Driving to Vancouver

[JazzyFlame]

Stop in Salmon arm

Properly discover Stanley Park

Aquarium, pacific mall very interesting, eat lots of food.....

[Wise Gamble]

Have lunch at the Basil Pasta Bar in Yaletown. Amazing.

[Galakanokis]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

It is not the preggers I am worried about, it is the 2 year old. We will see but I want to have a plan just in case we cant make the full trip in one shot.

I did Vancouver to Calgary a couple of years back with a 2 year old and a 2 month old. Other than a few bad moments where we missed time stopping to eat or what not the kids were not a problem at all. We did the ipad thing for the 2 year old and he was good to go, occupied 90% of the time.

I stopped in Revelstoke on the way back only because I had a deal at the new Best Western there.

Lots to do with most being mentioned. Just walking around Yaletown or Gastown can be fun. Take a stroll to water front in Yaletown and scope out all the boats. Granville Island, Stanley park and the Aquarium. The museum is a good tour as well. Burnaby village has merry go round horse ride thingy that kids get a kick out of. Capilano Bridge or Lynn valley are nice to check out as well, lots of walking involved though. There is a petting zoo on the north shore somewhere that is a lot of fun, my little guy loved it, can't remember the name though.

Lots to do.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

thanks for the help everyone. I will think about highway 3 on the way back.

God, no! Don't take #3 in the wintertime. You will be driving forever.

[bcsoda]

Originally Posted by Galakanokis

Capilano Bridge or Lynn valley are nice to check out as well, lots of walking involved though.

I enjoyed both the suspension bridges, but Capilano is $32/adult, whereas Lynn Canyon is free. If money is no issue at all then Capilano is fun and probably has a little more activities to do, and the bridge might be higher and longer, but Lynn Canyon is still pretty nice. I personally don't think Capilano is worth spending an extra $64 on.

I don't remember the food being all that great at Legendz Diner in Golden, but their chocolate Coke is surprisingly good, I recommend trying it out if you want to stop around there.

[Zulu29]

Originally Posted by Yasa

If you do end up stopping near Armstrong, you can check out Dave's Goat Walk. Kids seem to love it. You feed goats. But there's also a decent store there for tasty goat jerky and all sorts of baked goods.

Fyp

[krynski]

I don't mean to hijack, but how long does this trip usually take in winter?

[604flames]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

God, no! Don't take #3 in the wintertime. You will be driving forever.

Highway 3 hasn't been bad at all this winter. I travel it either by car or by bus every week and the amount of snowfall on the road itself has been way down compared to last year.

That said, it can change in an instant, and the Kootenay Pass is often closed early in the morning for avalanche control.

[Red John]

If you are trying to take the shortest route, do NOT go through the Okanagan. Stay on route 1 through Salmon Arm and Kamloops (both acceptable midpoints to overnight).

Gas in Revelstoke is usually cheapest once in BC.

Check drivebc website frequently for road updates. The Rogers pass closes all the time for avalanche control.

If you are looking for points of interest to stop at, try Spiral Tunnels (east of Field), Craigellachie (west of 3 valley gap).

It's a beautiful but dangerous drive in winter. Be careful!

[Minnie]

Not sure this is going to be something you'd ever do, but just as a general PSA to anyone, never go to the wolf 'sanctuary' just outside of Golden. It's disgusting.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by krynski

I don't mean to hijack, but how long does this trip usually take in winter?

9.5 hours in a u drive at night. Weekends take longer.

If you stop for meals it's usually around 12 hrs. With kids I'd probably stay over along the way, in Kamloops.

[Deegee]

In my experience kids have been good travellers. We made it from Hanna to Kenora in a day and had no complaints from our at that time 3 year old. All he wanted to do was look at the landscape. We are heading to Vancouver in the summer and hope to make the trip in a day.

[InglewoodFan]

Avoid the Super 8 in Revelstoke. Dirty, noisy, not a good stay at all.

[eddly]

I lived in Kamloops from Feb 2010 to July 2012. Kamloops is the generally accepted stopover for such a trip. Plenty of hotels to choose from. Plenty of truckers coming through Kamloops on their way to Vancouver for example.

However, Kelowna is a beautiful city, a one day stopover wouldn't do it justice, best to see it in the Summer.

Kamloops to Vancouver is about 4 hours.

Kamloops to Merrit - ~ .75 hours -

Merritt to Hope - ~ 1.5 hours - No gas stations, fill up gas in Merritt

Hope to Chilliwack - ~ .5 hours

Chilliwack to Abbottsford - ~ .5 hours

Abbotsford to Vancouver/Burnaby/Coquitlam - ~ .75 hours

Once in Vancouver, I agree with checking out the aquarium in Stanley Park. Some nice beaches (as good as they could be in Canada at least) in Vancouver to checkout, a walk through downtown.. English bay... Granville Island would be nice.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Aeneas

There is a water slide / pool near Bridal Falls that our kids liked.
They also like three valley gap. Has a pool.
Skytrax (by the enchated Forest) is great fun for the kids, and adults, but maybe not yet for your two year old.

Not exactly on the way, but Harrison Lake has great stuff for kids.
Beach, shallow kids lake, park.

In February?? I'm pretty sure that the Enchanted Forest and Bridal Falls Waterslides are only open in the spring and summer months. And Harrison lake is damn cold, even in August!

[Aeneas]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

In February?? I'm pretty sure that the Enchanted Forest and Bridal Falls Waterslides are only open in the spring and summer months. And Harrison lake is damn cold, even in August!

Good points, though the waterslides would make excellent luge tracks.

I thought he was going for a wedding, didn't read that they were going in Feb.
Who would have a wedding in Vancouver in winter? I thought brides hated rain.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Aeneas

Good points, though the waterslides would make excellent luge tracks.

I thought he was going for a wedding, didn't read that they were going in Feb.
Who would have a wedding in Vancouver in winter? I thought brides hated rain.

Weddings in Vancouver, there might not be a bride.

[Boblobla]

More questions.

How is the Granville entertainment district? It looks like it is close to alot of the stuff I want to do.

Would it be a pain in the ass to drive from there to Burnaby on a Sunday? There are a few good deals on hotels in that area.

[AR_Six]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

Would it be a pain in the ass to drive from there to Burnaby on a Sunday? There are a few good deals on hotels in that area.

Not particularly, on a Sunday, but if you don't want to be bothered finding parking you could just skytrain your way in there.

[Galakanokis]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

More questions.

How is the Granville entertainment district? It looks like it is close to alot of the stuff I want to do.

Would it be a pain in the ass to drive from there to Burnaby on a Sunday? There are a few good deals on hotels in that area.

Where's your Hotel for the Wedding? There are some very close to the skytrains in Burnaby/Coquitlam that you could stay at and avoid driving downtown altogether. The Best Western In Coquitlam has an indoor pool that might come in handy with the little one. The drive is no big deal maybe 30 mins depending on where you are coming from but parking can be a pain. Train down and take the water taxi over to Granville island or to the Lonsdale quay.