Sorry for the last answer, I have been too busy to answer. And, to be honest, was gone for a week skiing in Austria (which was also kind of "busy") ...
Originally Posted by
PunishedEdmontonian
In YEG/Edmonton, check out
www.metterra.com as a great hotel to stay in on Whyte Avenue.
Weather dependent in Edmonton, check out the hiking and biking in our spectacular river valley
www.rivervalley.ab.ca
About 30-40 minutes east of Edmonton on Highway 16 is Elk Island National Park and there you may be able to actually see wild buffalo in their natural habitat.
www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/elkisland/index.aspx
If you like casinos, you can also check out
www.rivercreeresort.com in Edmonton and it has a Marriott Hotel as part of the complex. Be warned, though, the casino allows smoking whereas all non-Indian casinos in the Province do not. It is also about 5-10 minutes away from West Edmonton Mall
www.wem.ca .
Close to Cranbrook - if you are a bit homesick - is Kimberley with an Alpine setting with plenty of beer and schnitzel
www.city.kimberley.bc.ca
Since you mention Drumheller, I assume you plan to go to the Royal Tyrrell
www.tyrrellmuseum.com
Thanks PunishedEdmontonian for the hints.
After the flight, we are going to sleep at a Best Western in Leduc, mainly because they have a shuttle service from and to the airport. But for our final stay in Edmonton before boarding the Canadian, we will consider the Metterra.
And Mrs. Askartus is very interested in the Elk Island NP. ;-)
Originally Posted by
migali
If I were you, I'd skip Cranbrook and most of Highway 3, also instead of Kelowna I'd drive down to Osoyoos or Oliver.
Highway 3 is nice, but once you hit the Creston valley the drive to Cranbrook is not that great. I would scrap Cranbrook entirely, really and drive from Oliver/Osoyoos on Highway 3 to Castlegar, then up to Nelson, Kaslo, New Denver, Nakusp, take the Upper Arrow Lake ferry, Revelstoke, over to Golden on Highway 1 through Glacier National Park and finally to Lake Louise. That will give you a nice and very scenic drive through the West Kootenays. There are hotsprins along the way in Ainsworth (just south of Kaslo), which have a hot pool overlooking Kootenay Lake and local mountains (the hotsprings north of Cranbrook.. not worth it imo).
Nelson is a bit of a special town, lots of tree-huggers and hippies, but nonetheless probably one of the nicest small towns in BC with overall good food.
Thank you Migali for the input!
Kelowna is booked because we are going to visit old friends of mine there (working at Mission Hill).
Ainsworth has already caught our attention but it seemed quite lonely to us - is there anything else than the Hot Spring and the hotel? What we have in mind is something like
Hanmer Springs in New Zealand which we visited last year.
Cranbrook was my choice because of the train museum. But if thats the only good thing around there ...
What about the road over Crowsnest Pass - is it at least not too boring to drive? Because I am thinking about going along there towards Calgary.