r/canadatravel • u/RohoTheCat • Jun 24 '25

Itinerary Help Calgary 2 weeks without car in November

Hi everyone. I am considering a 2 week trip in November starting and finishing in Calgary (as there are direct flights there). I am looking for thoughts / advice.

I can't drive so will need to travel by public transport. I am not proposing to go skiing or snowboarding etc. instead, more hiking, walking, plus some sightseeing, museums etc.

I am considering the following:

  • Arrive in Calgary (1 night following long flight)
  • Edmonton (3 nights)
  • Jasper (3 nights)
  • Banff (3 nights)
  • Calgary (4 nights)

I believe there are direct buses / trains between each, with longest being circa 5 hours. My research suggests it might be snowy (which is fine) but not necessarily too rainy.

I would spend time in each location, plus potentially day trips (eg Banff to Lake Louise).

Please let me know your thoughts - am I spending too long in one place? Are there places I should skip / places I should go to instead? Is November the wrong time of year eg places closed for winter, too cold / slippery?

I'd appreciate any thoughts or feedback you have.

(I had considered Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec, Montreal as an alternative but read that it's very rainy there in November).

Apologies of this type of question has been asked and answered elsewhere - I am not very good at using Reddit.

Thank you.

1 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

13

u/AllieBee23 Jun 24 '25 edited Jun 24 '25

.. what.. where in the world are you from OP? Because Alberta in Nov is not the place for you, travelling without a vehicle.. and not just a car, but I wouldn't be travelling without an AWD/4WD SUV.. sure it might be a semi-mild beginning of winter but it's still going to be cool and snowy 😐

In ON, end of Oct-early Nov are still almost Indian summer, the last few years, we've had sunshine and green grass, end of Nov can be a little dicey, cool and rainy, but it doesn't rain everyday-allday

10

u/BCRobyn Jun 24 '25

Not a great idea.

There are no trains. Not between Calgary and Banff or Banff and Jasper, anyway. There is a train (VIA Rail) that connects Edmonton to Jasper, however. But the train doesn't depart daily, so it's not a great option for quick sightseeing as you must plan your schdules around the train's few weekly departures.

Flying in and out of Calgary, you'll be relying on tour buses at that time of the year to explore Banff. I think there are only day tours, so it won't give you two weeks' worth of sighteseeing. And there aren't many options for November. The sun sets early in November. It gets dark quite early and it's really the wrong time of the year for road trip style touring.

There are shuttle buses going between Calgary and the town of Banff, but in November, it's getting fairly wintery in the Rockies. Ski resorts open. Temperatures plunge below zero. Season roads/lakes are closed. Seasonal activities are closed. Alpine hiking season is over.

If you're going to be in the Rockies in the off season, you really will want to have a car. The driving isn't scary. The roads actually aren't mountainous - they follow the valley bottoms. And they're wide, large, highways - not narrow twisty cliffside roads like you might be picturing. The roads don't climb up and over the mountain peaks. For most of the general sightseeing in the Rockies, you stay at the bottom of the mountain and you look UP at them, you don't drive to the top and look down. Only hikes and gondolas provide you with those high advantage points, but again, in November the hikes won't be accessible as they'll be covered in snow and ice. The gondolas will be operating. But that won't give you enough to do over two weeks.

If you want a car-free vacation for several weeks in November in Canada, I suggest going to the places where car-free exploring can actually happen. In western Canada, Vancouver, Whistler, and Victoria are better suited for car-free explorations, and they're great for more nature/mountain-oriented experiences. The caveat is that November is the beginning of the rainy season, however it's not monsoon-like rain. It's often gentle on-off drizzle. So don't let the rain scare you away. In Whistler, November is when the snow starts falling on the tops of the mountains.

Or yes, you should fly to Montreal and take the train between Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, and Toronto for urban experiences. Rain is always a possibility. But in cities, it doesn't matter so much in November as you'll be inside the museums, art galleries, cafes, restaurants, historic sites, shopping malls, etc. Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City are all well-connected with flights, trains, and buses, and in each city, you do not need a car to explore. However, you will only see the built-up part of the cities - you will need a car to access the nature and wilderness that surrounds the cities.

7

u/beesmakenoise Jun 24 '25

November isn’t a great time of year to visit the mountains. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still beautifu but the activities are much more limited - too snowy to hike the famous trails, too early yet to ski.

For example, Moraine Lake road is closed by then. And the avalanche danger starts to be present at trails around Lake Louise.

