My son and me are considering a road trip out of Vancouver for next summer. The plan so far is as follows: Flight from Manchester UK to Vancouver where my daughter lives. We'll spend a few days there before leaving her and her mum to do girly shopping stuff, then my lad Ben and me will take off on a bike trip on hired bikes into the "wide blue yonder" - preferably on Harleys.

A basic route to follow would pos be from Vancouver up to Jasper down to Banff National Park then back via Kelowna.

Could anybody kindly offer any advice regarding hotels and places to hole up at en route. Also any recommendations for bike hire in Vancouver would be greatly appreciated.

Plans for this trip are very much in the infancy stages at the moment, so any other suggestions for a good route would be welcome. Not sure how many days we'll be planning for yet but we'd like to keep mileage to around or below 1500

Thanks
Derv

 

Well the route you have outlined will take you a day and half, what are your other ideas for your visit---off to the Island for sure (ferry cost will stun you), tour the Island, 3/4 days, then from the island to Annacortes in the U.S., will cost you $6.00 US ea for a visitor visa---head east or south from there ----heading east to Wenatchee and then north to Canada thru the mountains and back into Vancouver. this route can take up to a week if you want to or three days if not----opinions vary---Kelowna in the summer is brown and hot---for sure you will get lots of opinions. Hotels are somewhat expensive out here in the summer---national brands are all over the place---smaller motels abound all along every road.

 

You may want to check with Trev Deeley Harley-Davidson. They have rentals and are the HD dealer in Vancouver.

http://www.trevdeeley.com/

 

Cheers NC, I found then shortly after posting this thread up so I've e.mailed them for prices. Harley hire tends to run expensive though from what I've seen so far, so it may have to be a different bike - we'll see.

T. Brenan, thanks for that. We need to go to Kelowna (Penticton) probably on the way back to Vancouver to meet up with the daughter and some friends. We did the island by hire car in 2008 - It was beautiful, we stayed at Sooke and took a run up to Port Renfrew. It absolutely poured down with rain though - of the very heavy kind - on the run down from Comox, and it stayed pretty miserable 'til tha day we left. Don't think I've ever seen rain so heavy. Sort of put me off wanting to go back there on a blke, it looks a wet kinda place
http://www.ridgewayguitars.co.uk/y_o...008_page_3.htm

Derv

 

I was all over that area last summer. This could be a little on the long side, but here is my suggestion:

North on 99 to Lillooet & Cache Creek. There was a lot of construction around Whistler, but it was way better than hwy 1 through Hells Gate, etc. Way too hot in that canyon! The construction will (hopefully) be finished by next summer.

North on 97 to Prince George. We stayed in Quesnel. It was a really fun town...great hole-in-the-wall dive bars, good cheap food and cheap mom & pop motels. No offense to anyone, but just keep on riding straight through Prince George.

East on 16 (Yellowhead Highway) to Jasper. No matter what route you take to Jasper, make sure you go to Jasper! One of our group left the group to stay in Jasper. There are lots of hotels & motels here, but many were full when we showed up with no reservations. Great little town.

South on 93 (Icefield Parkway). This road was one of the top 3 on our trip to Alaska. You don't want to miss it! Athabasca Falls and Glacier are two nice stops on the northern portion. The only gas stop is about halfway to Lake Louise/Banff at Saskatchewan River Crossing. They have cabins to stay in as well. Lake Louise is a must-stop. It's incredible! We stayed in Canmore, just outside of Banff proper. Banff is expensive.

hwy 1 west from Lake Louise to Golden & Revelstoke. 97A & 97 south to Kelowna.

You could make this route in 4 days: (1) Vancouver to Quesnel or Williams Lake. (2) to Jasper (3) to Lake Louise, Banff, etc. (4) to Kelowna. Give yourself a day to ride the Icefield Parkway - You'll definitely want to stop and take some photos along this route.

Good luck and HAVE FUN!!

 

After Banff, head down through the Crowsnest Pass to Creston, take 3a to Kootenay Bay, take ferry (free) to Balfour, then take the 31 to Kaslo, then the 31a(west) to New Denver, then the 6 to Nakusp, then south on the 6 to Fauquer where you take the Needles Ferry (also free) and continue on the 6 to Vernon and on to Kelowna.

Its a lot easier to follow then this may make it seem, but I promise, this route will NOT disappoint!!

 

BlackB and Dastick, excellent just the kind suggestions I was looking for thanks very much. The trip is looking very much like a goer now, we've found a bike hire place in Vancouver - BC rentals who we've yet to contact to ascertain rental details. The trip looks like we'll be landing in Vancouver on 10th July, then having a couple of days to recover from the flight with a few days R&R with the daughter child. The bike trip will be for 7 days and Jasper is one place we have already decided we must visit.

Based on your ideas I'll now start putting a route togther. When it's done would you guys mind having a look over it? Always great to get advice from those who have done it

Cheers guys

Derv

 

Glad to help. Here are a few more suggestions for you planning;

When travelling from Jasper to Banff: At Lake Louise take the 1a instead of the 1. The 1a runs parallel to the 1 but is much more scenic and has some great twisties. Just be careful as there tends to be animals around, the speed limit is very low and idiots have a tendency to stop in the middle of the road for photo opportunities!

To go from Banff to the Crowsnest: take a look at the 40 through Kananaskis to Longview and then South on the 22. The 40 also has some of the best scenery in the area.

Going from Banff to Kelowna could take as short as 5hrs. if you take the 1, but it could take 2 unforgettable days if you want!

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

TBB, isn't the construction up near Whistler to make the road wider for the forthcoming winter olympics? We drove the Sea / Sky in 2008 by car and the roadsworks back then were pretty horrendous - looked to me like they've destroyed what was once a stunning bit of highway in the process. If I'm right in saying the winter olympics are in 2010 (which I assume will be in Jan feb?) then I guess the roadworks will be more or less completed by now?

Dastick - thanks for the extra info
Derv

 

Exactly...construction is around Whistler for the 2010 Olympics. I know the old Sea to Sky highway was beautiful. I'm not sure what the new road will be like. I didn't think of the Olympics being in Jan/Feb. The construction will definitely be finished before the Olympics...so you should be fine in July.

I will be heading to Vancouver in late July as well...I guess we'll see how that new road looks!