Fernie Transportation

[fq]

I’m really looking forward to coming to Fernie for two weeks in January. My final dilema is whether to:

a) rent a car (for six people) from Calgary and drive down or
b) use the shuttle bus service and public transport to get around when we are there.

The costs are about the same. If Fernie has good cheap public transport I’d use it. What’s it like?

Any comments would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

FQ

[elsie]

Hey;

You can probably get around pretty well with the Kootenay Taxi ski shuttle, if you’re staying in a hotel they stop at all of them. Ease of transport depends on where you’re staying — on mountain or off?

On mountain means a cab ride to downtown for restaurants and bars, will run about $15. If you’re staying in town you can walk to most places, or take a cab ride which will generally run fairly cheaply.

Downtown hotels have ski shuttle service, it’s about $2 per one way ride I think.

Anyhoo. public transport should work.

[czar from afar]

A six person car will cost you a fortune for two weeks. Still it may be worthwhile.

A return shuttle to Fernie is about $110-125 per person return (though there is an awful Greyhound coach for a little less). That is at least $660

If you are staying in downtown Fernie, everything is walkable and you don’t need a car to get around. The shuttle to the hill is $2.50 each way if you prepay for a discount card. That is $420 to get the six of you to the hill and back for 14 days. Throw in a few cab rides for groceries etc. and the total is about $450.

That is $1,110 for some barebones transit. For a little extra, you may be better off with a car, so you can get home from the terrific aquatic centre without forming ice pellets in your hair.

Have a fun trip.

[czar from afar]

A six person car will cost you a fortune for two weeks. Still it may be worthwhile.

A return shuttle to Fernie is about $110-125 per person return (though there is an awful Greyhound coach for a little less). That is at least $660

If you are staying in downtown Fernie, everything is walkable and you don’t need a car to get around. The shuttle to the hill is $2.50 each way if you prepay for a discount card. That is $420 to get the six of you to the hill and back for 14 days. Throw in a few cab rides for groceries etc. and the total is about $450.

That is $1,110 for some barebones transit. For a little extra, you may be better off with a car, so you can get home from the terrific aquatic centre without forming ice pellets in your hair.

Have a fun trip.

[fq]

Thanks for your advice guys. We’ll get a shuttle to and from Clagary and rely on the public transport after that.

I see that the winter has set in now….can’t wait!

Fq

[unbendyourmind]

FQ: could you post how public transport is there please. I’m looking to get down to Fernie this Jan or Feb for a long weekend and any input on transportation would be handy! Thanks!

[jeff p-yo]

[quote:c565euc9]A six person car will cost you a fortune for two weeks. Still it may be worthwhile.

A return shuttle to Fernie is about $110-125 per person return (though there is an awful Greyhound coach for a little less). That is at least $660

If you are staying in downtown Fernie, everything is walkable and you don’t need a car to get around. The shuttle to the hill is $2.50 each way if you prepay for a discount card. That is $420 to get the six of you to the hill and back for 14 days. Throw in a few cab rides for groceries etc. and the total is about $450.

That is $1,110 for some barebones transit. For a little extra, you may be better off with a car, so you can get home from the terrific aquatic centre without forming ice pellets in your hair.

Have a fun trip.[/quote:c565euc9]

This is absolutely [b:c565euc9]BAD[/b:c565euc9] advise!!!! I rented a Dodge Caravan in Calgary from Budget(I believe) last winter for a week for just $350. 2 weeks would be approx. $700. This is with unlimited milage! You would be crazy to spend that much for “barebones transit”!!!!!

[/b]

[jeff p-yo]

^^^actually, I think it was Enterprise.
check here for rates;

http://www.enterprise.com/car_rental/home.do

[czar from afar]

Jeff,

You might want to reread my “bad” advice, since I think that we are giving the same advice – a car rental, though expensive, is the wisest choice for a group of 6 in Calgary.

Who would have thought that this would be a hot topic?

[jeff p-yo]

my bad.

[czar from afar]

…and funny

[jeff p-yo]

well. As long as we’ve helped this person out. That’s all that really should matter.

I”m just bitter that I’m not gonna be making it down to Fernie this season.

[fq]

[size=100:2tz6r1iq][color=green:2tz6r1iq]Thanks…

You have helped me out alot. We are staying on Moutain so we would be using shuttles and taxis every day.

It may be a little more expensive, but we are gong for a mini van for about $700 – $800.

It’s well worth shopping around for a deal on car rental because I’ve been quoted anlything between $700 and $1800.

I’ll make sure that I let you guys know how we get on and if we made the right decision!

Really appreciate your help with this…

Fq [/color:2tz6r1iq][/size:2tz6r1iq]

[jeff p-yo]

no prob.

hope everything works out perfectly for ya. Enjoy yourself.

[jvd]

Budget rules…low prices, and they don’t ask if you’re 25 yet…

[fq]

Well….I am now officially depressed. Got back to the UK from a two week holiday. Fernie rocks!

As promised, I said I’d let you know how I got on with transport:

I rented a Dodge Caravan (7 seater wagon) from Thrifty at Calgary. The price was almost half that quoted by Avis and National. The staff were very helpful and the quality of the car was excellent. The car cost $400 canadian for 14 days.

It took about 3.5 hours to get to Fernie and was a really easy journey…south on highway 2 then turn right and go west on highway 3!

There didn’t seem to be much in the way of regular transport between the mountain and the town, so if you stay on mountain, I’d recommend renting a car. If you don’t, a taxi is way expensive – $15 each way.

We took a taxi into town one night to watch a movie – John the taxi driver persuaded us to go see the Ghostriders Hockey instead. Good decision John…. we had a great night out.

All-in-all a superb trip. Fernie made us feel very welcome, and we’ll be back next year.

Thanks for your help with this thread.

[fq]

I meant ¬¨¬£400 GBP or $800 Canadian…now that would have been cheap!

[Author]

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