Toronto, Banff/jasper and Vancouver

Hello everyone me and my g/f are travelling around canada for 3 weeks at the end of august and we were wondering if anyone could give us advice on what to see and what activities there are to do in the mentioned places above, were spending about 5-6 nights in each place. In banff and jasper we are looking to do as much outdoor activities as possible as it is supposed to be a beatuiful place.

Also we are looking to hire a car incalgary to travel to banff then onto jasper, does anyone know of any good car rental places and what is the drive like in terms of length of time and ease of drive etc

Thanks for any info

Hi tmmpl,

we went to Canada in 2006 and drove from Vancouver to Calgary, and it is indeed beautifull everywhere. Places to see and what I would recommend are:

- When driving from Calgary to Banff, get off the Highway and follow the Bow Valley Parkway. There are a lot of places where you can stop, but we like Johnston Canyon very much, good walks and very beautiful
- Driving from Babff to Jasper means you wil take the Icefields Parkway and make sure your tank is full when you start driving, there is only 1 gasstation on it, and they know they are, considering the prices....
-Along that whay you culd stop at Lake Louise, but also consider Morraine Lake, it is at last as beautifull and less tourists..
-Don't forget to stop at the Athabasca Falls, impressive
- And offcourse the Athabasca Gletsjer
- Around Jasper parts of interest could be: Maligne Canyon, Maligne Lake and Spirit Island
-While in Vancouver I'd recommend to go and visit Gas Town, the old Centre of the City and from there you could take a walk along Canada Place all around to Stanley Park. But Stanley Park can off course also be visited on another day.
- From Vancouver there is also Whalwatching possible if you like to do such a thing.

We hired our car through Sunny cars, no problems, good company.

I think 3 weeks will be too short (I'm sure of it) but you won't regret it, that I'm sure of too.

Hope this helped a bit.

I live in Calgary and spent lot's of time in the mountains, Like Frans sais the drive is beautiful from Calgary - Banff/Lake Louise - Jasper. My advice, don't spend a whole lot of time in Calgary, get out of the city. I think that's the best Calgary has to offer. I don't mean that pessimistically, just that it's so beautiful in the mountains!. In Jasper go to Maligne Lake, it's like Moraine lake (Lake Louise), but without all the tourist =p.

Car Rental companies are mostly the same =p.

thanks for the info it was great help, so looking forward til going now

I agree with FransG's itinerary. I lived in Jasper a few years back and the region offers great back country camping. The Skyline trail is very nice and it's usually booked all summer so reservations are a must. There are also many day hikes if you ask at the Park's Office. Maligne Lake is beautiful, you can also rent kayaks/canoes there and paddle to the end of the lake (22km). It's even more beautiful at the other end of the lake. Or you can take a boat tour. And just 80km past Jasper there is Mt. Robson Provincial Park and the back country camping/hiking there is awesome. You would need a week in Mt. Robson alone. I also think that 3 weeks will be short but it is possible. It's just that the distances are great in Canada. You would need 2 days to drive to Vancouver from Jasper. Realistically.

You'll have to fly to Toronto. It won't be cheap. Maybe you'd like to explore the Toronto region on a separate trip.