# Canada???



## 93094 (May 1, 2005)

Hi,

I'm a total newbie here! However, I've always dreamt of
touring the west of Canada (Rockies, Pacific coast...) in a
motorhome. Fly to Vancouver or Calgary, pick up a rental
MH and just drive.... Has anyone here ever done this? 
I'm just starting to research motorhome rentals, sites etc 
for next summer and wondered if anyone here had any
advice. We would be 2 adults and 2 kids....

Thanks in advance!

Liz


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## 91698 (May 1, 2005)

Hi Lizzy,
and welcome to MHF.
havent tried that one yet and i dont think many here may have.
However there are some great site for the canadian Motorhomers which i am sure you have seen.

brez


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## Don_Madge (May 1, 2005)

Liz wrote

I'm a total newbie here! However, I've always dreamt of 
touring the west of Canada (Rockies, Pacific coast...) in a 
motorhome. Fly to Vancouver or Calgary, pick up a rental 
MH and just drive.... Has anyone here ever done this? 
I'm just starting to research motorhome rentals, sites etc 
for next summer and wondered if anyone here had any 
advice. We would be 2 adults and 2 kids.... 

Hi Liz

We did a two month tour of Alaska/Yukon in 98. We started in Vancouver , then to Whitehorse, collected RV, then toured, returned RV to Calgary and caught Rocky Mountaineer train to Vancouver.

If you would like the details/full intinery I'll dig out my diary and relive some wonderful moments.

Don


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## bigfoot (May 16, 2005)

The firm I used was Canadream they have depots all over the country.They also have automatic membership of KOA who have a network of sites in Canada
Special arrangements have to be made if you decide to travel up as far North as Whitehorse. They have an internet prescence. 
We hired at one depot and dropped of at another. Canada is wonderful, fantastic people great sense of community , scenery, food and campgrounds and there are more tribes of Indians(now called first citizens) in Canada than America. At the weekend listen to CBC Radio 2 on Saturday and CBC Radio 1 on Sunday, for the Vinyl Cafe and amusing hour of music and stories. It is available on the net on www.cbc.ca
Enjoy the trip


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## Don_Madge (May 1, 2005)

Liz

I've been meaning to get this on my computer for some time. So you have done me a favour.

Harry & Marge, This is the trip we talked about when we stayed on the Quay Gambetta at Boulogne.

TOUR OF ALASKA AND YUKON 1998

Day 1 Flew to Vancouver, Hotel

Day 2 Vancouver. Steam train to Beamish. Boat to Vancouver, lunch on boat excellent day out.

Day 3 Vancouver day pass for local transport, toured city.

Day 4 Flew to Whitehorse. Westmark Hotel. Toured SS Klondyke. Evening show, Frantic Follies (Not to be missed).

Day 5 Collected RV, make sure you are familiar with the RV before you leave. Suggest you stay at local RV park (Mackenzie's RV Park) for first night then if you have any problems/questions you don't have far to go.

Day 6 Whitehorse, Mackenzie's RV Park toured local area. Shopping in local supermarket. (some supermarkets give 10% discount for golden age persons) sounds better than OAP.

Day 7 Drove Alaska Highway to Haines Junction 186 miles. Visited Miles Canyon en route. Stayed 2 nights at Kluane RV Park.

Day 8 Haines Junction, Local touring. Drove part of original Alaska Highway and visited Lake Kathleen.

Day 9 Drove to Beaver Creek 296 miles. Stayed Beaver Creek RV Park.

Day 10 Drove to TOK, 181miles Passed through US Customs US$6 each Stayed at TOK RV Village. Evening salmon bake

Day 11 Drove to Delta Junction. 175 miles Stayed at Bergstads RV Park.

Day 12 Drove to Fairbanks 200 miles. Stayed 3 nights at Rivers Edge Camperground Saw the Alaska Oil Pipeline, had conducted tour of pump station No 9.This is well worth a visit.

Day 13 Fairbanks. Trip on Discovery Sternwheeler riverboat.

