How to do a spectacular road trip from Calgary to Vancouver

It is day three of our road trip across British Columbia and I'm struck by an unusual thought: we must stop endlessly commenting on the extraordinary beauty. It's not that we have become inured to the epic scale of the place, or the way each twist and turn of the drive through the Rocky Mountains reveals yet another dizzyingly gorgeous landscape. Rather, I notice the driving portions of our road trip - forgiving stints of no longer than two or three hours at a time - are largely conducted in silence, punctuated with occasional exclamations of wonder. Oh, the tedium of the awe-struck traveller.

Although I've lived in London for half my life, I'm actually from this neck of the woods. The eight days on the road, starting in Calgary, are a pilgrimage to my hometown just outside Vancouver. At a touch over 600 miles, it's almost exactly the same distance as John o'Groats to Land's End.

While I'd find it hard to recommend Calgary as somewhere to linger, there are 10 days in July that prove an exception to the rule. This is when the city hosts the Calgary Stampede, one of the largest rodeos in North America, and take this as you will - one of Canada's largest cultural events. We see real cowboys and plenty of pretend ones - easy to spot in their spanking new Stetsons (mine included). The atmosphere is as electric as the neon signs promising deep-fried Oreos and chocolate-dipped bacon. The main attraction is, of course, the daily rodeo schedule: chuck-wagon races and bull riding seem dangerous and exhilarating; steer wrestling and calf roping are at times uncomfortable viewing.

After 48 hours we set our sights west, get in our SUV and leave the comforts of the Fairmont Palliser hotel for the open road. Before long, a serendipitous wrong turn leads us to Johnston Canyon, where we enjoy ice cream and an hour-long amble along easy trails to its waterfall climax. We stop in Banff, up in the mountains, with its pretty chalet-style buildings - and buy thermals for the more arduous hike the next day. The destination is Field, our first stop in British Columbia, where we spend a day on a guided climb exploring the fossil beds of Mount Stephen - an 800-metre ascent through 500 million years of history.

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We spend two nights at Emerald Lake Lodge, which delivers exactly what its name promises - a strikingly green, glacier-fed lake on the edge of which sits a scattering of timber cabins. Their modest look belies a world-class hotel. Canoeing across the lake's mirrored surface as the sun dips behind the mountains is a truly memorable experience.

And then we begin our descent from the Rockies, travelling south into a landscape where glacier-peaked mountains give way to sun-scorched hills. Down, down we drive, through the town of Revelstoke to the vineyards and golf resorts of Kelowna, where the air is dry and temperatures climb. We pause for a night on the edge of Okanagan Lake at the Sparkling Hill Resort, then continue further south to Osoyoos which, like many places in the province, takes its name from the languages of the local First Nations people: Kelowna, for example, means 'grizzly bear'; Osoyoos, 'meeting of the waters'. At over 40°C, it is so hot that a dip in Osoyoos Lake fails to bring the refreshment we hoped for; more effective is the terrace of Nk Mip Cellars, the country's first aboriginal-owned winery, where cooling mist machines and chilled Chardonnay do the trick.