What is worth seeing in Canada?

[docj]

Do the Ferries out of North Sidney carry RV's ?

If you're speaking of the ferries going to Newfoundland from North Sydney the answer is a definite yes.  That carry 18-wheelers and anything smaller.  We rode them to NFLD this summer.  A great experience.

 

[johnd393]

Depends on your point of view ive been here 46 years havent seen it all - what's worth seeing in the states especially with a 36% exchange rate -  Americans basically come here for free lol

On our August, 2019 road trip into AB, with the exchange rate, rooms were over $200 USD in the cheapest places we could tolerate. We had a couple nights at a airport hotel that were reasonable, the rest, over 200USD. I wouldn't call that free.

 

[Pugapooh]

When I was younger I flew to Minnesota to go water skiing with friends. We did a day trip to Winnipeg and we declared it the boob capitol of the world.
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Have you offered to do tourism ads for them?  ?

 

[Roy M]

On our August, 2019 road trip into AB, with the exchange rate, rooms were over $200 USD in the cheapest places we could tolerate. We had a couple nights at a airport hotel that were reasonable, the rest, over 200USD. I wouldn't call that free.

What were you paying in Canadian currency? At the current exchange rate that would be $266CDN which is pretty excessive.

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

Not wishing to be argumentative, but I just searched Choice Hotels, and Wyndom Hotels websites for Calgary, and both listed the majority of hotels under $100 CDN, with many under $75, That would be $75 or $56 USD.  Now if you were there during the Calgary Stampede, which is a major sell out with thousands of tourists coming, then the prices might make sense, but that is only for the period of the Stampede in early July.

Ed

 

[dcrbtt]

So what is a must see in canada?

 

[muskoka guy]

The Bay of Fundy. Its got fun right in its name.

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

You haven't read the above posts, the answer is CANADA.  Where ever you come visit you will find a warm welcome and plenty to see and do.

Ed

 

[Barnibus]

We're thinking of going to Canada next Spring. We want to start with driving up through Maine, to St Johns, Newfoundland, and then traveling west to Vancouver. then head down to vist friends in San Jose, CA for the winter.
First question, of course - You guys think that is doable in one season?

 

[WILDEBILL308]

We're thinking of going to Canada next Spring. We want to start with driving up through Maine, to St Johns, Newfoundland, and then traveling west to Vancouver. then head down to vist friends in San Jose, CA for the winter.
First question, of course - You guys think that is doable in one season?

Yes but you may need to be a little selective of what you want to see. It should help you become more familiar and add things to your list for the next trip.
Bill

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

Doable - yes, if all you want is to see Canada from the front windshield;  NL will take over a month to see the major highlights, similarly, the Maritimes can easily take even more time.  In round numbers, it is about 5,000 miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts, and that is without any side trips such as the Gaspe Peninsula, Ottawa, Toronto, Manitoulin Island, Royal Terrell Museum, Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise, and hundreds of other places along the way,

Ed

 

[johnd393]

What were you paying in Canadian currency? At the current exchange rate that would be $266CDN which is pretty excessive.

This was late August to early Sept 2019, Including all tax $ fees

Bumpers Inn Banff      $264.80can
Beckers Chalet Jasper ,  $250can  love this place.
Castle Mountain Chalet  $310.91can
Red Carpet, Banff,        303.30can  used to stay here for a lot less
Aspen Village, Waterton,  $222.88can 

Calgary was less, Homewood Suites YYC, $151can, King room with a kitchen & free breakfast

 

[docj]

We're thinking of going to Canada next Spring. We want to start with driving up through Maine, to St Johns, Newfoundland, and then traveling west to Vancouver. then head down to vist friends in San Jose, CA for the winter.
First question, of course - You guys think that is doable in one season?

I guess most anything is physically doable but the question of why you would want to cram all of this into one season is a whole different matter.

FWIW, we spent two weeks in Newfoundland this past July and surely didn't see it all. 

When you speak of "driving up through Maine, to St Johns, Newfoundland" I presume that you know that Newfoundland is a ~6 hour ferry ride from the easternmost part of Nova Scotia?  Did you perhaps mean driving up to St. John (no apostrophe and no "s") in New Brunswick, rather than NFLD?

