Hi folks

We've booked our flights to go to Ontario for our reccy trip, we arrive on the 17th October and staying for 9 days, we have a few questions the I hope the members can answer for me.

We are hiring a car from Toronto airport and driving up to Ottawa taking in a few areas on the way, what kind of weather are we likely to get at that time of year and are we liable to have problems with snow ?

We are hoping we can get accomodation while there as we don't know as yet how long we will be spending in each area, can you forsee this being a problem ? Don't fancy spending the night in the car ! We will book a hotel for the first night before leaving.

Any reccomendations for cheap no frills hotel / B & B accomodation ?

We are hoping to have a look at a few homes for sale, areas of particular interest are Belleville, Kingston and surrounding areas, if we popped into one of the realtor's offices and explained our situation, are they usually quite happy to take you round and show you a few propertys ?

I am a mechanic to trade, I will be attending a few interviews and cold calling a number of garages, what would the reccommended dress code be, I'm assuming smart but casual ?

How would we go about making an appointment to be shown round a school in a given area ?

Any other general tips you could give would be welcome

Thanks in advance

Scott

Weather could be a mixed bag, might be nice (Sunny and in the high teens), could be cool and rainy. Whatever it is, it will probably be different the next day anyway. Think UK November. AlmostCertainlyProbably wont snow on you that early, but never say never.

You will probably be OK for accommodation on spec as long as you aren't too fussy or too far from civilisation.

Best to check out the MLS listings and give an agent a little notice if you want to view properties, most want to show them without the owners around, which takes a little warning...then again, a well motivated seller will be able to pop next door at short notice I would think.

Smart Casual would be the way to go. Open neck shirt, no tie, Not jeans.

Best bet for a school visit would be to either contact a likely school directly, or through the local school boards. In Belleville that would either be the Lakeshore and Algonquin Catholic School Board or the Hastings and Prince Edward District Board. Kingston would the Limestone District Board, or the ALCSB again.

Good luck with the trip.

It's likely to be frosty in the mornings with colourful leaves. Snow is improbable. Since you'll likely want just to crash the first night, consider getting a hotel shuttle or taxi/limo from the Toronto airport downtown and getting to the car rental agency by transit or taxi in the morning. Generally it's a good deal cheaper not to rent from the airport. So long as you are reasonably flexible you should have no problem finding motels or similar.

Many of the leaves will be gone by then I expect, They arrive a week after Thanksgiving, which is when they usually peak...

Thanks for the tips folks, I'll keep all that in mind.

Got quotes for car rental from the airport through Travel Supermarket, didn't seem that expensive £180 for 9 days, large saloon, collecting from the airport and dropping off there, will i get it much cheaper by going downtown ?

Planning to book a place for first night around half hour from the airport heading east, any recommendations ?

Thanks

Scott

Make sure that the price they quoted includes CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) which can add about 30% to the fee and also includes PST/GST which equals 13%....

A half hour east of the airport on the 401 would put you in Scarborough or Pickering area. There are hotels at Kennedy Road, Markham Road and at some off ramps in Pickering....all chain hotels pretty devoid of individual charm.

Good luck on the trip.

Depending on the time of day and the traffic half an hour from Pearson on the 401 is still Pearson...

Thanks for that, have been caught out with hidden extras in the US before, I know it includes CDW, not sure about the taxes though.

Good point, I think we land in Toronto in Friday rush hour :curse:

I'd certainly get a room in Toronto, relax and pick up the car the next day. You have the choice of an evening enjoying the traffic or an evening adjusting to having to tip in pubs, I wouldn't choose the traffic.

My brother likes the Delta Chelsea (downtownish) when he visits with family Good rooms and stuff for the kids to do, plus a good pool, plus the sights of downtown Toronto there to explore in your jetlagged state. Far nicer than the airport area...You could take a limo downtown, doesnt cost much more than a regular cab and will make an impression on family if you are bringing them.

I forgot where he rented his car from, I think it was downtown. On returning he stayed in TO the last few nights and dropped the car off, then got a taxi to the airport.

Thanks for that, I will certainly look into this option. Do you think I should book the car before leaving or just turn up on spec ?

I'd book. All the big rental firms, Hertz, Avis, Discount, Budget, etc. have facilities you could walk to from a downtown hotel.

We are going out the week after you and have booked our car hire with carhire3000.com cheapest around have used them in Canada and Florida many times. There are many hotels around the airport, we have booked our first night in one of these, I would advise this, as after a long flight the last thing you would want to do is go searching for a hotel.
We are also doing a bit of touring and haven't booked any other hotels yet. You could look on the internet before you go and put down some hotels near where you want to look then you won't end up in some flea pit.
Hope you have a great trip.

The snag with staying near the airport is that all around you there are industrial buildings and strip joints, it's rather like staying at Heathrow but with more sex for sale. For a first visit I'd spring the forty bucks and ride downtown in a limosine (no need to book, just join the queue). Then, when jet lag wakes you at a bizarre hour you can wander out for coffee or beer or whatever.