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.
That's going to be a hard sell on this sort of timeline. The distance between Banff and Jasper alone is about 4-5 hours on the icefield (accounting for all the stops you will want to make). It's the wrong way too, for someone heading to Vancouver, and a big drive around.
What I would do, personally, is stick to the program through the mountains. Maybe do the Tyrell museum and stay in Calgary that night. There's lots to do in Calgary, might I suggest Winsports Downhill Karting (which you can also do in the evening). Then if you stay on the west side of Calgary, you can get away in the morning with good time. Maybe book a shuttle to Lake Louise/Moraine for that morning (do it now), because you cant drive up there anymore. Do that and try to get to Kelowna for that evening. Then it's just a straight shot to Vancouver the next day.
Thanks! I didn't realise you couldn't drive up to lake Louise or Moirane lake any more... It's been decades since I've been there and was hoping to make the stop. Thanks!