Greyhound

Traveling by bus to Vancouver is easy with Greyhound (604/482-8747 or 800/661-8747, www.greyhound.ca), from its thousands of depots throughout North America. Reservations are not necessary—just turn up when you want to go, buy your ticket, and kick back. As long as you use your ticket within 30 days, you can stop over wherever the bus stops and stay as long as you want. The company offers service from Toronto (66 hours), stopping at all points of the TransCanada Highway, including Calgary to Vancouver (16 hours). Change buses in Banff to leave Highway 1 for Cranbrook and the Kootenays. From the United States, buses to Vancouver are mostly routed through Seattle, from where it’s a short four-hour hop across the border to Vancouver. If you’re traveling from Los Angeles, the trip to Vancouver will take 32 hours; from Denver, 40 hours; from Chicago, 60 hours; from Dallas, 62 hours; from New York, 74 hours; and, for the brave, 96 hours from Miami (on the Go Anywhere Fare, that’s four days on a bus for $150). Greyhound buses travel from Vancouver to Kamloops, Nanaimo, Prince George, Whistler, and as far north as Whitehorse.

When calling for information, ask about any special deals—including the Go Anywhere Fare, on which you can travel between any two points in North America for one low fare. Other discounts apply to regular-fare tickets bought 7 and 14 days in advance, for travelers 65 and over, and for two people traveling together.

Greyhound’s Discovery Pass comes in many forms, including passes valid only in Canada, in the western states and provinces, and in all of North America. The pass is sold in periods of 7 days ($329), 15 days ($483), 30 days ($607), and 60 days ($750) and allows unlimited travel west of Montreal. Passes can be bought 14 or more days in advance online, 7 or more days in advance from any Canadian bus depot, or up to the day of departure from U.S. depots.

© Andrew Hempstead, from Moon Western Canada, 3rd Edition