Day 14 Fairbanks. Visited N.O.A.A. Weather station.

Day 15 James Dalton Highway to the Arctic Circle. 197 miles. Wild Camp overnight. Check road condition before leaving unmade road.

Day 16 Back to Fairbanks. 197 miles

Day 17 George Parks Highway to Denali. 113 miles Stayed Denali RV Park. Stay 3 nights.

Day 18 Tour Denali National Park. Not to be missed.

Day 20 George Parks Highway to Anchorage. 245 miles Stayed Golden Nugget RV for 3 nights.

Day 21 Anchorage. Seaplane trip to an island for lunch. (one of the highlights of the trip)

Day 2 Anchorage Visited Nation Guard Unit

Day 23 Drove to Kenai Penn (Ninilchick) 190 miles, Stayed Hylens Camper Park for 2 nights

Day 25 Drove to Seward 135 miles Stayed 3 nights at Creekside RV Park.

Day 26 Seward Boat trip to Kenai Fjords NP. (not to be missed)

Day 28 Return to Anchorage.

Day 29 Drove to Glen Allen 153 miles. Stayed at KROA RV Park.

Day 30 drove to Valdez 160 miles Stayed 3 nights at Bear Paw RV Park.

Day 31 Valdez boat trip on Prince William Sound. to visit glaciers

Day 32 Valdez. Conducted tour of the Alaska Pipe Line Terminal.

Day 33 Drove to Tolsona Lake 130 miles Stayed at Wilderness Resort.

Day 34 Drove to TOK. 150 miles

Day 35 Drove to Dawson City 190 miles Via Top of the World Highway to Chicken, back into Canada, free ferry across the Yukon River.
Stayed 4 nights at Guggieville RV Park on Bonanza Creek.

Day 39 Drove to Whitehorse 327 miles. Paved road all the way.

Day 40 Drove to Skagway 110 miles. Stayed at Pullen Creek RV Park.

Day 42 16.00hrs Ferry to Auke Bay, Juneau. Stayed at Auke Bay Trailer Park.

Day 43 21.15 Ferry to Prince Rupert.

Day 44 Cruising on the Inside passage

Day 45 Arrived at Prince Rupert at 17.00hrs after various stops on route, time to go ashore. Stayed Park Ave Camperground

Day 46 Drove to Fort Telka 235 miles Stayed at Fort Telka RV Park.

Day 47 Drove to Prince George 225 miles Stayed at the Blue Spruce RV Park.

Day 48 Drove to Jasper 240 miles. Stayed 2 nights at Whistlers Camperground Bought a 5 day pass for the NP. Visited Lake Maligne

Day 50 Drove the Columbia Icefield Parkway (not to be missed) to Banff 160 miles. We stayed 3 nights at Tunnel Mountain Area NP.

Day 53 Drove to Calgary 100 miles Handed back RV.

We stayed four nights in Calgary and then caught the Rocky Mountaineer Train to Vancouver.

I realise you won't have time to do a tour of this length but I hope it gives you some ideas.

Some suggestions on the RV. 
Hire the biggest one you can afford.
The RV will connect to the water system at the RV Park. Make sure you control the flow or buy a reduction valve when you hire the RV.
Pay particular attention when you check the windscreen on taking over the vehicle. Make sure "EVERY" mark however small is noted.
We used Canada Dream, The hand over left a lot to be desired but we've been around the block a bit so we managed.

To plan your trip a copy of Milepost http://www.themilepost.com/ will be very useful. It's a trip planner for Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta and Northwest Territories.
It coat us US$23 but we could not have managed without it.

I have not included any costings as the trip was 6 years ago. If you would like a rough idea on cost send me a PM

Get back to me if I can be of further help.

Don


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## 93094 (May 1, 2005)

Thank you Don. That's just the sort of encouragement
I was hoping for! 

