Canada Trip.co.uk

Today is Canada Day! It’s Canada’s 144th birthday and as with every year, the country celebrates in style with fireworks displays, aerial displays, parties and a whole host of events taking place across the country- and to make sure Canadians get the chance to take part – they also have a national holiday to help make sure everyone has the chance to enjoy the day!

Canada Day is however, for the benefit of those who aren’t entirely familiar with the day, is not an ‘independence day’ – Far from it in fact! It is the birthday of Canada. The commemoration of the 1st July 1867, when the enactment of the Constitution Act 1867 was brought into being – uniting three British colonies into one unified country; Canada. Originally the day was called Dominion Day, but when Canada gained its full independence from the United Kingdom in 1982, its name was changed to Canada Day.

If you’re lucky enough to be in Canada for today, you’ll be witness to patriotism we rarely ever see in the UK, and strangely we never seem to be given the opportunity to express. The Canadian patriotism is something that fills me with a happiness.. A country and its people, proud to be who they are and where they are – and for me at least, i believe the Canadian patriotism is at the perfect level – it’s loud and proud, but not offensive or overly in peoples faces – an example where a country in the world has simply got things right. But then, we are talking about the only country in the western world not to actually go into recession in the most recent financial crisis – so it’s not unfamiliar territory for Canada to be the ones who got it right!

So what if you aren’t in Canada? Well, you may jut be in luck. A couple of months ago you may remember me featuring this, as a heads up towards the event. Canada Day has come to the UK. Canada Day London is the biggest celebration for Canada Day outside of Canada, and like everything Canadian, 110% is put into ensuring the event is filled with a massive schedule of events, and Canadians and tourists who visit Canada will find some familiar logos around the place – one of the biggest being Tim Hortons! – Tim Hortons Coffee and Doughnuts are coming to London, so if you can get yourself there.. Make sure you do! (more…)

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Posted in Airline Travel, Alberta, British Columbia, Canada Trip.co.uk, Destinations, Flights/Car Parking/Hire etc, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Skiing in Canada, Travel Planning | No Comments »

If you want to go to Canada for as little as possible the first thing you’ll need to look for are low cost, but good quality flights. After all, you don’t want to get onto a plane for the trip across the Atlantic and just sit staring at the seat in front of you for 8 hours right?

We have, since we set up almost two years ago, always recommended Canadian Affair for flights, where you can get return tickets to Canada for as little as £318 including taxes.

Canadian Affair charter Thomas Cook flights, as well as Air Transat so you you have the piece of mind when you book that you can choose flights by which ever company you’re most familiar with (though Air Transat is my personal favourite). There’s two reasons for us always recommending Canadian Affair. The first being we ALWAYS book our flights to Canada with them – and have now been on 18 flights over the last 7 years, so we have huge experience with them. The second being – they are simply, the cheapest place to book flights to Canada from the UK. I know.. i search every few weeks, always looking to book my next trip!

Thomas Cook 757 at Toronto

Even if you may have heard of Canadian Affair before, there are deals that many people miss, so I’d always recommend checking out their Special Offers page before you start entering dates – so you can ensure you get the best deal before you book your tickets.

With most people, and understandably, the biggest factor is getting the cheap flights to Canada, but there’s more to Canadian Affair than simply being the cheapest flights to Canada! They strive to give you the best customer service possible, for example in the numerous times i have needed to contact them via email, they have always responded the same day – and on a couple of occasions within 30 minutes of me actually submitting my query!

They also provide you with choice. If your closest airport is Manchester and you want to get flights from Manchester to Toronto or flights from Manchester to Ottawa, you can! Likewise you also have the choice of getting your flights from Gatwick to Toronto and flying back from Toronto to Liverpool if you wanted.

Canadian Affair offer flights from the following UK airports: Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Newcastle and Exeter. Their destinations include Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal and Edmonton, but they also do package holidays to various resorts around these locations (such as Niagara Falls) in addition to their flights.

