Last summer this Boston family went to Toronto for a week. That vacation was a great success and now we want to see other parts of Canada. I am looking for suggestions, recommendations or comments regarding other destinations that are driving distance from Boston (no more than 12 hours from Boston), family friendly and have enough activities to keep us busy for 1 week. We like touristy stuff like museums, amusement parks but also like fishing, swimming, horseback riding. Thanking you in advance for any assistance.

A great place to visit for your family vacation would be the east Coast of Canada. You can visit the gorgeous National Parks (see the Bay of Fundy,in New Brunswick - highest tides in the world) and drive along the quaint fishing villages the east coast has to offer. The sites are breathtaking, the people are warm and extremely friendly. <BR>You can visit the thriving metropolis of Halifax (check out the Boardwalk) and take a drive out to Peggy's Cove and Lunnenberg in Nova Scotia. Also, the Confederation Bridge - over to the pretty island of PEI is near by, and that too has may things to offer...long winding beaches, picturesque landscapes, one of a kind arts and craft stores, not to mention the Cavendish area. <BR>The nice thing about Eastern Canada is that you can see a lot of things in a short period of time, and the exchange rate is excellent. I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay!

BlueEyes - thank you for your suggestion. It seems to me that visiting all 3 Atlantic provinces would be tough in a week. Am I wrong about this? Is it possible to see all without spending the whole vacation driving? In the alternative, if I wanted to visit just one which would you suggest? Also if we were looking for a beach type vacation is PEI the place to go? If so what towns would you recommend?<BR><BR>Thanks again. Also still open to other suggestions.

Bennie...<BR><BR>Personally if you are looking for a relaxing vacation with the beach, PEI could be your best bet. I do not know if there is enough to do for the entire week (minus a few days driving to and from)...but check out this website below...it may prove to be helpful. <BR><BR>http://www.travelcanada.ca/travelcan...fm?Lid=2&CId=2

Nova Scotia is an ideal destination for you and your family. You can take a ferry from Portland or Bar Harbour and wind up at our gateway in Yarmouth. A pleasant one day drive into Halifax or stay overnight along the way. A couple of days in Halifax and then off to Cape Breton for a couple of days. You can either drive back through NB or take the opposite shore you travelled up to Halifax back to the ferry in Yarmouth. Remember, the Cat is only a 3 hour trip.<BR><BR>

Bennie, seeing as you enjoyed your Toronto trip maybe you would like Ottawa. It certainly has a lot of the museum type things, Parliament Buildings, the canal, the downtown market, and the Gatineau Hills are just across the bridge, great area as well. Ottawa is a very clean city, not too big, good size to explore for the week. Just wanted to add another suggestion to the mix!

Nobody mentioned Montreal and Quebec. Frankly if I was from the US looking for a real 'foreign' but familiar place to go to there would be no question about Montreal and Quebec coming first. I understand you want outdoorsy stuff but if you enjoyed TO then why wouldn't you love Montreal?

bennie..I second the east coast trip. We took the ferry from Bar Harbour a few years ago after driving through your area. Tanya's suggestion is good - we loved Cape Breton's Cabot Trail and Nova Scotia is a favourite. Halifax is a great city and you could anchor there for a few days and tour the area - Peggy's Cove, lighthouses etc. Make sure you take in the great music and dancing of Cape Breton...

I've been doing some additional research and thought that maybe the combination of Montreal and Mt. Tremblant would satisfy our mutual likes of outdoors and urban vacations. But then again Halifax and Cape Bretton sounds great too. I'd love to visit the Gaelic College and am a big fan of Natalie McMaster and other Cape Bretton fiddlers. Its no wonder that so few Americans have passports. There are so many great things to see right here in North America.<BR><BR>It sounds like I've got two summer vacations to plan. One to Nova Scotia/PEI and one to Quebec. I think I'll develop a plan for both and leave the final decision to the rest of the family. Whatever we don't do this year will have to wait until next summer.<BR><BR>Thanks so much for the help. I'll be posting more questions throughout the winter.

