TOTAL GUIDE CANADA FACTFILE
get me there
GREENLAND
NUNAVUT
ALASKA NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
YUKON
Hudson Bay
CANADA
Whitehorse BRITISH COLUMBIA
SASKATCHEWAN
MANITOBA
Prince Albert NP
ITINERARIES ONE WEEK First-timers should either head straight to the Rockies or Toronto. For the Rockies, fly to Banff (Calgary airport), then drive two hours up the Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise. Stay here for the best part of a week, hiking, biking and horse-riding, then drive to Yoho National Park, less than an hour away, and stay for a night or
ONTARIO
St Lawrence River Baie-St-Paul Deer Lake Newfoundland Québec Lake Superior City St John’s NEW BRUNSWICK Mt Tremblant NP PRINCE Ottawa Montréal EDWARD Witless Lake Huron Bay ISLAND Halifax Toronto Lake Ontario Cape Breton Island Lake NOVA
ey
luxury train and a seaplane down to Victoria from £1,627pp, including flights from Glasgow, Gatwick or Manchester. If you want a smallgroup adventure, try Trek America (0844 576 1400, www.trekamerica.co.uk), exclusively for 18- to 38-year-olds. The three-week ‘Canadian Parks West’ tour, in western Canada, features hiking, riding, canoeing and sightseeing in five national parks, as well as the Okanagan Valley, and ticks off Vancouver, Calgary, Banff, Whistler and Victoria from £2,039pp, including flights from Heathrow. Responsible Travel (01273 600030, www. responsibletravel.com) has 65 Canadian holidays that can keep your eco-conscience (semi-)clear (you’ll still need to fly to get there). Its eight-day guided ‘Newfoundland Whale Watching and Wildlife’ tour costs £1,928pp, half board, excluding flights. Air Canada (as before) flies Heathrow to Newfoundland Deer Lake, via Toronto, from £842.
U N I T E D S TAT E S
NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
All
200km
s
PACIFIC OCEAN
QUEBEC
erg
Jasper Banff Calgary Whistler Vancouver Victoria
ain
Queen Charlotte Islands Princess Royal Island Knight Inlet Vancouver Island Tofino
ALBERTA
Mt Robson Edmonton
Churchill Wapusk NP
b Ice
South Chilcotin Mountains Prince Rupert Park
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78 Sunday Times Travel October 2012
For a wide choice of Canada trips, check out Frontier Canada (020 8776 8709, www. frontier-canada.co.uk), which covers the whole country, including the northern frontiers of the Yukon and Northwest Territories. The sevennight ‘Arctic Explorer’ package is a self-guided fly-drive through the Yukon from Whitehorse to Inuvik, from £1,790pp, including Heathrow flights and car. Another Canada all-rounder is My Canada Trips (0845 601 8991, www.my canadatrips.co.uk), which offers everything from cruises to bear-whispering, and is especially strong on western Canada. The sixnight ‘Vancouver, Whistler and Victoria with a Twist!’ tour includes the Whistler Mountaineer
Inuvik
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BY BUS Canada’s long-distance coaches come complete with movies, air-con and reclining seats. Greyhound Canada (00 1 800 661 8747, www.greyhound.ca) operates throughout the country. The big journey is Toronto to Vancouver. It costs from £84, one-way (most people fly out of Vancouver) – a bargain, although it takes three days. The same route on the train would cost more than £300, and on a plane from about £156. To get around New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island by coach, try Acadian Lines (00 1 800 567 5151, www.acadianbus.com).
Baffin Island
Victoria Island
BY CAR Distances are in kilometres, as are speed limits, a bit lower than in the UK at 110kph (68mph) max, even on highways. Seatbelts are compulsory for drivers and passengers, and children must be in safety seats. Distances are long, but roads are well maintained. For car hire, National Canada (00 1 888 501 9010, www.nationalcar.ca) has a good network. A week’s hire from Toronto airport costs from £210. Rentawreck (00 1 800 327 0116, www. rentawreck.ca) operates countrywide and offers considerably cheaper prices, from £143 per week, although its vehicles are used cars (not wrecks, as indicated by the name). For motorhome holidays, a recreational vehicle (RV) for two to four passengers costs from around £80 per day for everything, except campground fees (budget for £20 per night) and fuel, with a minimum seven-day rental. You can pick one up at this price from Complete North America (0115 961 0590, www.completenorthamerica.com) in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montréal, Halifax, Edmonton and Whitehorse.
GO PACKAGED
Calm reflection: sunrise over Lake Moraine, Banff National Park
ARCTIC OCEAN
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BY PLANE Canada is massive, so flying is the most practical option for many trips. The main sights and cities are strung out in a thin 4,500km line, from Nova Scotia in the east, to British Columbia in the west, with isolated settlements to the north. As many as 38 airlines shuttle people around, four of them under the umbrella name of Air Canada Express and bookable via Air Canada (as before), or Jazz (00 1 902 873 5000, www.flyjazz.ca). Return flights from Toronto to Vancouver start at £306; and from Montréal to Calgary from £489. WestJet (0800 5381 5696, www.westjet.com) is a low-cost carrier with 31 destinations. It has Toronto to Vancouver returns from £315.
