Canada Ideas Please!

tweetie_2

Hi All

was wondering if anyone had any ideas/suggestions on visiting Canada? Possibly Toronto? I've never been and not sure which bit would be best for my first time! Any help on where to go/what to do would be most appreciated!

Sput2001

Canada's great, and the Toronto/Ontario area is a favourite area of mine. If you're going to Toronto you're about a 40 minute drive from Niagara Falls, which is an essential visit. Ottawa is about a day's drive away but is worth a visit, too. The north shore of Lake Ontario is also very pretty, as is the whole Great Lakes area, in fact.

Alternatively, the west coast / Vancouver area is also a top place, but too far to go to from Ontario unless you're up for some serious long-distance travel.

You'll almost definitely need to rent or borrow a car if you want to get out of the cities.

fairenoughclough

With apologies to Bob Williamson.



Do you remember the billboard adverts for mixers in the Seventies/Eighties, which advised "Drink Canada Dry" ?







































You could always give it a go !

ringley

It's got to be the Rockies for me! Unbelievable scenery - huge mountains and lakes. Fly to Calgary, hire a car and drive up through the Rockies from Banff to Jasper. Fly back from Edmonton if you can. We went in the middle of October, and it was the ideal time. The summer season had finished and it was too early for the ski season, so the flights were cheap, and the accommodation was less than half price! We didn't book any hotels, just turned up in Banff and Lake Louise and wandered into a few to see what prices they could offer.

alric

If you mountainbike seriously, you gotta go to BC
See the movies!

even look in MBUK magazine

aardvark0

Not having anywhere pre-booked to stay can be a little awkward if immigration ask where you are staying. They seem to be a little more paranoid in the bigger cities, and less paranoid in the quieter backwaters.

What did you want to do in Canada? Shopping, Outdoor activities? Different parts of Canada offer different things.

I personally enjoy peace and quiet staying in a cabin in the woods in Newfoundland, taking special care not to annoy the bear that occasionally wanders around at night. For those interested, a rabbit hunting license costs around $25. (If I recall correctly, the season opens in October).

The leisure possibilities of a trip to Canada are almost endless.

tweetie_2

Thanks for all your suggestions!

I think i'd like to stay in a city but be able to get about a bit - doing the usual (normal) touristy stuff - and there HAS to be good shopping. Would book a hotel before going (prob in Toronto by the sounds of it) as i'm far to much of a control freak to just book one when i get there! Prob looking at May/June next year poss?

Any more idea welcome!

chalky_bertie

Its got to be the Rockies - it is the most beautiful area I have ever seen. We went in May and there was very few tourists but still lots of snow in certain places. As the other poster stated a car would be ideal to travel to Jasper, Banff. You could also combine this with a stay in Vancouver which is OK but not the best Canadian city I have been too, perhaps Toronto / Niagra Falls (bit tacky) but very exciting may be a better option but is further away than Vancouver. How about finshing the Rockies than having a trip down the West coast of the USA?

Sput2001

Maybe book a hotel in advance for the first couple of nights, then have a look around when you get there? You'll probably get better deals turning up in person on the day.

We found, completely by accident, a small victorian town called Port Hope on the north shore of Lake Ontario, just off the highway between Toronto and Ottawa. We stayed at a place called the Carlyle Inn, which from the signposts and look of the place didn't seem to be much special, but...

...we had the most amazing food (still one of the nest meals we've EVER had), a superb room and a friendly, genial host in a very friendly family-owned pub/restaurant/hotel. Highly recommended.

Jem8472

It depends what you want if you want to do your own thing or to do stuff with a guide, but a couple of years ago I went to toronto and niagara. It was with travel scope.

It was brilliant really well arranged and got to do lots of things and had a few days to do our own thing as well, and the prices are low!


Also if you have a look at the details I did everything they had to offer apart from: st jacobs visit

Te CN tower is well worth a visit can be a little expensive but if you actually book a meal then you can go up the tower and dont have to pay the charge to go up there. You can book the restaurant online!
CN tower site

Toronto info site

Travelscope website

spender

In May we went to the Rockies with an organised tour. It was absolutely superb. We stayed in Calagary, Banff, Jasper, Kamloops and Vancouver. We travelled for two days on the Rocky Mountaineer. We visited glaciers, mountains and the city of Vancouver is beautiful. We saw bears (brown and grizzly), eagles, moose, deer etc. Because we were on a tour everything was taken care off. Result - I love Canada and if I did not have elderly relatives would move their like a shot. Know I have done the west I look forward to the east coast.