I’m going to Canada in February and have never done a cold winter holiday before. Can I please get advice on clothing. I realise I will need a good coat, hat, scarf, gloves and boots etc. I assume it will be warm when we are travelling and in the hotels so is it just a matter of wearing lots of layers and taking them off and on as needed? Tia.

I did this tour in January 2018 and it was fantastic! In terms of clothing you’ve pretty much covered all of the basics, apart from thermal vests and long johns which I found to be essential. I bought mine from Asda so they don’t have to be expensive. You may also wish to consider taking a pair of ice grips (they cost about £15-£20) which you can put on over your boots for extra traction, but I found that they weren’t absolutely necessary.

If you’re doing the Maligne Canyon icewalk, special boots, ice grips and protective headgear will be supplied.

Have a fantastic time and if you have any more questions I’ll do my best to answer them.

Mike

I went on this trip last February. I wore a goosedown jacket that had a hood and that kept me warm. I also took a woolly hat as you don't want the hood up unless it is really necessary. As I do a fair bit of walking at all times of the year I also have some lined trousers so I avoided wearing longjohns (I did take some just in case). Take a good pair of gloves as well.

On my feet I wore hiking boots with one pair of thick socks and most of the time my feet were fine. The only time my feet felt cold were the day we left Jasper and spent some time at Pyramid Island. It had been -35C overnight and although I have no idea what the temperature was while we were there, the coach driver tried to clean the passenger windows with pure antifreeze and it froze on the glass.

I would also suggest you consider buying ice grippers to put on your boots - you will feel a lot safer walking around on some of the icey areas. One of the ladies in our group fell over on the first day and broke her arm and was flown home a couple of days later.

Having said all that I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, rarely felt that it was bitterly cold (even at -10 or lower most of the time) and the scenery is magnificent.

Enjoy your trip.

PeterG

I did this trip with Travelsphere in Feb 2016. Hotels were lovely and cosy warm. Layers are a good choice as you can adjust as necessary. It is a very different type of "cold" - not the bitter to the bone wet windy cold that we get in Ireland and the UK. It's more of a dry cold that's a lot more bearable even if temps are consistently below 0. Rgds, Una

Una makes a very good point about the ‘type of cold’ in the Canadian Rockies. Even at temperatures that, at first sight, might seem desperately cold, the dry cold doesn’t permeate through the layers like the damp cold we get here in the UK. So providing that you’re well wrapped up with layers (I wouldn’t have been without my thermals!), mittens, woolly hat, good boots and a good jacket you should be fine. One more item of clothing that I forgot to mention was a swimming costume - you’ll almost certainly visit the open-air thermal baths in Banff which was great fun!

I left a review in the appropriate section on the forum if you’d like to read it; it covers the tour basics, hotels, tips etc (don’t forget to take in an ice hockey match at the local sports centre in Jasper!) so hopefully it will get you super excited!

Have a great time.

Cheers

Mike

Hi everybody.

I’m going to Canada in February and have never done a cold winter holiday before. Can I please get advice on clothing. I realise I will need a good coat, hat, scarf, gloves and boots etc. I assume it will be warm when we are travelling and in the hotels so is it just a matter of wearing lots of layers and taking them off and on as needed? Tia.

Hi Joy,

I'm also booked on the tour in February.  The tips left here are very useful. Looking forward to meeting you and our fellow travellers.

Gill

I purchased thermal liners for boots and also hand warmers from Decatholon which I found kept my feet really warm and in fact hand warmers got a bit too hot

This looks an amazing trip and I will be adding to my bucket list

Anne

I’m glad to hear that you had a fantastic time in the Rockies. As you know, I did this tour 12 months ago and absolutely loved it. However, I am sorry to hear that the ‘Dark Skies’ experience was not what you’d hoped for - this wasn’t something that was an option last year, but if your comments are representative of those who bought this optional excursion then perhaps JY could consider a partial refund as a goodwill gesture?

Just a thought...

Cheers

Mike

Thanks,

Vickie

Thank you very much everyone for the tips and advice! I will take it all on board.  Sounds like I am in for a great time.

Hi Joy

I’m going on the same trip as you; look forward to meeting you.

Teresa

Hi everybody.

I’m going to Canada in February and have never done a cold winter holiday before. Can I please get advice on clothing. I realise I will need a good coat, hat, scarf, gloves and boots etc. I assume it will be warm when we are travelling and in the hotels so is it just a matter of wearing lots of layers and taking them off and on as needed? Tia.

Hi Joy,

I'm also booked on the tour in February.  The tips left here are very useful. Looking forward to meeting you and our fellow travellers.

Gill

Hi Gill,

I’m booked on the same tour as you; look forward to meeting you.

Teresa