What would you prioritise on a cross-Canada roadtrip with an eight year old?
What would you prioritise on a cross-Canada roadtrip with an eight year old?
Moving from Quebec to the west coast and driving from Quebec City to Vancouver from the 22nd to the 28th. We don't have a huge amount of time for stops, and we definitely want to hit up the Royal Tyrrell museum in Drumheller.
What would you folks suggest as must-see stops along the way? Campsites, lunch stops, places we could spend fifteen minutes or an hour along the way? We'll be visiting a few friends in Winnipeg and either Calgary or Edmonton; there's only about an 80km difference between hitting Ottawa (which my daughter has never seen) vs Abitibi (which neither of us has visited). My current thought is to drive hard at the beginning to get through Ontario and the prairies, and take it a bit slower through the west since there's so much natural beauty to see.
Thanks in advance for ideas!
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That museum is great, and Drumheller itself can be fun to stop at and look around. Make sure you grab food before the museum as it can take awhile (you can also pre-order tickets/slots which can help with the line).
If you're going up to Edmonton, there's plenty of stuff at West-Ed Mall. My kids loved the water-park+slides and the Lego store. There's also an amusement park with rides
Yes, I was thinking of that, I went a couple times back in high school. It'll mostly depend on if we hit Edmonton or Calgary, but I'm sure the kiddo would love it.
Up to Edmonton is the long way round. I’d stick to the southern routes.
Either way, going through Winnipeg, it’s worthwhile to hit the Manitoba Museum (natural history) and historic sites of the Red River settlement (The Forks, Riel House) but the favourite with the kids will likely be the Assiniboine Park Zoo.
In Alberta, Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump is another site that your kids will cover in school, so it’s worth taking in.
Banff and Jasper are options, but the old far southern route through the Crowsnest pass offers other interesting sites, including the Frank Slide. Given the current fire, I can see avoiding that and Osoyoos, but otherwise the chance to see real desert in Canada, including rattlesnakes and scorpions in the Nk’Mip interpretation centre, is something kids find fascinating.
Awesome, thank you so much!