Hi;

Vancouver Int'l Airport is approx. 500 miles / 800 km from Lake Louise.

Best Regards

All going well, and not counting stops, the drive is about 8 1/2 hrs.

You'd be about 5 hrs driving from Lake Louise to Kamloops. That would give you some time to still dilly dally here and there on the way. Kamloops isn't the greatest place other than for a stop over, but it's only about 3 1/2 hrs to Vancouver.

If you WANT to come down the Okanagan to Kelowna, then cut across to Merrit, you would need about 3 -4 hrs to get from Merritt to the airport (allowing for traffic). Personally, I'd be a bit uncomfortable being that far out before an international flight and would drive to Chilliwack or Abbotsford. I haven't driven that section of the north Okanagan in a very long time, so I don't know how much it would slow you down.

Note - don't come through the city to get to the air port. Take Highway 1 as far as Langley at 232nd street, then exit and get on to Highway 10. Follow that either to 97 or right over to the 99 and north (north and then west again if you take the 97 over the Alex Fraser Bridge) to the airport.

I agree with getting pretty close to Vancouver for you last night stay. Depending on the way you go, Princeton is a lovely stop (on the beautiful but twisty #3 Crowsnest Highway) and has a good Best Western Hotel and some nice restaurants. It is about 3 hours from Vancouver airport.

If you want to be a bit closer to the airport and still have a lovely last BC night then take the fast highway (#5 - Coquihalla Highway) from Merritt and stay at the Harrison Hotsprings Resort. It's a bit off the main highway into Vancouver, but a beautiful little town and hotel (and hotsprings). It's about 1.5 hours from the airport.

Thanks for the tips regarding getting back to the Airport. We did it with no problem, and it seems an age ago as I look out at a grey English November day! Apologies for not posting sooner.

Was a long but interesting drive. Couldn't get booked at Harrison Springs (it was Thanksgiving weekend - didn't realise you Canadians celebrated at a different time than the Americans - good for you!) Stayed in Hope which was about a 90-minute drive from VCR. Our Australian friends had us driving around the countryside looking for the bridge where Sylvester Stallone killed everybody in ‘Rambo 1’ – was apparently shot around here – we never did find it! The Best Western Heritage Inn was clean and adequate for an overnighter. We'd been really spoilt over the previous two nights having stayed at the Chateau Lake Louise, and treated ourselves to the 'Gold' floor as we were celebrating our 25th anniversary.

Overall a FANTASTIC holiday - our 5 days in Vancouver were great, including a floatplane trip to Vancouver Island, and a trip up to Whistler. The Metropolitan was an excellent base. The Rocky Mountaineer was a 'once in a lifetime' (at those prices it would need to be, but go Gold Leaf if you can!). 3 nights in Banff (can recommend the Rimrock Resort) followed by 2 nights at Lake Patricia bungalows, near Jasper, then back down to Lake Louise for our two nights of real luxury. So beautiful it almost takes your breath away. Weather was kind to us for late September/early October with shirtsleeves in Vancouver and clear blues skies and fall colours in the Rockies. We even saw a few black bears, elk and moose. The whole place is just so beautiful, although I guess we were lucky being a bit away from the madding crowds of mid-summer. Would love to return, maybe May or June next time for a slightly different perspective.

Trip Advisor - you guys out there made putting this together great fun. Thanks.

So glad you had a good trip. FYI - that part of Rambo was filmed in Pitt Meadows. They blew up the bridge and it's been replaced.

Sept/Oct is often good weather here, with the rain usually starting to settle in mid- to late October. May/June on the other hand is often cold and wet. The statasticians tell us that you really can't count on the weather here until mid-July.

Thanks for posting back! I always appreciate hearing about how people's trips went!