Driving Holiday in Canada

whippet

Next summer I am thinking about going to canada. I don't know much about canada but for some reason I think I will like it.

I plan to go for about 3 weeks and would like to do a bit of travelling 'car-hire'

has anyone got any suggestions, tip or advice?

Cheers

Benedict XVI

whippet wrote:

Next summer I am thinking about going to canada. I don't know much about canada but for some reason I think I will like it.

I plan to go for about 3 weeks and would like to do a bit of travelling 'car-hire'

has anyone got any suggestions, tip or advice?

Cheers

Would recommed Montreal and Halifax
Montreal - Like being in France, only the cars are Nort American.
Halifax - Like Galway without the medievil castles and buildings. Great drives around the coast of Nova Scoita also.

Gandhi

Highly recommend Montreal - beautiful city, great nightlife, loads to see. Check out if any festivals or anything are going on before deciding on dates to go there.

Toronto is beautiful - like a spotlessly clean mini-New York. Huge artificial beach on the shore of Lake Ontario with boardwalks and everything.

Niagara Falls has to be seen. I got to see the July 4th Fireworks being fired off over the falls one year. I loved it and I hate fireworks.

Have not been to Western Canada, but I hear Vancouver and Calgary are pretty cool.

caracal

YOu should fly to Vancouver, drive up through the Okanagon, get on the A1 drive through the rockies, visit Lake Louise, Banff, Calgary (around Stampede time) up to Edmonton and either take the train or drive through Jasper and back on to Vancouver. The drive direct from Lake Louise to Jasper is meant to be breath taking so maybe bypass Calgary and Edmonton. That my suggestion, if you do be ready for a lot of driving

Zaph

Drove around Lake Ontario about 7 or 8 years ago. Started in Toronto, on to Kingston, Ottowa and Montreal. Toronto is a lovely city, I've been there a couple of times, although the "niceness" of the people can drive you a bit mad after a while. Only stopped in Kingston because it was Canada Day and couldn't get a hotel in Ottowa. Not a whole lot there really. Otoowa is pretty compact and you can see a lot of it on foot. We stayed in Hull on the Quebec side of the river where accommodation was cheaper. Montreal is a really cool city, and one I definitely intend to visit again. It has a real split personality feel to it, because contrary to popular belief (me included), it's not all French, one-third of the city is English speaking.

After Montreal we drove down to upstate new York and stayed for a few days in a tiny place on the lake that we just happened across called Sackets Harbor. Wonderful place, but I'm sure there are plenty of other places along there just as nice. After that we spent a night on the American side of Niagara Falls as the women wanted to go to a big outlet mall near Buffalo. If you ever find yourself in Niagara Falls, DO NOT stay on the American side, it's a dump. Our last night was on the Canadian side so we could go to the casino there on our last night and on a helicopter ride over the falls on our last morning before heading back to the airport. Much better side to be on, but there's not a lot to keep you there more than a night really.

We did all that in two weeks without really killing ourselves, although a little longer in Montreal and upstate NY would have been nice.

Agree entirely with the last couple of posters.
I didnt get to do western canada, but I did do Quebec,montreal, across to Toronto and Kingston and of course upstate new york.

Beautifull area and very friendly people-though once you go north of Montreal and towards Quebec, it does get very French speaking,many people in fact wont speak English.

One piece of advice I would give you if you are driving in North America-Get a car with a GPS tracking system eg the Hertz never lost-they are invaluable and not costly and literally talk you and map you in a computer voice to whereever you want to go.That will save a lot of time when you want to make the most of your driving holiday.

Isobar

I did the drive from Jasper to Banff last year and it is breathtaking.... A better, more beautiful sight around each turn. You'll have to do it in Summer though as the road is often closed in winter due to heavy snow.

klong

Vancouver- Calgary is around 14 hours by car- spectacular scenery as you drive across the Rockies. Banff and the area around it has some wonderful scenery.