Canada/usa holiday advice??

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Gerry
Western Australia

Jan 29, 2013
Canada/usa holiday advice??

Guys and girls just in process for booking my flights to the usa...

 

Now debating which would be better for a family of 5 wishing to travel across america and possibly in to canada also, over a 6 to 7 week period

 

I am debating hiring a camper van (fairly big) or a suv/people carrier and stopping in motels along the way..

 

Which do you guys think would be the cheapest and  best option??

Budget is around $15k....

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Gerry
Western Australia

Jan 29, 2013

No one??!!!

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Ben
Fort St John, BC

Dec 6, 2009

Well I've travelled a little bit in Canada. It depends what you're into. Old Quebec city is nice. Same with the Ste. Anne de Beaupre cathedral. In Ontario you have the Muskoka's and Algonquin Park. Some of the oldest rock on the planet is the Canadian Shield in those areas. Canada's Wonderland has two of the largest roller coasters in the world, built quite recently. As for BC/Alberta, the Rockies are stunning. Lake Louise is gorgeous with glacial ice close by.

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B.C. Canada

Mar 31, 2009

Camper would probably be best so all you need is a rest stop area any time you want to stop. Plus there's the consistancy of having a shower and clean sheets of which isn't always guaranteed when travelling which would also determine your route of travel and ability to stop when tired. This way you also get an option of cooking and carrying different types of food rather then just the food you happen to drive past at the moment. If you don't know where you'll be or where your going it's a good idea to bring something along that'll give you some type of base to always go back to rather then relying on unknown factors. Just my opinion.

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Gerry
Western Australia

Jan 29, 2013

Cheers for that fellas :-)

 

Yeah will be starting off in La and working my way across to New york then possibly going up to canada..

 

This is why I asked about the camper or hire car....

 

Thinking stop at motels along the way and thinking camper van maybe a little awkards say in Las vegas or Houston etc

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Frank Ewald
BC

Oct 23, 2010

I'm doing the reverse but just my wife and myself at the end of this month. Heading to NZ for 10 days then to Australia where we'll meet and travel with my daughter who's living there - doing Melbourne, Sydney, Uluru and Cairns. Five weeks total. I'm guessing that you're not including plane flights here in that estimate. We've decided to fly between locations (plane flights versus time/motel/gas). RV's rental cost is quite high and the cost of fuel to cross the continent is also quite significant. Of course,  motel/hotel costs are also right up there. Family of five - you'd probably want a rental vehicle like a Dodge Caravan - seat 5 comfortably and room for luggage. Okay mileage. Not sporty or cool, but get you from A to Z which would be what you want. Referred to as a mini-van over here. Sit down with Google Maps and figure out the transportation time for the routes to the places you want to see during your visit. Spring and summer months here are May to August - in the northern states and Canada finding camping spots outside of those months can be a bit of a challenge.

You might want to consider what your goal is. Perhaps a tour of the Western States and Western Canada might be more feasible. Or the east. Side to side you're adding a lot of travel time. There are some motel chains that are reasonably priced and you can cross the country using them - motel 8, motel 7, Red Roof Inn. Then you can move to higher priced like Holiday Inn etc. You will have fun; but try to save more as your budget for five is going to be very challenging.

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Gerry
Western Australia

Jan 29, 2013

Ahh ok yeah 5 meaning my sister and her daughter are meeting me in LA (she is flying form the uk to meet us) its me my wife and son (aged 12) yeah $15k is for us 3.

 

So  day van is the go???...

 

I figured with google maps roughly 10 proper stop offs with 3 days in each stop off and then 6 to 8 hours drive time to the next stop off as we work our way across....

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Frank Ewald
BC

Oct 23, 2010

Sounds like you'll have fun and see a lot of country in the process! Keep us informed!

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Gerry
Western Australia

Jan 29, 2013

Yeah will do  cheers for that :-)