Reveal your secret places I leave July 9th
 

Hi- Me my wife and 2 kids (17 & 14 girls) leave for Canada the 9th of July 2005. I have dug and probed considerably to extract the following itenerary but some of you have been there and have stumbled upon some jewels/tips that no one knows about. Please share them with me. My general approach is to get maximum input of sight, sound, smell etc. for the kids memories. The itenerary is included to generate your thinking and zero in on geographical areas etc. AND GET COMMENTS ON ITEMS MENTIONED GOOD OR BAD I have been to none of these places.
July 9 = Leave Wisconsin - Lake Express high speed ferry to Muskegon, Muskegon sights, Overnight in Grand Haven with sights/fountain.
July 10 = Drive to Niagara Falls via Sarnia border crossing, linger at border for lunch
July 11 = Usual Niagara sights, Butterfy Coservatory, Flying Saucer restaraunt. IS THE DRIVE SOUTH TO FORT ERIE WORTH THE TROUBLE?
July 12 Breakfast Niagara On The Lake, Toronto Bata Shoe Museum, drive to Ottawa.
July 13 Ottawa - Changing of the Guard, Sparks Street, Byward Market, Parliament, kitty cat sanctuary.
July 14 = Drive to Kingston for Buskers festival noon to end.
July 15 = drive to Montreal Just for laughs festival, old montreal walk and carriage tour. La Menara belly dancing restaraunt, Shed 16 WHAT IS THE BEST ADDED CHOICE? MONT ROYAL, EXPLORE SUBWAY OR? FOR MAXIMUM SIGHT SOUND ETC?
July 18th = Drive to Quebec City. Lower town tour, Quebec Experience, carriage ride, funicular.
19th upper town walkig (biking) tour, pigeon condos, oldest grocery store, youville, Observation tower, bike battlefields park, tour the Chateau.
July 20th Drive to Tadoussac. Stop in the Canyon Sainte Anne, Chute Montmorency
July 21,22 Zodiak each day, Ranch Du Fjord horse back ride each day. DOES ANYONE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE FLOAT/SEA PLANE SIGHT SEEING AIRPLANE RIDE IN TADDOUSSAC AREA? I GET NO GOOD INFO FROM THE WEB.
July 23 = Drive to Toronto, CN Tower/late.
July 24 drive to Ludington MI. Badger Car Ferry to WI. Drive Home.
I appreachiate any good bad or ugly comments from any who have been there. tahnks [email protected]

Hello, Sobolik! You have done an excellent job extracting interesting tourist attractions. However, if I were 14 or 17 I wld not be happy about all of that driving! Even @ my age(????) I am not happy about it! :)There's lot of driving in there! You can nix Ft. Erie! Your daughters may want to spend more time in Toronto. Your trip to Toronto takes 4 days from Wisconsin but when you are returning home you only have 1 day from Toronto to Wisconsin so I wld condense or expand on one end of that.

Sobolik.

Wow. Very ambitious trip and I must say, you've done an excellent job piecing together an itinerary, focusing on a lot of highlights in Eastern Canada.

Suggestions:

1) If you're in Tadoussac, do a whale-watching tour... I think I went with La Famille Dufour, but I'd have to look it up.

2) Montreal: explore le Plateau Mont-royal neighborhood on foot; go up rue Saint-Denis, turn on ave. Mont-Royal, go to Parc Lafontaine. Put yourself in a leisurely stroll frame-of-mind for best enjoyment (not to be done in a rushed frame of mind). Walking on Parc Mont-Royal is a great idea too for spending a day. If you have time, Jean-Talon Market's an idea.

July 18-19. Quebec City. Don't worry about separating Lower Town/Upper Town; you'll find yourself flitting between the two anyway. Again, think leisurely strolls throughout Vieux Québec, Plains of Abraham, along Saint-Jean, Cartier & side streets. You really want to soak up ambience. Parc Bois de Coulonge is great also for strolls.

