Canada Photography Roadtrip

So this was a trip my wife and I took in 2018.  

Rocky road trip from Vancouver to Vancouver via

Whistler- Jasper-Banff-Kelowna

Visiting Lake Louise and Yoho N. P

This is a trip of a lifetime. Took meticulous planning and lot of saving and research.

In this post I will list our itinerary, lenses, cameras, filters and all sorts of tips and equipment used lost or stolen.

Our trip started at London Heathrow flying to Vancouver. Flying with British Airways.

We had planned every day from the 31st of October through till the 19th of September.

3 nights in Vancouver

2 nights in Whistler

5 nights in Jasper

4 Nights in Banff

2 Nights in Kelowna

2 Nights in Vancouver

Please note to apply for your eta well in advance.

1. We landed in Vancouver on the 31st at 1900 and was through past immigration and baggage within the hour.

2 .We then went onto a pre rented car at rental from the airport.

3. The pre rented car was a lot smaller than described so we upgraded to a 4x4 only because we had 2 large suitcases each. 2 hand luggage and 2 laptop bags between us.

4. We drove from Vancouver airport to downtown to the Hotel we were staying at. We parked the car up in the hotel organised car park.

5. We had planned a few days in Vancouver so we could see the city and to get over Jet lag before the long drives ahead.

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6. For Vancouver we had a sea plane tour a whale watching tour booked.

7. Once we were settled into the hotel we were staying at we headed out for dinner then back to the hotel. We ate at Earls as it was another place that we had seen on television and knew we wanted to visit.

8. We woke up early the next morning as we were Jet lagged and headed straight out to Capilano suspension Bridge then onto the outlets.

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9. The suspension bridge is amazing i think we were the first in the queue and I ran to get a clear photo of the bridge. I thoroughly recommend this! The equipment I had taken to the bridge was 2 Bodies a Canon 6dmk2 and a 5dmk3 with a 16-35m F2.8l and a 28-300 F3.5 5.6. A number of SanDisk cf cards and SanDisk sd cards. I was wearing a number of layers a Barbour wax waterproof coat and a woolly ralph Lauren hat. As the day went on these layers came off.

10. The outlets were fine but we then headed back to the hotel and parked up. Later on that day we went for the sea plane tour which was amazing. I took my gopro 5 with me and my 28-300 lens along with my 5d mk3. We then had a great evening of dinner and drinks and more exploring.

The posts have been numbered up to here as I would like to point out what i would do differently when I do this again.


I would not rent a car from the airport for Vancouver and I would rather stay at a nicer hotel further out as long as the tram/ train station is close by. The reason for this is number 2 was a huge mistake as the next morning we went back to the car to find that the hotel advised car park that was supposedly secure wasn't so...

Yes we had been burgled. As my wife put the card into the card entry i could see the smashed glass everywhere.

Yes my tripods (2) my Manfrotto monopod, My iPod my gloves, Both of our sunglasses coats jackets wires 2 suitcases Sat nav watches my Bose Headphones and much more all gone over night.

We were devastated!!!

Never have we left anything in a car overnight but it was only because the hotel had told us it was secure.

We spent that whole day phoning Police the insurance and having to cancel the Whale watching tour then returning the car to the rental company and getting another. Then going out and buying a tripod and gloves and other essentials for the trip ahead.  

So from 2 till 10. Rent a car when leaving Vancouver. Stay at a secure hotel don’t worry about travelling into Vancouver as it is easy and quick and better as we later found out.

We left Vancouver the next morning after seeing and photographing Granville island and the Totems. So we had 2 days and 3 nights. The drive to Whistler wasn’t long (1.5hours) I think next time we might just drive straight there.

We were heading to Whistler. Now I didn’t know much about Whistler but we nicely surprised. We stayed at the Pinnacle Hotel. We had a room at the front of the hotel so we could see the mountains and there was a Jacuzzi in the room which was lovely. The staff were great and gave us good tips.

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We discovered Whistler that day and the Town and shops. Then the bear tour at the Olympic park. We saw a little baby bear.

We woke up nice and early the next morning and got in line to use the cable cars to get up Whistler and Blackcomb mountain. Now take note the queues can be huge so just have a look to the left there is a little ticket desk there that you can get your tickets at without the huge long queues. The day up the top of the mountains was beyond special and cannot wait to get back up there. Keep your eyes peeled going around the cable cars as you will see bears underneath you.