Remember to have a look at our full review from last year on Canadian Affair, details in it are for a trip we took in 2009 but service has only got better since then: Travelling to Canada with Canadian Affair in 2010
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It’s Monday! It’s also March tomorrow, so how about we stop thinking about those post-Christmas diets now hm?

If you haven’t been to Canada yet, you’ll almost certainly walk into restaurants and find something on the menu called Poutine. Now, don’t be scared of its particularly unique name! Poutine is actually something that most people in the UK can relate to.. We have all (well.. most of us) gone to the chip shop and got either Chips with Gravy, OR Chips with Cheese .. Well .. although technically it wouldn’t be technically correct – if you had cheese and gravy on the same tray of chips, that is almost poutine! Now, i say almost because for it to be truly poutine, the cheese needs to be cheese curds, not just your normal cheese.

As you can see from the picture, poutine is definitely not the most elegant looking of foods, but lets face it, it beats the looks of mushy peas now doesn’t it! Besides, Canadians have always been known for their no-nonsence approach, and food in my opinion should always be about flavour, and not looks. (more…)

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Posted in Alberta, British Columbia, Canada Trip.co.uk, Montreal, Muskoka, Niagara, ON, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Places to Eat, Quebec, Toronto, Vancouver | No Comments »

We’re back after our break, so time to get back to business as usual!

Its just over a month now until spring. So on that prospect, i thought it was about time to start thinking of the summer and what kind of places would be nice to simply relax around Canada… As you can imagine.. that’s practically the whole country, but i decided that I’d go for an easily accessible park for anyone visiting Halifax!

Point Pleasant Park is a large, partially forested municipal park at the southern tip of the Halifax peninsula. It once hosted several artillery batteries, and a well-preserved 18th century Martello tower can be found there. The park hosts forest walks and affords views across the harbour and out toward the Atlantic.

Shakespearean plays are performed in the park every summer by the Shakespeare by the Sea theatre company.

About 2 miles from the downtown, it’s a great place to relax after a long day shopping or enjoying other attractions! Or, why not head on down for a picnic? If you’re into running, running in the park is fantastic as there’s lots of variety. Flats, woodland circuits, challenging hills if you want them, amazing views of the ocean, islands, and harbour… And after your healthy run, if you like icecream, you can get some amazing icecream here! (more…)

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Yesterday, the metro ran with a neat ‘Out of Office’ article edited by Lisa Scott. The tag was ‘Musical Melting Pot: Nova Scotia comes alive in autumn thanks to a host of festivals. SARAH BAXTER gets a taste of the warm welcome revellers will receive when they arrive’.

Since the trees are beginning to turn, and the temperature in the UK has definitely started dropping over recent weeks, an autumn article is just what we need, so I’ve decided to include the Metro’s article here, just in case you didn’t see it in the paper yesterday. And at the bottom of the article is a link to the digital edition of the paper which it’s featured in. So Here it is:

”
I’m confused. I order a glass of ice-cold Keith’s – the local ale, first brewed by a Scot – to toast my new-found friends: a Halifax resident and drunken Italo-Finn in a floppish hatl. A Latvian chap tells us about the time he lived in Bahrain, while from across the bar Irish accents discuss the arrival in Canadian waters of a boat of Sri Lankan refugees. My head might physically be in the Carleton pub in the city of Halifax – capital of Canada’s east coast Nova Scotia province – but I feel like I’m roaming the globe.

This shouldn’t be a surprise. Canada is a country of immigrants and Halifax acted as a gateway for many of them. Between the 1920s and 1970s, a million incoming souls disembarked on to Pier 21 (now a slick museum) on their way to a new life. And that’s on top of the English, French and Celts – Nova Scotia means New Scotland – who ventured here centuries before. (more…)

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It’s the 1st of July 2010 – and that means its Canada Day!!

Canada Day (French: Fête du Canada), formerly Dominion Day, is Canada’s national day, a federal statutory holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North America Act (today called the Constitution Act, 1867), which united two British colonies and a province of the British Empire into a single country called Canada. Canada Day observances take place throughout Canada as well as internationally.

