Banff National Park Travel Forum

I am trying to plan a vacation - Canadian Rockies, then cruise to Alaska in August 2007 or Sept. 2007.

Are bears sighted during these months?
How are car rentals? Plan #1 - fly into Calgary, rent a car, spend time in the area, return the car to Calgary - then fly to Vancouver. Anyone have any experience in car rentals in the area?

Plan #2 - Rent car in Calgary - return it in Vancouver. Is this doable? After leaving the Jasper area - it the drive worth it?

Any suggestions for lodging- we love mountain experience - love wildlife but top priority is clean - the rest is just details lol.

How many days/nights should we plan to see the area - Jasper, Banff and surrounding area?

Many thanks!

if you go to the fodor's forum
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=29
you will get lots of suggestions. a person named Judy_in_Calgary has got many itinerary suggestions and places to stay.
the drive is definitly worth it if the drop off fee isn't too much.
i'd spend 3-4 nights in the banff/lake louise/yoho areas. you'll want to take the old highway between banff & lake louise for your best chance of seeing animals. then drive to jasper via the spectacular icefield parkway - this will take most of the day if you want to make stops along the way - stay in jasper for 3 nights. a lot of people way they see more wildlife in jasper rather then banff. go to the okanagan area (vernon or penticton in bc) then onto vancouver.

The drive from Calgary to Vancouver is amazing. If you have time, and you can work it out with the car rental company, you should definitely do that.

You could easily spend two weeks in the mountain parks (there are a bunch: Jasper, Banff, Yoho, Kootenay, Mount Revelstoke, Glacier... and, a couple of hundred km south, Waterton Lakes). Decide for yourself how much time you want to spend. A week in Banff and Jasper alone is about right for me. That's some of the most gorgeous scenery anywhere. (I prefer Jasper... it's less busy and more raw somehow.)

The drive to Vancouver is long (~18 hours if you take the scenic route) so budget time accordingly. You may want to stop in Kamloops or somewhere around there and resume the next day.

The best route for scenery is Highway 1 (Trans-Canada). Don't take the Coquihalla Highway from Kamloops... that's the fast freeway route. Take Highway 1. It's much slower... but it's stunning. You go right through the Fraser River canyon.

As for accommodation, there is a lot. There are lots of B&Bs and modestly-priced hotels around. I haven't stayed in the area in a decade so any recommendations I have will be dated.

The drive from Calgary to Vancouver is amazing. If you have time, and you can work it out with the car rental company, you should definitely do that.

You could easily spend two weeks in the mountain parks (there are a bunch: Jasper, Banff, Yoho, Kootenay, Mount Revelstoke, Glacier... and, a couple of hundred km south, Waterton Lakes). Decide for yourself how much time you want to spend. A week in Banff and Jasper alone is about right for me. That's some of the most gorgeous scenery anywhere. (I prefer Jasper... it's less busy and more raw somehow.)

The drive to Vancouver is long (~18 hours if you take the scenic route) so budget time accordingly. You may want to stop in Kamloops or somewhere around there and resume the next day.

The best route for scenery is Highway 1 (Trans-Canada). Don't take the Coquihalla Highway from Kamloops... that's the fast freeway route. Take Highway 1. It's much slower... but it's stunning. You go right through the Fraser River canyon.

As for accommodation, there is a lot. There are lots of B&Bs and modestly-priced hotels around. I haven't stayed in the area in a decade so any recommendations I have will be dated.