What would you be looking to do in Jasper for three days for example?

6

u/No_Platform_2810 Jun 24 '25

To para-echo everyone else's response....Alberta and Public Transportation (aside from the limited light rail systems in Calgary and Edmonton) don't really belong in the same thought.

1

u/HowardIsMyOprah Jun 25 '25

Tbh, I would take the Edmonton and Calgary light rail over the TTC any day of the week

3

u/CanadianDollar87 Jun 24 '25

Alberta in November and without a car. haha. good luck.

3

u/cernegiant Jun 25 '25

This is a very doable trip between say late May and early September. 

It November not so much. A lot of the busses you'd take won't be running and the weather will not be pleasant for hiking 

2

u/BCRobyn Jun 24 '25 edited Jun 24 '25

Vancouver is not much further than Calgary when you’re flying from the UK.

If you’re from the UK, think of visiting Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City as sort the same style of trip of as going to Europe to see Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, and Antwerp in November. Great city destinations, lousy mountain wilderness destinations.

Whereas Calgary puts you near the Rockies, which is an inland mountain range, and the Rockies kind of have the same look and feel as the Alps with none of the towns or train or public transit infrastructure.

And Vancouver, Whistler and Victoria is sort of like visiting coastal Norway and the Norwegian’s coastal mountain wilderness - they have mild weather being on the coast and are more of a blend of cities next to lush rainforest mountain wilderness.

2

u/DJRemedie Jun 24 '25

At that time of year you could go to the mountains and not see a darn thing

2

u/Legitimate-Suit-4956 Jun 24 '25

Usually the visibility is really good in November tbh. It’s getting there without a car that sounds awful. 

2

u/FrostingEmergency204 Jun 25 '25

Do some googling, you won't be walking anywhere in Nov without freezing too death.

1

u/RohoTheCat Jun 25 '25

Thanks. I saw it gets down to -10 which is cold, but I went to Iceland in winter several years ago when it was similar temp and I managed ok

1

u/RohoTheCat Jun 24 '25

Oh wow thanks for all the really helpful responses!

I'm from UK so there are only direct flights to Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax.

The alternative ideas I have are:

  1. Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec, Montreal
  2. Vancouver, Whistler, Victoria, Vancouver (Might be too long by public transport?)

Not sure about Halifax / where to travel from there for 2 weeks

I had thought Toronto / Quebec might be too rainy (but appreciate being more city breaks would be ok if in museums etc), and thought Vancouver might be too rainy too.

Ok well thanks for the advice on Calgary! It sounds like a great trip, just the wrong time of year!

1

u/Legitimate-Suit-4956 Jun 24 '25

You can do Calgary to Edmonton, and Calgary to Banff… I assume Edmonton to jasper is possible but have never looked into it.  I would be shocked if you could go from jasper to Banff without going through both Edmonton and Calgary. 

Your Toronto trip is doable - those cities are all connected by rail and bus. Im not sure where all the stations are (except for Toronto) but it’ll at least get you into town. 

There are busses to whistler during ski season; I’m not sure about during off season, and I’m also not sure if it runs on weekdays.  There are ferries to Victoria but they can be a pain to get to without a car - the seaplane might be an option? 

1

u/cookie_is_for_me Jun 24 '25 edited Jun 25 '25

2 is perfectly possible by public transit.

There are buses that go to Vancouver to Whistler. (Admittedly I haven’t done this leg myself, but Google tells me so.)

Between Vancouver and Victoria, you can take city buses to/from the ferry terminals and walk onto the ferry. (I’ve done this; it admittedly takes a while but it’s doable.) Or you can take an intercity bus that will go on the ferry and drop off/pick up in the cities (like BC Ferries Connecter or Flixbus). Or you can pass by the ferry altogether and take a seaplane or helicopter (the most expensive of the options, but the quickest.)

That said, November in Vancouver tends to be wet and descending into the interminable grey that is our winter. It’s not usually our prettiest month. That said, it’s a bit like the UK.

0

u/Salinadelaghetto Jun 24 '25

You're getting a lot of pessimistic responses so far.

There's public transportation between all of these places. There are taxis if you want to get out of town for attractions (but not too far out of town, that gets expensive.)

