Looking for advice about Canada

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cathcakey
cathcakey Posts: 288 Member
in Chit-Chat
Hey MFP peeps,

I need some advice!

My boyfriend and I have decided to make a trip to Canada in Feb 2012. Despite the fact that neither of us have ever visited the country, we both have a feeling that this is where we'd like to move to in the next few years, so this is our first trip there, and the idea of it is to be a bit of a recce, to travel around a few of the cities, get a feel for the place, and hopefully start thinking about where we might end up.

There are cities we want to see on both the east coast and west coast, so what I'm hoping to get some advice on is the travelling aspect of it.

Does anyone know of any great deals for flight from UK to Canada and back?

Where are the cities you'd recommend visiting?

How would you recommend travelling from place to place? Internal flights? Buses? Car rentals?

Pretty much any sage advise, words of wisdom, anecdotes etc are appreciated!!

Thanks peeps!

Cathy
xx
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Replies

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,704 Member
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    Ayyy?
  • monstercakes
    monstercakes Posts: 78 Member
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    vancouver, montreal, toronto :)
    try the Poutine! haha

    remember canada is HUGE. most people are not able to do both coasts in one visit.
    we have such a big country.. i think people forget that!
    it take nearly a week to drive across the whole country oO
  • bettyboop573
    bettyboop573 Posts: 610 Member
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    Hi from Canada!! there are still so many cities here that I want to visit...glad you are doing the coast to coast :) The flights can be pretty pricey to certain areas, and i could never handle the bus since it takes forever! haha Where are you planning to visit??
  • bettyboop573
    bettyboop573 Posts: 610 Member
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    Montreal would definitely be on my recommendations :)
  • Fayve
    Fayve Posts: 411 Member
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    I highly recommend visiting Vancouver Island on the west coast :) Totally beautiful. I live in Victoria, and absolutely love it. Car rental is probaby the best way to go, but I've never gone more eastern than Edmonton. I agree with another poster above though, you might have a hard time visiting both ends in one go. Also definitely try the poutine!
  • burndust
    burndust Posts: 13
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    Have you considered an escorted tour? booked on an "accross canada" tour with travelsphere, first time going to canada its not cheap but it does visit some of the major places and with it being escorted you dont need to worry about getting lost
  • maria1113
    maria1113 Posts: 508 Member
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    I was living in Toronto for few months and I truly recommend visiting it :) I'm looking forward to going back there in the future!
  • Jennjenn1974
    Jennjenn1974 Posts: 350 Member
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    I highly recommend visiting Vancouver Island on the west coast :) Totally beautiful. I live in Victoria, and absolutely love it. Car rental is probaby the best way to go, but I've never gone more eastern than Edmonton. I agree with another poster above though, you might have a hard time visiting both ends in one go. Also definitely try the poutine!


    Victoria definately! I am from there originally and moved to Calgary about 3 years ago.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    For cheap flights between UK and Canada: http://www.canadianaffair.com/
  • lynn1982
    lynn1982 Posts: 1,439 Member
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    February may not be the best month to visit, but I guess it depends on what you plan on doing and where you plan on visiting. I'm from Toronto, but I love BC and would also suggest visiting Eastern Canada (esp Nova Scotia and Newfoundland - not necessarily as a place to live, but they're beautiful to visit, although perhaps more so in the summer).

    As far as flights go, the cheapest I have found between the UK and Toronto was Air Transat since they have charters. (However, their flights tend to be extremely squishy. It's definitely a no-frills airline - but if you're looking for cheap, it will get you there.)
  • cathcakey
    cathcakey Posts: 288 Member
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    Thanks everybody!

    We're planning on coming for two weeks in February next year - time to really get a feel for the cold!!

    On the provisional list is:

    Fly to Montreal
    Rent a car and drive to Ottawa
    Drive to Toronto
    Fly to Vancouver and maybe then Victoria

    I was tempted by the escorted tours, but I really want to get a feel for Canada as it would be day to day, rather than doing all the tourist attractions, if that makes sense?

    Ok, poutine is definitely on my list!!
  • TromaRon
    TromaRon Posts: 228 Member
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    vancouver, montreal, toronto :)
    try the Poutine!
    [/quote

    Toronto is wonderful! Great shopping, museums, restaurants, and the best people ever! I've wanted to move there for a few years now. And Poutine is incredible!!!
  • bookyeti
    bookyeti Posts: 544 Member
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    Canada is a hugely diverse country - and one of the largest in the world, so you will have to narrow it down a bit. ;-)

    Where you choose to visit would depend on what you're interested in. For instance, hubby and I are both outdoor buffs, and we love to wilderness camp, hike and canoe. The east coast has a lot of things that cater to the outdoor enthusiast. But if that's not something you're interested in, aim for the cities.

