Canada!

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  • LodiousLodious Frets: 1942
    Thanks for all the tips, Whistler looks amazing, is it still worth going in summer or is it mainly skiing?


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  • TTBZTTBZ Frets: 2873
    Whistler BC is my favourite place on earth. Spent the summer of 2011 mountain biking there. Nicest people and the nicest scenery. Wish I could have found a job to stay there for the whole year/indefinitely. Coming back to the midland UK was awful! Grey, flat and miserable.

    Would love to relocate there one day but not sure how is even go about securing a job beforehand - can't just up sticks and move with a family!
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  • SamgbSamgb Frets: 774
    Lodious said:
    Thanks for all the tips, Whistler looks amazing, is it still worth going in summer or is it mainly skiing?


    I prefer it in the summer. We have a timeshare there every May and it is absolutely beautiful if a little crowded since the Winter Olympics. Mountain biking, hiking, off-roading etc in summer. It is year round. A fantastic drive up from Vancouver too - absoutely stunning views of the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island and then the mountains. I always get told off by the mrs for not concentrating enough on the road and pointing the view out to the kids. To be fair, shes right i really dont want to drive off the edge and fall 1000 feet into the sea. 
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  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    I love Tin Star...
    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
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  • uberscottuberscott Frets: 130
    Whistler in the summer is amazing. It's worth bearing in mind that 9-18 August, it hosts a huge mountain biking festival called Crankworx, and the whole place will be jammers. On the plus side you'd get to see some of the world's best downhill and freeride bikers doing their thing :)
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  • WhitecatWhitecat Frets: 5378
    Driving in Canada requires quite a bit of tenacity in that it's just so f*cking far between major centres...

    Internal flights save so much time but obviously cost lots, there isn't much route competition in Canada due to airline ownership laws... you can find that a flight from Vancouver to Toronto could cost as much or more than the flight cost you from London to Vancouver...

    A drive from Vancouver to Calgary would be amazing... you'll see so much along the way, can spend a few days doing it and stop in the Okanagan valley for a night or two, do some wine tasting or just scenery chasing. But the drive between Calgary and Winnipeg (13 hours if you power through) involves some of the least interesting multi-hundred-mile stretches of highway that exist in the entire world.

    Winnipeg to Toronto is going to involve between 25 and 30 hours on the road total driving time... it's actually faster and safer to go via the USA if that's at all a possibility, you would see Minneapolis that way and then from there you can either go via Chicago/Detroit (probably only best if you actually want to stay in Chicago for a day or two, definitely don't hit it at rush hour, it will take hours just to get past it) or you can go via the upper peninsula route which is more direct and still very scenic, but they have nicer multi-lane highways all the way on both routes - the Canadian route via Thunder Bay is longer and involves loads of two-lane highways where you will have to deal with being stuck behind logging trucks (and deal with oncoming HGVs of a similar nature) - not great if you're tired.



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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23941
    Watch some hockey.

    You can't go all that way and not watch some of the best hockey players on earth!
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  • TTBZTTBZ Frets: 2873
    Samgb said:
    Lodious said:
    Thanks for all the tips, Whistler looks amazing, is it still worth going in summer or is it mainly skiing?


    I prefer it in the summer. We have a timeshare there every May and it is absolutely beautiful if a little crowded since the Winter Olympics. Mountain biking, hiking, off-roading etc in summer. It is year round. A fantastic drive up from Vancouver too - absoutely stunning views of the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island and then the mountains. I always get told off by the mrs for not concentrating enough on the road and pointing the view out to the kids. To be fair, shes right i really dont want to drive off the edge and fall 1000 feet into the sea. 
    I got the Greyhound up, and agreed the drive and views are stunning :)
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  • WhitecatWhitecat Frets: 5378
    TTBZ said:
    Samgb said:
    Lodious said:
    Thanks for all the tips, Whistler looks amazing, is it still worth going in summer or is it mainly skiing?


    I prefer it in the summer. We have a timeshare there every May and it is absolutely beautiful if a little crowded since the Winter Olympics. Mountain biking, hiking, off-roading etc in summer. It is year round. A fantastic drive up from Vancouver too - absoutely stunning views of the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island and then the mountains. I always get told off by the mrs for not concentrating enough on the road and pointing the view out to the kids. To be fair, shes right i really dont want to drive off the edge and fall 1000 feet into the sea. 
    I got the Greyhound up, and agreed the drive and views are stunning :)
    ... which you can't even do anymore. Other than a Vancouver-Seattle run Greyhound have pulled completely out of Western Canada ...

