Cost of travelling to Canada

[burns3466]

Hi guys

Look, I know the question I am about to ask is a bit like 'how long is a piece of string'? Everyone's holidays are different, with many variables depending on your preferences for what makes a good holiday...but, I just need a rough guide...

My husband and I will be celebrating our silver wedding anniversary next year and we have decided that to mark this special occasion, we would embark on a dream trip to Canada (we have never been before). Now obviously, this requires saving up, well in advance, and I have already started, but I was wondering if the figure I am aiming for (£12-15,000) is too much or too little. We would be travelling with our 16 year old daughter, probably end of July/beginning of August 2020 and would ideally like to fly premium economy. We would like to fly to Vancouver, spend some time exploring the city and then spend a few days on Vancouver Island (so two hotels possibly?). We didn't really want to spend long hours driving and wanted to base ourselves somewhere fairly central so we can pack in a lot of things, but not feel like we've spent most of the holiday in a car. We want to go whale and bear watching and do some fun activities and plan on staying for 2 weeks in total. So, with flights, accommodation, car hire, food, drink, activities, taxes, tips etc, do you think my savings goal is about right?

Would really appreciate your thoughts Thank you.

[Alidoll]

Few years now but did a Canadian Rockies bus tour with Cosmos that took Banff, Jasper, Vancouver then over to Victoria for a few days. Did white water rafting in Jasper plus up Grouse Mountain at Banff. Flew from Scotland so flights were included and I’m sure it was less than £3000pp at the time. Meant I didn’t have to do any driving so could sit back and enjoy the scenery. They also offered day trips doing whale watching etc. I didn’t go whale watching so can’t give prices for that but worth looking at Cosmos or Globus tours as should give you a rough idea of prices (assuming they still run these tours).

Been to Vancouver a couple of times. Can highly recommend The West End Guest House if you want home from home comfort. Had just arrived from Hawaii (so long flight via LA), the owner told us to get straight to bed as we were very tired. Next morning there was cookies and a tea urn at the door. Breakfast was fanatastic and the bed the most comfortable we’d slept in (it was a round the world trip).

Good luck!

[dizzymcfarlane]

Have a look at Canadian affair website. Staff very helpful. Air transit for flights also good. We got business class flights and a suv for three weeks lhr to Vancouver for just over £3000 in sept. We booked not long after release.
They use sea planes a lot. Last time we flew to Vancouver walked over the road and flew sea plane to Victoria. Fab place for a hol. We’ve been several times so feel free to ask any questions

[skalexander]

Canada is absolutely wonderful, a great choice for a special holiday. In your position, I would fly into Calgary, take a transfer to Banff, have a couple of days there then take the Rocky Mountaineer to Vancouver, stop there for a few days and then head to Vancouver Island. You can then fly home from Vancouver. It seems like a lot of moving around, but it seems a shame to go all that way and not head into the rockies - plus the Rocky Mountaineer is a special experience. Just my opinion though.

For flights, I would be tracking prices now based on 2019 dates and keeping a spreadsheet - what price are they when, when are the cheapest days to travel, do prices go down nearer the time etc.

Can't really help with budget as that is peak time, but on the face of it it seems pretty generous. If you could travel earlier though I would (e.g. if your daughter is 16, will she be doing GCSEs and finishing school earlier?)

Edited to add - don't rule out flying business, if you can get a good fare. In my experience PE can be expensive on the Canada routes, meaning business isn't a huge amount more, especially if you get a good fare. Worth considering, given its a special trip.

[Melbatb]

I love Canada!

We flew into Vancouver, had 4 nights in Vancouver (no car), then picked up the car, took the ferry over to VI where we stayed in Ucluelet (where we went whale watching), took the ferry to Seattle for a week, then back into Canada and Whistler!

VI was my favourite place and I would love to go back! I would think your budget is more than doable!

Have fun planning!