July 23. Too ambitious I think. Tadoussac-Toronto is a long drive; I wouldn't want to drive into a big city like Toronto (and then go to the CN Tower?)... that's the only day that seems a bit insane to me. I would maybe strive instead to get to a hotel between Montreal and Toronto and get a good night's sleep.

Overall though sounds great, I'm sure you'll have a blast!

DAN

What I meant to say is that I would not want to drive into a big city like Toronto after a long day of travel from Tadoussac.

Consider spending an extra day, July 13th in Toronto then travel to Kingston to be there on the 14th for the Buskers Fest. You have to drive right through Kingston to get to Ottawa and it is a long drive to double back, especially on such an ambitious trip.

Your trip does not work, unless you want to spend most of the trip in a car, and the rush through the places in which you stop.

Your maps may be misleading you, as may some of your past experience.

At a minimum, revise you trip to stop at Quebec City, and you'd be even better off quiting at Montreal.

Just playing with a revbamp, but here's something to think about. (Note: I've done all this except the Wisc. to Michigan ferry and the Grand Haven part, and I drive fast, and much of this has been done with teenagers.)

July 9 -- to Grand Haven. Can't comment.

July 10 -- It's quite a way from Sarnia to NF, and you might want to stop at African Lion Safari, south of Cambridge, for a few hours. There's a waterpark there, too. Then continue into Niagra Falls in the evening, so that you can see the falls at night with the spotlights on them. There might be fireworks, and downtown NF is fun at night, even for families.

July 11 -- NF in the daytime, make sure you take the Maid of the Mist boat to the bottom of the falls, skip Fort Erie, do go to Niagara on the Lake. You can still drive to Toronto this evening, if you get our of NotL by, say, 5 pm. Check into Toronto downtown hotel, wander around dowtown until medium-late, and go to bed.

July 12 -- all day in Toronto, stay the night of July 12. Lots to do besides Bata Shoe Museum, which is fun, by the way. Girls will love Queen Street West shoopping; probably should take a harbour boat tour, Royal Ontario Museum is wonderful place, if the girls are science-oriented, the Ontario Science Centre is excellent.

July 13 drive north out of Toronto towards Huntsville, Algonquin Park, and on to Ottawa. This takes you through Ontario's cottage country. Consider boat tour out of Gravenhurst on the Segwun. Depending on your interests, stay somewhere in the part of what we call northern Ontario (although it's not all that far north) or go on to Ottawa.

July 14 enjoy Ottawa, stay there the night of July 14.

July 15, leave early morning, drive to Kingston, enjoy the Buskers, tour the prison museum, visit the waterfront, and then turn left and drive to Montreal. this involves a little semi-doubling back, but gets you to the buskers.

July 15 in Montreal. July 16 in Montreal.

July 17 drive to Quebec City, alongthe north shore of the St. Lawrence River, through Trois Rivieres. QC night of July 17

July 18 Quebec City, vist Montmorency Falls, stay in Quebec City night of July 18.

July 19. Return to Montreal via south shore of St. Lawrence River. July 19 in Montreal.

July 20. Drive back towards Toronto, stopping in Gananoque for a Thousand Islands boat tour. Overnight in Kingston, at some hotel you scouted out a few days earlier.

July 21. Follow the lake shore to the Glenora ferry and into Prince Edward County and over to Sandbanks Provincial Park and go swimming and just generally relax. Stay in Belleville or nearby that night.

July 21, drive back into Toronto. Stay in Toronto nights of July 21 and 22.

July 23, drive to Paris and Stratford Ontario, visit the Stratford Festival grounds -- if you can get tickets, see a play. Night of July 23 in Stratford or London Ontario.

July 24, back into the USA and continue home.

