Lonely Planet British Columbia & the Canadian Rockies , livre ebook

British Columbia & the Canadian Rockies

Contents

Plan Your Trip

Welcome to BC & the Canadian Rockies
BC & the Canadian Rockies' Top 15
Need to Know
If You Like
Month by Month
Itineraries
National & Regional Parks
Outdoor Activities
Regions at a Glance

On The Road

Alberta
Alberta Highlights
Edmonton
Around Edmonton
West of Edmonton
Calgary
Banff & Jasper National Parks
Kananaskis Country
Canmore
Icefields Parkway
Banff Town
Lake Louise
Jasper Town & Around
Southern Alberta
Drumheller & Around
Dinosaur Provincial Park
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
Lethbridge
Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park
Waterton Lakes National Park
Crowsnest Pass
Northern Alberta
Peace River & Around
Mackenzie Highway
Lake District
British Columbia
British Columbia Highlights
Vancouver
Lower Mainland
Burnaby
Fort Langley
New Westminster
Richmond & Steveston
Bowen Island
Sea To Sky Highway
Squamish & Around
Whistler
Sunshine Coast
Gibsons
Roberts Creek
Sechelt
Powell River
Vancouver Island
Victoria
Southern Vancouver Island
Cowichan Valley
Nanaimo
Parksville & Qualicum
Port Alberni
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve
Tofino
Ucluelet
Denman & Hornby Islands
Comox Valley
Campbell River
Strathcona Provincial Park
North Vancouver Island
Southern Gulf Islands
Salt Spring Island
North & South Pender Islands
Galiano Island
Saturna Island
Mayne Island
Fraser & Thompson Valleys
EC Manning Provincial Park
Fraser River Canyon
Kamloops
Sun Peaks
Okanagan Valley
Osoyoos
Oliver
Vaseaux Lake
Penticton
Penticton to Kelowna
Kelowna
Vernon
North of Vernon
The Kootenays & The Rockies
Revelstoke
Revelstoke to Golden
Golden
Yoho National Park
Kootenay National Park
Radium Hot Springs
Radium Hot Springs to Fernie
Fernie
Kimberley
Cranbrook
Cranbrook to Rossland
Rossland
Nelson
Nelson to Revelstoke
Cariboo, Chilcotin & the Coast
Williams Lake to Prince George
Barkerville & Around
Bowron Lake
Wells Gray Provincial Park
Chilcotin & Highway 20
Bella Coola Valley
Northern British Columbia
Prince Rupert
Haida Gwaii
Prince Rupert to Prince George
Prince George
Prince George to Alberta
Stewart-Cassiar Highway
Alaska Highway
Yukon Territory
Yukon Territory Highlights
Whitehorse
Alaska Highway
British Columbia to Whitehorse
Whitehorse to Alaska
Haines Highway
Klondike Highway
Carcross
Carmacks
Minto
Stewart Crossing
Dawson City
Dempster Highway
Arctic Parks

Understand

Understand BC & the Canadian Rockies
BC & the Canadian Rockies Today
History
Wildlife
Artistic Side
Aboriginal Cultures
West Coast Cuisine
Drinking BC & Beyond

Survive

Directory AZ
Accommodations
Children
Customs Regulations
Discount Cards
Electricity
Food & Drink
Health
Insurance
Internet Access
Legal Matters
LGBTI Travelers
Maps
Money
Opening Hours
Post
Public Holidays
Safe Travel
Telephone
Time
Toilets
Tourist Information
Travelers with Disabilities
Visas
Women Travelers
Work
Transportation
Getting There & Away
Getting Around
Behind the Scenes
Our Writers
Welcome to BC & the Canadian Rockies

Sigh-inducing mountains, mist-shrouded forests and epic tooth-and-claw wildlife: this is Canada’s legendary outdoor wonderland. And it's served alongside a full menu of distinctive, ever-inviting communities.


Grand Outdoors
A large, lung-filling intake of breath is the usual response upon encountering this region’s sparkling diorama of sawtooth peaks, dense forests, ethereally colored lakes and crenulated coastlines ever-whipped by dramatic ocean waves. It’s the vast scale of this seemingly infinite wilderness that strikes most visitors, triggering a humble response in the face of nature’s grand scheme. There has never been a more persuasive argument for blissful tree-hugging – but of course when it comes to the area’s astonishing wildlife, from whales and grizzlies to wolves and moose, it’s best to keep the hugging to a minimum.

Epic Adrenaline Rushes
Steely calved West Coasters have been discovering ways to interact with the outdoors for decades, and there are hundreds of operators here that can help you do the same. From skiing or mountain biking on Whistler’s spectacular slopes, to hiking the flower-studded alpine meadows in Banff National Park or surfing with the beach nuts in Tofino, there are more ways to work up a sweat here than you can swing a paddle at. Which reminds us: these are prime kayaking waters, with tree-lined lakes and rough-and-tumble ocean routes that will call your name like a siren song.

