The Great Western Canadian Road Trip

I have mentioned many times on this blog about my newly acquired love of road trips. Scott and I took our first one together last March and I am sure there will be plenty more in our future. One place that I would love to take a road trip across would be Western Canada. Arguably full of the widest and most open spaces on the planet, a road trip across Western Canada would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. What would be the highlights of a Great Western Canadian Road Trip like this? Well, here are a few:

Vancouver

I have heard nothing but good things about Vancouver, and one search of images of the city online will show you nothing but good things as well. Known for having one of the prettiest harbours in all of the world, Vancouver would be an ideal place to start. Ideally, we would spend a couple of days seeing the town, taking scenic walks in Stanley Park, and maybe getting out on the water. I would also love to dig in to some of the amazing Asian food that the city is known for.

Icefields Parkway

With a name like Icefields Parkway, how can you not want to drive it? The resort town of Banff would likely be our first stop after Vancouver and after a night or two there, we would set out on the famous Icefields Parkway towards Jasper National Park. It is a famous parkway, but it is somewhat skint on services, so you know we will have to hit Subway before we set off, which is pretty much my official road trip food anyway, so it couldn’t be more perfect. Once on the Icefields Parkway, we would enjoy the jaw dropping scenery all the way to Jasper National Park. Once there, I would finally get to see Peyto Lake. It may sound funny, but I had an image of this lake as a background on my cell phone for years, and I think it would be really cool to finally see it with my own eyes.

Oil Country

From Jasper National Park it would be a pretty easy drive to Edmonton and after a few days out in nature, it would be fun to get back to a big city. Edmonton is also on Scott’s list, because since he is such a big hockey fan, he would love to see an Oilers game. I am pretty sure we would have to swing by the West Edmonton Mall too as it is the largest shopping mall in the world.

Badlands

Heading straight south from Edmonton, we would likely make a beeline for southeast Alberta to see the Badlands. A strange and one-of-a-kind eroded landscape, the Canadian Badlands may not be as famous as their American cousins, but they are every bit as breathtaking. They would make a fantastic last stop on Western Canadian Road Trip before we likely head back to Vancouver where it all started or perhaps get crazy and head East and do the whole thing again.

Photo credit: Icefields Parkway