I am an Aussie planning a RTW trip for 2020, commencing in Vancouver, riding east and flying out of Montreal a month later. To achieve my RTW dreams, I plan to ride as far east as possible (St John, Newfoundland) and double back to Montreal for my flight to the UK.

I only have a month but want to see as much as possible, and looking for advice on the best scenic route.

I have heard Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks are spectacular but have little knowledge of scenic roads on the east coast.

Very grateful for any advice on great roads (good dirt is fine - BMW 1200GS), must see things, great places to stay.

Life is short, make it wide.

Bruce

Hi Bruce:

I think you might be pushing it a bit to try and ride from Vancouver to St. Johns in one month. Sure, it can be done, but you'll be spending almost all your time on your motorcycle riding.

The straight-line distance from Vancouver to St. Johns is 5,100 km, the shortest distance by road (& ferry) is 7,700 km. Doubling back to Montreal from St. John's will add another 2,700 km... that's 9,500 km in 30 days.

By comparison, Perth to Cairns is only about 3,700 km straight line, and 4,600 km by road. So, what you are proposing is equivalent to doing Perth to Cairns & back to Perth.

If I were you, I would drop Newfoundland from your planned voyage. You need to take a ferry to go there, it's about 18 hours in one direction and about 12 hours in the other direction. It's also expensive.

I suggest you plan to do Vancouver to perhaps New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, then double back to Montreal.

There are only two primary routes across the Prairie provinces, one is the "Trans Canada Highway" (Highway 1), the other is the "Yellowhead Highway" (Highway 16). Both are equally enjoyable. The TCH is dual carriageway and hits more big cities, the Yellowhead is not always dual carriageway and is somewhat more rural and relaxed.

There are only two routes across Ontario, one is quite northerly and the other takes you down through a more southern route. For a first-time visitor, I recommend the more southern route.

From Ontario, there are many ways to get further east to Montreal and many ways to get from Montreal to the Atlantic Provinces.

Michael

As an improbable alternative: look at arranging shipment by sea from Halifax to Iceland. Then you can take a regular ro-ro ferry from Iceland to Denmark, and continue across Europe.

Start by deciding whether your priority is actually seeing nice places....or getting to St. John. One or the other. A month is nowhere near long enough for the trip you describe unless you either straight-line it, or ride excessively long hours day after day after day, or most likely both. Note that PanEuropean's distances in the post above don't include any side trips or inefficiencies in routing.

Personally, I'd be sure to hit Banff, Jasper and associated parks, probably from north to south. I'd skip Glacier (USA), and if determined to see Yellowstone as well (see the inefficiency?) I'd count my month as nearly finished by that point.

Depending on the exact time of year, you'll want to watch the weather (mountain snow is certainly possible almost anytime and not uncommon in June or September; hailstorms with or without tornados feature across parts of your route; snow plowing continues at least into June on some passes) and the fires (visibility was terrible this summer, as was merely breathing at times), with route adjustments as appropriate. And remember that lodging can be difficult to find in the major parks during high season.

Not to be too glum about it--I've taken similar trips, and glad to have the opportunity. Just be clear about your priorities, stay as flexible as possible, and maybe think about taking two months....or three.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Edit to add: Newfoundland is nice, although by the time you've taken the boat you'll want a week or so. Labrador's nice, too, circling from the ferry across the Trans-Labrador highway down into Quebec; the Gaspé is nice, coastal Nova Scotia's nice, and Cape Bretton is not to be missed. The Maritimes alone would make a nice month-long trip, without much time for lolllygagging around.

I did coast to coast many times and there are tons of spectacular routes. If I understand you well you ask what are the must see on your way. You have to ride one or two days on Vancouver Island. Don't forget you have to take the ferry twice. On your way back on BC lower mainland, hit the sunshine coast, then to Whistler. From there go down to Hope and ride the transscanadian Highway all the way down to Banff, then go north to Jasper. From there is not much to be seen until you hit Quebec city. Then I would ride down the 138 down to Baie Comeau, then take the ferry towards the Gaspe peninsula and ride all the way to Gaspe, from there ride down to Cambleton to the confederation bridge to access Nova Scotia. Cabot Trail is a must, and .from there take your time, Maritimers are very laid back and you will enjoy their hospality till you run out of time. Enjoy

Hi Michael, that is terrific advice. Thank you. That all makes good sense and I will head for NB instead, I have friends in Fredricton, and double back to Montreal. The Yellowhead sounds more like me, so I will go with that. Thanks again, Bruce

Antyx, I will be looking into that. Sounds like a great alternative to what I was thinking. Worried about shipment be sea though and the delay for my bike to get there. If only Air Canada flew there! I will look into it, thanks. Bruce

Hi Mark,
Thank you so much for the advice. My priority is definitely seeing nice places and it is becoming very obvious that I need to stretch my time somewhat. I have 5 months max to ride RTW (I wish I had longer) so I need to make compromises somewhere and pin my ears back. I have parts of Russia and Europe marked for longer days in the saddle...

I am thinking of starting my ride 22 May, to allow me to get through Siberia in relative comfort.

I appreciate the advice about staying flexible, I know I will need to do this, but just trying to sort a starting route to work on logistics.

Thanks again

Bruce

Hi Poorbuthappy,

Thanks fore the advice. I will definitely take the route from Montreal through to the cabot trail. That looks terrific.

Not much to see in the middle huh? Do you recommend riding across Canada or the USA?

Hi Antyx,

I just checked Air Canada and they fly to Iceland for $488 one way. Not bad. It's a 737 so will need to see if they will take the bike. If they do... I'm off to Iceland!

I am in Edmonton, three hour east of Jasper, if you go HW16 , you can stop here, I can cook some good meal for you.

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Thanks very much VE6DAI !

I will contact you closer to the date

Welcome,we are all traveller.
By the way , start from Vancouver island ,go to Washington state , through cascade mountain ,then back to Canada BC province, around the us Canada border Canada side to Banff, then Jasper, now you are on HW 16.

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Bruce:

A 737 is a narrow body, single aisle aircraft that cannot accept palletized freight or ULD (uniform load device) containers. All lower deck cargo on a 737 is loaded by hand.

You can't ship a motorcycle in the belly of a 737 unless you break it down into very small pieces.

Best alternative for you, out of Montreal, would be to ship your moto either by Air Canada or Air Transat to Europe. Both offer attractively priced shipping programs for motorcycles. No special packaging needed, you just show up with 1/4 of a tank of gas or less and drop the motorcycle off.

Michael

Thanks Michael, that is terrific advice.