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Family travel -- renting a minivan and Canadian Rockies
Our family is tentatively planning a trip that will involve flying out
to the west coast (of the US) and then doing some driving around visiting various different areas (including the Canadian Rockies). There are 5 of us and we don't travel light, particularly for a trip that will involve a good deal of variation in weather, and we plan to do a fair bit of hiking, for which we also carry a fair bit of stuff. So we are thinking that we are going to be pretty crammed in even a good-sized sedan and started looking into renting a minivan. But the prices look exhorbitant. Does anyone have any thoughts on either finding great deals on minivan rentals (the rental has to be one that is approved for travel into Canada) or other suggestions for this situation? Also if anyone has any suggestions for awesome family activities in or near Calgary or the Canadian Rockies in that area (beyond hiking and enjoying nature, which we intend to do a fair bit of) I'd be interested in hearing them. Our boys will be 3, 8 and almost 11 when we are thinking of going (this summer). Thanks in advance, --Robyn (mommy to Ryan 9/93 and Matthew 6/96 and Evan 3/01) |
#2
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Family travel -- renting a minivan and Canadian Rockies
Robyn Kozierok wrote: Does anyone have any thoughts on either finding great deals on minivan rentals (the rental has to be one that is approved for travel into Canada) or other suggestions for this situation? When we rented a minivan over Thanksgiving, I got a great rate when I actually called the car rental agency. I had done some online searching, but the rates were still pretty high. I called the one that had the lowest rate online, but the person I talked to was able to find an even better deal. Also, make sure you don't do this last minute, you'll get better deals if you call several weeks ahead. You already mentioned this in your post, but I want to emphasize that some rental car agencies do restrict where you can take the car -- in our area, Enterprise doesn't want you to cross the Mississippi River, but this bit of info is *not* mentioned when you're reserving the car online. Laura |
#3
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Family travel -- renting a minivan and Canadian Rockies
This is something I've always wanted to do.
http://www.calgarystampede.com/stampede/ Angela "Robyn Kozierok" wrote in message ... Our family is tentatively planning a trip that will involve flying out to the west coast (of the US) and then doing some driving around visiting various different areas (including the Canadian Rockies). There are 5 of us and we don't travel light, particularly for a trip that will involve a good deal of variation in weather, and we plan to do a fair bit of hiking, for which we also carry a fair bit of stuff. So we are thinking that we are going to be pretty crammed in even a good-sized sedan and started looking into renting a minivan. But the prices look exhorbitant. Does anyone have any thoughts on either finding great deals on minivan rentals (the rental has to be one that is approved for travel into Canada) or other suggestions for this situation? Also if anyone has any suggestions for awesome family activities in or near Calgary or the Canadian Rockies in that area (beyond hiking and enjoying nature, which we intend to do a fair bit of) I'd be interested in hearing them. Our boys will be 3, 8 and almost 11 when we are thinking of going (this summer). Thanks in advance, --Robyn (mommy to Ryan 9/93 and Matthew 6/96 and Evan 3/01) |
#4
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Family travel -- renting a minivan and Canadian Rockies
Our family is tentatively planning a trip that will involve flying out
to the west coast (of the US) and then doing some driving around visiting various different areas (including the Canadian Rockies). There are 5 of us and we don't travel light, particularly for a trip that will involve a good deal of variation in weather, and we plan to do a fair bit of hiking, for which we also carry a fair bit of stuff. So we are thinking that we are going to be pretty crammed in even a good-sized sedan and started looking into renting a minivan. But the prices look exhorbitant. The minivans that are available as rentals tend to be the smaller ones, which don't hold as much stuff as you might think. (Small minivans carry more *people* but not really any more *stuff* than luxury sedans.) I suggest, based on what it sounds like you're interested in doing, you might be better off renting an RV. Of course this will be more expensive than renting a car or van, but you can sleep and cook in it too, saving on hotel and restaurant bills. :-) When I was growing up, my family (parents, 2 kids, 1 grandparent and 1 large dog) owned a camper and sometimes rented an RV of some sort for road trips; it worked quite well. We never took one into Canada but we did into Mexico, so crossing the border can't be too impossible to arrange. My husband and I honeymooned near Banff. (We took the Rocky Mountaineer train trip from Vancouver to Banff. I **highly** recommend it if you decide you don't need to drive yourselves at least for that part of the trip.) Fabulous place. But I don't have any recommendations for anything specific that you aren't likely to find out about in the ordinary course. We hiked up Johnson Canyon to the hot springs, rented a canoe on Moraine Lake (just as beautiful as and less crowded than Lake Louise), and did the glacier tour -- kids should enjoy all of that as well. Holly Mom to Camden, 3yo EDD 6/8/04 |
#5
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Family travel -- renting a minivan and Canadian Rockies
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#6
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Family travel -- renting a minivan and Canadian Rockies
In article ,
