Canada in the Summer- need help!

[tinytots]

Hi All
Next Summer(2019) Hubby has decided he would like us to try a holiday in Canada( which means I do all the planning) Its never been one on my list of places to visit so I know the square root of zero about it, where to start with places to choose etc..

What I do know is:
We would be traveling in Summer(School holidays, end of July probably) for around 2 weeks. We would like to see/stay some of the lakes for a relaxing part of the holiday, maybe visit a city for the sightseeing stuff. We are not the most energetic family but do like walking, swimming, some low level watersports and sightseeing. We don't need nightlife as such but do like to eat in nice restaurants. DD 16 loves wildlife and Sealife when on holidays. Last year we did a Californian road trip and that was our best holiday by far due to the variety an, scenery and different experiences( I had a lot of help from the Dibb which really helped so hoping for the same again)

What I don't know is: where to start! So, can anyone help?
What places/cities/ multi cities would you recommend? We don't mind not being in one place for the whole duration.
Best (not most expensive but reliable and sensible fares)airline to book with?
Any tips or advice appreciated- thank you.

Edited to add: What's the weather like in July/August? Is east or west better for nice warm sunshine?

[chippyminton]

Ooh, loved our Canada trip last year.

If it helps, this is what we did for 3 weeks with 3 teenagers. Ask me anything!

Day 1 - Flights were Aer Lingus to Toronto - I was happy with the price although you could probably get cheaper with a budget operator.
First night in a suite hotel near the airport.

Days 2 - 5 - Train into Toronto from the airport.
5 hr train to Ottawa (booked direct with VIA Rail - book early for the cheapest seats).
3 nights in a suite hotel in Ottawa. Visited parliament, museums, fireworks etc. Loved this city.

Days 5 - 10 - Train back to Toronto (in hindsight I would’ve booked a multi-city flight, maybe into Montreal or Quebec to avoid retracing our steps).
Highlights were dinner in the CN Tower at dusk, the islands, Blue Jays and Toronto FC games.
We rented an apartment for this stay.

Days 10 - 18 - Picked up a hire car and drove out of town to a lakeside cottage for a week. What a blast! The cottage came with canoes, Kayaks and a pedal boat, BBQ, fire pit, so we spent the week relaxing, eating and drinking and messing about on and in the lake.

Day 18-21 - Drove to Niagara Falls for 2 nights (one night in a suite hotel out of town, so we could to visit a shopping outlet, and the second in a B&B right on the Niagara gorge).
Did the Hornblower cruise, had a mosey around and a nice dinner, before heading back to Toronto airport n our final day.

[tinytots]

Originally Posted by chippyminton

Ooh, loved our Canada trip last year.

If it helps, this is what we did for 3 weeks with 3 teenagers. Ask me anything!

Day 1 - Flights were Aer Lingus to Toronto - I was happy with the price although you could probably get cheaper with a budget operator.
First night in a suite hotel near the airport.

Days 2 - 5 - Train into Toronto from the airport.
5 hr train to Ottawa (booked direct with VIA Rail - book early for the cheapest seats).
3 nights in a suite hotel in Ottawa. Visited parliament, museums, fireworks etc. Loved this city.

Days 5 - 10 - Train back to Toronto (in hindsight I would’ve booked a multi-city flight, maybe into Montreal or Quebec to avoid retracing our steps).
Highlights were dinner in the CN Tower at dusk, the islands, Blue Jays and Toronto FC games.
We rented an apartment for this stay.

Days 10 - 18 - Picked up a hire car and drove out of town to a lakeside cottage for a week. What a blast! The cottage came with canoes, Kayaks and a pedal boat, BBQ, fire pit, so we spent the week relaxing, eating and drinking and messing about on and in the lake.

Day 18-21 - Drove to Niagara Falls for 2 nights (one night in a suite hotel out of town, so we could to visit a shopping outlet, and the second in a B&B right on the Niagara gorge).
Did the Hornblower cruise, had a mosey around and a nice dinner, before heading back to Toronto airport n our final day.

See more...

Wow! Sounds like an amazing trip. Unfortunately, we can only go for two weeks due to hubby work. I will be off work for seven for the Summer break but he cannot which is a shame. I really like the sound of the cottage though.

[jocat]

Following our Californian road trip last summer, we’ve booked a Canadian Rockies one for this summer. Hope to get my pre-trip report up in the next week or so, so that may give you some ideas of possible places (or rule some out!)

Yet again, our problem has been narrowing down where to visit. We’re flying into Vancouver and home from Calgary, and incorporating Jasper and Banff along the way, as well as a couple of other places.

