Canada 2022

We first visited Canada in 2019 and absolutely loved it and were desperate to get back. The first trip (which may get written up at some point) taught us what we wanted to do and we were keen to get going, however an international pandemic meant that we had to wait, which only built the excitement.

Our first visit saw us fly out to Calgary, bus to Banff, then the superb Rocky Mountaineer to Vancouver before flying home. A total of 12 days of seeing loads but be very reliant on a time table.

This time we wanted more control of our destiny and had originally planned to fly to Vancouver and Rocky Mountaineer on a route that we had not previously travelled such as Whisper or Jasper, and from there rent a car to better explore the wonders of the Banff national park. A proper Planes, Trains and Automobiles trip!

Our plans were foiled though when we saw what the effect of the pandemic had been on the prices for the Rocky Mountaineer portion of the journey. The Rocky Mountaineer is not cheap at the best of times and if you choose to travel in first class, which was our plan, it is even less so. COVID had increased the price of the trip that we had done just 3 years previously by over 25%, which coupled with a poor exchange rate priced it out of the planned budget.

So a new plan was drawn up. We would fly to Vancouver, spend a few days seeing things that we did not previously see, then pick up a car, drive to Kamloops for an overnight, then onwards to Jasper for a few days, then to Lake Louise to for a luxurious stay before heading to Banff to round off the trip before returning the car in Calgary and flying home.

This time we had more control of our destiny and it was a proper adventure and honestly this was one of the best holidays that we ever had.