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS: jet boat tours of Niagara River and of the lachine Rapids in Montreal. White Water rafting in northern Ontario on the way to Ottawa. There's always some sort of festival going on in Toronto. Distillery District in the summer usually has entertainment,a nd there are often free classical / semi-classical outdoor concerts in the Music Park at Harbourfront in Toronto. Lots of buskers in Old Montreal, and at Harbourfront in Toronto.

TASTES; Toronto has more multicultural restaurants than anywehre you can think of, and Montreal has almost as many. In Montreal, make sure you try bagels, (Montreal bagels are different from ost, and better, many of us think) and Montreal smoked meat sandwiches. In Torontop, the hot dogs and French Fries from the trucks at Toronto City hall and in front of the CN Tower are excellent. I eat there myself quite often.

If the girls have hobbies (or the adults, for that matter) tell us and we may be able to offer extra ideas If they love shoes, they may also want to visit the textile museum, for instance.

BAK

Just to add my 2 cents......

If the girls have never visited a big city Chinatown, I would suggest walking around Chinatown in Toronto (the one near downtown that centers around Spadina Ave.).

Niagara Falls: Personally, with two teenage girls, I would skip Niagara on the Lake, and spend most of your day around the falls themselves. NOTL is a lovely, small historic town and the drive there is very nice, but there's so much to do and see in Niagara Falls and you have only a small amount of time to spend there.

View the falls from both sides. On the American side, walk around Goat Island to all the vantage points. Also, as you cross the bridge to Goat Island, you can view the upper rapids and walk right alongside them if you wish. You can take the Maid of the Mist boat ride that takes you very up close to the falls (you'll get soaked), and I also suggest the Whitewater Walk on the Canadian side. You can view the lower rapids up close down in the gorge. These rapids are some of the strongest in the world. It's an amazing thing to see.
http://www.niagaraparks.com/nfgg/whitewater.phping.

If you still feel you want to see something else in the Niagara area before going to Toronto, I would suggest Old Fort Niagara on the American side - just a few miles north of the falls. The fort is a fantastic piece of American history and somewhat overlooked by visitors to Niagara. Most of them don't know about the fort and head to NOTL. The fort is in amazing condition, boasts the oldest building on the Great Lakes, and has a nice museum as well. It sits within a state park and has nice swimming pools and picnic areas that overlook Lake Ontario with views of Toronto on a clear day. Check out their website:

www.oldfortniagara.org.

Don't miss the tour of the parliament buildings in Ottawa. I'm not sure if they still have it, but at night they used to illuminate the buildings and put on some type of light and sound show that told the history of Ottawa.

Wow, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Thousand Islands, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec in one trip! Phew, I'm exhausted just thinking about it. They are all wonderful places! Have a great trip!

Sobolik--

OK I wasn't sure where the Toronto Bata Shoe Museum was... now that I know it's pretty centrally downtown, I'd like to let you know that I agree with BAK that your plan for that day as well, July 12th, looks like total insanity.

July 12. Niagara Falls-Ottawa I think is possible... long, but possible... maybe about 8 hours driving. But adding going into downtown Toronto into the equation for that day is NUTS. Maybe it's worth emphasizing, Toronto is a huge city with lots of traffic and a dense urban population; what you're suggesting is tantamount to saying you'd like to start in Washington, go to New York City, pop in the Guggenheim and then continue to drive to Boston (the traffic mind you's not as bad as I-95, but still...)!

I think July 12th is possible but *only if* you don't try to go into Toronto.

July 23. As far as Tadoussac to Toronto is concerned, that's I would say at best 12-13 hours of driving, assuming traffic is not bad around Montreal or Toronto. It's I think worth stating that you're not on fast-whizzing autoroutes north of Quebec City. If there's still no bridge, you also have to wait for the ferry to cross the Saguenay River from Tadoussac, which slows you down a bit.

Again, I think that day you could *do it*, if you plan on a motel (maybe near Kingston).

I realize my idea eliminates Toronto from your itinerary. But Toronto is the one plaYou could either consider doing Toronto on a future trip or follow BAK's suggestion only going as far as Quebec City.

