BC road trip with Roadsurfer
Let’s be honest – nothing beats a summer road trip in British Columbia. That’s why this summer, we hit the road in style and rented an RV from Roadsurfer. It’s the perfect way to explore our beautiful backyard while still enjoying all the comforts of home.
We partnered with Roadsurfer to help bring exposure to its new Vancouver RV rental location. Roadsurfer, a leader in RV rental and adventure travel in Europe, is bringing it’s fleet of campervans and RVs to Canada, specifically in Vancouver and Calgary.
Disclosure – Roadsurfer generously coved the expense of the RV rental in exchange for us sharing our family road trip experience here. We were responsible for all other expenses, like fuel, campground fees, etc.
We are not ‘RV People’, which is why renting an RV is the perfect solution for us.
To be clear, we love the luxury and convenience of camping with an RV, especially when compared to tent camping. However, we have no desire to own an RV or campervan. It’s an expensive hobby that requires a lot of planning, effort and maintenance.
And that’s exactly why renting an RV makes a lot of sense for us.
A few summers ago, we did a North Vancouver Island road trip in an RV rental. It was a fun experience. As we put thought into our summer adventures, the idea of renting an RV or campervan kept resurfacing.
We floated the idea of a traditional tent camping trip with our boys but they were not interested. That’s just not our family travel style. But when we shared this RV idea with our boys, they were excited to hit the road and sleep in an RV this summer.
So it was decided. We’re going on a summer road trip!
Roadsurfer road trip itinerary from Vancouver
We picked up the Roadsurfer Family Freedom RV at the new Vancouver location. It’s located near Vancouver International Airport, which is convenient for out-of-town visitors who arrive via Vancouver.
Given that we live in in Vancouver, we have the opportunity to pick up the RV and drive to our home before hitting the road. This is very convenient. It allows us to load the RV with everything we need. We did a big grocery shop the day before, so this meant we could drive directly to the campground.
There are so many great destinations in British Columbia, which makes it hard to decide where to go. The most important item on our road trip wish list is spending time on a lake with a dock so our boys can go fishing.
So, we chose to visit the two most popular summer lakes in British Columbia – Okanagan Lake and Shuswap Lake.
Our first stop is Peachland in the Okanagan.
We want to visit a new spot on Okanagan Lake. We’ve previously stayed in nearby Kelowna and Penticton, so Peachland would be a new destination for us.
The Peachland campground we stayed at is called Todd’s Lakeside RV Resort. It’s perfectly located right in front of the lake.
Our next stop is Blind Bay on Shuswap Lake.
We spent 2 nights at the Finz Resort campground. It’s located across the street from the lake, so we spent most of our time swimming, fishing and watching the sunset on the dock.
Here’s a short video from our time at Finz resort.
Our last stop is at Nairn Falls near Pemberton.
We stayed at Nairn Falls Park Campground, located directly beside Nairn Falls Provincial Park. The reason we chose this campground is because it was the only BC Parks campground that had availability during the dates of our road trip.
Reserving campgrounds in BC is no joke. If you want the good spots, you have to make reservations months in advance.
Watch this short reel from our RV road trip.
Look at the size of the fish we caught off the dock at Lake Shuswap!
Tips for RV road trip in British Columbia
We shared a lot of our likes and dislikes about RV camping in this blog post. Head over there if you’re interested.
There are a few things about this BC road trip that we feel is worth sharing.
Consider your Distance.
We did a lot of driving. The views in British Columbia are fantastic, so we didn’t mind. It’s nice to re-drive some of the sections that we haven’t visited in years.
However, we probably could have achieved our goal of fishing-on-a-lake without driving all the way from Vancouver to Lake Shuswap. We spend about 5 hours driving on Day 1 and 6.5 hours driving on Day 5. We likely would not do that again.
Fuel is expensive.
Not surprising, these heavy RVs are thirsty beasts. We spent a lot of money on fuel because we covered a lot of distance.
Similar to the above point, I don’t think we needed to drive so far to achieve our camping goals. This would have saved us time and money.
Make campground reservations.
You will need to make reservations if you plan to stay at one of the BC Parks campgrounds in the summer. There’s a lot more demand than supply when it comes to BC campgrounds, so it’s wise to plan you route ahead of time.
This does limits some of the road trip spontaneity, but it’s better to plan ahead than sleeping in a Walmart parking lot.
Campgrounds with hookups and water.
The private campgrounds are a better option when using an RV because they provide electricity and water hookups. BC Parks campgrounds do not.
A common strategy is to mix it up. Stay at an RV campground with hookups for a few nights, then mix in a scenic campground with more nature. The Roadsurfer RV does have a generator and water tank, so you can easily spend a few nights without hookups.
Items you will need to consider bringing/purchasing.
The Roadsurfer Family Freedom RV comes with pillows, blankets and linen for the main bed. However, if you plan to use the table bed and/or bunk, you will need to bring extra blankets, linen and pillows.
The RV is comes fully stocked with kitchen items like plates, cups, cutlery, pots and pans, etc. But it does not come with cleaning supplies, like dish soap, dish cloth, sponge, etc. You will need to purchase these items in order to clean your dishes.
Other items you will need are paper towels and/or napkins, toilet paper, shampoo and soap, bathroom towel(s,) and salt/pepper and other cooking supplies.
Photos of the interior of Roadsurfer Family Freedom RV
Spacious kitchen area with table and cushioned benches. The benches have seatbelts, so our boys sat here comfortably when we were driving.
View of the back of the Roadsurfer Family Freedom RV. Lots of storage.
Bed on the left, bathroom on the right. There’s a curtain that separates the bedroom from the rest of the cabin.
Main bed at the back of the RV. Windows and ceiling vent for air flow. USB charging and standard electrical outlet.
Spacious upper bunk bed. Latter is located in the storage compartment.
There is a smart TV hidden on the right side. It has a swivel arm, so the television can be viewed from the kitchen table.
The Roadsurfer Family Freedom model we got is practically brand new. It had less than 10,000 km on the odometer when we picked it up.
The Vancouver Roadsurfer location has plenty of Family Freedom RVs ready to go.
This was our first introduction to the Roadsurfer brand. We passed several of these Family Freedom RVs on our road trip, particularly in the Whistler and Pemberton area.
Final thoughts from our Roadsurfer road trip
Our Roadsurfer RV road trip was exactly what we hoped for. It’s so nice to have the freedom to explore our beautiful province at our own pace.
We do enjoy the comfort and luxury of the RV experience. However, I don’t see us converting to “RV People” any time soon. Fortunately, RV rental companies like Roadsurfer offer modern RV and campervan rentals for families like us.
Read more blog posts from Canada:
- Best Road Trip from Vancouver for first time visitors
- The best things to do in Victoria, British Columbia
- What we learned on our first RV camping trip on Vancouver Island
- Moutcha Bay Resort in Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island
- 25 FREE Things to do in Vancouver
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