We’ve also visited Toronto and Niagara before, but that was for a 5 night break, but if you fancy that side I’m sure you could add on some other places like Montreal or Ottawa. We loved Toronto and it really whetted our appetite to visit more of Canada.

There’s a few trippies around for Canada - off the top of my head look up those by Melbatb, neilhd and tonymc. All of those have visited more than one city on their Canadian holidays and will probably come along and comment here soon to offer advice. I’m sure there are many more other great trippies too, which may help you narrow down possible areas to visit.

[chippyminton]

Originally Posted by tinytots

Wow! Sounds like an amazing trip. Unfortunately, we can only go for two weeks due to hubby work. I will be off work for seven for the Summer break but he cannot which is a shame. I really like the sound of the cottage though.

See more...

There are loads of cottages available, but I had to narrow them down to ones that I could pay safely on line, as many owners are not geared up for international bookings - I used HomeAway in the end. Also wanted one that supplied linen and towels, and was fully equipped with watercraft.

Our itinerary was pretty relaxed, and you could easily do less time in each place

[tinytots]

Originally Posted by chippyminton

There are loads of cottages available, but I had to narrow them down to ones that I could pay safely on line, as many owners are not geared up for international bookings - I used HomeAway in the end. Also wanted one that supplied linen and towels, and was fully equipped with watercraft.

Our itinerary was pretty relaxed, and you could easily do less time in each place

See more...

Thank you

[tinytots]

Originally Posted by jocat

Following our Californian road trip last summer, we’ve booked a Canadian Rockies one for this summer. Hope to get my pre-trip report up in the next week or so, so that may give you some ideas of possible places (or rule some out!)

Yet again, our problem has been narrowing down where to visit. We’re flying into Vancouver and home from Calgary, and incorporating Jasper and Banff along the way, as well as a couple of other places.

We’ve also visited Toronto and Niagara before, but that was for a 5 night break, but if you fancy that side I’m sure you could add on some other places like Montreal or Ottawa. We loved Toronto and it really whetted our appetite to visit more of Canada.

There’s a few trippies around for Canada - off the top of my head look up those by Melbatb, neilhd and tonymc. All of those have visited more than one city on their Canadian holidays and will probably come along and comment here soon to offer advice. I’m sure there are many more other great trippies too, which may help you narrow down possible areas to visit.

See more...

Hi Thanks for this, will check out the reports. I think we will want to try Vancouver area. Hubby has always wanted to see /go to the rockies. Looking forward to your pre trip report.

[Melbatb]

We have holidayed in Canada for the last 5 years and I am in Montreal at the moment!

Will come back later to reply in more depth but check out my siggy for the last two trip reports in Quebec and Ontario (we have two teenagers!)

Do you have any idea where in Canada?

[millerj]

Canada is an amazing country to visit

Last summer (last 2 weeks august) We did Vancouver and the rockies over 11 days
2 nights Vancouver drove to kamloops for 1 night then valemount in wells national park for a night.

We followed this by 3 nights in Jasper 1 night in lake Louise and 3 nights in Banff followed by a night in Calgary and a flight back

We had an amazing time however it was not relaxing we were on the go everyday

We have today got having from 9 nights in Montreal and Quebec and have also had a great time. (Was on the dibb trying to stay awake &#128564

We flew to Montreal for 1 night then the train to Quebec (3.5 hours about £80 return and very easy) spent 2 nights in Quebec. We then hired a car for 3 days and visited our son in St. George's which was a lovely town about 2 hours away. Followed by a further night in Quebec, the train back to Montreal and 2 nights in Montreal

2 very different trips the first being about the wildlife, the scenery and hiking

The second more city based with culture food etc

If you want any further info about hotels, travelling or itineraries I am more than happy to share

We are now looking at another Canada holiday next year just need to decide where!

[katiec68]

We've only been in the winter (6 times) and got back 3 weeks ago.

be warned if you want Banff/Lake Louise/Jasper - July and August are peak season - it is VERY busy and hotels can be VERY expensive.

You will need to book very early to even get a room at some places.

For example - in winter its -30 some days so people really only go to ski i.e. no touring - and the only time the town is any where near busy is really over the weekends as people drive up from Calgary - even then getting restaurant reservations at the decent places can be difficult.

In the summer Banff is like Piccadilly Circus - it really is wall to wall people so you will have to plan carefully.

That said it will be a fabulous trip and something that is on our "to do" list for a summer trip.

Katie x