Canada trip - looking for info and suggestions

[blackdog]

I'm gonna finally put it out there: I'm looking at soon leaving my job and take a longer break in between jobs (about 2 months) to finally visit Canada, the place I have been wanting to actually relocate in a very long time. For some reason I have this fixation

Overall period would be something like late July till mid-September.
If possible I would first stop in the US to visit my auntie living in Alabama, see a few places around there, then head north. (Problem is from the first quick check for flights, going in USA is way more expensive than going straight to Canada, particularly toward East )
My girlfriend can take holiday end of August till mid September so we would meet in Canada then.

Ideally I would love to have an adventurous trekking experience, something like 1-2 weeks hike. I would really like to go solo (think of the movie Wild) before meeting up with my girlfriend... but unfortunately I'm a newbie, so not sure that would be a good idea.

Over time I've become hugely attracted by the north-west, but Canada is so big I don't know where to start  I was wondering if there are Mapcoreans that have visited Canada, and I know we have some that live there, if I'm correct @AlexM is in Vancouver and @Dark in Toronto...? And just across the border @Pericolos0 now the Seattle way?

So I'm looking at suggestions for what I shouldn't miss, be it a renown wonder of the world or a quirky little place. And if there is the chance to meet anyone I would take the opportunity!

Edited May 15, 2017 by blackdog

[AlexM]

Cool. Let me know if you are in the Vancouver area and I can maybe take a day off to show you around. I'm hoping to take a bit of a vacation this summer if possible. 

As for nature and hiking. We have 4 places I can think of off the top of my head that are like 30-60 mins from Downtown Vancouver. Some are more casual hiking and others are shorter but far more intense. 

From most intense to most relaxing I would rank them as follow :

1) The Chief 

2) The grouse grind

3) Lynn Valley 

4) Lighthouse Park

The top 2 are pretty famous and the grouse grind has a free bus that leaves every day from downtown Vancouver and back. The only one I haven't done is the grind. I hear it's the shortest but most intense (I put the chief above it because it's pretty intense but also pretty long).

I'll have to think a bit about what else there is. There's certainly some much longer hikes if you go further away from Vancouver but I'm not as familiar as to which ones are good. 

[Dark]

I'm In Montreal now. Montreal is a really nice place to visit, but you should defiantly go to Vancouver/BC if you can. It's my favorite place I've lived in Canada. 

Edited May 16, 2017 by Dark

[blackdog]

Is there a main train line or something like that?

Ive heard of the "rail cruises" and funny enough is the first result I have for any "Canada rail" query I search for… they seem really good but are 2500-3000+ easy :/

Maybe I can create… my own one?

[Squad]

I told you recently I'm about to go there soon, so here's the planned route more or less. We're renting a camper van so it'll be basically a roadtrip with some occasional hiking in National Parks (Jasper & Banff) and other interesting places (Whistler & Wells Gray for example). If you're into hiking/nature then West-Canada is where you'll want to go.

We're visiting Vancouver Island as well, but Google maps didn't let me add it to the route). Also, the big loop between Jasper and Banff isn't planned, it's just how Google calculated the route for some reason. As far as I know, it should be possible to get from one park to another by following the road that is between them (through the green parts). I could be wrong though

[blackdog]

That sounds awesome @Squad!

We intended to have a camper holiday last summer in Slovenia but we ended up not doing it, in Canada would be even more appropriate... you mind passing on the website you rented from? You mind sharing costs (you calculated roughly how much fuel is gonna be?)

[Squad]

14 minutes ago, blackdog said:

That sounds awesome @Squad!

We intended to have a camper holiday last summer in Slovenia but we ended up not doing it, in Canada would be even more appropriate... you mind passing on the website you rented from? You mind sharing costs (you calculated roughly how much fuel is gonna be?)

We're renting from https://www.cruisecanada.com/ It was all arranged via a local travel agency though (no prior experience with it, but this trip justifies it imo  ). Rental cost is roughly 1850 € (damn you for making me look that up again, I had already forgotten about it). Didn't calculate fuel in advance, but I think it'll end up roughly between 200 € and 350 € or so. I should add that we're a party of four, so all costs are split into four naturally  

[blackdog]

Well, way less than the "rail cruise" that comes up as £2700-3500 pp for fifteen days ?

[blackdog]

Flights booked! I'm getting into Toronto the 10th august, and flying back the 15th September from Vancouver. 

Not sure how I'll travel eat to west yet (flight, train, coach), but thought that with the time I have I must see at least Niagara falls in the east.

My gf arrives in Vancouver the 29th august, then we should get a camper like you did @Squad… her dad suggested to rent it there cos should come for less (taxes etc). We'll pretty much do your same drive  were the parks free? I've seen a visit Canada video that because of the 150th anniversary all national parks are free…

@Dark @AlexM any suggestion for buying a Canadian SIM card to stay in contact with people over here, data etc? I looked into roaming options for my current provider and since it works like a top up (giffgaff) people in their forums were suggesting to get a card there… but saying that coverage is quite poor.

I feel a bit down that I'm wasting a week of holiday to come back same day with her, all of a sudden my 7 weeks holiday looks so short

Edited July 16, 2017 by blackdog

[Squad]

3 hours ago, blackdog said:

My gf arrives in Vancouver the 29th august, then we should get a camper like you did @Squad… her dad suggested to rent it there cos should come for less (taxes etc). We'll pretty much do your same drive  were the parks free? I've seen a visit Canada video that because of the 150th anniversary all national parks are free…

All National Parks are free in 2017. That was a reason for us to visit Canada this year instead of sometime in the future

Be sure to reserve a Park Pass though, which you can do here. We were never asked to actually show it though, but better safe than sorry.

[blackdog]

Awesome,  thank you @Squad. Were you able to camp in the parks with the camper? Also you had to take special care in terms of risk of bear breaking in

Edited July 16, 2017 by blackdog

[Squad]

54 minutes ago, blackdog said:

Awesome,  thank you @Squad. Were you able to camp in the parks with the camper? Also you had to take special care in terms of risk of bear breaking in

Yeah, most (or all) parks have at least one camping/RV park.There are a few simple precautions you have to take into account regarding bears. Don't leave any food outside unattended and stuff like that. But you'll be given that info on arrival, no worries  And buy a bear spray!

Also, you might want to make reservations in the RV park beforehand, as you'll be going there in high season. We did it too, but in hindsight it wasn't really needed as there was still plenty of free spots. But that was in May/June.

Edited July 16, 2017 by Squad

[AlexM]

The sim card I'm not sure. There are definitely cell phone companies here you could get a short plan from but I'm not 100% sure about the covereage. 

I think my phone works in all of Canada. I guess I will find out if that's true soon because I'm going to Montreal for a couple days in August. 

I'll ask around to see if anyone else at the office knows.