Frequently referred to as “Canada’s birthday”, particularly in the popular press, the occasion marks the joining of the British North American colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada into a federation of four provinces (the Province of Canada being divided, in the process, into Ontario and Quebec) on July 1, 1867. Although Canada is regarded as having become a kingdom in its own right on that date, the British Parliament kept limited rights of political control over the new country that were shed by stages over the years until the last vestiges were surrendered in 1982 when the Constitution Act patriated the Canadian constitution. (more…)

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Now by now, I’m sure we all have had a good glimpse about how Canada is so far, primarily in the Summer months. But, Autumn (Or Fall) is now upon us, and i have to admit, this is now my favourite time of year. Some like sun, i actually like cosy log fire lit rooms.. So, Canada as we all should know is represented internationally by its bright bold red and white flag, with a brilliant red Maple leaf at its centre.. And its this i want to touch on in this article.

Yes, they really do get that red!

When you ask most people, think of some colours you’d see as representing autumn.. Most say Brown, Yellow or Orange.. In Canada, you get a whole variety of these colours, as well as Reds. Sometimes reds so vivid, you would seriously wonder how it is possible for a tree, a thing from nature to paint its leaves such brilliant red! Of coarse, there are other places you may see red leaves, but Canada truly is the best place on earth you will ever get to see this in such a quantity.

No doubt you may have even came to look at this article because you may be interested in actually seeing this for yourself, so i don’t really think i need to ‘big up’ this firework display of colour too much, but one thing i will say – is this is one of those things you MUST do before you die! So better sooner than later!..

Interestingly there are particular places in Canada you’d be best to go to should you really want to catch nature in its full glory when in Canada and so if your main reason for visiting Canada is to see the leaves Ontario, Quebec or the Maritime provinces are probably your best destinations! Here are the best places, within those provinces – and just as important – the times in which you’ll want to plan your trips. (more…)

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Another of the historic places you will want to have a look at while out in Halifax is the Halifax Citadel.

Halifax Citadel

Located within the centre of Halifax, this fort is easy to get to from wherever you may be staying in the city. Though a little word of warning – each day at noon a cannon is fired as a symbol of Halifax’s military history.. This often comes as a great shock, being so loud, to unsuspecting tourists – so now you wont be one of them!

The current star-shaped fortress, or citadel, is formally known as Fort George and was completed in 1856, following twenty-eight years of construction. This massive masonry-construction fort was designed to repel a land-based attack by United States forces and was inspired by the designs of Louis XIV’s commissary of fortifications Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban – a star-shaped hillock fortress with internal courtyard and clear harbour view from armoured ramparts. (more…)

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If you’re out and about Halifax, with it being the historic city that it is I’d recommend you pay a visit to a couple of the historic sites around the city – first of which York Redoubt.

photo © 1977-2009 Olga Zhaxybayeva http://carrot.mcb.uconn.edu/~olgazh/

York Redoubt as a place to visit is both an interesting historic site, as well as a fantastic spot to take pictures of the surrounding landscape, and not only that it’s only a very short drive from the city its self.

York Redoubt was the heart of the defences protecting the outer harbour approaches to Halifax. Begun in 1793 on a bluff overlooking the harbour entrance, it was enlarged by the Duke of Kent who constructed a Martello tower there in 1798. (more…)

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Well here’s the first of the big brands you’ll see when you’re out in Canada, and it really is my favourite. When you’re out in Canada DO NOT come home without having had at least one cup of Hot Chocolate, and if you like that – then try the French Vanilla Coffee!

Tim Hortons

Tim Hortons is a coffee shop, doughnut shop and a place to eat all rolled into one – and on top of that it’s Canadian! These places are dotted absolutely everywhere, so stop off, relax and enjoy their hot chocolate with a doughnut or two. Or, try their timbits, which are doughnut holes – you can either choose what flavours you want or you can ask for a random variety. The other fantastic thing about Tim Hortons, other than everything tastes so good – is the price. While we were out a couple of weeks ago, we got two extra large Tim Hortons Hot Chocolates (1pt cups), and a box of 10 timbits – and it came to exactly $5!
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