 

[muskoka guy]

We just did two months heading east from Ontario. This took in the east coast including three weeks in NFLD. If you did two more months going west, you would see most of Canada. Four months is pretty much all summer up here. Six months would be maximum due to weather. If you start in May in Maine, and plan on heading out of BC by October, you should avoid most of the problem weather. There can still be cold and some snow in May, just as there can be in October. This was my fourth trip to the east coast, and my second time to NFLD. Two months was still not enough time to see everything, and I been there three times previously. Canada is a very large country. You think things are big in Texas. We have three provinces that are bigger than Texas, and three about the same size. Quebec is almost twice as big, and Ontario about 1 1/2 times bigger. If you are crossing Canada, and enter Ontario at the Quebec border on the Trans Canada hwy, its about 2000 kms {1200 miles}, until you arrive in the next province of Manitoba following the highway. If you drive 8 hours a day, it will take you almost three days just to drive across Ontario. This doesn't include any stops.

 

[BinaryBob]

So what is a must see in canada?

An impossible question.
You must realize the square miles of Canada is larger than the United States.
Similar to asking, "What's "worth" seeing in the United States?" is impossible to answer.
If you provide a rough idea of your route, others can chime in with some meaningful suggestions.

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

    John, I was just going to let it pass, but all of the expensive hotels indicated are within National Parks that are heavily touristed.  I couldn't find any US National Parks with motels within their boundaries, no doubt there are some.  However, when I looked at Carlsbad Caverns, the 2 closest hotels were $242 and $250 USD, and the closest is 18.5 miles from the Park.  In fairness, you will fing Canadian restaurants and motels a bit higher than US, but the exchange more than makes up for the difference.
    I know all of the Atlantic Provinces offer on line tourist information and brochures, as does Quebec, and likely Ontario and the others.  A google search will provide an overview of tourist areas, and there are enough Forum members who have visited those sites.  I would recommend that you look at those sites, and ask questions about areas that you might be interested in visiting.  As stated, Canada is very large and you likely will only be visiting limited areas.

Ed

 

[Larry N.]

I couldn't find any US National Parks with motels within their boundaries, no doubt there are some.

From the Yellowstone NP web page: From the most famous lodging facility in a national park?the Old Faithful Inn?to the ol? western rustic cabins of Roosevelt Lodge, guests will find an incredible variety of places to bunker down for the night.

From the Grand Canyon NP web page: Grand Canyon National Park Lodges ? the primary provider of in-park lodging at the South Rim ? manages six distinctively different hotel properties. (There's more).

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

    Thanks Larry, I tried to look both of those up, but didn't get any hits.  FWIW, Yellowstone for next August is $331 US, and Kachina Lodge in Grand Canyon is between $258 & $325 per night.  Each more expensive than the rates in Banff or Jasper, besides RV sites are quite reasonable, but need advance booking during the height of the summer, we were there in early June and the nice campground in Lake Louise was less than a quarter full.

Ed

 

[johnd393]

, was

    John, I was just going to let it pass, but all of the expensive hotels indicated are within National Parks that are heavily touristed. 
Ed

You're right of course. We were tourists visiting the expensive places that tourists want to visit. The Hamton Inn in Kalispell MT is not a park hotel but it's near enough to GNP, was $216us.  Homewood Suites at the Calgary airport at $151cdn is cheaper than the Homewood Suites we have reserved in Florida at $148us. We're still rechecking that one cus we paid $122us last year. We can eat out cheap hear in Indiana so we often think meals are expensive when we travel. Specials and discounts at home make it even less. If one orders carefully in Banff, some meals are nearly the same price. Others are double. We made some dinners on a camp stove & had a nice breakfast out every day. We used our kitchen in Jasper. Sometimes we splurge for a light lunch or desert & coffee at some place interesting.
After Kalispel it was C'mon Inn Bozeman MT for $117. We use some Hilton Honors points to reduce the price of a couple hotels, get one free room. The trip was 27 days and 5300 miles on my used minivan, which I bought specifically for road trips.
We've been as far east as Montreal and as far west as Victoria, but the Canadian Rockies keep tugging us back. We completed the interview for a Nexus card this year. We've not done enough of eastern US or Canada. As long as my health holds up we'll be back.

 

[Pugapooh]

I suppose it depends on what you like to look at.

Does Canada have touristy things like the US?  Theme parks, natural wonders?  I've only been to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.