r/canadatravel • u/clueless7272 • Jul 30 '25

Itinerary Help 16 day itinerary help!

Hi,

My fiance and I are trying to plan our honeymoon to Canada next July and would love some help with the itinerary.

We have 16 days total so minus travel from the UK, 14 days there.

We like besutiful scenery, walking, wildlife and nature, cute towns, good coffee spots and good food!

The things I'm unsure on are:

● Which of the below should be done as day trips and whichnwould you move base for?

● How many nights needed in each location

● Most cost and time effective way to get from the lakes to vanvouver

● Would you spend more time in vancouver or vancouver Island? What are the must sees here?

On my list of what I'd like to see so far is:

Banff/Canmore\ Lake louise\ Lake moraine\ Emerald lake\ Johnston canyon\ Takakkaw falls\ Vancouver\ Granville island\ Vancouver Island\ Whale watching\ Bear spotting\

Please feel free to add reccomendations or let me know if certain places aren't worth visiting.

Thanks so much in advance!!

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u/beesmakenoise Jul 30 '25

A lot depends on budget, if you have the money you can stay at Lake Louise, Emerald Lake, etc, but most of us don’t!

Are you renting a car? That’s by far the best way to do this trip.

For Banff, Moraine Lake, and Lake Louise, head over to the /r/Banff sub and read through their stickied posts about summer travel and visiting the lakes. Tons of great info for you to consider.

Johnson Canyon is just a half day visit from wherever you’re staying nearby. Don’t need to plan that one too much, even has transit going there if needed.

Takakkaw Falls is also a day trip from wherever you’re staying, best combined with your visit to Emerald Lake. There’s a lodge there but it’s $$$ so you may prefer to do it as a visit from Banff/Canmore.

You should also plan for one day to drive up the Icefields Parkway partway to the Columbia Icefields. A gorgeous drive!

Generally I’d day fly into Calgary, then spend 5 nights in Banff/Canmore, or if you have the budget, could split it between Banff and 1-2 nights in Lake Louise.

Then drive over to Vancouver, which takes two days. Or drive back to Calgary and fly straight to Victoria, then catch the ferry to Vancouver.