I had a look at the Canadream website - it's very 
informative - it will be a useful resource whether we 
book through them or not. One of their suggested tours 
comes close to my ideal trip - the West coast and Rockies
tour. This takes in places I've visited on previous trips 
to Canada, long time ago, and want to revisit with the 
kids. 

My main concerns are whether the kids would enjoy
travelling in the RV and how safe they are in the back of 
the van. Are there proper seats with harnesses back 
there? Suitable to fit a car seat? Can they see out of
the windows back there? Daft questions, but we're total 
novices, and have no idea what travelling in one of these 
beasts would be like! My only previous experience with 
campervans/motorhomes has been a bad one. One year,
when I was a teenager, my parents hired one to tour 
Scotland - it was advertised to sleep 5, of course it
slept 2 and a hamster. So we had to rejig our itinerary
to stop every night near a Youth Hostel so that I would
a bed for the night. Darned uncomfortable to travel in 
during the day too! However, that old van was a 
million miles away from the luxury on wheels that you 
can rent these days in North America. I hope.

Liz


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## Don_Madge (May 1, 2005)

Liz,

Can't remember whether the RV had rear seat belts or not it was too long ago. The tour we did was on a lot of unpaved roads and would not be very comfortable for "ANY" passengers travelling in the rear let alone children.

Another problem that I did not mention was the dreaded "Mossie" they were very bad at times especially in Alaska.

But when you take into account the wild life we saw. A mother grizzly with three cubs strolled across the highway 200 metres in front of the RV, the sea otters at Seward, an arctic fox, bald eagles, orcas, I could go on all night.

I've still got our copy of Milepost if you live anywhere near East Yorkshire you might like to have a look at it. It's a very comprehensive guide. 

I hope your trip goes ahead I'm sure the children will enjoy it.

Don


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## Judy (May 22, 2005)

*Canada*

Hi Liz,
Yes we did the Rockies in a hired M/home. Flew into Calgary to pick up the van. We used a very good hire company called Fraser Way it isn't too far from the airport but as you have to have a good nights sleep in a hotel after the flight they will pick you up from the hotel and take you to their depot.


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## Judy (May 22, 2005)

*Canada*

Liz 
It is me again, have just found this web site for Fraser way.
www.worldhost.com/fraserwayrv


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## 91929 (May 1, 2005)

*Canada*

Hi Lizzy

Just got a Carefree Book from camping Club

They are doing 2 alternatives for Canada and for NZ 
1) A guided (escorted) tour
2) They hire the MH & give you an possible itinery

Look that up The NZ prices work out better than those from other sources
Ive looked them uo to go over bur Lal sis can do better for me over there


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## 93094 (May 1, 2005)

Thanks to everyone for their helpful suggestions!
I have a much clearer idea of our ideal itinerary... 

However, I think we will be postponing this Canadian 
trip for a few years until the kids are older, due to the 
concerns about the safety & comfort of small children 
in the back of RVs.

Thanks again,
Liz


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## weldted (May 1, 2005)

*rv canada*

Hi Lizzy, I have just booked the very holiday for my wife and I flying to Calgary 12th May 2005 returning from Vancouver on the 2nd of June 2005 I have a 26ft rv with all the bells and whistles collision damage wavier personal packs and convenience packs and 1300 miles inclusive excess kms at .28c firm is landcruiseCanada2005 the guy to speak to is Graham excellent service flights and van just over £2000 van does 10 mpg but gas is 33c per litre. if you want any more info just holler ted


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## 93712 (May 1, 2005)

*Re: rv canada*

hi welted,
Just booked same hol 25th June-14th july2005.Only opposite way.Vancouver to Calgary.Booked as you thru Landcruise with Graham.Flights booked with Zoom airlines and MHB motorhome (big) for the two of us costing same just over £2000.Have you got a route planned yet? I would be intrested to know.This is my first time in a Motorhome, but I do have a tourer (luna ariva).Maybe you could let me know any tips before you go or on your return as you come back before we go. Have you been to canada before?.Drop us a line for chat.Bye for now.Paul


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