East and West is Best – Take 2 (in Canada)

[tonymc]

Having already done one trip report entitled “East AND West is Best” back in 2013 which covered the East and West coasts of the USA, this August sees us undertaking a similar trip but in Canada.

It all started with DD saying she would like to visit Niagara Falls. Initial thoughts were to return to New England with a side trip to Niagara, then possibly combining a week in New England with a week or ten days in Toronto and Montreal, then an option to visit Niagara, Toronto and Montreal before taking a cruise between Montreal and Boston.

However, the final version of events has led us to spending the entire holiday in Canada but visiting both sides of the country.

Neither Joanne or Alex have visited Canada before, but I was fortunate enough to be sent out by work to Montreal for a week shortly after Alex was born (so a good 17 years ago! ).

Flights were booked some time ago on Air Transat direct from Manchester to Toronto, returning direct from Vancouver to Manchester in their “premium” class. These flights give us 16 nights in total, and after a number of changes of mind, our current itinerary is:

13/08 Fly to Toronto, staying for four nights
17/08 Drive to Niagara, staying overnight
18/08 Drive to Picton (PEC) for two nights
20/08 Drive to Ottawa for four nights
24/08 Fly Ottawa-Vancouver staying for five nights
29/08 Fly back to Manchester

Accommodation wise, we are staying at the Cambridge Suites in Toronto, Doubletree by Hilton in Niagara, Nine Gables B&B in Picton, Albert at Bay Suites in Ottawa, and finally an apartment at Marinaside Crescent in Vancouver.

Car rental is booked for our Toronto-Niagara-Picton-Ottawa journey, as is our internal flight from Ottawa to Vancouver. We also managed to get free lounge access at Manchester thanks to the dibb posting and Holiday Extras!

Yet again, it does feel rather strange not having had to book meals and Fastpasses at Disney, so we have a fairly “blank canvas” in which to do what we want.

A couple of things have happened since first writing this pre-trip report, the first being that DDs AS Level results will be available on the 13th August! This means that instead of a nice relaxed morning, we will now be hot footing it over to Bolton for 07:45 before heading to Manchester Airport.

The second is that the lure of free DDP for next year has proved to be too hard to resist, so we have booked an earlier stay for next year between 4th and 15th June at Saratoga Springs, with plans to fly out on 30th June and a few days at a beach.

But - as with all the best laid plans - no sooner had we booked that DD received notice that she had been accepted to work at a summer camp in the USA next year - typical! However, every cloud etc etc - we did point out to her that it meant if she does go ahead, DW and myself would be able to use our VA and Avios to book us in PE going out to Orlando and return from Miami in Club World

[Melbatb]

Both Toronto and Vancouver are fabulous cities! We will do a day trip to Ottawa this summer so can't comment yet!

Looks like you will have a great trip!

[Cutiepie]

Looking forward to reading your report. We spent 5 days in Vancouver last month & absolutely loved it!

[jocat]

After having a great time visiting Toronto and Niagara for the first time in May this year, we're really keen to see more of Canada, so I'm really looking forward to reading your trippie.

[tonymc]

Originally Posted by jocat

After having a great time visiting Toronto and Niagara for the first time in May this year, we're really keen to see more of Canada, so I'm really looking forward to reading your trippie.

See more...

Have read your trip report - thanks for posting - and got some good ideas for our upcoming visit.

[Cutiepie]

I don't know what you have planned for Vancouver but I can highly recommend a drive along the Sea to Sky highway & a trip on the Sea to a Sky gondola. The views are just breathtaking. You can also walk to Shannon Falls from the Sea to Sky gondola.

If you have any questions I will try & answer!

[Cutiepie]

I was trying to upload a few pics but it hasn't worked!

[HobosMum]

Looking forward to reading your trippie. Our Canadian adventure starts in Toronto and ends in Vancouver but with Niagara, Banff & Jasper in the middle.

[tonymc]

Originally Posted by Cutiepie

I don't know what you have planned for Vancouver but I can highly recommend a drive along the Sea to Sky highway & a trip on the Sea to a Sky gondola. The views are just breathtaking. You can also walk to Shannon Falls from the Sea to Sky gondola.

If you have any questions I will try & answer!

See more...

I think we will be doing this - just renting a car for the day, and possibly some whale watching as well.

[abiknox]

Just setting off to read this one as we are thinking about a city break in Toronto for December