    Not sure if any indies have filled those gaps in service yet, but I imagine they are not terribly profitable at the best of times.
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  • NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347
    edited January 2019
    Go to Toronto first - jet lag is so much better when going west that east. Toronto itself isn't a massive draw - there's the CN tower, a few interesting things to see but you could do it in a day or two.

    Niagara is a must. Niagara on the lake is a bit nicer / less touristy than the immediate vicinity around Niagara falls.

    If you have time you can also head north to an area called Muskoka. It's about 2 hours north of toronto where all the rich and famous have their summer homes and is beautiful. If you can, rent a boat for the day and go exploring the lakes.
    Lake Muskoka, Joseph and Rosseau are the ones to go for.
    https://www.portsandfield.com/rentals.htm
    Not sure about this but you may need to complete a boat drivers assessment before you can rent a boat.

    If you go to Quebec have some poutine - basically chips with cheese and gravy. Not very healthy but lovely.

    Vancouver is supposed to be amazing. If you are heading out west then there's the Rockies, Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise etc.
    Rent an "RV", and book yourselves into some campsites - camping Canadian style is a little different from what we get in the UK.
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  • Lake Superior road trip


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    The Wa-Wa goose

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    Bathtub Island

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    Lake Superior beaches, the lake has a tidal system it's that big!

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    Some rather old graffiti!

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    littlegreenman < My tunes here...
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  • HAL9000HAL9000 Frets: 9551
    We’ve just booked Canada for this summer. What is amazing is just how little accommodation is still available along the Vancouver/Wells Gray/Jasper/Banff route. Same goes for some of the excursions. @Lodious If Canada is still on the cards for you and you haven’t started booking stuff yet, I’d seriously advise getting a move on.
    I play guitar because I enjoy it rather than because I’m any good at it
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  • LodiousLodious Frets: 1942
    We ended up going to the US cuz flights were cheaper so it's Yosemite > Death Valley > Vegas > Grand Canyon > Utah > Yellowstone > Idaho > Oregon > San Fran > fly home knackered :-)   I've booked about 3/4 of it...I need to get my shit together!
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  • HAL9000HAL9000 Frets: 9551
    Lodious said:
    We ended up going to the US cuz flights were cheaper so it's Yosemite > Death Valley > Vegas > Grand Canyon > Utah > Yellowstone > Idaho > Oregon > San Fran > fly home knackered :-)   I've booked about 3/4 of it...I need to get my shit together!
    Sounds excellent. Grand Canyon is made from pure weapons-grade awesome.
    I play guitar because I enjoy it rather than because I’m any good at it
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  • boogiemanboogieman Frets: 12314
    HAL9000 said:
    Lodious said:
    We ended up going to the US cuz flights were cheaper so it's Yosemite > Death Valley > Vegas > Grand Canyon > Utah > Yellowstone > Idaho > Oregon > San Fran > fly home knackered :-)   I've booked about 3/4 of it...I need to get my shit together!
    Sounds excellent. Grand Canyon is made from pure weapons-grade awesome.
    Wis. It’s one of the few places that really deserve the phrase “breathtaking”. A genuinely stunning sight. 
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  • WhitecatWhitecat Frets: 5378
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  • I went to Whistler for the first time in 1999 and have been back almost every Winter since and most summers. Its my favourite place on earth. I did a season there in 2000/2001 and love the summer mogul camps and mountain biking in the summer - a different vibe to Winter, but almost nicer.

    Happy to give any advice on what to do there
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  • LodiousLodious Frets: 1942
    I have been to the Grand Canyon once before. Someone said they cried when the saw it and I remember thinking 'yeah thats bollocks', but when I got there I felt totally moved.  

    I think Canada is going to have to wait for a few years :-(

    Has anybody been round Idaho, Yellowstone or Oregon?I don't know much about it, but some of the landscapes look amazing. 
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  • hubobuloushubobulous Frets: 2352
    edited February 2019
    Lodious said:
    I have been to the Grand Canyon once before. Someone said they cried when the saw it and I remember thinking 'yeah thats bollocks', but when I got there I felt totally moved.  

    I think Canada is going to have to wait for a few years :-(

    Has anybody been round Idaho, Yellowstone or Oregon?I don't know much about it, but some of the landscapes look amazing. 
    We went to Oregon in 2015 and stayed just south of Portland in the wine region. Stunning scenery - Mt Hood is spectacular as is the Columbia River gorge and the national parks are amazing. Silver Falls Park or something like that was amazing to walk around. The beaches are also other wordly


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  • LodiousLodious Frets: 1942
    Wow, where is that beach?!!!
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