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In the photo above you will see some of the gear I have with me, this will consist of numerous SanDisk memory cards Manfrotto tripod and a great Manfrotto bag Manfrotto Pro Light 3N1-36 PL Backpack. This backpack is phenomenal and fitted all my batteries remotes bodies and lenses along with all my lee grad filters and Nd filters and polariser along with an extra holder. This bag also took my go pro and all its housings and adapters and batteries.   A true solid comfortable bag!

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We spent 2 nights and 2 days in Whistler. I started the longest drive of my life on the 4th of September. I was up at 0630 to get showered packed and get the car packed. We were on the road at 0730 with snacks for breakfast and energy drinks. Through the whole road trip we had a go pro mounted on the windshield to capture our entire road trip. Along with the dual battery charger constantly charging the other batteries to swap round mid drive.

After one stop for lunch along with a restroom break we got to jasper national Park entrance at 1615 but the traffic made sure we got to our hotel at 1730. We sure saw some great scenery on the way and made a few little stops for photos on route. I know a lot of people say to stop elsewhere but if you can manage the drive in one hit you get more time to spend at Jasper and beyond…

Jasper was our home for the next 5 nights.   We got unpacked and jumped straight into the Dodge Durango to go exploring the national Park and getting our bearings. I like driving so don’t mind spending days driving. We were quickly greeted by elk and fantastic lakes.

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Dusk was falling so we headed back to the hotel and got dinner then sat and watched the mountains with a few drinks until bed. Always get rooms with views to take in your surroundings.

The next morning my wife had a lie in whilst I was out exploring at 5am

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The next few days consisted of seeing just jaw dropping lakes, sunsets and nature. The cable car was fine but nothing compared to Whistler. My favourite restaurant in Jasper was  fiddle river. Just amazing food and if you get the right tables, great views. We celebrated my wife’s birthday the Syrah’s steakhouse.

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Please remember to see the icefields just as reminder to see what humans are doing to the world and global warming and a great photo opportunity. From the deck with a tripod you can get a fantastic panoramic landscape of the icefields. If you have a longer lens keep an eye out in the sky for birds of prey.

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Now to my most favourite lake in Jasper N.P https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnj_xYPhl0P/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

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You will need your filters for the photography around Jasper national park and Banff National park and do not forget your polariser.

After our 5 nights in Jasper we drove to Banff. (3.5hour drive) Stopping at lake Peyto makes it a little longer but you are driving past it.

Let me explain a few things about the trip so far. We needed 2 large suitcases from the start due to it being 20degrees plus in Vancouver to the minus degrees expected in Jasper and Banff. On your travels so far we had sun Bathed in Vancouver and at the top of Whistler Blackcomb. We had seen Mousse, Elk bears and foxes and a few birds of prey.

Banff was a busy town! Lovely but busy. What do you expect if you have Lake Louise and Moraine Lake?

We stayed for 4 nights in Banff to do Lake Moraine and Lake Louise the gondola and the hot springs. We did the lake Minnewanka Cruise and got snowed on. It was beautiful, the morning of Moraine lake I was up 0500 to get there as parking is very limited. It was -5 and still snowing from the night before.

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After our 4 nights at Runddlestone lodge in Banff we were heading to Kelowna to meet up with some friends for drinks and a good time in Kelowna. We had a few days of wine tasting (2nights) we were back to Vancouver to explore more of the city we hadn’t when we landed. This time we handed the car in on the way in and went straight to the Hilton out of town. It was great a lovely stay and easy to get in and out of Vancouver

You have so many different lakes to visit here so many different Hikes and trips to take and so many different things to see I don’t think even if I retired today I could fit it all in.

To name some of my highlights would be Whistler, and the drive to Jasper. Jasper np and the lakes Lake Beavert is just spectacular the icefields. Takkakw falls and Sunwapta. Lake Louise but more importantly Moraine Lake and Lake peyto.

If you are travelling for the roadtrip and photos be sure to take enough memory, I came back with over 250gb worth of footage. Be sure for lightweight bags and make sure you have your filters.