TRAVEL GUIDE TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS OF CANADA

Tour the Rocky Mountains of Canada It is one of those trips that every adventurer dreams of at least once in a lifetime. Here you will not only enjoy the crazy people of hiking, but it has become a perfect destination for many types of travelers (unless you are one of those who only seek to sunbathe on the beach). The landscapes offered by this corner of the world are the most wonderful we have ever seen, with snowy mountains, turquoise lakes (and ice cream), wild animals in their habitat, epic panoramic roads, trekking for all levels, natural spas, clean skies, wild rivers and glaciers. If you also give skiing, the Canadian Rockies are considered one of the best ski destinations in the world, with several seasons and a long snow season. Come on, a trip at Rocky Mountains of Canada It is a success.

We traveled a total of 3,375 km, in 7 different stages, with departure and arrival in Vancouver. A loop that led us through several National Parks (the oldest in the world) and two provinces in Canada: British Columbia and Alberta. Here we leave the travel guide to the Rocky Mountains of Canada, with the stages, the kilometers, maps, the best and more useful information of this wonderful trip.

Some basic information to get you a first idea of ​​the trip:

• Start and end point: Vancouver
• Total days: 14 (3-4 in Vancouver and 10 roadtrip)
• Total kilometers: 3,375
• Type of rental car: SUV type (although it is also worth a smaller one).

If, as in our case, you have two weeks to travel through this part of Canada, we believe that the best route would make acircular path from Vancouver, and spend a few days in this interesting city. We chose to do it clockwise, reaching the Rocky Mountains from the north, by Jasper, and returning from the south.

To get to Vancouver There are no direct flights from Spain, and the combinations are endless:

→ Flights from Spain to Vancouver

If your idea is to ONLY visit the Rocky Mountain national parks area and save you a few kilometers, we believe that the ideal option is to fly to Calgary, the nearest big city, and from there head towards Banff National Park. From what we saw, many people opt for this plan, but they stay the entire stay in Banff and surroundings ... Error! We highly recommend making several bases along the Icefields Parkway, or at least splitting the trip in two: Banff National Park to the south and Jasper National Park to the north. Although you may think that they are similar, each one offers different things and the trip will be more complete.

To get to Calgary From Spain, an idea is to fly with direct flight to Toronto or Montreal (about 8 hours), spend a few days in these cities, and then take a domestic flight to Calgary (about 4 hours).

→ Direct flights from Spain to Toronto
→ Direct flights from Spain to Montreal

→ Flights from Toronto to Calgary
→ Flights from Montreal to Calgary

If you had more time and more budget, this is the itinerary that we recommend to know the essentials of Canada:

• Direct flight from Spain to Toronto and dedicate 1 week- 10 days To the west coast of Canada: Toronto, Niagara Falls, Montreal and Quebec.
• Flight from Quebec or Montreal to Calgary, rent a car and pass 1 week - 10 days touring the Rocky Mountains.
• Return your car in Vancouver (+ one way rate, approx. € 200) and be 2 or 3 days there.
• Return flight from Vancounver to Spain (with stopover).

We tell you the details of each stage, with the links to the articles to access our experience in each of the places visited.

STAGE 1: Vancouver - Whistler (Sea to Sky Highway)

• Total km: 137 km
• READ THE ARTICLE

STAGE 2: Whistler - Jasper (Wells Gray Provincial Park)

• Total km: 1,030 km
• READ THE ARTICLE

STAGE 3: Jasper National Park

• Total km: 146 km
• READ THE ARTICLE

STAGE 4: Icefields Parkway

• Total km: 484 km
• READ THE ARTICLE

STAGE 5: Banff National Park

• Total km: 198 km
• READ THE ARTICLE

STAGE 6: Yoho and Glacier National Parks

• Total km: 389 km
• READ THE ARTICLE

STAGE 7: Revelstoke - Vancouver

• Total km: 991 km
• READ THE ARTICLE

The budget of a trip depends a lot on the style of each traveler, the type of accommodation, the season ... Here we summarize thebudget per total person of a roadtrip through the Rocky Mountains of Canada, taking as a reference a trip to 2 people of 2 weeks.

