AreYouSure

Hi

We are considering visiting Canada for 5 days during January 2007, but not sure what part to choose.

We prefer a hotel to be located within the “Heart of the Action area” we also like shopping, dining, and being located within walking distance of tourists attractions etc

Any advice would be greatly welcome

Thanks

rubigayle

Quebec City is gorgeous and very European.A french city, you will feel like you are in Europe. Montreal is also a great city and you can take the subway anywhere. The subway is clean and under the city there is a whole shopping network

BAK

C'mon.

This is a joke, right, and you are jsut wasting our time.

No-one can ask such a silly question about a huge country, and provide such little informtion, and be serious.

BAK

laverendrye

I'm going to assume that this is not a joke, but it's hard to advise when you give little information on your interests. As BAK says, it's a huge country.

You will be coming in January, which is not great weatherwise, unless you like winter sports. However, in the cities, there is much to see and do and it seems that this is what you are looking for.

For 5 days, I'd suggest Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver, all of which have good shopping, great dining, and lots of tourist attractions.

If you can narrow it down, there will be many on this board who can help you.

LuvToTravel77

If you let us know which part of the states (assuming you are American) you are coming from, perhaps that would make our task a little easier.

AreYouSure

No in answer to your question, my original question was not a joke.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the purpose of this forum is for experienced travellers or locals to assist those inexperienced travellers, with their plans.

My partner and I have never been to Canada previously, having looked into the Country, and as someone has already pointed out, it is a huge Country therefore; it is difficult for a novice like us knowing where to choose.

We do not want a Countryside retreat, we prefer a city lifestyle, and want somewhere amongst the action.

With so many different areas to choose from for example, do we choose Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Niagara Falls, it’s difficult knowing where to start.

Would we be able to do Niagara Falls for a couple of days, the move on to a city, we will not have a car, so would be relying on public transport between all locations.

This will be our 1st DIY holiday, instead of using a broker as we have previously done.

LuvToTravel77

Like I previously wrote, perhaps by knowing where you are coming from it might be helpful. For example, Calgary and Vancouver are closer to the west coast so if you were coming from somewhere like California, Washington state etc... you may want to focus there. If on the other hand you are coming from the Northeast, the Southeast etc... you may want to see Toronto, Montreal etc... If you want a "city" lifestyle, I would recommend spending time in the East i.e. Toronto and Montreal and possibly Ottawa.

AreYouSure

LuvToTravel77 thanks for the reply and advice.

We are travelling from the UK, if this is any help to you.

LuvToTravel77

Oh okay, well if you are travelling from the UK the closest major cities are Montreal and Toronto. Both are worth visiting. However, since from my experience the price difference between flying from the UK to say Toronto vs. say Vancouver tends to be negligible, although I cannot say for sure. This of course is your choice. In any event, I would recommend sticking with Montreal and Toronto because since this is such a huge country, it may be a little bit exhausting going from one end of the country to the other. Travel between Montreal and Toronto is also very easy and there are many options: you can rent a car (a 6 hour drive), you can take a train (www.viarail.ca) which offers frequent service, you can take a bus (www.greyhound.ca) which is cheaper but tends to be longer than driving, or you can fly where you have many options but it tends to be quite expensive. Check out www.aircanada.ca, and www.westjet.com. Unfortunately this is all I can post now as I am pressed for time, but hopefully other people will be able to give you advice. Good luck.

LuvToTravel77

Oops, to follow up, I meant to say that since the price of flying to Toronto or Montreal vis a vis Vancouver seems to be negligible you may not want to restrict yourself to the East.

AreYouSure

LuvToTravel77 thanks for taking the time to reply, your advice and comments are very much appreciated.

You have given us a start

kodi

Your original question really is very vague. I'm not sure you are aware of how big Canada is. I think you might want to do some research on some of Canada's big cities and then we can help with your plans.
Every city has a 'heart of the action' area and shopping, so you do have many choices.

