Canada, Rockies, RV vs Car/Hotels - help needed

[lindasarahlou]

After a fabulous trip last year doing car and hotels to US west coast DH and I are hoping to do another bucket list trip this year to Banff and Jasper. For years we have said we wanted to do an RV trip at some point but now it comes to it, it’s making us nervous! For those that have done it, just how easy is an RV trip, did you book campsites in advance or chance it? What, in your opinions, are the benefits and down sides of RV vs Car road trips?
Sooo many questions!
From Vancouver or Calgary? I don’t think we are bothered about visiting cities particularly.
How long would be ideal?
If RV, which company to use?
We are also not sure on time of year – either late May/early June or Late August/Early September? Any thoughts? don’t really fancy busy times!
Any other tips or thoughts gratefully received!
Also realistic budgets? !
I’m sure I’ll think of more?

[skalexander]

The only thing I can help with is the route - I would fly into Vancouver, then do Vancouver Island, Whistler, Jasper and Banff, flying out of Calgary. I would probably go later as it may still be chilly in late May and lakes are likely to still be thawing out.

[katiec68]

I think I would do the opposite way to Kate - fly into Calgary and drive over to Vancouver - no idea why - just "feels" better to me

If you can avoid july and august you'd be better. It gets VERY busy - like 100% occupancy in every hotel in the summer!

Id go either early June or mid sept should be ok - later than that you may well encounter snow.

Friends of mine did it in a camper and had the freedom to park up and cook etc - if you have hotel rooms you will need to eat out most of the time as they are room only.

But a camper van might limit you round town etc - you will have to use parks outside the main areas - ive not seen any town centre long term parking.

Budget wise food and eating out are similar (if not more expensive) than here - dont forget Jasper is MILES from anywhere!

We've been to Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper and love them all.

There are a couple of really good trip reports and info threads on here too

xx

[Gunna]

We did last year - flying into Calgary and out of Vancouver.

We did Calgary, Banff, Jasper, Whistler, Squamish, Vancouver Island and Vancouver flying out from there over 3 weeks. Amazing trip one of the best we’ve done. We travelled in July and some places were busy (not all) but it was fine however we did book rooms etc... in some places a year plus in advance.

We did some hotels, condos and apartments which in some places meant we could eat in and mix this with eating out which worked well and we where also able to do packed lunches too.

There’s a link in my signature to my trip report ( and other dibbers have written some really good ones at same time - Jocat and parisdisneyfan -which are definitely worth reading too) if you’ve any questions just let me know. It’s a stunning place and the scenery truly breathtaking.

[Wordsworth]

We did the trip 10 years ago in late September and are doing it again in May this year - as having seen it in Autumn we wanted to see Spring! We fly into Calgary then make our way to Vancouver via Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper and Kamloops over 2 weeks. Even though it’s early in the season, we found some lodges around Jasper still insist on a minimum stay.

Last time we took the Rocky Mountaineer back to Calgary (and I wouldn’t recommend it to be honest, but it was a treat for my dad); this time we’re actually taking the train from Vancouver to Seattle.

We always go the car route rather than RV, as a kid we had a touring caravan for holidays so I like staying in hotels.

[brindle]

We are going Calgary to Vancouver. Staying in Canmore going to visit Banf and do lots of hikes, lakes etc. Staying next in penticton for a few days and travelling to a log cabin in Squamish for week. We are there for 18 days so will probably get to whistler and do some whale watching Dh has it all wrote down,lol.We like wildlife and trails rather than the town. 😊

[paw]

We have hired an RV three times and hired a car and stayed in a hotel once.

Each time we flew into Edmonton to stay with relatives for a week at the start and end and did a 3 week round trip via Vancouver (stayed with relatives) - various routes. .

We chose a camper van rather than a large RV and found it reasonably easy to park in towns. We prebooked most campgrounds as when we went -July/August you sometimes couldn’t get into the Parks without proof of a space, don’t know if that’s still the case. There were some campgrounds that were first come first served, for those we started off early in the morning, arrived early and got our pitch before going off for the rest of the day.

The year we stayed in hotels we didn’t like having to find places to eat, it was so much easier to park up the camper van and prepare a meal. We had meals in some fantastic and isolated picnic sites.

If we did it again I wouldn’t mind hiring a small van and staying in hotels most nights. Best of both worlds.

[welovemushu]

We have done rv trips round the canyons/Arizona Utah etc and in Ontario. It’s great having all you need with you and no packing or unpacking! With cruise America or cruise Canada you get KOA membership and a discount at their campgrounds. We used Fraserway rv hire in Canada more expensive than cruise America but a much better grade/quality of motorhome, more expensive but a better experience imho. You always get a map or campground guide with every hire.
We booked most of the parks in advance as we had a plan and it saved any worries about finding a pitch . Any questions, happy to share our experiences x

[hideinpockets]

Can I ask a quick question for those of you who have done an RV trip. If you arrived at a first come first served campsite in the morning, did you park and leave your camper there for the rest of the day? Or are you able to put something on your pitch to say it’s taken so you can still drive out and about!