tikigoddess

I'm flying out from Seattle to New York City in a week to meet up with my brother who is moving back here to the West Coast. We will be taking his car and going up to Canada and traveling across the country.

He wants to have an adventure and wing it, and I'm more of a perfectionist and want to have some sort of an idea of where we should stay, what to do, etc.

I've done research but I thought I'd ask for input here. We have about two weeks to do this road trip, we have to be back by the 23rd of June in Seattle.

We aren't making reservations because we don't know exactly where we will be, and when. We have some friends we will see in a few cities, but the rest is open at this point.

I know gas is pricey, and it's not the best time to go on a road trip, and that going through the US is faster, but he's done that before and we haven't explored Canada. We're both in our early 20's, on a budget, liberal, and vegetarian (in case any of that makes a difference).

Here's the general outline:

Leave Brooklyn and go to Philadelphia & Boston at the beginning - rather than cutting through New York to Toronto, we're going to head up through the NorthEast. We'll pass through Conn, RI, Mass, NH, Maine, and maybe Vermont, all depending on the route we take into Canada. New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island might be an option now too.

Then to Quebec City, Montreal, then Ottawa, Toronto, Niagara Falls, and the Great Lakes passing through Ontario to Winnipeg & Brandon, and Regina in Saskatchewan, then heading south across the border into Montana to Billings (to visit our brother).

At the end of our journey: Rather then staying on I90 heading East through Montana, Northern Idaho, and across WA to Seattle, we're thinking taking a route we haven't done before and go back up to Canada to Calgary, Alberta and explore British Columbia heading towards Vancouver, where we will be just an hour away from home. If we run out of money or time we will just head straight to Seattle/Vancouver from Montana.

Do you have any tips on where we should go, or not go? A cheap place to stay? Some route we should take? A link you would suggest I look at? I'm excited to go to Niagara Falls, I read that they have fireworks on Friday and Sunday nights in the summer. If we go up through Alberta to cross into BC we'd visit where Brokeback Mtn was flimed. I'd love to hear more tidbits like that- so anything will be appreciated! I've done searching on here and any road trip info I find is outdated, but I'm still looking around on here.

Thanks in advance!

BAK

It sounds like a great trip.

Are you planning on camping at all?

More to come, ... later.

BAK

Intrepid1

I just came back from a rail trip Toronto-Vancouver which i have done in the past.

If at all possible I would definitely suggest the road route between say, Jasper and Vancouver as it is absolutely spectacular in many places. But, then again, I actually like the scenery in the prairie provinces, too, so perhaps I am not a great judge of what is 'wonderful."

I notices that gas prices in BC were running around $1.20 CDN per litre in some places so plan accordingly.

I would do as much of the route IN Canada as I possibly could even though it might be more expensive gas-wise...a wonderful opportunity IMO.

ltt

i think you have way too much on your itinerary for two weeks. to start, i'd cut out new brunswick and pei.
the plan to cut up from the states to banff, alberta (by calgary) and travel the rest of the trip through the alberta rockies and british columbia is a good one.

roblowther2002

Coming back up and finishing off with Alberta and BC is definately worth it, as i think it is the best part of Canada (the scenic way), it also shows you the vast differences in many places across Canada. In Regina, make sure to stop at the RCMP headquarters, hopefully there is marching and a ceremony on, its worth it.

Daniel_Williams

Intrepid1-- Glad to hear you had an opportunity to cross Canada by rail again, which you mentioned you did in 1989 and thought you'd never get a chance to do again. Did you find the trip as worthwhile as before?

Tikigoddess-- I notice you write you have about 2 weeks to do this road trip. I'm afraid you're being too ambitious here. Driving straight with no time for exploration, I'd imagine it takes around 6 days to cross the country with only hotel stops. That means about 8 days stopping somewhere...

New Brunswick & PEI add at least another 3 days of just pure driving. That leaves 5 days to stop and smell the roses so to speak. With stops in Philly (4 hours extra), Boston, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Niagara Falls, it'll be so whirlwind you'll have about enough time in each to snap a few picture and move on, not to mention there could be some potentially stressful city driving/parking & slowdowns in places (Boston, Philly, Mtl, Toronto). I'm afraid by trying to "do it all" you'll end up appreciating little.

So I recommend simplifying; skip Maritime Canada for now and go when you can really appreciate the region. Head up to Montreal via Vermont/Adirondacks or Toronto via Finger Lakes and then start heading west. You could consider Quebec City, although you will add 6 hrs. to your overall drive (via Montreal) by doing so. Pick maybe 3 places to slow down and get a real sense of for a 2-3 day break, maybe Montreal, Winnipeg and Banff or Toronto/Niagara, the north shore of Lake Superior and Jasper.

My 2 cents. Enjoy whatever you decide.

