vanman

Hi, i'm travelling to canada on a one year Bunac visa in a couple of months time. I'm trying to draw up a short list of must see places to visit, i obviously realise canada is a huge country and much depends on budget etc. But in members' experience what would make your top 5 places to visit in Canada?

I'm planning to spend three months travelling and the rest knuckling down to some hard graft, with a bit of play thrown in of course i'd also like peoples recommendations on places to settle down for this period of work? i'm not doing your average Bunac i'm looking to find skilled work in a large Town or City with a view to long term residency.

Cheers Vanman

bazzz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alert,_Nunavut

iaink

In no particular order... and more than five...

Niagara Falls (ON)

Downtown Toronto (CN Tower etc)(ON)

The Rockies...Banff, Lake Louise, and the Jasper Parkway (AB/ BC)

The Badlands of Alberta (Drumheller AB)

Bay of Fundy (NB)

Cabot Trail (NS)

Quebec City (PQ)

Vancouver and Vancouver Island (Not quite like Toronto and the Toronto Islands )

The North if you have time (polar bears in Churchill (MB), or the Yukon)

Other random places worth a look if passing through Eastern Ontario

Ottawa
Kingston
Sandbanks Park in the summer
Algonquin Park in the fall

For the rest...Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver...the usual suspects.

vanman

Alert it is then Bazzz is that your only recommendation? Did you enjoy your visit there and what made you want to leave to your present location?

Judy in Calgary

Moose Travel Network is your friend.

If it was possible to do so, I would try to see everything on their itineraries, plus an area of Canada to which I have not been myself, namely, the east coast.
x

Rhodeys

Don't forget Canmore, we stayed there last year and loved it..oh! ...and being just a little bit bias....you could look at Red Deer on your way down Queen Elizabeth Highway

pinkmcfarquhar

Newfoundland - culture, beautiful scenery, friendly people and good drinking!

Atlantic Xpat

Until 2.00am in the Duke of Duckworth I gather!

pinkmcfarquhar

Yup - and the worst of it was that I was sober! Bah humbug.

On the bright side - i didn't feel as bad as them the next day!

Inse

North Shore, Nova Scotia I guess.... <big sigh>

Oakvillian

scenery: the Rockies (they're big), the prairies (they're wide), Niagara Falls (it's spectacular despite the chavtastic tourist-trap stuff), Cape Breton (it's beautiful).

cities: Victoria (it's more English than England), Vancouver (tons to see and do), Toronto (CN tower, ROM, AGO), Montreal (Grand Prix/comedy festival/jazz festival, take your pick), Quebec (Wolfe vs Montcalm/1759/plains of Abraham/one in the eye for the damn Frenchies, etc, and of course the Chateau Frontenac)

others: Drumheller (for the dinosaurs), Churchill, MB (for the polar bears), Ottawa (because it's there and it's the Nation's Capital), PEI (because it's cute).

dthomas

Lived in Canada for 28 years - here's the tip 'o the Newfoundland iceberg for absolutes:

Cities/Towns
(1) Toronto (aka "Hogtown")
(2) Quebec City
(3) Montreal (aka "Largest sex super-market in North-America")
(4) Any place in the Rockies (especially Golden, BC)
(5) Hamilton, ONT (the arsehole of Canada)
(6) Lunenburgh, NS & Mahone Bay, NS
(7) Prince Edward Island (July-August)
(8) Calgary (aka "The Doldrums")
(9) Vancouver (a pretty wild town . . . )
(10) Victoria (aka City of the Barely-Talking semi-Dead)
(10) Ottawa (visit Hilter's look-a-like - aka Herpes-Stevens)
(11) Winnipeg (Have they finished building it yet?)
(12) Halifax, NS (One very large and happy drunk-tank)

Non-Cities/Non-Towns
(1) Camping in Algonquin Park
(2) X-country Skiing in the Laurentians
(3) Snow-shoeing, Emerald Lake, BC
(4) Swimming in North Rustico, PEI (water temp: 14 C)
(5) Stratford Festival of Canada, Stratford, ONT
(6) Banff region (in the winter)
(7) Wineries in Niagara/Ste Catherines region
(8) Wineries in Osoyoos-Penticton region
(9) Wineries in Eastern Townships, QC
(10) Parc Nationale du Mauricie
(11) Gabriola Island, BC
(12) Decarie hot-dog - Saint-Laurent, QC
(13) Fresh lobster; boiled alive! - New Brunswick is ace

AmyDavid

Ontheboatout

Cape Breton consistently wins awards for being in the top ten places inthe world, never mind Canada - and the North Shore of Nova Scotia is just up the road.

bazzz

I'm not convinved that any Canadian cities have much to offer if you've traveled in Europe (for Quebec) or been to London or say, New York. Vancouver isn't pretty wild, it's pretty mild.

It's the scenery that's a little more special; lakes, mountains, etc.