Urban Adventures
It's easy to be seduced by the outdoors but this region also offers sparkling city action. Urbanites will enjoy the Edmonton arts scene and Calgary's contemporary cowboy vibe, but it's British Columbia that offers the best city-based shenanigans, with two very different approaches. Provincial capital Victoria frames its increasingly cool scene with a backdrop of historic buildings, while Vancouver, Western Canada's largest city, provides a full menu of tasty neighborhoods that are ripe for exploration. From slick Yaletown to hipster-haven Main St and from cool Gastown to the 'gayborhood' of West End, you'll never run out of places to explore on foot.

Foodie Explorations
Discovering its local foodie mojo in recent years, this region serves up a full menu of juicy seafood, velvet-soft ranchland steaks, and abundant fruit and vegies piled high at an ever-expanding array of seasonal farmers markets. Restaurants fall over themselves to showcase these delicious local ingredients, but it’s Vancouver, possibly Canada’s top dining city, that leads the way. Alongside the Okanagan Valley and its wine-producing satellite regions, and a surge in regional artisan distilleries, there’s been a sudsy tidal wave of lip-smacking new microbreweries, making BC the country's top destination for traveling beer fans.

Moraine Lake, Banff National Park | ZHUKOVA VALENTYNA / SHUTTERSTOCK ©


Why I Love BC & the Canadian Rockies
By John Lee, Writer
My first Western Canada visit included spine-tingling sightings of deer, bears and a hulking moose that eyed me quizzically from the edge of a Rocky Mountains forest. Coming from the UK, I was deeply and instantly smitten. But although I've now lived here for 25 years, I'm still enthralled. Whether you're gliding along the mountain-framed coastline on a ferry, watching eagles whirlingen masseoverhead, or simply sipping a hoppy ale in a tiny Vancouver microbrewery tasting room, it's easy to believe this is the best place on earth.
BC & the Canadian Rockies' Top 15

Wildlife-Spotting in Jasper
Elk nose their way around the town’s edge, nervous deer dart between the trees and seemingly giant bald eagles swoop high overhead. The dramatic mountain setting of Jasper National Park is enough to keep most camera-wielding visitors content, but the surfeit of wandering wildlife makes you feel like you’re part of a 3-D nature documentary. If you’re lucky, you might even spot the show’s stars: grizzly bears snuffling for berries alongside the highway or, across the other side of a river, wolves silently tracking their next fresh-catch ungulate.

DUDEINAVAN / SHUTTERSTOCK ©


Top Experiences
Stanley Park's Seawall Promenade
It sometimes takes awestruck visitors to remind Vancouverites they have Canada's finest urban park on their doorstep. But when you grow up alongside a 404-hectare temperate rainforest swath that's lined with multitudinous hiking and biking trails, it's easy to think everyone is just as lucky. Stroll the park's 8.8km wave-licked, forest-backed seawall and you’ll soon deplete your camera battery. But save some juice for the beady-eyed birdlife (especially the blue herons) around Lost Lagoon and a panoramic pyrotechnic sunset at Third Beach.

MAFORD / SHUTTERSTOCK ©


Top Experiences
Skiing the Slopes at Whistler
This scenic, selfie-triggering alpine village is frosted with icicles and filled with excited visitors throughout the winter season; but it’s the powder-hugging slopes that are the main adrenaline lure here. Whistler was the host mountain for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and you can emulate your Lycra-clad heroes on some of North America’s most popular downhills. Then it’s back to the village to compare your bruises, Tweet about your black-diamond abilities and imbibe a few Irish coffees. As the fireplace blazes nearby, watch the skiers outside and plan your next run.

ALEXFE / SHUTTERSTOCK ©


Top Experiences
Hiking in Lake Louise & Beyond
Alongside colossal, snaggle-toothed mountains that are like nature's skyscrapers, the postcard-perfect lakes of Banff National Park are so ethereally colored you begin to wonder if Mother Nature has Photoshop. And it's not just legendary Lake Louise that catches the eye; visitors can’t help sighing at the visuals almost everywhere they turn. Head off the beaten path a little and you'll also find hidden waterfalls, alpine meadows teeming with flowers, and expansive wildlife-packed valleys – all under cathedral blue skies ringed with tall peaks that peer down from lofty heights.

Moraine Lake | KARAMYSH / SHUTTERSTOCK ©


Top Experiences
Dawson City
You’re bouncing around for hours on some rickety old bus on the Klondike Hwy in the height of summer, not knowing whether it’s three o’clock in the morning or afternoon, and suddenly you arrive in Dawson City . Women in frilled skirts, straight out of a gambling hall, chat on wooden sidewalks, and a buzz of stories about gold can be heard everywhere – it’s like stumbling into another world. True adventurers will try the infamous Sourtoe cocktail, and all who encounter Dawson City will brag about their experience forevermore.

OKSANA.PERKINS / SHUTTERSTOCK ©


Top Experience