Canada 2023?

[Chevyimpala67]

I'm rather fed up of UK holidays and wondered If any of you had any advice/Info on Canada?

Family of 4, youngest is 14.

10 days I'd guess?

Would we be better doing cities or Banff?

Ballpark cost?

I haven't been abroad since 2011 so am very out of practice arranging/booking holidays!

Thanks

I've been Canada regularly to see family,

If you book stuff separately it can work out cheaper,
And when you book return flights, play about with the return date as it can knock a lot off. Last time i went, I went for 3 weeks and the flights cost £280.

I'd go for a minimum of 10-14 days, as jet lag can be crappy.

I always fly to Toronto and stay in a small town with family not far from there.
I have been to see things like Niagara Falls, (there's so much near Niagara Falls too) CN tower, but I spend a lot of time just investigating the small towns, some of them have beautiful little shops etc.

Ontario is lovely though, there's so many cute towns and nice cities there.

The weather is nice in summer, it can get really hot, but it's lovely and fresh (if that makes sense??) there's also lots of bugs, and our insect sprays are crap in comparison to theirs, so I always buy it once I'm over there.
I do love it in October too though, Halloween is huge over there, it's still warm but it's also frosty 🤣

I've always found it relatively cheap though to be honest!
I'd have a look at maybe a place you can stay and cater for yourself, a house or lodge maybe? And hire a car so that you can go investigating the place yourself, I found some of the most beautiful places unexpectedly!

Thank you!
I'll do some investigation 🔎

Once you’ve decided where to fly to, use google flights to play with dates, and to keep prices down further, if you’re flying from anywhere other than London, add in a connection in Europe (only an hour or 2 and really makes a difference).
I can recommend flying in to Vancouver or Calgary and renting an apartment rather than a hotel. Car hire is essential if you want to visit anywhere in the Rockies.

I’ve just seen really cheap flights on fly play.com if that helps

It's a very big place! Do you want to do West or East? The East coast is beautiful, and very quiet - the population is much smaller. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island are amazing. But there's such a lot to see and big distances to cover, I'd definitely be going for at least a fortnight.

I totally agree, very coastal, full of history and wildlife. Having said that, flying into Calgary and driving through the Rockies to Vancouver is also amazing. If you can also hop across to Vancouver Island.
Canada is my favourite place.

Canada is wonderful!
We've flown into Vancouver, did a few days at Tofino on Vancouver Island, then drove to Whistler, then up to the Rockies flying back from Calgary.

To be fair we squeezed too much in - even for 3 weeks - and in hindsight I'd say 2 weeks round the Rockies flying to and from Calgary or 2 week's starting in Vancouver and doing Van Island and Whistler would be perfect.

If it's for this summer, I'm afraid you may already be too late to get decent accommodation in the Rockies as it's incredibly popular. But if you want more details about a Vancouver itinerary and places to stay, happy to help. Also it would be difficult to get around unless you drive, but driving is quite easy as big roads and people drive slowly.

The Rockies are beautiful but rammed in the summer. We stayed in Canmore, just outside of the national park, which is very pretty but a little quieter and then just drove in. Banff and Lake Louise were extremely busy and Lake Moraine was only accessible prior to 6 am and after 9pm due to limited parking. We went up to Jasper too which was quieter and generally easier to access the lakes/sites etc.

For 10 days you'd need to be very realistic about what you could fit in. In 14 days we did Calgary, few days in Canmore, drove to Jasper for a few days, drove back to Calgary and flew to Vancouver for a few days. Vancouver is overrated IMO but the Calgary stampede rodeo is great fun.

I've been to Banff twice, both times for skiing holidays. Absolutely gorgeous, loved it and will absolutely go back. I'd also liked to go outside of ski season.