Bennie:<BR>Could you please share your Toronto vacation? And also what you come up re. Montreal/Quebec?<BR>Thank you!!!

I remain a little hazy about why someone close to Cape Cod and Cape Ann would want to go see more of the same, more or less, in the Canadian Maritime provinces. US dollar excahnge is a bargain, though.<BR><BR>On the other hand, Montreal and Quebec City, or Montreal and Ottawa, are very different from Boston, etc., and would be my recommendation.<BR><BR>BAK

i am a canadian living in the us. when we lived in boston, we travelled into quebec frequently & loved it. we also really enjoyed nova scotia, new brunswick and, the best was our trip to newfoundland. that island is deceptively large and we spent a great five days exploring a geographically diverse and culturally rich province. have a great trip.

Washington,DC<BR>Sucessful family vacations for me<BR>101 free things to do<BR>excellent subway<BR>great getaways, Williamsburg, with all<BR>the flash of family parks and then the <BR>historic district<BR>Also, you could consider taking Amtrak for the family- fun thing in itself<BR>Also, you could consider Chicago by Amtrak- good rates from Boston check out rail sale

Hi Bennie- Can I recommend the Quebec City area? We stayed 3 nights in the old town Quebec City area, two nights on the Lle d'Orleans and 3 nights in the Mont Ste. Anne area. All this is about 50 miles of each other but we wanted to experience the different areas. Quebec City was wonderful - very French and very friendly. Lots of outdoor stuff in Mont Ste Anne area - nice hike up Sept Falls and also up Mont St. Anne - there was mountain biking there also and a gondola to ride if you wanted to skip the hike. The Ile d'Orleans is a 20 mile island in the middle of the St. Laurence which is rural and has about 6 quaint villages on it. We had bikes with us on the lle d'Orleans and biked around and stopped at a trout farm to fish for dinner. You only paid if you caught one and we finally got a small trout to serve up as an appetizer later that evening. We didn't have any children with us but I think the Quebec City area would be great for a family vacation - the French culture, history, architecture, food and shopping would add a lot to your experience.

Bennie-I would highly recommend going to Ottawa and include Kingston(on Lake Ontario) for a week's vacation. There is so much to do and see(historically and recreationally) that you would appease all ages in your family.They are only about an hour and a half apart so you would not be spending all your time driving.My son is going to college in Kingston(we are from the states) and we have found that that area has a wealth of fun things to do and see(and eat).Let us know what you decide?

Thanks again for the suggestions. <BR><BR>Ingrid - we drove from Boston to Niagara Falls, spent the afternoon enjoying the Canadian side. Drove up to TO. The next day went to a Red Sox/Blue Jays game - the highlight of the trip for these Red Sox maniacs (got Nomar's autograph!!). Went to the top of the CN Tower after the game. Next day we went to the ROM - great musuem! Then to Canada's Wonderland - very nice amusement park with large selection of rides. Then took a drive up to Midland Ontario to see the St. Marie Amoung the Hurons living museum. Interesting but not sure it was worth the drive for the kids. Also went to the Islands - don't rent bikes there - very poor quality - but the ferry ride was fun and the view can't be beat. Stayed at Delta Chelsea. Everyone had a great time.<BR><BR>BAK - lots of people from Massachusetts go to the Maritimes. They promote it very heavily in the Boston market. Nobody I know who has ever done the trip has ever said that its just like going to Cape Cod. I live on Cape Ann but am still curious as to what Nova Scotia has to offer. <BR><BR>It is true that Montreal and Quebec City would be radically different. I just read Shadow on the Rock by Willa Cather (novel about early days of Quebec City) and would love to see the city. Been to Montreal several times but still have a lot to discover there. <BR><BR>Decisions, Decisions!!!!<BR><BR>