[burns3466]

Thanks everyone, really appreciate your tips x

With Canada being such a huge place and with so many options about where to fly to and what places to visit as a 'must-do' and as a first time potential traveller there, I do feel a bit overwhelmed! I've contacted Canada Affair and given them an idea of what we are looking for and am just waiting for them to get back to me with possible itineraries and costs.

Alidoll - I have looked at the West End Guesthouse website and it looks amazing (this has now been added to my spreadsheet as a possibility)! My only concern about bus tours though is that they may feel a bit restrictive... I don't want to feel like I have to be at a particular spot for a particular time and can only spend a set amount of time in an area before I have to be back on the bus again, because there is a timetable to stick to.

Dizzymcfarlane - I may very well take you up on your offer to ask lots of questions, thanks!

Skalexander - the Rocky Mountaineer I'm sure would be a very special experience, but as we would probably be travelling peak time, it might push the price of the holiday up quite a bit. Yes, my daughter will be doing her GCSE exams next year and the problem is, you don't get the exam timetable until a few months before they start, so I couldn't guarantee when her last exam would be well in advance. I wouldn't want to leave it too late to book the holiday waiting to find out her exam dates, in case the flights and hotels we want are fully booked by then. If I aim for July, at least I know the exam will definitely be over by then.

Melbatb - We have wanted to visit Canada for soooo long and I am very excited about the upcoming trip. I have heard (and read) such good things about Vancouver Island that this is somewhere we definitely wanted to factor into the trip. I've read a few holiday blogs as well where people say they wished they had had more time to spend there and were disappointed they only stayed for one or two nights, so this is why I don't want the holiday to feel too rushed.

All really good tips for me to take into consideration. Thank you very much :-)

[burns3466]

Ooooo...just found a link to the Banff airporter which if we decided to go with skalexander's suggestion could pick us up from Calgary airport and take us to Banff for $67.99 each. This company has great reviews on tripadvisor. However, pricing up the Rocky Mountaineer for the 3 of us, a 1 night/2 days trip from Banff to Vancouver would set us back £3,300 which is a big chunk of the budget.

[SimonB]

We did a trip 2 years ago. There’s some far more knowledgeable people on Canada that have already posted but this is my experience.

Vancouver itself we found a touch expensive, spent 2 days there and did all we wanted. There’s a soarin type tide near the cruise terminal. Also did the hop on hop off bus.

We didn’t hire a car in Vancouver itself and got the coach and ferry to Vancouver island. The coach takes you all the way to Victoria.

Loved Victoria and wish we’d spend more than the half a day there before moving on.

We hired a car in Victoria and drove up to Parksville to base ourselves for 5 days. We didn’t go across to the other side for whale watching as we’d done that in South Africa.

Dropped the hire car in Nanaimo which saved driving all the way back to Victoria. Ferry back to the mainland then taxi back to airport.

Wonderful place with very hospitable people. Loved Vancouver Island especially.

[tonymc]

When we went a couple of years ago, we visited both east and west sides of the country. Started off in Toronto, drove to Ottawa, then flew over to Vancouver.

We used Air Transat, with direct flights out to Toronto (economy) and returning from Vancouver in PE.

In Toronto, we rented a condo with Airbnb for 5 nights, and fitted in a day trip to Niagara Falls. We drove to Ottawa via a few nights in Price Edward County, and we stayed in a one bed apartment which was only a short stroll from the city centre.

In Vancouver, we had 6 nights, and rented a condo near to Yaletown (right on the waterfront at False Creek), which was only a couple of blocks from the metro to/from the airport, and a couple of stops to downtown. We also did a whale watching trip from here, but didn’t manage to get to Victoria.

[Melbatb]

I would happily spend the whole time exploring VI

Other idea for Canada, and potentially a cheaper option is Quebec (my favourite place in the world probably - indeed I am off there again in April!). There are three reports in my signature! You can still do whale watching - on our first trip there we stayed in a treehouse north of Tadoussac and saw whales from the shore! Food for thought