julianafrp

Hello

My family is planning to travel to Canada in December (myself, my husband, my 5 years old and my 1 year old ) and I need some help on my itinerary and some advice on travelling with small children... so we are planning to spend ab 20 days, our entry port will be Toronto and we must go to Vancouver and Whistler as we will meet some friends there.

My initial thoughts were spending 2 days or so in Toronto, Montreal for 5 days then split the remaining days between Vancouver and Whistler. But I would love to visit, if possible, lake Louise.

My questions would be :
- does this itinerary makes sense?
- does it make sense to go to Lake Louise considering the chilndren's age?
- any other places that makes sense from a logistic point of view to visit (small day trips, etc...)?
- any advice re childre activity, things I should take into account, etc...?
- any other itinerary ideas ????

Thank you all in advance.... Juliana

eliztravels2

Where are you coming from, julianafrp, and what are your interests? Are you accustomed to winter weather? Give us a bit more information and we may be able to help.

julianafrp

Hi there

we are coming from Brazil... so no, not used to the weather I will be facing on winter in Canada.

thanks !

ltt

some considerations...
if you aren't familiar with the weather, i assume you will need to get winter clothing for the whole family. that will incur some costs...especially if you want to include the banff/lake louise area. winter boots, hats, gloves, scarves, winter coat, ski pants (if you want to ski or play in the snow). if you are not experienced with winter driving, that is not a good time to learn. public transportation is not great in the mountains.
whistler is a small village and you can get around without a vehicle. weather in vancouver would be much milder then in alberta.
i don't know a lot about montreal. quebec city is suppose to be lovely at christmas time if you wanted to plan a few nights there.

eliztravels2

I would suggest suggest splitting your time more evenly between Toronto and Montreal . Both have good public transportation, including underground pathways connected to the subway system that will help you get around and lots to see and do in either city. The train--Via Rail--between the 2 is very pleasant and will give you room to move about with the kids. it is quite a long journey, about 5 hours I think, but the Francophone flavour of the city will give you a different perspective on Canada than you would see elsewhere.

Niagara Falls makes a good day trip from Toronto. Not sure what kind of tours are are available at that time of year but there may be something that takes you to see the Christmas lights.

As llt says, you will need to dress for the weather. It might be worthwhile to pay a visit to one of the larger used clothing stores on arrival in Toronto to outfit yourselves. Rather than the expense of winter boots you might consider rubber boots/wellies from home for the kids. Get them a size too large and add thick warm socks.

I don't think Lake Louise fits well in your itinerary. You would need to fly into Banff, I suppose, and find your way from there. It is very lovely but you will be seeing some lovely scenery at Whistler. Will your friends be driving you from Vancouver? If not there is a bus. If you do decide to do lake Louise i would suggest cutting out Montreal.

Toronto in December will likely be cold, possibly snow. Vancouver quite a bit midler, rain more likely than snow. Whistler could have either, but snow more likely at the higher elevations. Montreal often gets quite a lot of snow, but of course it varies a lot from year to year.

Hope this gets you started. Ask some more specific questions and tell more about your interests and the answers will be more helpful.

kgsneds

For Lake Louise, you would fly into Calgary. The only 'aiport' in Banff is a grass airstrip that sees far more elk than planes (if any!). The road between Calgary and Lake Louise is major highway, and well plowed. That said, it's not a drive I would suggest during the winter for someone with no experience driving in snow.

I agree that it's probably better to stick with Vancouver/Whistler and Toronto, and either Montreal or Lake Louise/Banff. With the exception of Toronto to Montreal, which can be done by train or car if the weather is good, the other legs will be by plane. By the time it's all said and done, you essentially spend a day flying from Montreal to Vancouver.

As indicated, you will need winter clothes for all mentioned locations, with Montreal likely to quite cold and Lake Louise snowy and possibly very cold (down to -30c or worse at times).

Whistler would be a good place to experience snow without the worst of the winter weather. Christmas is relatively early in winter, so there may or may not be a large amount of snow in Whistler. There are plenty of places to stay there with lots of non skiing options to experience winter.

Lake Louise is a tiny mountain 'village' - there are about 5 hotels with a handful of stores; there is no residential area. It is a relatively high elevation, so there will be plenty of snow and possibly quite cold temperatures. You would certainly need warm winter clothes and boots. Also, as accommodation is limited, you need to book well ahead for Christmas time. You can visit Lake Louise from Banff, which is about 1 hr closer to Calgary and much larger. Both can be reached by car or by airport shuttle - however without a car, you will be quite limited in Lake Louise (two hotels are located at the lake, the rest and the handful of stores are about 4km away in the 'village'.

julianafrp

thank u all for the replies

re weather , I'm aware that we have nothing to wear . I was planning to get some stuff online and have it delivered to our hotel before we arrive , and I like the used clothes idea.

I agree w you all that lake Louise was a bit too much and decided to cross that out.

so now I am looking at Christmas in Montreal , new years eve at Whistler and then Vancouver - I'm aware it's a 5 hour flight.... but we are meeting friends there plus I thought the weather would be nicer (in Vancouver )

Now I've got Whistler pretty much covered , but would love tips on what to do in Montreal and Vancouver w the children !

Thanks ,Juliana

eliztravels2

One of my favourite places in Montreal is the Biodome, which is like a huge conservatory featuring three different ecosystems. I go there for the rainforest and the sloths, which might be less interesting to you considering where you come from, but they also have Antartica with penguins and a woodsy exhibit area which represents the Laurentians around Montreal.

I've never been to Montreal in winter with kids, so don't have more specific suggestions. However, somewhere in your travels you should try to do some truly Canadian activities: skating on an outdoor rink, and some tobogganing. Toronto has skating downtown at city hall where I expect you can rent skates. Probably something similar in Montreal.

In Vancouver there is lots to do with kids. Stanley park has the Aquarium, and at Christmas time a lights display and miniature train. Grouse Mountain is worth checking out as well, and Granville Island is always fun.