Looking ahead: our 3-week Canada Adventure 🎉
Discover our itinerary & exciting upcoming activities and asking for your advice
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In this week’s newsletter, we’ll preview our 3-week Canada adventure that is coming up in May. We'll dive into our planned itinerary, the exciting activities we’re looking forward to, and we're also eager to hear your suggestions! 🇨🇦
But first, we would like to inform you of something fun that’s happening!
We’re becoming increasingly active on our Instagram page, and we just started a new weekly quiz series, where we share fun travel facts with our fellow travelers over there.
Next to that, we also want to share more of the visual side from previous travel adventures through Reels & Stories. Does this sound like something you’re interested in? Make sure to follow us!
This week’s quiz was about the oldest operating airline in the world. And just this once, we’ll also share the question here.
Do you love stuff like this? Make sure to join us on Instagram for next week’s edition!
And now for the question…
What is the oldest operating airline in the world?
Qantas
KLM
Finnair
British Airways
For the result, check the bottom of the post!
Alright, now back to our trip to Canada.
This will be Hannah's first time experiencing Canada, while for Mike, it will be his third visit. His previous trips occurred in 2009 and 2013, so it's been quite some time! Unlike his earlier adventures, which focused on Toronto and Niagara Falls, this time we're exploring more of the country.
Our journey will consist of four stops:
Montreal
Toronto
Vancouver
Banff & Jasper
Let’s dive into our plans for each of these locations!
Montreal
Hannah’s brother and his fiancee live in Montreal, so the first part of our holiday is all about spending quality time with them.
This will be the first time that we visit their place and Montreal, so we’ll have a lot of exploring to do. We will arrive on a Thursday afternoon and leave for Toronto on Tuesday morning, which leaves us with 4.5 days of exploring and family time.
They have prepared a whole itinerary for us, so we’re just going to show up at their doorstep and let them surprise us! 🤓 The parts that we already know are a food tour through Montreal, a countryside visit to her family house, and a day trip to Quebec City.
We’re very excited.
Toronto
Next, we hop on a bus from Montreal to Toronto, a journey that typically takes about 6 hours.
The plan is to leave in the morning and arrive around midday. And Hannah’s not the only one who has relatives living in Canada. Mike’s aunt, uncle, and cousins live close to Toronto (and this is close in Canadian terms, since it is still a 2-hour drive 😉).
We’ll spend 2 days in Toronto exploring the city, and then we’ll drive to Mike’s family in London (the non-UK version) to spend some time and catch up with everyone there!
While we’re in Toronto, we want to take a (half)day trip to Niagara Falls, head up the CN tower, check if the Blue Jays or the Maple Leaves are playing, and maybe end the day with a nice cultural tour about the local beer history!
Vancouver
After Toronto, it’s time to head West to Vancouver.
Originally, we’d toyed with the idea of driving across, but after seeing the distance (and estimated travel time), we changed our minds. Instead, we’ll get our car action when we explore the national parks of British Columbia & Alberta.
But, before renting the campervan, we have 3 full days to explore Vancouver and the surrounding area.
When researching Vancouver, it seems like there is enough to do in and around Vancouver. Some great options include a whale watching tour, suspension bridge park, exploring the many parks around the City, or heading to Vancouver Island.
We still haven’t planned anything during our visit here, do you have any recommendations for us? Please let us know in the comments!
Banff & Jasper
On the final leg of our holiday, we are doing something for the first time: renting a campervan!
We rented our campervan through Outdoorsy, where you can rent other people’s vehicles. Think Airbnb, but instead of a house or apartment you choose your preferred campervan or RV.
In case you’re curious, this is the specific campervan we’ll be renting for 8 nights.
We will then take the campervan out to Banff & Jasper to explore what Canada has to offer nature-wise! (We’re still figuring out the exact route & stops. And if it turns out that 8 days isn’t enough time for both, we might have to come back for the other one).
Since this is the first time doing something like this for both of us, we’re all ears if you have any advice for us regarding RV / campervan rental, and also doing the journey across BC & Alberta. What are some things that we must bring, or some rules that we should be aware of? Share your travel wisdom with us in the comments.
After returning from our campervan adventure, we have one day in Vancouver to adjust back to city life. Fun fact: it will be our 9-year anniversary on our final night in Canada (🤯 crazy right?). If you’ve ever had any vegetarian-friendly dinners in Vancouver, we’re all ears!
After a fun adventure and celebrating another big milestone, we’ll conclude our holiday by flying back to Amsterdam with KLM again. (And yes, flying is 100% part of the holiday fun according to Mike 😉).
So there you have it
Those are our plans for our 3-week trip to Canada.
As you can see, the itinerary is set, but we’re still discovering which activities we want to do in each location. As we’ve mentioned throughout the post, we’d love it if you could share your tips, experiences, and Canadian holiday stories with us!
It’s only fair after so many posts of us sharing our insights, right? 😛
If you enjoyed this post, you might also like these:
And, as promised, the answer to this week’s Mapping Memories Travel Quiz!
Did you know which global airline has been operating the longest?
Scroll down to find out!
Looks like you have a wonderful itinerary and you understand about the driving times and the vast size!
I spent many years living in Montreal and near Niagara Falls. What you have mentioned seems logical. Taking the bus is a great option, train is also good from Montreal to Toronto.
I don't know much about Vancouver other than it is very expensive. Your campervan rental is a great way to travel through the mountains. Be aware that there can be traffic in the warmer months and hills are steep in places. You may also fine livestock either on the road or beside the road. People do stop on the side of the road sometimes. Know that is is bear country so keep your food well secured in a vehicle of hung high in a tree.
Other than that, you will have a fantastic time.
Love me some Canada. Only really discovered some of its wonders last year, forty-eight years into life. If you are looking for restaurant ideas or my random POV, I wrote a couple of essays about it. It was pre “hotlist” so the recommendations are bit more buried. Check them out and let me know if end up trying any. Enjoy!