More on Niagara on the Lake with two teenage girls.

One of the big deals in NotL is wineries, and that doesn't really work for teens. There's an art gallery showing Tricia Romance paintings, and lots of girls love this. (free) Plus the gallery has other art for all tastes. It's just off the main street, by the park.

There's a fudge store worth visiting.

And, if your schedule and interests include live theatre, the Shaw Festival is headquarted there.

Without going to a play, NotL is worth perhaps an hour for teens unless you have lunch there, but there are other interesting things between NF (the city and the falls) and NotL (the town) and besidees, NotL is more or less on the route to Toronto.

BAK

Hey again

I reread my post and realized I didn't finish a sentence "Toronto is the one pla>>".

Toronto is a great city but both days you include it (July 12th, July 23rd), Toronto's also attached with a 8+ hours driving. It's the one place that messes up your itinerary. Parking in T.O. can be challenging, so can traffic, so can navigating one-way streets, perhaps parades and street fairs.

A thought: One way you could make your July 23rd possible (going into T.O., seeing CN Tower), is if you drive from Tadoussac to near Montreal on the 22nd.

DAN

WOW! I got just a few minutes now - I did not think I would get so many great comments i.e. explore le Plateau Mont-royal neighborhood on foot, African Lion Safari, bagels, Toronto traffic etc. keep it comming and I will get some time to carefully digest it all in the near future and make adjustments, thanks again

I would strongly recommend that you go to Fort Erie to Crystal beach for the day! We spend a week there every summer. It is a public beach on Lake Erie but it is great.

I don't think you'll have time to go to the beach for a day. SO, NO I don't think there is any reason to go to FOrt Erie.

Driving through Toronto and ONLY seeing the Shoe Museum? That seems crazy. Either spend the day in Toronto to see some sites, or bybass it altogether if it does not interest you. It will still be a long day with out Toronto.

Same on the 23rd. YOu'll be on the road all day, and then want to visit CN tower?

Unless you really love driving holidays with quick stops to race around seeing something and hopping back into the car to carry on, I think your plan is way to ambitious.

Think about BAK's ideas.

We took a float sea plane tour about 5 or 6 years ago. You see a lot of forest and small lakes. I thought it was alittle bit expensive, but the boys seemed to enjoy it. It was kind of neat to land on a lake. Didn't make or break the rip though.
Definately do not go on on large boat whale watching tour. Not worth the money. We quite enjoyed just sitting at our campsite with binoculars.

As others have pointed out, driving from Tadoussac to Toronto is just too much to anything but crash in Toronto, but why not just stop at a roadside stop instead?

For your limited time in Toronto, you'll be wasting too much time just getting in and out of the city with all its parking frustrations, etc. to do it twice. Maybe best to leave Toronto behind for a future trip? Or else leave Niagara behind. In any case, just go into Toronto once.

And, as others have pointed out, not much to see in Fort Erie, at least not stuff appropriate for teenagers.

Lastly, it does not make sense to drive from Toronto to Ottawa and then back to Kingston. To save a lot of unnecessary driving, drive to Kingston, then to Ottawa then direct to Montreal. That should save you five hours of driving. Or else spend the day in Toronto and cut out Ottawa.

I think you just have too much in that itinerary. Something has to go.

If you make it to Ottawa - take a tour (free) of the House of Commons (Parliament). After the tour, take the elevator to the top of the Peace Tower, great views of the region, and on the way down visit the chapel-like room to view the books which contain the names of all military killed in the line of duty.

The oldest part of the building re-opens next month - that's the Parliamentary Library which didn't burn down in the 1916 fire that destroyed the rest of the building, hopefully they'll be letting tourists in to see it.

You'll see the cat sanctuary near the statue of Queen Victoria as you walk behind Parliament on the grounds - there's a police memorial and good views of the river and Gatineau in Quebec, too.