Very early stages of planning a possible Canada vacation for kids to spend Xmas with their Grandparents in Toronto. I’ve done the drive from Vancouver to Calgary (flying on to YYZ) three times prior. They have never seen the West Coast and havent been to Canada since 2018. Looking at ways to save along the way and/or add to the experience.
I’m wondering if it’s practical to consider renting an RV to do this drive. I imagine the roads will be icy? I don’t know if you necessarily save on accommodation, where you can park overnight (ie at Whistler, Jasper, Banff etc). Unclear how many days I should allow for given might be fun to try and ski at least 1-2 along the way. Maybe allow time to see Vancouver or a Victoria hop (are the killer whales out and about)?
As I said early days but knowing a rough time frame for this part would help book the main fares as cheapest tickets might be Perth>Singapore>Tokyo>Vancouver. We’ve seen a bit of Singapore but never been to Japan so not sure if we should try for a few days there, and what would be practical to see in a short time if doing so?
There are many and important reasons why RVs go south in the winter. The RV would have to be winterized, which means no indoor plumbing driving on on questionable roads and potentially in winds and snow is not my idea of a good time.
Is it practical? No. I can’t speak to jasper but places like whistler do not allow overnight rv parking within the town and it is heavily enforced. They want your money going to hotels. You would be parking somewhere near Pemberton or Squamish which is 30 minutes away.
Add to that the cost of gas in BC, and the precautions you would need to take with an RV on mountain passes over winter and I’m not sure it’s worth it.
If you are highly flexible and can wait out bad weather for several days or before doing some of the trickier mountain passes, it might make for a fun adventure. I don’t know much about RVs but I would not consider one that is RWD if that is a common configuration.
RVs are not insulated well, even a “winter” RV with a heater will be unbearably cold for most people. The overnight temperature inside might struggle to get to 40-50 F. If you like sleeping in igloos, it won’t be a problem, otherwise, it could be a major disaster.
Ok pretty unanimous that it’s a terrible idea and to rule that part out.
At that time of year how frequently would the main route be closed? Booking accommodation in advance, even ongoing flight from Calgary to Toronto, could also be problematic if there’s a fair probability a section of road is closed for a day or more.
It’s really tough to say. Sometimes it’s relatively clear all December and all you encounter is rain. In 2021, the entire highway from Vancouver to Kelowna was washed out from extreme flooding and completely closed for months. That Christmas, what was usually a 4 hour drive for us to the Okanagan turned in to a white knuckled 9 hours as we had to detour along BC’s southern border on hwy 3 in the midst of a blizzard.
Further along the highway past Revelstoke I believe that’s like the avalanche capital of the country or something and roads can be frequently closed.
Road crews are generally on it quickly with snow clearing but when big storms come through roads can be closed for a day or two, and are sometimes quite risky even when open.
Winter tires are needed by law after October, chains are recommended to have on hand. I always throw a shovel, moving blankets and extra food/water in the truck for winter road trips just to be over prepared.
As others have mentioned living in an RV at those sort of temperatures is not practical as the plumbing will freeze.
If you want to travel over summer in an RV there are a few apps which list locations where you can stay for free. But there are very few locations in touristy towns like Banf and the RV parks book up early.
