This is a customer review from the Willis party who went on a British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies itinerary at the end of July 2015.

Hi Andy I thought you’d appreciate some feedback on our holiday to BC and the Rockies.

 

Vancouver

~ Rosedale on Robson: perfectly adequate, albeit a long walk from the City centre for us.

~ Granville island market : best part of VCR. a highlight

~ False Creek ferries: great fun : pick up at the pier at Granville island: little put-put passenger ferries. They offer a round the harbour tour.

~ Stanley park: worth the detour.

 

Victoria

~ Inn on Laurel Point: this is superb; great room overlooking the harbour; superb food, friendly and helpful staff. Marvellous and I should think nicer than the Empress.

~ On the left side of the Empress hotel there’s a Canada in Miniature museum which is great fun for children and the young at heart.

 

Ucluelet/Blackrock

~ Cheaper than the Tofino. We upgraded our room to have a sea view, which was worth it. Lovely hotel; good food. Lovely ‘wild pacific’ walks from the hotel

~ Bear tour: Tofino: absolutely first class experience. We saw four bears, including two cubs, eagles, seals. ~ highlight of the trip

 

Kelowna

~ Ramada was okay but out of central town. We organised a taxi to Cedar Creek winery for dinner and a wine tasting; superb.  Near the resort hotel on the lake there is a wildlife board walk over a nature reserve: we saw ospreys and a beaver! Again, White Spot restaurant for best breakfasts in Canada.

 

Clearwater

~ Alpine Meadows Resort is not central: would have been a great place for two nights, not worth the effort for one. Great food and service

 

Wells Provincial Park

~ First two waterfalls definitely worth it, as was Mt Robson park, for the view of Canada’s highest peak, 3974metres

 

Jasper

~ Alpine Village worth it; really nice room, right by the river, friendly and helpful reception staff; no restaurant on site but Jasper close enough. I recommend both the Maligne Lake boat excursion and also the half day’s fishing (4 trout caught, cooked for us at nearby restaurant) . Also the evening wildlife tour; you don’t expect to see anything from a bus but we saw bighorn sheep, a mountain goat, three species of deer and a bear ~ Could have stayed an extra day in Jasper.

 

Icefields parkway

~ Superb scenery and the trip onto the glacier; another highlight, but long queues to get on the icefield tour

 

Lake Louise

~ Deer Lodge. Funny old hotel ~ Superb food and ambience in the restaurant though most expensive on our trip. The Chateau Lake Louise Hotel looked crowded and soulless. Hordes of people and queues to park the car by the lake. Lake Louise village: old railway station restaurant; very pretty and uncrowded.

~ Lake Louise gondola: great views but don’t believe the bull about seeing grizzlies. Excellent wildlife museum and films at the top; great restaurant. Worth the detour; another highlight

 

Moraine Lake

~ Sensationally beautiful but queues on the road to get in and a mile long parking tailback on the side of the road; this was the busiest week of the year. Climb the rock pile path to get amazing views. a highlight

 

Banff

~ We passed by; no snow on the mountains,  unlike Banff, Jasper’s mountains had snow on the high peaks, infinitely more picturesque!

 

Drumheller and Badlands

~ The Royal Tyrell Dinosaur museum is a must and should be included in all your itineraries: its only 1 1/2 hrs from Calgary and in summer stays open until 9.00pm so convenient to see before going back to Calgary to take the late night flight. Long queue as busiest weekend. Best dinosaur museum in the world! Not worth staying the night in Drumheller though; but a nice Greek restaurant over the bridge.

 

Generally:

Officially Canada doesn’t appear to open until 10.00am (museums etc.)

Dinner: Canadians seem to eat from 5.30pm

Maps and guides provided : excellent. One of the best features of Complete NA fly drives. Much appreciated.

 

Thanks again for a truly memorable trip; we loved it, we had a great time, we dined extremely well, we saw all the nature we wanted to see (except  grizzly bears).

Best regards and hope to travel with you another day soon.

Patrick