Travel Forum / Destinations / USA and Canada / July 2006

You will see a lot.  It's a long time to be travelling.

Where do you expect to stay?  It would be quite helpful to have camping
equipment with you so you can stay at the many provicial/national parks
and other parks with campsites.

What do you want to see?  Scenery?  History?  There are a lot of
choices available when you have 21 days.

Your concern about it being "too far" makes me think that you don't
want to just drive around. Note that in 21 days you could probably
drive up to the Yukon, back down to the Rockies, and out to Quebec,
before hitting Toronto.

So for not too much driving, something like 8-10 days in BC/Rocky
Mountains, 3-4 days Prairies, and remaining 7 or so days in Ontario
would work out.

Depending on the time of year, Jasper and Banff will be tourist zoos.
You could base yourself for a few days in someplace like Nelson BC
where there is a reasonable amount to see in town, and plenty of
mountain scenery in every direction.  You could also consider making a
trip over to Vancouver Island, maybe without the car to make it
cheaper.  The Icefields Parkway would be a good route to take to see
some more of the mountains before heading into the flatness of the
Praries and the relative flatness of Ontario.

The Praries themselves are probably best seen from the car window--I
mean you are driving and driving and driving. It's great to be driving
across the Prairies if you are on a schedule because you make good
time, but if you want to see exciting stuff, maybe not. You could
follow one of the alternate routes rather than the Trans-Canada:
Yellowhead highway to the north, or Redcoat Trail to the south.  (The
Redcoat Trail had some bad roads in western Saskatchewan when I went
through in 2003.) You could stop in one of the cities one night for a
change from small towns and countryside.

In Ontario, you have a few days to see northwestern Ontario: there are
a number of provincial parks to camp at. I don't think any of the
cities or towns of the northwest are tourist centres.  I have not been
up any of the northern roads such as the highway to Sioux Lookout but
you may be interested in taking a trip literally up to where the roads
stop.

I'd recommend visiting Manitoulin Island and taking the ferry across to
Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula if you have some days left. Both
Manitoulin and the Bruce are beautiful in summer with lots of nice
white limsetone cliffs and deep blue Georgian Bay waters (the waters
are probably too cold to swim in, though--for a beach, try Sauble
Beach). The Bruce Peninsula is an easy few hours drive from Toronto,
and there you are.

....Ed

Canada is a BIG country, and Europeans often tend to underestimate its
size when they visit for the first time.  The distance between Vancouver
and Toronto, for example, is greater than that between London to Moscow.  
If your primary destinations are BC, southern Ontario, and New York, I
would consider taking a few flights rather then driving all the way
across.

Consider an itinerary like this:

Day 1-3:  Vancouver
Day 3-5:  Harbour Air Float plane to Victoria, explore surrounding area
Day 6-12:  Fly Victoria -> Kelowna, pick up rental car, spend 7 days
exploring BC interior and Rocky Mtns, drop rental car in Calgary
Day 13:  Fly Calgary -> Hamilton ON, pick up rental car
Day 14-18:  Hit Niagara falls, NYC
Day 19-21:  Drive back to Toronto, drop car at YYZ, fly home

I would use www.westjet.ca for domestic flights within Canada.

It takes 3-4 days to drive from Vancouver to Toronto.  That leaves lots of time
to stay at various spots along the way. The mountains in the west are
incredibly beautiful. After passing through several mountain ranges, the
prairies may seem a little boring. Most people just pass right through as fast
as they can, though there are lots of forests and lakes further north if you
have the time and inclination.

My brother and his wife flew Zoom from Toronto to Paris and return last year.
They had no problems, and they did save a lot of money.