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DESTINATIONS — CANADA
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Destinations
GERMANY
CANADA
PAGE 49
Canada has plenty of
options for second-time
visitors,finds Katie McGonagle
ENCORE PERFORMANCE
S
end a client to Canada and there’s one thing you can
be sure of – they’re bound to go back for more.
It is a vast and varied land, full of everything from
adventure sports and wildlife-spotting to city breaks and
scenery, so there’s no way to see all it has to offer in just one
trip – or even in one lifetime, some would argue.
Once you’ve whetted their appetite with a first foray into
Canada, get a bit of inspiration for some of the best secondtime trips so your clients can fall in love all over again.
l IF THEY LOVED DRIVING THROUGH THE
ROCKY MOUNTAINS...TRY QUEBEC
What? Amazing views with a sense of adventure
Tell me more: The Rocky Mountains’ mix of spectacular
scenery, laid-back tourist towns and outdoor adventure is
hard to replicate, unless you’re in rural Quebec, of course.
This French-speaking region is better known for its urban
areas, Quebec City and Montreal,
.co.uk/de
travelwe ekly
st inat ion s
16 May 2013 — travelweekly.co.uk • 39
DESTINATIONS — CANADA
but it’s actually the largest of
Canada’s provinces and home to
rugged scenery, mountains and
lakes, and 27 national parks.
Travellers who like the freedom
of a self-drive holiday will feel
at home here. After a few days
exploring gateway city Montreal –
don’t miss the grand Notre Dame
Basilica, charming French Quarter
and knockout cuisine – there are
myriad driving routes to take.
Head northwest to the
Laurentian Mountains through
charming towns St Sauveur-desMonts and St Agathe-des-Monts,
until you reach Mont Tremblant.
This is Quebec’s answer to
Whistler, with horse riding, rafting,
golfing and spa treatments. Next,
go south to Montebello, famed for
having the largest log-built hotel
in the world in Fairmont property
Le Chateau Montebello, and for
its wildlife-rich Parc Omega. From
here, it’s easy to cross the border
into Ontario for a tour of Canada’s
capital, Ottawa.
Book it: Bridge & Wickers offers an
eight-day Quintessential Quebec
self-drive, which includes flights,
car hire and accommodation
in Fairmont hotels in Montreal,
Mont Tremblant, Montebello and
Ottawa, plus a three-hour bear
observation tour in Montebello
and admission to Ottawa’s
Museum of Civilisation, from
£1,565 before June 23.
bridgeandwickers.co.uk
020 3642 9252
Or try: For an escorted option, try
Collette Worldwide’s The Best of
Eastern Canada, a 10-day tour
Queen Victoria declared Ottawa
the capital of Canada in 1857
of scenic highlights in Montreal,
Quebec City, Ottawa, Niagara
Falls and Toronto, with a Via Rail
journey and Maid of the Mist
excursion, from £2,199.
l IF THEY LIKED BEARSPOTTING IN BRITISH
COLUMBIA...TRY POLAR
BEARS IN CHURCHILL
What? Wildlife-watching at its best
Tell me more: The islets around
Vancouver Island and coastal
British Columbia are prime bearspotting territory. Once visitors get
a glimpse of a black bear catching
salmon as they swim upstream, or
a grizzly hiding among the trees,
they’ll be hooked for life.
Suggest they ramp their bear
obsession up a notch with a trip
to the more remote reaches
of Northern Canada, home of
the polar bear. Most tours are
concentrated in Churchill, northern
Churchill is known
as the ‘polar bear
capital of the world’
Manitoba, and accessed via
flights from Winnipeg, so it takes
a bit of dedication to see these
magnificent creatures, but it’s
worth the extra effort.
Book it: Premier Holidays offers
a four-night trip with Air Canada
flights from Heathrow to Winnipeg
then return flights to Churchill.
Accommodation includes two
nights in Churchill, bookended by a
night each side at the Four Points
by Sheraton Winnipeg Airport, plus
bear-watching excursions and a
guide. Prices start at £3,829 based
on a November 15 departure.
trade.premierholidays.co.uk
0844 493 7444
TOP
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Or try: If that’s a bit too intense
for fair-weather wildlife fans,
1st Class Holidays has a 15-day
Wildlife of Atlantic Canada selfdrive that starts in lively Halifax
then follows a rugged coastal
route with excursions to go whale
and seal-spotting, plus moose and
bear-watching tours, from £1,708
canada NEWS
A new planetarium has opened
in Montreal in the Space for Life
science museum complex, with
interactive exhibits and a real
geology lab with meteorites and
other extra-terrestrial rocks.