BY FERRY Ferries can be a great way to soak up the scenery along the coasts, around the Great Lakes and up the St Lawrence Seaway. Many are basic, but some operate as mini-cruise ships, with entertainment and luxurious cabins. In summer, book ahead, especially if taking a car. On the west coast, the BC Ferry Corporation (00 1 250 386 3431, www. bcferries.com) serves 50 destinations, mainly between Vancouver, Vancouver Island and north to the Queen Charlotte Islands. Fares between Vancouver and Victoria (95 minutes) start at £19pp return for foot passengers; add another £63 to take the car. On the east coast, Bay Ferries (00 1 877 762 7245, www.nfl-bay. com) has routes between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (three hours; from £33pp return on foot, plus £109 with a car) and between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island (75 minutes; from £11pp return on foot, or £42 with a car); Marine Atlantic (00 1 800 341 7981, www.marine-atlantic.ca) connects Newfoundland and Nova Scotia (six to eight
hours; from £52pp return on foot, plus £134 with a car); and Labrador Marine (00 1 709 535 0810, www.labradormarine.com) connects Labrador and Newfoundland (105 minutes; from £10pp return on foot, plus £18 with a car).
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GET AROUND
BY TRAIN Long-distance trains are mainly for freight and/ or tourists with time to spare, but are a lovely way to see the country and come with reclining seats and leg rests, even in Economy, as well as sleeping cabins on many longer routes. Most services are operated by Via Rail (00 1 888 842 7245, www.viarail.ca), and you’ll make major savings if you book in advance. The service is especially good within the ‘Central Corridor’, which includes Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Québec City. If you’re sticking to a major city and its environs, local trains are good, too, so you can get away without a car. Toronto to Niagara Falls, for example, takes around two hours each way and costs from £58 return.
Ro
Most flights from the UK land in Toronto or Vancouver, but you can also fly direct to Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton, Montréal, St John’s and Ottawa. The airline with the most routes – and the lowest fares, most starting at less than £500 return – is Air Transat (020 7616 9187, www.airtransat.co.uk). It operates the usual Gatwick to Toronto and Vancouver legs, and also offers a range of options from regional airports, such as Exeter to Toronto, from £438. Air Canada (0871 220 1111, www.aircanada. com) flies direct from Heathrow to Toronto, Calgary, Halifax, Ottawa, Montréal, Vancouver and St John’s. Prices are higher than some rivals, but facilities are excellent. Fares start from £543 to Toronto, and £765 to Calgary. Virgin Atlantic (0844 209 7777, www. virgin-atlantic.com) flies from Heathrow to Vancouver from £821. BA (0844 493 0787, www.ba.com) flies from Heathrow to Toronto from £467, to Vancouver from £625, to Calgary from £539 and to Montréal from £507.
PHOTOGRAPH: GETTY MAP: ACUTEGRAPHICS.CO.UK ALL FARES QUOTED ARE RETURNS UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED
GO INDEPENDENT
Michigan
Lake Erie
two to see Takakkaw or Wapta waterfalls. Or do the classic Toronto-Niagara circuit: city for three days, then the rest of the week in Niagara Falls and Niagara wine region or, if vineyards aren’t your thing, exploring Lake Ontario. TWO WEEKS Do the ‘Central Corridor’, the 725km sweep of eastern cities and scenery starting in Toronto. Spend three nights here, and two nights each in Ottawa, Montréal and Québec City as you travel east. En route, stop for a few hours at Niagara Falls, two nights in the Thousand Islands area of St Lawrence Seaway, and two nights at the Jacques-Cartier National Park near Québec City. Alternatively, go west. Fly into Vancouver and spend three nights before taking a car on the ferry to Vancouver Island. Stay for five to seven nights, spotting the wildlife, especially bears and whales, and savouring rugged scenery, with at least a night in the capital, Victoria. Then ferry back over to the mainland for a week in the Rockies, basing yourself at Whistler, before driving back to Vancouver. THREE WEEKS Do the cities of the ‘Central Corridor’, as above, adding on three days’ camping and canoeing in the Algonquin Provincial Park, 300km north of Toronto, and four days at Mont Tremblant,
Niagara Falls
SCOTIA
ATLANTIC OCEAN
near Montréal for world-class skiing in winter or leaf-peeping in autumn. To appreciate the vast scale of Canada, fly into Toronto and spend three weeks driving cross-country to Vancouver, via the Great Lakes, some First Nation reservations, Mennonite villages, national parks, prairies and the Rockies.
TIPPING American waiters have a favourite joke: ‘What’s the difference between a canoe and a Canadian? A canoe tips.’ Ho ho. Seriously, though, Canadians do tip – typically 15 per cent for service staff – waiters, taxis, hairdressers, etc – often rounding it up to 20 per cent for exceptional service. You normally tip bar staff $1 to $2 (65p to £1.30) when you buy a round of drinks in hotels and nightclubs (but not necessarily in pubs). You should give cloakroom attendants $1 per item, airport valets and hotel porters $1 per bag. It is also common to leave housekeeping as much as 15 per cent of the bill, but at least $2 per night, and if a concierge books something for you, give them a $5 or $10 bill (£3.25 to £6.50).
FURTHER INFORMATION Contact the Canadian Tourism Commission (0870 380 0070, www.canada.travel), and for info about the national parks, see www.pc.gc.ca. n
October 2012 Sunday Times Travel 79