DAN

Intrepid1

Dan:

I'll post a brief trip report about the rail trip later on today as a separate thread.

tikigoddess

Thanks to everyone for your input so far! I totally agree that this is a lot to do in two weeks. I'm pretty overwhelmed, and trust me, if I were the one driving I would be doing things a little differently, including having much more time to do this trip!

The thing is that we're over there, I doubt we'll be back and I know I won't be doing this drive again so we want to go through as much as possible. My brother thinks this is possible, he's not planning on really staying too long anywhere but plans on more time in Montreal and Toronto. Me, on the other hand, I'm a photographer and I know I'm going to go nuts if I just wave as I pass through all these cities!

I think it's wise to cut out Prince Edward Island and NB, that was my thought as well. I'm glad I got feedback about going back into Canada and through Banff, I really hope we have time to do that. I will push for it though.

We are going to Philly to visit one of his friends, I know this is out ouf the way.....and then up to Boston to visit another friend. Because of that we'll be cutting through New England into Canada. We know Quebec City is further away, but like I said, I doubt we'll be back there and we want to see it.

We won't have camping gear with us (his apartment is packed into the little car we'll be in) but I do have KOA campsite info, they have little cabins that's not too pricey, much less than a hotel. I also have hostel info and have been looking on craigslist.org for cheap places to stay.

Judy_in_Calgary

Tikigoddess, I love the Canadian Rockies, but I don't think you should stress yourself to see them on this trip. As you say, you're in your 20's. It's probably feasible for you to see bits of British Columbia and Alberta from your Seattle base in subsequent years. Since you feel the chances of your getting back to the eastern half of the continent in the near future are slim, that's the part I would concentrate on if I were you.

tikigoddess

Judy- that's a good suggestion. We both really want to explore Banff, Lake Louise, and maybe if we go another time we can see more and do more- like Jasper, etc. I think it might be too much, but we'll see how we're doing on time. You're right though, we are much more likely to see Western Canada again, and I personally would rather go when I had more time to enjoy the beauty.

BAK

For what it is worth, and as a warning.

Night 1, Philly
Night 2, boston
Night 3, Quebec City
Night 4, Montreal
Night 5, Ottawa
Night 6, Toronto
Night 7, Niagara Falls during the day, and drive to Collingwood or Barrie
Night 8, Thunder Bay (long drive)
Night 9, Winnipeg
Night 10, Regina
Night 11, Billings
Night 12, Calgary
Night 13, Banff
Night 14, Kelowna
Night 15, Vancouver
Night 16 -- end of the trip

The schedule above would be awful, and it does not even include Prince Edwrd Island and Nova Scotia.

Good news -- sun sets really late in western Canada in June.

Improvements ont he above -- skip Philly and Boston, but that may not work.

Skip Quebec City -- there's lots of old buildings in Montreal.

So New York to Montreal to Ottawa to Niagara Falls....

BAK

NorthwestMale

Tikigoddess,

I've been to almost all of the general areas, save for Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and I vote that you give-in and "just wing it" on such a trip.

Maybe some weather reports from someplace will dictate your path, and maybe something will arise on the spur of the moment to give you new ideas.

You don't have any commitments so far and it is best that way.

I rather hate the idea of going to PEI and NB and NOT seeing Nova Scotia, but that is way to h*** and gone given your trek ahead.

I sorta feel you should save that until another time, and give yourself extra time in some other lucky spot to the west.

BE CERTAIN TO BRING YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATES (or passports) to get you into and out of Canada.

Going "to Philly and Boston" is weird, from Brooklyn, as they are in opposite directions. But Philly is only 90 miles away or so...

Anyway, a more direct path from Boston to Quebec City and then westward from there sounds best.

You'll be thankful for the time saved later, even if you opt to use it to simply catch your breath in Medicine Hat or Saskatoon.

Oh, and if going to Calgary, you may as well go 175 miles north to Edmonton just to see the 2nd-largest shopping mall on earth (and largest in North America).

The timing will be great considering the late sunsets.

But I vote for "winging it" !

Judy_in_Calgary

>>>>>>Oh, and if going to Calgary, you may as well go 175 miles north to Edmonton just to see the 2nd-largest shopping mall on earth (and largest in North America).<<<<<<

Gag me with a spoon!

But I warmly endorse the rest of your advice, NorthwestMale.

NorthwestMale

Moon? Is that you ??

tikigoddess

Thanks for the input- it looks like we might have more days added on to the end of our trip, and we are not going to Philly and probably not Boston either (we were only going to visit some friends) so that will free up some time as well.

PEI and NB is probably out, so that will give us more time. Quebec City is one of the main places we want to see. Why would we skip it?!

Hope the terrorists settle down, man is Toronto busy or what?!