Flights

As we told you before, there are several ways to get to the Rocky Mountains from Spain. The most direct is to look for flights from one of the most important cities in Spain to Vancouver or Calgary (there are no direct ones, so it will be stopping). Depending on the advance of the reservation and the season in which you travel, prices are more or less expensive. We have seen single-scale flights for September and two and a half months in advance for about € 600 round trip, yes, if you travel in July or August, calculate about € 800.

→ Flights from Spain to Vancouver
→ Flights from Spain to Calgary

Car rental

We always recommend doing a search on the websites of car rental comparisons such as Autoeurope. The price, as with flights and as with accommodation, depends on the time of travel and the anticipation. Offers can be found from € 25-30 per day, although if you are not a forecaster and travel in the middle of summer, you can go up to € 50 per day. To put a real figure, the 10-day car rental can go out for about 300€, so that per person would be only € 150. Apart would be the optional insurance. In the next point we tell more about how to rent a car.

Gasoline

Gasoline in Canada is not as cheap as in the United States, but if we compare it with the prices in Europe it is thrown away! When we went (summer 2019), on average it was about 1,30CAD the liter, that is € 0.85 / liter. The car we rented was SUV style with which we consumed an average of 8 liters / 100 km, so we spent more or less 230€ to do the 3,375 km (€ 115 per person).

If you rent a car that consumes less and your route is shorter, you can spend considerably less.

Accommodation

This is the section where we will dedicate more part of the budget. In general in Canada the accommodation is not cheap, and in the Rockies even less! If you want to save the best thing is to look for hostels with shared rooms, such as the chain of HI hostels that we use so much. If you plan to go to these hostels, you may want to become a member (there is a 10% discount on stays and other interesting discounts).

In high season the berths are around 60CAD per person and night the most requested (such as the HI of Jasper or the HI of Banff) and around 35CAD the secondary ones that are in very beautiful areas but somewhat away from the tourist centers. Therefore we will calculate an average of 50CAD (€ 33) for 14 nights, in total € 462 per person.

It is very important that reservations are made with enough in advance (even months). Not only to get the best prices, but simply to get a place! You can also take a look on the booking website to compare prices for other types of accommodation.

Another option to reduce costs is to take (or buy) camping equipment and stay in the campsites There are scattered throughout all national parks. We extend this info and much more in our article of tips for traveling to the Rocky Mountains.

Food

It is one of the parts of the budget where we can influence the most. And we have two news: a good one and a bad one. The bad thing is that in Canada eating out is not entirely cheap, and if you go to restaurants you will have to add the rates (which are actually very low) and tips. However, it is not as expensive as the United States and you can find Half-day deals for about 15CAD (10€).

The good news is that if you stay in hostels, most (if not all) have kitchens where you can prepare your meal. Many of them also make available products that other travelers have forgotten. Your concern now will be to find a supermarket with good prices where to shop. If you go to the ratilla, the bowls of noodles save you a few dinners, and the bagels are very consistent to get you a good lunch.

If we get breakfast and dinner every day at the hostel, and go out to eat outside on rare occasions, we will get a average budget per person of about € 20 per day. In the 14 days we go to € 280.

Travel insurance

A necessary expense no, the following! Free public health in Canada is only accessible to residents of Canada, so if we suffer any mishap and need to go to a hospital, All expenses are borne by our account (even the urgencies). And Canada is not a country where health bills are precisely cheap, so we recommend that you take out travel insurance with very large coverage.

We always travel with IATI, in our opinion, the best travel insurance. If we do the search for a 15-day trip, which also covers the days we are traveling, these are the options and prices (including 5% discount if you hire from this link):

We would opt for insurance Iati Star or Iati Premium Star, with very wide limits in medical assistance and also include adventure sports (cycling, kayaking, hiking ...). We therefore put a price of 90€.

Miscellaneous expenses

In which we include the entrance to the national parks (136CAD for the annual pass or $ 20 per day, to divide by 2), parking lots, small purchases, etc. In total we calculate some € 100 per person.

Summary

In the end, for some 1.800€ you have a piece of 2 week vacation to one of the most impressive destinations in the world. Although if you tighten your belt and manage to lower the prices of accommodation, if you do not travel in the middle of the high season and make reservations in advance, this budget can be reduced considerably 😉

It is not the only way to visit the Rockies, you can always reach your base for example in Banff and pay for excursions every day, but renting a car is the most recommended way to explore this area. It will give you greater freedom when it comes to moving, being more flexible in your routes and allowing you to reach many places, where otherwise it would be really complicated. And gasoline, as we have seen, is very cheap!

