[dpam]

July and August are peak tourist and rv travel months in Alberta and British Columbia, so book your reservations very early especially in the Provincial and National Parks. If your planning to come to Calgary during July for the Calgary Stampede book your rv park reservation now, as July is an extremely popular tourist timeframe. If you are an outdoor person and like to hike in the National Parks or wilderness areas carry bear spray. Alberta and BC National Parks and especially wilderness areas have significant populations of grizzly and black bears and Cougars (mountain lions). Park Wardens always post warnings on hiking trails if there are bear dangers. I believe Border Security consider mace and bear spray a prohibited item, but you can buy bear spray in Canada. Our fuel prices are higher than many States in the USA, however I have travelled through California and I found our fuel prices are similar. At the present time the Canadian dollar is approximately 15% lower than the American dollar, so that is an advantage for you. If you plan to exchange American currency for Canadian do it at Currency Exchange places as some retailers will do the exchange at par and you will lose the 15% advantage. There are a lot of small cities and towns in Alberta and BC so fuel and accommodations should not be an issue, however carry extra fuel when travelling through wilderness areas. When there is risk of no fuel stops there are usually signs advising you. I live in Calgary and have travelled Alberta and BC, so if you have questions I'm willing to help.

Calgary's population - 1.2 million
Edmonton population - close to 1 million