I do this trip often. I'm doing it via train from Whistler. Both days are 12 hrs on the train. Not familiar with that highway but your trying to cover way too much ground and yes you will be driving too much. When I start in Jasper the days go something like this.

Jasper, View Maligne Canyon and lk. Icefied Parkway stop at Athabasca Falls. Columbia Icefields. Stop at Peyto Lake, Crowfoot "Glacier". Banff is nice but your totally ignoring Lk Louise and Moraine Lk that are 40 miles from Banff. I just spent 3 days in Vancouver, why would you only want to allow one day? West coast geography is huge compared to east coast so there is lots of driving and not much in between. I believe if you look on Banff forum you will see some suggested itineraries.

well we are road warriors. we dont mind time in the car.

im not sure if you are familiar with the east coast of the states, but we went from the middle of long island all the way out to providenencetown on cape cod(the tip), around to plymouth (to see the plymouth rock) and back to long island. we did that trip is 1.5days and had a blast. our overnight was in hyannis, which is the jump-off point to marthas vineyard. it was something like 700miles.

we changed up my itinerary a little.

on the 18th we are going to make a push to drive from whistler to valemount. i believe that is like a 7-8hr drive. we are going to spend overnight in valemount and then drive over to jasper the next day (only 1hr 15min).

we will then have the entire day in jasper.

from jasper we are driving down to banff and then spending a full day in banff.

the rest is staying the same. so with this revised route we are going to have 1 full day in jasper, 1 full day in banff and 1 full day in vancouver.

I'm glad your up for the adventure. I gave you some good advice. It appears you want the most cursory Evelyn Wood type of sightseeing so I guess thats what you want. One day in Banff and Jasper to me doesn't justify the trip, but you'll enjoy the scenery nevertheless, you just won't have any time to explore.

ya know.. im not sure exactly what we want. i know we dont want to stay in whistler. we been there a few times and its time to see something else. we have 7 days. we are up for adventure. we dont mind a long drive.

i dont even think we are going to book any accomodations. we are just gonna "wing it".

do you have any recommendations for something as spectacular as the icefields highway that is a little closer to whistler?

Ouch! This is some road trip.

These are not freeways you planning to take. Consider mountainous highways, (3 major mountain ranges between Whistler and the Rockies) shared with RVs and tractor trailer rigs at that time of the year. I think you will end up wondering if "this scenery" is ever going to end.

Consider taking the Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver to Banff (2 days.) Then rent a car to do a reasonable road trip up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper, give yourself time to see a few things and enjoy the area. You could fly back to Vancouver by taking transport to Calgary (the nearest airport) and catching a plane.

You may even be able to take a fly/drive option with a flight to Banff (via Calgary) and a drive back. Just leave two days for the drive back.

I think shifting your first day to get all the way to Valemount is a good idea. This will be a classic road trip, so you won't see much you can't see out of the windshield of your car, which is to say you will miss a lot, but you say you enjoy that, so you should have a good trip!

It is a lot of driving, but completely doable. The icefields parkway is a destination in itself and you will enjoy it. The drive time you have noted (4 hours from Jasper to Banff) doesn't accommodate the tour time or any other stops. You could overnight in Lake Louise which is slightly closer to Jasper, but doesn't have the "town" feeling or amenities of Banff - depends on what you like. I would just suggest planning on spending almost a full driving/stopping day getting from Jasper to Banff/Lake Louise so you can see the other amazing places along the way.

It will likely take less time to drive from Whistler to 100 Mile House (just over 4 hours) so you could go a little further if you wanted. But it is a drive that requires a lot of concentration for the firt bit and will inspire lost of road side stops to look at the scenery.

Although I have heard that things are a bit slower in the tourism biz these days (price of gas maybe?) it might be a good idea to make reservations in Jasper, Banff/Lake Louise, and maybe even Vernon since these are peak travel periods in busy places. Or at least call ahead the day before you arrive if you want to stay flexible on your exact itinerary.

A couple of suggestions - instead of 100 Mile House, try 108 Mile Ranch to stay at the 108 Mile Ranch Resort. It is a fairly simple "resort" with simple rooms, but a lovely spot and a decent restaurant - I enjoyed my one night there. http://www.108resort.ca/?Quokka=TravelInBC

There are other places to stop on your way back other than Vernon - Kelowna and the very nice towns of Penticton, Peachland, and Naramata are great and just a little further, or go the other highway and stay in Nelson - a picturesque town full of artists, heritage buildings, and good restaurants.

All in all a great road trip no matter how you slice it, and if you are flexible so much the better!

Since it is your honeymoon - one further suggestion and maybe further incentive to go past Vernon to Penticton. I had heard about this place - I haven't stayed there, but it sounds like THE perfect place - a room with no roof, open to the stars. It doesn;t rain much in that part of BC, but I believe the bed area is covered ...

www.godsmountain.com/roofless-room.html

It may be one of those places you have to reserve a long time ahead, but if it suits you and you can get it, it looks gorgeous.

I see no problem with your itinerary. All the routes and times you have picked out leave you a bit of extra time to either spend time at that days destination, or push on to another town.

The only one you may want to extend the time on is Jasper to Banff.

And as for Vernon, there are enough towns in the area that you will have a good selection, especially south of Vernon.

Your trip is very doable, especially if you like driving.

thank you to all that have replied. i think we are going to make a go at it. it is a lot of driving. we definetly wont be able to fully explore all these areas, but i feel we will get a great overview (and pick out potential future vacation spots!). we definetly expect to make a full day out of the drive from jasper to banff. we are absolutely taking the glacier excursion and want to spend some time at Athabasca falls.

with that, i think we are going to leave our itinerary completely open and not book any accomdations. just in case we get sick of the car or get to spot that we like and want to stay. although im worried about this when we get to jasper/banff.

wish us luck!!! we leave august 12th from NYC to Vancouver. married on the 16th in whistler and road trippin' all over BC!!