Assuming we will rent a car in Canada, now it's time to ask yourselfWhere to book and with what company? We always recommend using the Autoeurope car rental comparator, for us the one that offers the best prices and best coverages.

Here we detail the rental process of the car:

1. First you will have to enter your website, put the city ​​of collection and delivery and the dates. As our experience was with pick up and drop off at the Vancouver office, we will do the demonstration with that data. We put 10 days in total (remember that if the delivery time is greater than the pick-up time, you will be charged one more day of rent).

* You also have the possibility of setting up different offices for pick-up and delivery, for example, pick it up in Calgary and return it in Vancouver, although the options are greatly reduced and the one-way rate of approx. € 200.

2. You will instantly get the options with the different agencies of rent, ordered from the cheapest to the most expensive and by the type of car. We always choose the cheapest agency, although we first review the comments of other users. And as for the type of car, in this case we gave ourselves a whim and caught an SUV (Nissan Murano), but in reality it is not necessary to rent a large car, especially if you travel as a couple. Although the name of Rocky Mountains is quite impressive, you will not enter unpaved roads or overcome large slopes. The Medium or even Economic option would be enough.

It is important that you compare several of the first agencies. For this look in the "rate details”Of each of them and check the amount of the franchise, which rates are included and which are not, basic coverage, etc.

3. In the next point you will be given the option of hiring a extended insurance. The basic rate usually has insurance with an amount of franchise, which will be the maximum money you pay in case of accident or damage to the car. If you take out additional insurance, you can go quieter.

There are usually two options for these additional insurance: reimbursement of the franchise and Super Cover:

• Franchise Refund: In case of accident, theft or damage to the car, the full amount of the expenses incurred is returned. But it does not include moons, ceilings, floors and wheels, so it is the cheapest.
• Super cover: franchise return, including damage to all elements of the car.

Keep in mind that this option offered by Autoeurope is external to the company of rent. They will offer you their own insurance options, which in many cases are more expensive. These should include the reduction of the deposit with the credit card, or its total elimination.

In the two previous cases (contract insurance with Autoeurope or with the company itself), the service of roadside assistance. This is usually offered by the rental company itself apart from the rest of the insurance and the price will be about € 5-10 per rental day. What covers you is in case of a puncture, if you stay lying and need a crane, etc ... We never hire it.

At this point of the reservation, the optional equipment, such as chairs for children, GPS, etc. All with an extra cost.

4. The rest of the process is to introduce personal information and make the payment. The reservation will be confirmed and paid. This reservation can be canceled and modified up to 48 hours before pick-up.

When picking up the car at the pick-up office you will not have to pay anything else. But it is important that you carry a credit card (not debit) to make the blocking of the amount of the franchise. And the Spanish driving license It is valid for driving in Canada, but it is worth taking out the international driver's license (€ 12 at any DGT by appointment).

A two-week tour of the Canadian Rockies by car give to see amount of super cool things. But in our top10 We give you the classification of what we liked most personally (not necessarily in order). We only put the most beautiful places on the part of the Rockies, not the complete roadtrip:

1. Maligne Canyon Trail (Jasper NP)
2. Maligne Lake (Jasper NP)
3. Annette and Edith Lakes (Jasper NP)
4. Valley of the Five Lakes Trail (Jasper NP)
5. Athabasca Falls (Jasper NP)
6. Athabasca Glacier Trail (Jasper NP)
7. Peyto Lake and Bow Summit lookout (Banff NP)
8. Lake Louise (Banff NP)
9. Moraine Lake (Banff NP)
10. Emerald Lake and Natural Bridge (Yoho NP)

To end this roadtrip guide through the Rocky Mountains of Canada, we leave you a few tips to plan the trip in the best possible way, and that you can enjoy it to the fullest!

Although thinking better, we have written a post dedicated to all these tips, because they are a few! Here are our tips for traveling to the Rocky Mountains of Canada (and not shit).

Up to here our travel guide to the Rocky Mountains of Canada by car. We are convinced that it will be an unforgettable experience, we are already looking at the calendar to return sooner than later! Of course, when all the lakes are without snow.

Video: Canadian Rockies Travel Guide. Things to Do in Victoria, Banff & Lake Louise - Tour the World TV (May 2024).