Can anyone tell me the rules, and pitfalls of hiring a motorhome for USA and Canada
Phil C said
12:33 PM Jan 6, 2017
Gday all
As you may know we are planning a big one in 2018. We decided we would hire a 26 foot motorhome and tour Canada and USA for 2 weeks. (only Washington state and BC to Skagway).
Other than the driving on the wrong side of the road and the steering wheel on the left had of the c0ckpit can anyone highlight any pitfalls for free camping, and around 3000 KMs of travel please?
We will be starting at Vancouver, then Whistler Lake Louise, Calgary, then Skagway. Will return to Vancouver via Spokane and the north west of Montana.
Input would be highly valued especially if you have been there or know someone who has.
Cheers
Dougwe said
01:18 PM Jan 6, 2017
How, Phil, mate.
If you fall down a pit in the States you would be in a mess I reckon
Who said that, where's KFC
Phil C said
01:25 PM Jan 6, 2017
Dougwe wrote:
How, Phil, mate.
If you fall down a pit in the States you would be in a mess I reckon
Who said that, where's KFC
And they would need a very large crane to rescue me.. Cant wait for this one Douge. BTW were you ever in the airforce? I remember a bloke called Doug Weir (we called him Doug the Bug) had to ask..
Cheers mate
The Belmont Bear said
01:48 PM Jan 6, 2017
Hi PhilC, I have a mate who has hired a motorhome twice in the States with his family, last year he did Montreal to Vancouver detouring on the way into the States for part of the trip. Apparently he had no hassles other than trying to find a CP site on a 4th July holiday weekend. The only thing he suggested to me was to hire the motorhome from Canada not the US as the price was something like half. I don't believe that they did any free camping but he said that the parks do cater more for the larger RVs than they do over here. I can't contact him at the moment to get any more information for you as he is currently working somewhere in India - I'm pretty sure that he booked everything himself over the Internet.
Aus-Kiwi said
04:28 PM Jan 6, 2017
REALY easy . Just be aware you not supposed to drive within 12 hours from landing there . We organised pre booked our locations . Some times we just stayed overnight after having dinner in their restaurant . If you ask FIRST I found there's no problem . The Red Lobster was one we stopped at .,
Santa said
06:58 PM Jan 6, 2017
We've done it a couple of times in the past few years Phil, did a couple of big trips, one in the West and the other in Florida, no problem whatsoever, as TBB commented, free camping almost non existent, found a couple of spots, but stayed mainly in RV parks.
As an afterthought a lot of Walmart parking area's allow overnight stays, did this a couple of times.
I'm the one taking the photo, Arizona.
-- Edited by Santa on Friday 6th of January 2017 07:00:45 PM
-- Edited by Santa on Friday 6th of January 2017 07:03:31 PM
We did a Camper van trip in Canada few years ago. Not that different from here, the hire units are all large by our standards. The Canadian camp grounds are well set up, avoid June, July and August if you can as the Americans come North into Canada. The rockies in BC are beautiful Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper are really worth a visit. Drumhella in Alberta has the Royal Tyrell Museum which is well worth a visit if you are into dinosaurs and not too far from the Rockies and Calgary. Northern BC around Prince Rupert is very nice and they do day boat trips to see bears or whales depending on the time of the year.
You can get a local ferry with your camper from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy to the Northern tip of Vancouver Island which is worth a visit. The ferry trip goes down the Inside Passage and if you can get the day ferry very scenic, the trip takes about 15 hours. The other ferry that it is surprisingly cheap, even with you camper is the ferry from Vancouver City to Swartz Bay on southern Vancouver Island. We did a round trip ferry from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy drove down Vancouver Island and back to Vancouver City by local ferry, a good value way to
We hired our van from the mob below they were really helpful, they also hired us kitchen bits, linen, deck chairs, etc. for a very reasonable rate. Make sure whatever you hire has a toilet on board as public toilets are very uncommon in Canada. Most campers have toilets for this reason. We did not take our camper into the US as there is a surcharge for going into the US. The FAQ on the below web site is very good and we found travel in the shoulder seasons was cheaper and less crowded that in their Summer.
https://wcmcampers.com
Regards
Terry
PS we hired the camper for 31 days to do this trip, pick up in Vancouver and return to Vancouver, probably could have done the trip in about three weeks.