chiam margalit wrote: I've rented minivans twice in Canada, once in Halifax and once in Vancouver. Both times the prices were pretty much in line with a large sedan. Once we got a Ford Windstar (it sucked) and the other time we got a Dodge Caravan. I've also rented minivans in California and in MA. My experience each time has been that the prices are comparable with the largest sedans, and cheaper then the SUVs. I'd contact Budget Rentacar, which happens to be the company I've had the best luck with pricewise (I get an employee discount.) I guess we need to get on the phone. The online prices we've found so far have not been comparable with large sedans at all. We'd be very relieved to find a reasonably priced minivan because I think this trip will be quite difficult in a sedan. Glacier National Park is a must see, of course, as are Banff/Lake Louise. If you're going closer to Vancouver, I'd highly recommend staying a night or two at Harrison Hot Springs, a truely fabulous resort with tons of activities for kids (it's like a camp, where they can go off with a group for horseback riding or hiking or canoing, and you get to do adult stuff), the most amazing food, and a very luxurious time for the grownups. Victoria is a lot of fun, very 'high tea' British at the Empress Hotel and really pretty gardens to visit. No, I don't think we're going to go out as far as Vancouver on this trip. Maybe next time But if anyone knows of a simliar resort to recommend closer to Banff that sounds like a perfect sort of thing for us. YOu're going to a gorgeous part of the world, but you're also undertaking a lot of sitting in the car. Having done this every summer of my life in childhood, I don't envy you as an adult. I can recall a LOT of whining, mostly coming from me. We're pretty experienced car travellers and the kids are actually quite good. One helpful innovation since our childhoods is the portable (or in-car) DVD or VHS player. Our older boys can and do both read in the car (I get carsick if I try that). We limit ourselves to 5-6 hours per day of driving, with stops every 2-3 hours so *I* can pee. So, I'm not worried about that aspect. I am a little worried about us taking too adult-oriented a view of the national parks. The kids (even the 2yo) are great and enthusiastic hikers, but they will want some different types of activities mixed in more than we will. I imagine we can find some cool alpine slides around that part of the world, or even a water park or science museum or something different from appreciating the beauty of nature out there should provide sufficient variety for them. Thanks, and keep the suggestions coming! Robyn (mommy to Ryan 9/93 and Matthew 6/96 and Evan 3/01) -- Support a family business and learn about the technologies underlying the Internet with the TCP/IP Guide! http://www.tcpipguide.com Check out our special offer for Educators. For a challenging little arithmetic puzzle for kids and adults alike, check out http://cgi.wff-n-proof.com/MSQ-Ind/I-1E.htm |
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Family travel -- renting a minivan and Canadian Rockies
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#8
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Family travel -- renting a minivan and Canadian Rockies
In article ,
Nikki wrote: trailer to pull on the back for all your stuff, or one of those shells to put on top? Renting trailers are cheap I have no idea if you can even rent those shells. Personally I can't imagine all the stuff you are talking about fitting into a minivan either. Or rent a big SUV, like a Suburban or Excursion but I'd imagine they are even more then a minivan. Can you rent the hiking supplies once you are there instead of taking them? Sounds like an awesome vacation :-) -- Nikki (wondering how you are getting all that stuff to the West Coast to begin with ;-) Just to be clear, we're talking about day hikes, not overnight hiking and camping supplies. But we're also talking about clothing for a variety of weather conditions for 5 people, day packs, kid carrier pack, day hike first aid kit, etc... I don't think we'll have trouble fitting it all into a minivan with some of the seats folded up, but a sedan might be pushing it. I think an SUV would be even more expensive to rent than a minivan. --Robyn |
#9
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Family travel -- renting a minivan and Canadian Rockies
"Robyn Kozierok" wrote in message
... Also if anyone has any suggestions for awesome family activities in or near Calgary or the Canadian Rockies in that area (beyond hiking and enjoying nature, which we intend to do a fair bit of) I'd be interested in hearing them. Our boys will be 3, 8 and almost 11 when we are thinking of going (this summer). There is a pretty cool glacier at Glacier National Park that is the source of the Columbia River. When I was about 9 years old, we went to see it. There is a big sign that says something like, "Do not go beyond this point". Being 9 years old, and seeing nothing immediately dangerous, I ran right out past that point. Immediately I sank up to my waist in black mud. We were out there again on our honeymoon 15+ years. We saw a family coming up to this same place, and there was the same sign I saw when I was kid. The exact same scenario played out: a boy, about aged 9 or 10, ran past the sign, and sank up to his waist in mud. It seems like you have two boys right in the danger age range. I think it would be a great thing for you guys to see this glacier. But warn them: if you see a sign that says, "Do not go beyond this point", take it seriously. -- Warm Regards, Claire Petersky Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato and .net for .com Home of the meditative cyclist: http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm New CD coming out this month! See: http://www.tiferet.net |
#10
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Family travel -- renting a minivan and Canadian Rockies
In article DpcYb.44299$jk2.106957@attbi_s53,
Claire Petersky wrote: There is a pretty cool glacier at Glacier National Park that is the source of the Columbia River. When I was about 9 years old, we went to see it. There is a big sign that says something like, "Do not go beyond this point". Being 9 years old, and seeing nothing immediately dangerous, I ran right out past that point. Immediately I sank up to my waist in black mud. We were out there again on our honeymoon 15+ years. We saw a family coming up to this same place, and there was the same sign I saw when I was kid. The exact same scenario played out: a boy, about aged 9 or 10, ran past the sign, and sank up to his waist in mud. It seems like you have two boys right in the danger age range. I think it would be a great thing for you guys to see this glacier. But warn them: if you see a sign that says, "Do not go beyond this point", take it seriously. Thanks for the warning Claire. Your post made me laugh out loud! Perhaps I'll print it out for the boys to read in case they don't believe me. The 10yo is pretty cautious, but the 8yo would probably be the one to end up waist-deep in the mud. :-O (We had some scary experiences at Yellowstone watching children *and adults* ignoring warning signs and walking on places that were just thin crusts of earth over pits of boiling hot water. Fortunately, we didn't see anyone break through, and we did actually say something about it to several of the people, at least a few of whom actually appreciated the warning. We didn't have the older boys with us for that trip.) --Robyn (mommy to Ryan 9/93 and Matthew 6/96 and Evan 3/01) |
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