Two week RV trip with 2 year old in Canada - a success story!
Just wanted to share our wonderful experience travelling in a class C motor home around BC and Alberta with our very energetic and adventurous two year old. This is for anyone nervously googling “RV travel with a toddler”, like I was in the weeks running up to our trip 😂
We flew from east coast Aus to Vancouver with a stop in Fiji for 4 hours, and because they were mostly evening/overnight flights, they actually worked massively in our favour. Our daughter slept for a decent chunk of both flights, and because everything lined up with nighttime back home, the travel days were way less chaotic than I’d built them up to be in my head.
We hired a large C class RV from Four Seasons RV rentals Canada, we managed to get a bunch of good deals hiring in the shoulder season.
The biggest thing I was worried about was moving every single day. We stayed at a different RV site every night across BC and Alberta, and I thought the constant change would completely throw her off, ruin her sleep, and she’d be an overtired rat bag asking “are we nearly there yet” constantly (but in 2 year old babble speak). Instead, she really seemed to love most of it. Every day was a new adventure, different play parks, new rocks/sticks/puddles to inspect. Pinecones! She loves those. Honestly, I think she adapted better than the grown ups!
We also did the 20 hour ferry, which I was also nervous about with a toddler, but it ended up being one of the highlights of the trip. We saw orcas!! What an experience. Also, because we were there in the off season, the boat was almost empty and she had the run of the place.
Travelling with childless friends, we decided to have a few “break nights”, one we stayed in a hotel and got a bunch of laundry done, and the other was a beautiful log cabin, which made me feel like I was in the set of a spaghetti western. This definitely helped us all feel reset from the occasional claustrophobic feelings we’d get in our RV.
That said, doing it with two childless friends was way more positive than I expected. I was worried they’d get frustrated by our toddler’s pace and occasional limitations that they bring, but it actually worked really well. They helped entertain her and they were fun people our kid could boss around when she knew mum and dad had had enough.
- Regular playground stops was mandatory. Basically every 2 hours.
- A good, comfy car seat so the midday naps.
- Occasional screen time (Julia Donaldson movies downloaded onto a laptop was our saviour).
- New toys at the Dollarama were always well received.
- Snacks, snacks and more snacks.
Anyway, just posting because before this trip I found so many horror stories about travelling with toddlers, especially long road trips, and our experience was genuinely wonderful. It was truly an unforgettable trip, and although our daughter won’t remember it per se, we have lots of photos, videos and stories to keep the experience alive.
Edited to add our itinerary, we didn’t 100% follow this but it’s a general guide of where we stopped and distances between each destination. As I said, long days of driving, but broken up well and timed with naps meant minimal tantrums and less screen time than expected!
- Abbotsford (RV rental place) → Osoyoos — 330 km (~3.5 hrs) — Stay at Nk’Mip RV Park
- Osoyoos → Cranbrook — 430 km (~4.5 hrs) — Stay at Cranbrook / St. Eugene KOA Journey
or via Nelson/Kootenay ferry — 560 km (~6.5–7.5 hrs incl. ferry)
- Cranbrook → Drumheller — ~550 km (~5.5 hrs) — Stay at Dinosaur RV Park
- Drumheller → Banff — 250 km (~3 hrs) — Stay at Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court
- Banff → Lake Louise — ~60 km (~45 mins) — Stay at Lake Louise Hard-Sided Campground
- Lake Louise → Jasper — 230 km (~3.5 hrs) — Stay at Tonquin Inn
- Jasper → Prince George — 375 km (~4 hrs) — Stay at Northern Experience RV Park
- Prince George → Smithers — 370 km (~4 hrs) — Stay at Rocky Ridge Resort bear cabin
Smithers → Prince Rupert — 350 km (~4 hrs) — Stay at Kasiks Wilderness Resort
- Prince Rupert → Port Hardy (Vancouver island) on BC Ferries, approx 21 hours
- Port Hardy to Alder Bay approx 30 mins - stay at Alder Bay RV Park and Marina
- Alder Bay to Nanaimo 3 hours