VAN-COMPARATOR Guide
Motorhome Rental in Vancouver: Vancouver Island, Sea-to-Sky and the Rockies
Vancouver by motorhome: renting on Canada’s west coast, the Sea-to-Sky to Whistler, the ferries to Vancouver Island, and the great crossing to Banff and Jasper.
Between the Pacific and the Coast Mountains, Vancouver is the great starting point of Western Canada: the Sea-to-Sky Highway climbs to Whistler in two hours, ferries serve Vancouver Island and its rainforests, and the Trans-Canada rolls east towards Banff and Jasper. Few cities anywhere let you go from ocean to glaciers with one vehicle and this little friction.
Renting in Vancouver: plan ahead, seriously
Vancouver hosts one of North America’s largest RV rental fleets — compact campervans, truck campers and family Class Cs. The flip side: from May to September everything sells out early, and the best rates go six months ahead. One-way rentals to Calgary are frequently offered (drop-off fee applies) and transform the trip: crossing the Rockies without backtracking — our guide to Calgary and the Rockies covers the other end. For price ranges and extras, see prices by country; European licences are accepted, an International Driving Permit is recommended.
Three trips in one
- The Sea-to-Sky and Whistler (2–3 days): Highway 99 hugs the fjord of Howe Sound, passes Shannon Falls and the granite wall of the Stawamus Chief at Squamish, then climbs to Whistler — the ideal warm-up.
- Vancouver Island (5–8 days): ferry from Tsawwassen (a 1 h 35 crossing to Swartz Bay), then Victoria, the wild coast of Tofino and the rainforests — our guide to Vancouver Island by campervan lays out the route. Book the crossing for a high vehicle, especially in summer and at weekends — our ferry guide gives the reflexes.
- The Rockies (10–14 days return, or one-way): 850 kilometres to Banff on the Trans-Canada, then the Icefields Parkway to Jasper, one of the world’s great drives — all in our Banff–Jasper road trip. On the way, the Okanagan valley (4 h) adds lakes and vineyards.
Canadian RVers, a tribe under study
Canada is precisely the field of a landmark study of motorhome travellers: published in 2013 in the Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, the research by Anne Hardy, Ulrike Gretzel and Dallen Hanson applies the sociological concept of the “neo-tribe” to Canadian RVers — people from all walks of life who form fluid communities on the road, bound by shared rituals, language and mutual help, from campground gatherings to advice swapped at the dump station (Google Scholar page). You’ll experience it at your first British Columbia campground.
Good to know
In the national and provincial parks, nights are spent at campgrounds — park pitches open for online booking in spring and go fast, and motorised wild camping is prohibited inside the parks; on public land outside them, rustic sites exist, to be used within local rules. Two British Columbia reflexes: wildlife (strict food storage — bears oblige) and late-summer wildfires — check alerts and fire bans before each leg. The ideal window runs mid-May to late September; June and September offer the best crowd-to-weather ratio. Curious about the American side? Our guide to the Pacific Northwest from Seattle starts three hours’ drive south.
Free checklist: your first campervan trip
Licence and vehicle size, pick-up inspection, stopovers or campsites, water and electricity, insurance, drop-off: everything to check before and during a first trip. Sign up — the link to the full checklist appears immediately.