planetarium.montreal.qc.ca
Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada
is set to open in summer in
downtown Toronto. It will feature
more than 13,500 creatures,
40 • travelweekly.co.uk — 16 May 2013
a 96-metre moving walkway
through the shark lagoon,
and a tropical reef tank.
ripleyaquariums.com/Canada
Cox & Kings has introduced
private tours and tailor-made
holidays in Canada, including
trips around Eastern Canada,
polar bear tours, and a wildlife
trip through British Columbia.
coxandkings.co.uk
16 May 2013 — travelweekly.co.uk • 41
Pictures: omega parc/canadian tourism commission/laurentians.com
For a wildlife fix visit the
Parc Omega safari park
DESTINATIONS — CANADA
Sonora Resort in
British Columbia is
a remote hideaway
Elmhirst’s Resort in Ontario
is ideal for active types
Montreal has great culture,
cuisine and nightlife
Pictures: stephan poulin – tourism Montreal/Darren Bernaerdt/SONORA RESORT
including accommodation and car
hire but excluding flights.
l IF THEY LIKED CITY
SIGHTS IN TORONTO...
TRY MONTREAL
What? Culture, cuisine and
cracking nightlife
Tell me more: While Toronto
gets more than its fair share of
first-time visitors – attracted by its
proximity to Niagara Falls – chic,
stylish Montreal is waiting in the
wings, ready to grab second-timers
looking for something new.
There are many similarities: like
the Ontario city, direct flights from
the UK make Montreal an easy
city break; it has stunning 18th
and 19th-century architecture,
just like the historic heart of Old
Toronto; and while visitors might
have passed the day in the Art
Gallery of Ontario or Royal Ontario
Museum, they can swap it for the
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and
the Museum of Archaeology and
History at Pointe-à-Callière.
The latter offers a fabulous
potted history of the area from
the First Nations to the modern
day. Don’t forget to make time
for some superb shopping in vast
l IF THEY LIKED
department stores or fashionable
RELAXING ON THE
little boutiques, plus sample great
RANCH...TRY A LAKESIDE
gastronomic delights and buzzing
LODGE
nightlife, not least during the Just
What? Kicking back in the
for Laughs comedy festival in July.
peaceful Canadian countryside
Book it: Signature from Thomas
Tell me more: Alberta and British
Cook offers a three-night roomColumbia are full of ranch resorts
only stay at Delta Centre Ville
offering the chance to escape
from £755, including British
the busy city and be at one with
Airways flights from Heathrow
nature – but they’re not the only
departing November 14.
place to get back to your roots.
tcs4agents.com
Ontario and Quebec are home to
0844 871 6640
acres of wide, open spaces
Or try: Virgin Holidays
and sublime national
suggests Vancouver
parks that will have
as an alternative
clients ditching their
to Toronto. It’s
mobiles for mountain
well worth the extra
bikes and hiking
couple of hours’ flying
boots in no time at all.
time to combine a
A favourite for
cosmopolitan city
customers of 1st
break wandering
Class Holidays is
through
Elmhirst’s Resort
quaint
on the shores
Gastown
of Rice Lake in
or the quirky
Ontario. The
restaurants and
land was
art galleries
given to
of Granville
the owner’s
Island, with the
grandfather
Parliament Hill in
great outdoors.
by King
42 • travelweekly.co.uk — 16 May 2013
Ottawa attracts three
million visitors a year
George VI as a reward for his
efforts in the Battle of Trafalgar.
Active types can go hiking,
biking, canoeing, kayaking and
sailing, or try a quad bike safari,
while those who like their holidays
a little less fast-paced can opt for
a barbecue on their own outdoor
deck, or an evening in by a woodburning fireplace.
Book it: 1st Class Holidays offers a
week in a luxury cottage from £464
based on two sharing, but add on
four nights in Toronto, a night at
Niagara Falls, and car hire, and it
costs £1,159. Flights are extra.
1stclassholidays.com
0845 644 3939
Or try: Sonora Resort is a luxury
waterside lodge in British Columbia,
remote enough for a real escape,
but accessible by water taxi from
Campbell River. It offers more
activities than you can shake a stick
at: salmon or salt-water fishing, an
eco-boat tour, kayaking, and spa
therapies. Kuoni’s three-day stay
leads in at £1,025 for full-board,
including a flight from Vancouver
to Campbell River and water
taxi transfers to the resort, but
excluding international flights. TW