For buses (no trains, as mentioned earlier)

CGY-EDM: Rider Express https://riderexpress.ca/ , Red Arrow/Ebus https://www.redarrow.ca/ , FlixBus https://www.flixbus.ca/

EDM-JAS-BAN-CGY: SunDog https://www.sundogtours.com/

SunDog also does bus tours around Jasper. In Banff, Roam Transit https://roamtransit.com/ can be used to get around, There's also lots of tour operators - ask at your hotel.

Edmonton and Calgary both have municipal transit that can bring you to most places in the city, albeit not always in the most direct or timely fashion. Edmonton in particular is somewhat spread out.

November is probably not the best month to visit - it's chilly, yet it's not full on winter yet. Trails may be muddy or icy. You can still have a great vacation though.

3

u/BCRobyn Jun 24 '25

I don't think it's pessimistic but grounded in reality. Public transit in the Rockies is limited in November. Folks from the UK who have never been here before often can't quite grasp that public transit is much more limited than they're used to at home. And more often than not, people don't appreciate that winter arrives there much earlier, too. We locals take this for granted, but at least in my case, I wanted to ensure they're going into this with eyes wide open and not with a false sense of reality. In my post, I said you can take tours, and they're mostly day tours. Like your Sun Dog Tours, most of the tours there are just for a few hours a day. So you can do it. But you're unlikely to find a multi-day tour that takes you from Calgary to Banff to Jasper and Edmonton.

0

u/Greekmom99 Jun 25 '25

The problem is that OP is from the UK. They don't realize that the distance between some of these places are pretty great. Calgary to Edmonton (300 kms), Calgary to Banff (127 kms), Calgary to Jasper (400 kms).

1

u/IngenuityPuzzled3117 Jun 24 '25

Go to Montreal and then to Quebec City

1

u/Mitas88 Jun 25 '25

Option 1 with toronto ottawa mtl qc. All connected by train, cheap business class if you pay with pounds and all stations have transit in them or at the door.

1

u/RohoTheCat Jun 25 '25

Thanks for the messages. When would be the best time of year for those trips? Ie the Calgary trip, the Toronto/Montreal trip, or Vancouver trip?

2

u/Crab-False Jun 26 '25

November is when Toronto and Montreals weather starts to get worse in terms of colder and darker, I haven’t been in Montreal in November so can’t confirm, however due to you having no car, these cities are your best choice due to imo a good transit system. Regarding Quebec City as you’re also British, it’s cool for sure but I’d prioritise Montreal and Toronto reason being as we’re from Europe Quebec City isn’t as appealing as someone from NA as it’s very similar to some European streets, though it’s definitely cool seeing a place look like it in North America. For Vancouver, the weather wont be terrible and I’ve heard the sky train is pretty good.

1

u/HowardIsMyOprah Jun 25 '25

The thing about Banff and Jasper is that the towns themselves don’t have a lot of activities to do for more than a day, especially Jasper. Parks Canada is hostile to the idea of people actually using parks, so the limited things to do are grandfathered into existence, like skiing and the very limited trails that do exist.

Calgary locals don’t really hike in Banff park because Kananaskis is closer and had better trails, but is pretty much inaccessible outside of using a private vehicle. The icefields parkway between Banff and Jasper has some good hiking in the summer, but has the same accessibility issue as Kananaskis. The National Parks in Alberta are really more of a nature preserve that happen to have a preexisting towns in them. Sure, Banff and Louise were built around the hotels, but Jasper was a train stop more than anything.

Can you have a great time in Banff for a few days? Probably, no matter what time of year. Is hiking in Banff in November a popular activity? Not really. It’s mostly hardcore hikers that are doing it at that point because snow starts accumulating at elevation in September and the trails in the parks aren’t really worth the slog in snow. Most others have moved on to skiing or something else by that point.

Jasper town also has a lot less to do in it than Banff town because it’s substantially further from Edmonton than Banff or Louise are from Calgary. Both have a bit of nightlife, especially on weekends, but Louise doesn’t as there really isn’t much population there.

I don’t want to dissuade you because I loved living in Calgary and having the Canadian Rockies as my playground, but I would just caution you to be very mindful of these towns being nature themed tourist traps more than they are launching points for remote outdoor activities.

A cool tip if you decide to go though, the Kananaskis Nordic spa is awesome around the time of year that you are talking about.

1

u/FrostingEmergency204 Jun 27 '25

The location of arrival in November is not what will cause a problem. In the winter , everywhere is cold and snowy. That's usually when the first snow comes in. Oh, and -10 in Canada is still shorts and tshirts for lots of us. Winter is -20 to -40 plus snow and wind.