PSS Have travelled a lot in the US, but not in camper, US is very different to Canada, US is nice, but not as relaxed as Australia and Canada
-- Edited by Yabbietol on Friday 6th of January 2017 09:31:27 PM
-- Edited by Yabbietol on Friday 6th of January 2017 09:35:53 PM
Fringe Dweller said
06:39 AM Jan 7, 2017
I Don't think I would be camping out in Nth America . As stated , they have plenty of KGA (Kamp Grounds of America)
We did a 2wk by car from Seattle down to Oregon , the Oregon coast , top of California , then back to Seattle , stopping
4 nights in Mt Shasta . In August we did a week in N/west Montana & went through Glacier National Park. That Was Great.
I Don't have any trouble driving in th US , most are courteous & Yanks DO Have a Good sense of Lane etiquette.
I have thought of a MH or Campervan thingy in the States , but have found that with the relative cheapness of motels at the moment there.
Phil C said
10:27 AM Jan 7, 2017
To all who have replied so far, thanks ever so much. Your information is most helpful as we plan this adventure.
Again, many thanks for taking the time to answer
Phil
Gday all
As you may know we are planning a big one in 2018. We decided we would hire a 26 foot motorhome and tour Canada and USA for 2 weeks. (only Washington state and BC to Skagway).
Other than the driving on the wrong side of the road and the steering wheel on the left had of the c0ckpit can anyone highlight any pitfalls for free camping, and around 3000 KMs of travel please?
We will be starting at Vancouver, then Whistler Lake Louise, Calgary, then Skagway. Will return to Vancouver via Spokane and the north west of Montana.
Input would be highly valued especially if you have been there or know someone who has.
Cheers
How, Phil, mate.
If you fall down a pit in the States you would be in a mess I reckon
Who said that, where's KFC
And they would need a very large crane to rescue me.. Cant wait for this one Douge. BTW were you ever in the airforce? I remember a bloke called Doug Weir (we called him Doug the Bug) had to ask..
Cheers mate
We've done it a couple of times in the past few years Phil, did a couple of big trips, one in the West and the other in Florida, no problem whatsoever, as TBB commented, free camping almost non existent, found a couple of spots, but stayed mainly in RV parks.
As an afterthought a lot of Walmart parking area's allow overnight stays, did this a couple of times.
I'm the one taking the photo, Arizona.
-- Edited by Santa on Friday 6th of January 2017 07:00:45 PM
-- Edited by Santa on Friday 6th of January 2017 07:03:31 PM
We did a Camper van trip in Canada few years ago. Not that different from here, the hire units are all large by our standards. The Canadian camp grounds are well set up, avoid June, July and August if you can as the Americans come North into Canada. The rockies in BC are beautiful Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper are really worth a visit. Drumhella in Alberta has the Royal Tyrell Museum which is well worth a visit if you are into dinosaurs and not too far from the Rockies and Calgary. Northern BC around Prince Rupert is very nice and they do day boat trips to see bears or whales depending on the time of the year.
You can get a local ferry with your camper from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy to the Northern tip of Vancouver Island which is worth a visit. The ferry trip goes down the Inside Passage and if you can get the day ferry very scenic, the trip takes about 15 hours. The other ferry that it is surprisingly cheap, even with you camper is the ferry from Vancouver City to Swartz Bay on southern Vancouver Island. We did a round trip ferry from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy drove down Vancouver Island and back to Vancouver City by local ferry, a good value way to
We hired our van from the mob below they were really helpful, they also hired us kitchen bits, linen, deck chairs, etc. for a very reasonable rate. Make sure whatever you hire has a toilet on board as public toilets are very uncommon in Canada. Most campers have toilets for this reason. We did not take our camper into the US as there is a surcharge for going into the US. The FAQ on the below web site is very good and we found travel in the shoulder seasons was cheaper and less crowded that in their Summer.
https://wcmcampers.com
Regards
Terry
PS we hired the camper for 31 days to do this trip, pick up in Vancouver and return to Vancouver, probably could have done the trip in about three weeks.
PSS Have travelled a lot in the US, but not in camper, US is very different to Canada, US is nice, but not as relaxed as Australia and Canada
-- Edited by Yabbietol on Friday 6th of January 2017 09:31:27 PM
-- Edited by Yabbietol on Friday 6th of January 2017 09:35:53 PM
I Don't think I would be camping out in Nth America . As stated , they have plenty of KGA (Kamp Grounds of America)
We did a 2wk by car from Seattle down to Oregon , the Oregon coast , top of California , then back to Seattle , stopping
4 nights in Mt Shasta . In August we did a week in N/west Montana & went through Glacier National Park. That Was Great.
I Don't have any trouble driving in th US , most are courteous & Yanks DO Have a Good sense of Lane etiquette.
I have thought of a MH or Campervan thingy in the States , but have found that with the relative cheapness of motels at the moment there.
Again, many thanks for taking the time to answer
Phil