Totem Circle via the Inside Passage and the Rockies - CanaDream

Twenty-three nights and 3,768 kilometres in a loop from Vancouver in a motorhome, by way of Vancouver Island, the Inside Passage and the Rockies.

Victoria comes first, then Tofino and Ucluelet on the island’s west coast, where Pacific Rim National Park holds Long Beach and the rainforest behind it, the winter storm watching is a recognised reason to visit, and the surf is rideable all year in a wetsuit. Campbell River and Port Hardy follow up the island.

The Inside Passage sailing from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert takes a full day, threading channels between forested islands with no road access at all. Prince George and Jasper come next, with two stay days in the second, then Lake Louise, Banff and Calgary down the Icefields Parkway and beyond. Waterton and West Glacier cross the border into Montana, then Nelson in the Kootenays and Osoyoos in the Okanagan close the loop.

The motorhome and the day-by-day plan come from CanaDream, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with insurance options priced at booking. Twenty-four days is enough for a route with a full day at sea in the middle of it, and the ferry needs booking well ahead for a motorhome, since the sailings are limited and the vehicle deck fills. Crossing into the United States needs the hire terms checked for cross-border cover. The season runs roughly June to September, with the Icefields Parkway open year round but snow possible on it in any month. Bear country rules apply at most of the campsites on this route.