What's the deal with Vancouver?

Whats good to see (IE sport) in Vancouver from Sept 7Th until Sept 23rd two blokes from UK on holiday.?

• We are spending 2 weeks travelling around BC by car, on route we would like to see some sporting events etc, we intend to spend some time in Vancouver, Kamloops, Banff, Jasper, Edmonton and then back to spend some more time in Vancouver and Vancouver Island, taking in as much as possible on the way, could you also suggest things to see, places to avoid and places to stay with a low cost budget

• Answer:

  Sounds like a great trip! Take (or buy) a sweatshirt as it is starting to get cool at night. Just returned from Calgary. SPORTS It is not regular hockey season until October, but there are preseason Canucks hockey games. You could probably catch Canadian football - www.bclions.com. VANCOUVER Do not miss walking on the Capillano Suspension Bridge, the longest foot suspension bridge... and you can go up in the tree canopy on rope bridges. The red tour bus around town was a good way to get around while seeing all of the tourist hot spots. North VCR hotels are cheaper (and also near RIchmond, where the airport is). WHISTLER VILLAGE & MOUNTAIN Not far north of Vancouver and worth the trip - home to 2010 Winter Olympics. Zip lines and just watching the daredevils going down the ski hills on their dirt bikes is a riot! We bought our hotel night before arrival on Hotwire.com on a holiday weekend & got a bargain for $80CN. Parking underground as Whistler is really a 'walking town.' REVELSTOKE Old mining town by Revelstoke NP. We bought a Canadian National Park pass as you probably will find it a good bargain if you are visiting all those parks. I saw a red "alice in wonderland" mushroom here. GLACIER NP On Transcanada 1 - walk amongst hemlocks and natural forest ground. GOLDEN, BC Few years ago, we stayed in a great B&B here with the Johnsons for 5 days at Country Comfort B&B for cheap! 250/344-6200. It is a good base to go to Yoho NP and Banff (tres expensive unless you camp!). Great trails and waterfalls in Yoho. If you see a train while you are in the Rockies on 1, make sure you stop in Field to see the train's front and caboose cross each other in the mountain tunnel. Had dinner atop the Kicking Horse mountain - see all over the Rockies. Can go whitewater rafting & canoeing here. BANFF Great trails - very touristy with tons of shops. See the big hotel. JASPER Take your time going up the Icefields Parkway from Banff to Jasper as it is awesome! Although you may find it expensive, be sure to ride the icefields tractor bus up the glacier and walk out on the glacial ice. The tractors are only in Jasper and Antartica, and this glacier is the size of the City of Seattle! DO NOT MISS! Icefield pkwy is slow road, takes time. Staying in Jasper ... it is IN the national park, so there are no chain hotels here. They are all B&B's. We found a good one through the visitor's center by the railway station. Maligne lake is incredibly translucent and mirror-like. EDMONTON Not too impressed.... just a city with a big overpriced mall, but go there to say you've been there. If you want faster way to return, go south through Red Deer and Calgary. Other stuff: Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump (south of Banff) - weird place where the buffalo jumped off the mountain. Visitor center is built into side of the mountain. Royal Tyrrell - Drumheller (1 1/2 hrs ne of Calgary) -- best dinosaur museum i've seen in my life! The town in amidst the prairie... you're driving along and it's pancake flat and you see nothing... and then you go down a steep canyon about 400 ft. and there's the town... and full of hoodoo's... Weird too. By the time you're in Calgary, you are not far from the US border and Glacier National Park in Montana! This is awesome! I suggest you cut back to Vancouver using the US route. You will see more this way.... VCR ISLAND Bed and Breakfasts in Canada are very similar to UK. More expensive here than on mainland, but even more British. If you stay out of Victoria, it is very rural with curvy roads and many national parklands. If you go to Vancouver Island, there is a car/passenger ferry just north of Vancouver (Horseshoe Bay). HAVE FUN!