Please comment on my itinerary
 

We will have a family vacation in June 2018. We are 4 adults and 3 kids (ages 17, 14, 10).
I've been to most of the places mentioned in the itinerary with friends 2 years ago. I just want to show my family these places since I enjoyed them the first time. But one of the kids is a special child and is afraid of heights. So in this case, I will accompany him and just wait for the rest in a coffee shop or restaurant since I have already seen these places.

We want a relaxed vacation, so I just put in 2-3 places per day.

Please make any comments and/or suggestions on my prepared itinerary:

Day 1
Grouse Mountain
Capilano Bridge
Vancouver city tour

Day 2
Whistler

Day 3
Vancouver City (pls suggest)

Day 4
Victoria (Butchart Gardens)

Day 5
Drive to Banff with stops in Kamloop & Revelstoke for lunch/rest

Day 6
Sulphur Mountains
Lake Louise

Day 7
Columbia Icefields
Then drive to Calgary

Day 8
Calgary

Day 9
Drive back to Vancouver

Day 10
Vancouver City

Day 11
Seattle

Day 12
Vancouver City

Your itinerary is doable, but not "a relaxed vacation".

This sounds like the kind of whirlwind itinerary I would do and my wife would rightly point out is far too aggressive if the goal is a relaxed vacation. Trying to fit in Vancouver, Whistler, Victoria, Seattle, Calgary and Banff in just 12 days is a lot. I would probably cut out two of Whistler, Seattle, Victoria or Banff/Calgary in order to make the trip more enjoyable.

You could easily spend a couple of days in Whistler/Vancouver Island exploring around and doing activities (e.g. hike/bike Whistler if into that kind of thing). Also nothing wrong with a down day or two around Vancouver walking the sea wall/Stanley Park/dt neighbourhoods.

My $0.02.

Agree.

Vancouver to Whistler is 2 hours drive.
Vancouver to Seattle is 3 hours drive.
Vancouver to Victoria is a 3 hour drive+ferry.

Going to any of those and back in one day is certainly possible, and I've done them, but it does turn into a long day. If you are intent on hitting all those spots, I'd suggest overnighting in each, and returning the next morning. (That will also use up some of the Vancouver time that appear to not have plans for.)

Alternatively, for Victoria, you could take a plane harbour to harbour, which would save you some time, and is a great experience. Unfortunately, that doesn't leave you well positioned in Victoria to get to Butchart Gardens (15 minutes north of the city, towards the ferry). But it does put you in the inner harbour, which has all sorts of other attractions.

I did a 9-day Vancouver-Calgary-Banff-Jasper-Vancouver circle this past summer. (I'm counting starting with our departure from Vancouver and ending with our return). We split the long Vancouver-Calgary and Jasper-Vancouver drives over two days each, overnighting in Kamloops one way, and Kelowna the other. It is about 10 hours each way without breaks--again doable, but hard, and with little opportunity to stop and admire the country you are going through. I didn't spend enough time planning, and it ended up at the limit of a "relaxing" vacation.

An overnight in Whistler give you time to see the village, do the peak-to-peak gondolla, and the kids can spend a day in mountain bike camp.

As for Vancouver:
* Museum of Anthropology
* Stanley Park
* Granville Island
* Aquarium
* Queen Elizabeth Park/Bloedel Conservatory
* Chinatown and Dr. Sun Yat-San Gardens
* Van Dusen Gardens (in case you're not gardened out)
* Gastown

Depending on where you are coming from, a whale watching trip out of Victoria or Vancouver is nice. I think the blue whales are mostly up near Tofino, so it would likely be Orca.

(Hehe. It sounds like YZF_Elite plans trips like I do, and YZF_Elite's wife reacts like mine.)

Your drive from Vancouver to Banff in one day with planned stopped is really pushing it as it some of the road is mountain pass, uphill, two-lane and impossible to pass trucks.

Been there and done that with young children, no-mas.

Unless you have something specific to see in Calgary I'd drop it for an overnight somewhere on the way back to Vancouver (Kamloops or Kelowna). That being said I agree with all of the above re: driving to Banff/Lake Louise. I've done Calgary-Kelowna a few times and it can be ok but when there's a large chunk of traffic - especially 18-wheelers and RVs - it can be tedious.

I would consider sticking to the west coast and exploring more of the Whistler area and Vancouver Island. Victoria is a great little city and it's easy to do a day trip to Nanaimo or an overnight trip to Tofino to check out that part of the island too.

Thanks all!

I will consider dropping Calgary, add a night or 2 in Banff, and may be decide later if we'll just have a day trip to Calgary.

Banff is almost Calgary if you are driving from Vancouver.

Vancouver to Banff is a direct full day of driving, non-stop. I mention up-post the roads.
I understand that you probably driven in MNL and so have I. The stress level of the two are different and different enough that it is an issue when you are not used to it.
Not recommended for drivers not used to full day of driving in North America especially with young children.

I have already driven Vancouver to Calgary, then Calgary down to Montana all the way to Seattle, then back to Vancouver. But with an all adult group of friends. I know it's going to be different with family and kids.

Anyway, the stress level of driving in Manila, and the whole of Philippines, is way above that of North American roads.

A 14 hour drive on the TCH Vancouver to Banff is a different stress

kahit ano po!

Sige po, I’ll do what we did before and cut our travel from Vancouver to Banff into 2 days.

If you do Harbor Air from Vancouver downtown to Victoria downtown, there are other ways to get to Butchart Garden.

Google the website, this is my first post so I can't post URL.

Seattle may be hard on the driver because the 3 hour drive each way. That's assuming you don't get hold up at the border (other people or paying the $6USD / person entry fee). If you go on a weekday, expect long delays on Interstate 5 between Seattle and Marysville during morning and afternoon rush hours. Weekends, expect 1 hour wait at the car land crossing.

I suggest dropping Calgary and replace with Alberta Dinosaur Park where you get to see the real fossils.

I would also drop Seattle unless you plan to stay over night. In Seattle, I suggest the following:

* Pike Market, default tourist trap, horrid traffic and parking
* Museum of Flight, it's south of downtown Seattle
* Chihuly Garden and Glass, if you're into art
* Museum of Pop Culture, if you're into music and it's very close to the Chihuly Garden
* Boeing Factory in Everett, it's between Vancouver and Seattle

I have removed Calgary, will then add 2 nights either in Kamloops or Revelstoke or maybe Kelowna to split our drive for Vancouver-Banff.

Will also stay 2 nights in Seattle instead of in Vancouver.

i think those are good choices.

You can make a nice detour to one (or more) of the wineries near Kelowna if you go that way.

Would it be better if I head straight to Seattle from Kelowna? According to Google Maps, it's around 6hrs drive, and I'll cross the border at Sumas. Will the line at border control here be shorter than if I cross the border at Blaine?

Sumas usually have shorter wait time since it's so far away from Vancouver. It should be a 24 hour crossing unlike Lynden. Make sure to top up with fuel before or right after crossing into US because there are none or few fuel stations between the crossing and the next town.