    My vote is for Nova Scotia....though, I'm biased (born and raised here)! The people are very friendly and down-to-earth (known for it), the beautiful rocky coastline, the lighthouses, quaint fishing villages, cheap seafood, and a plethora of outdoor activities such as hiking, wilderness camping, kayaking, canoeing, white-water rafting, whale watching, etc.
  • Jennjenn1974
    Jennjenn1974 Posts: 350 Member
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    Thanks everybody!

    We're planning on coming for two weeks in February next year - time to really get a feel for the cold!!

    On the provisional list is:

    Fly to Montreal
    Rent a car and drive to Ottawa
    Drive to Toronto
    Fly to Vancouver and maybe then Victoria

    I was tempted by the escorted tours, but I really want to get a feel for Canada as it would be day to day, rather than doing all the tourist attractions, if that makes sense?

    Ok, poutine is definitely on my list!!

    The ferry ride over to Vancouver Island is incredible!
  • samantha0176
    samantha0176 Posts: 67 Member
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    gosh it is so cold in february! unless you enjoy being frozen u will hate it here!
    I live in the toronto area, i love montreal..and i love calgary because it is so close to the rockies which are amazing! we drove from calgary to vancouver few times and that was the best trip we ever did the drive was amazing..
    cant comment on eastern canada as i have never been there..but PEI is supposed to be very nice..
  • HeatherScents
    HeatherScents Posts: 7
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    You could try doing a train trip across Canada. To drive coast to coast would take you about 2 weeks, and that is driving for 8 hours a day. Canada is HUGE, as someone has mentioned, and people tend to forget that. It is very expensive and time consuming to see the whole country in one visit. We have basically every landscape you can imagine (desert, mountains, plains, glaciers, rain forest). Flights can be expensive, but if you do fly I recommend WestJet over Air Canada. Their customer service is A+, and they let still let you have 1 free checked bag. That means the inside of the plane is less crowded because everyone is not trying to carry on all their crap to avoid paying $20!

    It's getting to be autumn now, so most places will be cooler but another thing to remember is the weather can be VASTLY different from coast to coast. I live in Southwestern Ontario, and it's going to be about 34C with the humidex today. However, you go to Victoria, and they don't even know what a humidex is! We were there in the middle of August and temperatures were in the low 20s. I was quite chilly, actually.

    By the way, don't bother going any further south than Toronto. Trust me! All we have down here is industry and pollution.
  • danger_kitteh
    danger_kitteh Posts: 301 Member
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    Fly to Montreal
    Rent a car and drive to Ottawa
    Drive to Toronto
    Fly to Vancouver and maybe then Victoria

    Canada is easy enough to figure out on your own :) Montreal is fantastic, Ottawa has Winterlude happening in February as well which is a pretty big deal here (ice skating on the Rideau Canal, Beaver Tails, Maple Snow, concerts, the snow kingdown) as well as some fantastic museums (National Gallery, Museum of Civilization, the Warm Museum).
  • HeatherScents
    HeatherScents Posts: 7
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    Driving from Montreal to Ottawa to Toronto in February?! I hope you are comfortable with driving in the snow!

    Honestly, that is the worst possible time to visit Canada. Even Vancouver and Victoria are ugly in February. Bleak, bleak, bleak and rain all the time. Is that the only time your schedule allows you to visit?
  • cathcakey
    cathcakey Posts: 288 Member
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    Driving from Montreal to Ottawa to Toronto in February?! I hope you are comfortable with driving in the snow!

    Honestly, that is the worst possible time to visit Canada. Even Vancouver and Victoria are ugly in February. Bleak, bleak, bleak and rain all the time. Is that the only time your schedule allows you to visit?

    No, not at all - we're pretty flexible with times. The only reason we were thinking February is because it's my birthday, and that we figured if we saw the country at its coldest and wettest and still fell in love with it, then we'd be onto a good thing!! Ha!!

    Plus the air fares are cheaper - but I guess now I know why!!
  • Zeromilediet
    Zeromilediet Posts: 787 Member
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    Ayyy?

    That's "Eh?" ok? :-)

    As mentioned Canada is huge. I've had family visit from the UK wanting to see Niagara Falls (Ontario), Minas Basin (Nova Scotia), Banff (Alberta), and Butchart Gardens (British Columbia), all in one week. Um, no. Because of it's size, things a rail pass, while it exists, won't be useful unless you have lots of time to chew up travelling. Decide what kind of things appeal to you and build your trip around that. For instance, if you love the outdoors (camping, hiking, etc), there's lots of that all over Canada; if your preference runs to urban entertainment like clubs, restaurants, theatre, then head for a major city like Toronto, Vancouver, or for a continental flavour try Montreal (you can get by with no French, but it helps)

    It truly depends on how you like to spend your time. I've been all over Canada--if you have questions send me a message.

    Re cheap flights ... keep your eyes open for seat sales.
    Best time of year to visit: June July August ... depending on where you go it can be hot in July
    If you prefer winter sports, then head for Quebec, BC, or Alberta in December January
    Best way to get around is car rental with unlimited km package--drive on the opposite side of road to you!

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