As Luvtotravel says, Montreal and Toronto are closer for you. If you only have 5 days, it's a long way to come, so I'm not sure the extra time would be worth it to go to the western part of Canada.
What would you advise people to do with only 5 days to see the UK? And Canada is SO much bigger.
I'd suggest picking one or maybe two cities and even then 5 days isn't very long.
If Niagara Falls interests you, why not fly to Toronto, spend 3 days there and take the bus to Niagara Falls for 2 days. It's only a couple of hours from Toronto.

Also, I hope you are aware that it will be much colder than you are used to. Not really the best time to come.

I would suggest reading more about Toronto and Montreal, and going from there.

rkkwan

Are You Sure you have checked average temperature of various cities in Canada for January?

AreYouSure

Hi

Firstly, thanks to everyone for your advice and comments.

Each January we have visited a city within the US, for example, New York one year, Chicago another year, Boston another year, for January next year; we had an idea about visiting somewhere in Canada, so I apologise for being so vague in my original post.

We had thought of doing a city somewhere like Vancouver, Montreal or Toronto for 4 days, then move onto Niagara Falls for 2 days, would this be possible?

If so, flights from the UK to Canada will be no problem, although not sure how about getting from the city to Niagara Falls without a car?

On our return flight, would we be able to get a direct flight from Niagara Falls to the UK, or would we have to change en-route.

We are aware of how cold it will be during January, however, would you recommend Niagara Falls during January? Unfortunately January / February is the only time we would be able to visit.

kodi

Ok , now we're getting somewhere!!
If you've been to New York and Chicago, then you certainly are aware of the weather. So, that's not a problem for you.

Visiting Vancouver and then Niagara Falls for 2 days in not at all realistic. That would be like flying from London for 2 days in Niagara.

If Niagara Falls is important, then Toronto is the most logical destination.
There would be no problem getting from Toronto to Niagara Falls by public Transit. It isn't that far.
If you were in Montreal, it would take you practically a full day to get to Niagara Falls, so with your limited time, that's not a good idea.
From Toronto it's only a couple of hours.
NO, you would not be able to fly out of Niagara Falls. It's a tiny, tiny airport . You'd have to come back to Toronto to fly home. There are airport shuttle vans that could bring you from Niagara to the airport.

Seeing Niagara Falls in the winter is different , but still very beautiful. OF course the Maid of the Mist and different touristy things will not be running, but still , the falls are beautiful.

In Toronto, downtown has an underground system. I don't mean underground, like trains, but underground walkways full of shops.....miles of them...so you don't have to be outside all the time. YOu can shop and be protected from the weather.

AreYouSure

Hi kodi

Thanks for the reply, and as you say, now we are getting somewhere.

Your detailed reply has given me a lot of information, and assisted greatly with our itinerary.

Am I correct, Toronto would be the best city if we wanted to visit Niagara Falls, if we skipped Niagara Falls, would you still recommend Toronto?

Is this possible?

Total of 6 nights booked at a hotel in Toronto, within those 6 nights, we do a trip to Niagara Falls staying overnight, returning next day to Toronto, this would save us checking in / out of our Toronto hotel, and will assist with luggage, i.e. we would only need to take an overnight bag.

AreYouSure

P.S The link re shops does not work.

LuvToTravel77

Hi again. I agree wholeheartedly with Kodi. If you have your heart set on Niagara Falls, then skip Montreal. It would be too much travelling to do in such a short time and could be a hassle. From what I hear, there's a lot to do in Toronto (sorry, can't attest to that myself since I've never been to downtown TO, only the suburbs) and it is only a 2 hour drive/train ride to Niagara Falls. Via Rail (www.viarail.ca) I think has 2 departures daily and Greyhound Canada (www.greyhound.ca) has quite a few as well. Also, there are more flights to Toronto from the UK than Montreal so the chances of getting a better fare and/or better time preferences are higher. Aside from British Airways and Air Canada which has numerous flights, you may want to check out Zoom airlines (www.flyzoom.com)

LuvToTravel77

Cont'd. Zoom airlines has a pretty good reputation and at times they offer extremely low fares to/from the UK from Canada, especially during the winter. Good luck!

AreYouSure

Thanks for the advice.

After all the helpful advice, it’s looking like we will settle on Toronto.

I have done further research, and we are able to do Niagara Falls within a daytrip.

Everyone’s help and advice is very much appreciated.