Canada road trip

[BreakfastClub]

Hi,

We are a family of 5 (2 teenagers and a nine year old) planning a trip to Canada in the summer holidays.

Starting in Toronto to see Niagara Falls then an internal flight to Calgary to explore the rockies.

It’s always been on my bucket list but will it be fun for the kids or a bit boring for a summer holiday?
Anyone been to Canada and had fun with their family?

Yes we've done the last two summers (we loved it that much) in the Canadian Rockies and boys (10 & 15 ) loved it.

It’s a great holiday. But I’d only spend a day tops at Niagara Falls. The area is really horrible (like Blackpool - although the falls are spectacular).
I would then spend the rest of the time in Tofino, Whistler and possible the rockies too.

We have had two amazing summer holidays in Canada, both times exploring (different parts of) southern Ontario. So I can’t help with your actual holiday plans, but I can say that we absolutely love it over there and would return in a heartbeat. We have an 11 year old, she had a whale of a time this summer, and also a few years back.

I moved to British Columbia after doing a road trip in the summer from Calgary into the rockies. It was so fun, the best holiday. We rented an RV and imo this is the best way to do it. You have a lot of freedom that way and you can be in the outdoors as much as possible which is what that area is all about. Also the camping in Canada is so different from the UK…campsites are big and remote, often in forests or by lakes, and nearly always allow / encourage campfires. Driving into the towns in an RV is ok as the roads are so different from here (would avoid the cities though). Buy an inflatable kayak for the kids and they will have fun at the lakes

We did a road trip in September, we would HIGHLY recommend the Pacific Bay Sands hotel in Tofino. The most fun, relaxed and beautiful place we visited on our trip! We saw Whales, Bears and a Cougar.
Moraine Lake Lodge hotel was beautiful...I would give Lake Louise a miss given there's 12k visitors per day and head to Moraine Lake instead.
Banff, Whistler are great places to visit but we thoroughly enjoyed Revelstoke as it's off the beaten track and we managed to go hiking and fly fishing.
Enjoy!!

Sounds like a great holiday with kids of that age. We did a Rockies trip pre-kids and are planning to do it again with our teens. If they like being active then intersperse driving and walking at scenery with boat trip, canoeing, mountain biking etc (Whistler great for the latter), all in amazing scenery. Personally I'd not bother with Toronto/Niagara Falls given that requires an extra flight (and I recall internal flights in Canada are really expensive as well) - better done another time if you get the chance, combined with a different road trip? There's so many lovely waterfalls in the Canadian Rockies - obviously not the same as Niagara (which has height, flow and width) but absolutely worth visiting and certainly less built-up! My only advice is it's better to aim to cover less mileage than you think you will as you want to be able to stop to see and do things not have to rush on to your next overnight stop, and perhaps better to stay in fewer places for longer rather than always moving on. Particularly if you have teens who don't like getting up too early!

It's amazing. We did a v small area of the Rockies mainly around Banff but Banff is so beautiful and so much to do. The kids loved it.
We did -

• cowboy cookout
• canoeing
• another boat trip that was almost white water but not quite
• animal tours
• gondola

Look at Banff adventures.

How much time are you spending in the Toronto area? Can I suggest staying at Niagara on the Lake? It's very quaint and down the river from the falls. It's a very scenic area. You can rent bikes and ride along the river all the way to the falls or all the way to Fort Erie.

I'm sure the kids will enjoy the trip. They might like BC the best, but then I am biased since i live here!

We did the Rockies this summer - flew into Calgary, then stayed at Banff, Lake Louise, Kamloops and Vancouver, then Vancouver Island before flying home. Had plans to stay in Jasper but had to re-route due to fires.

We loved it. However long you think you need, allow more. We went on cable cars, glacier tours, horse riding, boat trips and walks. DS is 13 and had a great time.

Research everywhere before you go. There's tonnes to do for older kids, but you need to plan it and organise your itinerary accordingly. For example, for us, Lake Louise was a mountain hike and an hour in a kayak. Whereas Banff was the base for a boat trip, horse riding, wolf dog sanctuary and cable car, and we could have found more to do.

But it was one of our best holidays of the last few years, would highly recommend it.

Thank you for all the replies. All sounds very positive and now I’m looking forward to it even more!

So a few things to help:

1. its hot in the summer - like 30 degrees plus and doesn’t rain much so the weather is great.
2. Water water everywhere. Lots of outdoor activities and swimming. Lots of beaches on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie (free except for maybe parking). There is an inflatable obstacle course in Port Colborne which is loads of fun.
3. Niagara Falls isn’t like Blackpool. The falls are beautiful and the parks around are really well kept. Easy to walk to then and lots of additional activities - maid of the mist, walk behind the falls, zipline etc. There is a street called Clifton Hill which has mini golf, arcades. Madame Tussaud’s, go karting etc. Fun for the kids.
4. There are additional things to do around the falls - walking through the parks, butterfly conservatory, bike riding etc.
5. Spend a day in Toronto. Go up the CN tower and eat a meal maybe lunch then the travel up is free as you are lying for the meal and the rotating restaurant is cool.
6. if you can take in a baseball game and enjoy the atmosphere.
7. internal flight can be expensive - try flying Porter from Toronto Island (easy to get to from downtown) instead of Pearson.
8. Lots of shopping and street cafes/restaurants. Some of my favourite memories are eating dinner in Little Italy (College Ave) and watching the world go by with friends. Transit (subway, streetcars) are easy to use and air conditioned.
9. If you enjoy walks and nature there are thousands of amazing places and walks about an hour from Toronto once you get out of the city.
10. Then head to Calgary, drive through the rockies, end up in Vancouver for Stanley Park and scenery. Go to Whistler it’s stunning.

If you kids enjoy theme parks then Canadas Wonderland is huge and amazing including water park. There is also a very big water park north-west of the city (Brampton?) which is fun too.

Being Canadian I had an amazing childhood and we were constantly outside so your kids will love it unless they can’t pry themselves away from their phones. 😂. Have a wonderful time!

No but would love to. Lucky, lucky you. Have a fabulous trip.