Canadians, Help Needed!

[legoline]

For my Advanced Oral Skills class (where we practise giving presentatins) I was assigned with the subject "My ideal holiday". Now, I was thinking that I'd like to plan a trip to Canada since it's a place I'd actually love to go and haven't been yet which makes the presentation fun for me, too.

Since I only have limited time to give that presentation I was thinking that I'd narrow down the fictional travelling to British Columbia and Alberta.

I will look up sights and places worth going on Wikipedia and tourism websites, but I thought that since I have quite a few Canadians on my flist maybe you could help me out?

If I was to visit Alberta and British Columbia, where would you take me? What are must-sees? Which sights praised by tourism websites are highly overrated? Which places are never mentioned on those websites but worth checking out? How likely is it to see moose and bears if you go to Canada? :-p

I'd love it if you could help me :-) (And who knows, maybe I'll take that tour some day!)

Thank you in advance :-)

Comments

[candygramme.livejournal.com]

I live here in Vancouver, and I know BC pretty well. There are things to see all over BC. Vancouver Island is really pretty - go to Qualicum and enjoy the beach, and then Victoria. You can visit some of the gulf islands on your way over here to Vancouver. Once you're here, there are mountains and inlets all through the city. You can ski on Grouse Mountain in the morning and then in the afternoon swim in English Bay. You might want to take a boat trip up Howe Sound to island hop - misty mountains plunging into the sea, and little islands all around you are so pretty. Head up the Sea to Sky highway to Squamish and then to Whistler, pausing to visit the Britannia mines.

You will go east to Lake Louise, but don't bother with Banff - it's pretty but overpriced. Instead you should decide to head north, especially if you want to see moose. White water rafting at Lytton, through Hell's Gate is fun if you're an adrenalin junkie, and further north you'll find Lake McLeese, which is gorgeous in a very low-key way. You'll pass Prince George and start climbing - the Rockies are in the way of your progress Stop at Swallow Falls, cos they're pretty - and once you come down again to Dawson Creek your adventure truly begins. You hit mile zero of the Alaska Highway, and your journey truly begins. You're heading for the Liard Hotsprings, where you can bathe when the temperature is -40C, and you're absolutely guaranteed to see moose. You will likely stop in Fort Nelson, (mile 300) and I advise a stop at Auntie's Kitchen, at Pink Mountain on the way to Fort Nelson - the food there is the best food ever anywhere!

Is that enough?

[legoline.livejournal.com]

That is... amazing. Can I take that for my presentation? I'm looking at a map from BC and Alberta right now with no idea where to start and which way to go round...

[candygramme.livejournal.com]

Of course you can, but I don't know that I did it in an orderly fashion. If you drove West from Alberta you could head past Lake Louise to Vancouver and do some trans Canada goodness. You could do Vancouver, Whistler, the Gulf Islands, Howe Sound and Vancouver Island from there and then head North.

Gotta visit Liard Hotsprings though. Last time I was there, moose were all around, and the springs are awesome.

[legoline.livejournal.com]

Well, I was planning on starting and ending up in Vancouver, since I can get a direct flight from Dusseldorf there. But I guess I'll more or less stick to that route, thanks so much!