and want views- so why not rent a small RV.
The views, smells, sounds as you wake in the morning in a forest will stay with you forever.
Hi snoopdawg. Thanks for the great advice! We are researching those areas now We do love the outdoors, but we also thought Victoria would be nice to have a look see and it's super close to Vancouver.

Correct - in YYC/out YVR. We are going to look at the RV option now too. As you've suggested, i think we might just research and plan this ourselves. It will be more work, but with the help of the suggestions in this thread i'm sure it will be better and hopefully cheaper in the end

Thanks all.
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Old Sep 17th 2017, 4:43 pm
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Default Re: Road trip, advice needed :)

Horseshoe bay -Nanaimo is perfect for Whistler-Tofino!
Swartz bay is about 25-30 mins north of Victoria- thats perfect for an easy trip to YVR.

Just come back with your thoughts. I think as so many of us live here and have travelled around , we can help you plan the perfect honeymoon!
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Old Sep 17th 2017, 5:14 pm
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Default Re: Road trip, advice needed :)

Have been to Harrison Hot Springs twice - it's a pleasant spot (lake, mountains etc. with a nice walk by the lake shore) but not mega-wow in a Swiss sort of way, and both hotels we stayed in were pretty mediocre. We didn't dunk ourselves in the hot springs so can't comment on that. My abiding memory is of a dead bat falling on my head when eating dinner, but I guess that's fairly unlikely to happen to you!
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Old Sep 17th 2017, 5:47 pm
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Default Re: Road trip, advice needed :)

A honeymoon? I'd wait to do a trip like that after about three years into your marriage when you're bored stiff of each other. Plus if you're coming all this way you might want to consider visiting Haida Gwaii.
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Old Sep 17th 2017, 5:49 pm
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Default Re: Road trip, advice needed :)

Originally Posted by Collie
Have been to Harrison Hot Springs twice - it's a pleasant spot (lake, mountains etc. with a nice walk by the lake shore) but not mega-wow in a Swiss sort of way, and both hotels we stayed in were pretty mediocre. We didn't dunk ourselves in the hot springs so can't comment on that. My abiding memory is of a dead bat falling on my head when eating dinner, but I guess that's fairly unlikely to happen to you!
Love that! I was "attacked" by a bat once in Vancouver before it fell into a bush- I often wonder if it had rabies.

My issue with hot springs are the number of people I see afterwards with unpleasant rashes, I see them as giant bubbling petri dishes

Just a thought re Victoria- it is lovely, small, easy to walk round. Lots of great restaurants. Vancouver is large, very spread out- so why not miss that in favour of Victoria, then ditch the car at YYJ- fly straight to YVR- its 15 mins.
I changed this after Stinky pointed out you had more than 1 night in Vancouver, which I'd missed.
Re Haida Gwaii- I think we would all like to go there, but not practical on a road trip like this.

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Old Sep 17th 2017, 6:40 pm
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Default Re: Road trip, advice needed :)

Coast Plaza Hotel in Calgary seems a weird choice to me. Its in the NE fairly close to the airport. Would you not prefer something downtown at all? You could at least then walk to the tower, glenbow museum, get a ctrain to a mall, etc. There are lots of nice hotels - Fairmont Palliser, le Germain, Marriott, Hyatt, Sheraton, and pretty much most of the chains.

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Old Sep 17th 2017, 6:44 pm
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Default Re: Road trip, advice needed :)

Elk & Avenue Hotel in Banff was newly refurbished in the last year. Haven't stayed myself yet but its getting pretty good reviews. it used to be called the International. Its a really good location - its the first hotel on the long strip of hotels and is closest to the main street in Banff so not far to walk for all the stuff you need.
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Old Sep 17th 2017, 6:46 pm
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Default Re: Road trip, advice needed :)

I also think you could book all this separately yourself and save a lot of $$$$$
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Old Sep 17th 2017, 6:47 pm
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Default Re: Road trip, advice needed :)

Originally Posted by Flossie and Jim
I also think you could book all this separately yourself and save a lot of $$$$$
Why not give us your dates, the absolute must see/do places, and see what we can all come up with!
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