If you’ve been following me by Twitter you will probably have spotted a retweet about this offer yesterday! The offer is $129 for a one night short break in Niagara Falls. It treats you to a Deluxe Cityview Two-Bedroom Jacuzzi Suite with a fireplace and includes a $40 dining voucher for Romano’s Macaroni Grill for your dinner at the hotel, Full buffet breakfast for two, valued also at $40, and Two passes for a winery tour and tasting at Peller Estates, also valued at $40!

The offer is being run through TravelZoo.com and to have a look at full details of the offer click the following link: http://www.travelzoo.com/ca/hotels/ontario/1021136/

These rooms are available now through until June 15th, but you must book by the 10th May and these rooms are likely to sell out quickly, so the sooner you book the better! If you are flying to Toronto to stay there or near and around Niagara Falls – planning a trip there, this is not an offer you should miss! If your journey is particularly long and don’t fancy driving back at night – stopping at a hotel is very much recommended. Not only do you get to avoid a night time drive, you get to enjoy the atmosphere and the vibrancy of the colourful Falls when they’re lit up at dusk – and at all time you have the peace of mind of knowing that you’ve got an incredibly comfy and cosy suite to head back to for a good night’s sleep.

Treating yourself has just got a lot more affordable!

If you want more updates about the Hilton Niagara Falls Hotel, you can follow them on twitter here: @Hilton_Niagara

And remember you can always follow me on Twitter here:@canadatrip

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The falls that give the village its name, are hidden from plain view, because the main road crosses over the river just upstream; however, the falls are easily viewed from a nearby restaurant or from a path on the north band of the Fenelon River. The falls powers an hydro-electric dam, which diverts some of the falls’ flow.

Fenelon Falls, originally named Cameron’s Falls, was renamed after the township, which was named after François de Salignac de La Mothe-Fenelon (1641-1715, not to be confused with his more famous half-brother of the same name), who founded a mission on the Bay of Quinte.

The village of Fenelon Falls was incorporated in 1874. In 1876, the Victoria Railway reached Fenelon Falls. This line was taken over by the Midland Railway of Canada circa 1880, then absorbed into the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) in 1893. In 1885, construction of the lock between Cameron and Sturgeon lake began. In 1923, CN took over the former GTR, operating the line until the burning of McLaren’s Creek bridge near Lindsay in 1980 cut off the north end of the Haliburton Subdivision. In 1983, the line was abandoned with the track being removed by 1984. The line eventually became a public multi-use trail.

The Fenelon Falls Museum, open seasonally from May through October, is housed in the 1837 squared-timber home of James Wallis.

As the village is a tourist destination, it’s heavily geared up to providing its visitors with the best facilities it can, with ample fantastic quality cafes and restaurants dotted through the village everywhere – and of coarse you should never expect anything less from anywhere in Canada! A number of these coffee houses and restaurants are listed on Visit Fenelon Falls website here though like everywhere, its always worth having a look around, and if you have a few days – trying different places until you find your own favourite!

If you’re interested in having a better look around, heres a short video made by a resident of Kawartha Lakes – which is little walk around visit of Fenelon Falls:

So there you have it! If you’re in the Lake Simcoe area, why not give this pretty village a visit! For more information about what’s there to see and do, as well as events and other bits of information you’ll need – check out the Visit Fenelon Falls Website

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First let’s think of autumn in the UK. If we were to think of autumnal colours here, we’d think of browns, and yellows, and very very occasionally browny orange and red. In Canada, it would be Yellow, Orange and Red. After seeing what I’ve seen in Canada, even some of the most brightly coloured trees at home here in the UK, are paled into insignificance by the brilliance of the colours that can be seen at this time of year in Canada. The leaves there seem to almost emit light, rather than just reflect it – in dazzling arrays of oranges, yellows and of coarse brilliantly bright red.

While there, as you can imagine i took an immense number of pictures, and with the number of opportunities for photos that seemed to present themselves time and time again, it was no wonder!

The reason why you were always presented with a changing collage of colour was not simply due to the trees, but also the way in which the sun sets at this time of year. While we were there, that first week in this month, the sun set with some awe inspiring colour. Colour so bright that it lit up the countryside with a warm glowing orange light which coloured everything even more deeply red and orange than they had been during the day. If you look in the direction away from the sun you’re met with a warm orange scene, if you look back towards the sun you’re met with some incredibly colourful sunsets.

Autumn has always been and likely will always be my favourite season. Everything begins to take on that coziness as it begins to change to winter. The trees change colour, and we have Halloween and Bonfire Night. . OK so maybe not so much Halloween but i try to make it what i can each year. In Canada, i met a whole new Autumn ~ one i loved even more than here in the UK. It takes Autumn in the UK and doubles it’s effect. And that is why at least for me Canada symbolises Autumn.. and you havent experienced autumn, until you’ve been to Canada at this time of year!

So, you’re maybe planning a trip to Canada for Autumn now hm? Well you could book the same week i have, or those first two weeks in October, its usually a good bet, and normally you’ll see at least some of the colour I’ve described above. If you’re there those weeks, not only will you see the Autumn, but you’ll also get to be in Canada for Canada’s Thanksgiving, which is celebrated on the second Monday of October. If you want to take the more risky path however you could try to keep your eyes on the Fall Colour watch. That’s a site – specifically focused on Ontario, so that if you’re looking to hit during peak colour, you’ll be better informed. When you see the colour being reported – get yourself booked on some flights!

And if you’re booking flights to Canada, as we always do – we recommend Canadian Affair. Not only do they have the lowest prices you’ll find to fly from the UK to Canada, but they also have Special Offers that a lot of people miss – so remember to check them out here before you book!

This trip for us was partly twinged with an odd sense of symbolism in the end. Next year starts with us moving to a new base, further north of our current area, up near Algonquin Provincial Park. So, as we looked out at the leaves falling from the trees in a steady rain of foliage, we knew it was the end of this ‘year’ – and our time at the current base, but knew when the leaves begin to emerge after the cold winter that envelops Canada each year, we’ll have a new base, and can look forward to another warm bright summer. And how all of us look back on past years, thinking of the good times we had, we know we can look forward to the future in the knowledge that things better still can be just around the corner.

So! i’ll leave you with a few more of the photos i took this trip! – Things will be getting a little more spooky on Friday!

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This year’s first trip to Canada was different to previous trips as we seemed to have a whole variety of weather.. From bright hot sunny days of temperatures in the mid twenties right the way to snowflakes falling and settling over night, it all seemed to happen this last trip! It was on one of the more wet days that we happened to be passing here.. In fact it had been raining solid for over a day, but that didn’t make any difference to our experience of this fantastic store.

If you are driving north, passing Muskoka Wildlife Centre on your right, you’ll begin seeing signs on your right telling you how much further it is to the Muskoka Store, and with its large signs beside the road and its distinctive black and white log cabin style building you’ll find it difficult to miss, just remember to be in the right lane on the highway and start slowing down as soon as you see it as you pull straight off the highway into their large car park!

When you walk into the first part of the store, it had, on the day we went in, the feel of a garden centre, the feeling that sure, it’s a Store but you get the idea there’s much more there than it first appears.. And that’s exactly what you find out, turning left and walking down the corridor you step through a door and find yourself immersed in the cozy comfy environment of a cottage, a cottage that’s seen everything and been there for years – and so accumulated many mementos of its past.. the only difference is, almost all of it is for sale.

The store has been designed well, selling just about anything you’d ever want, especially if you happen to have a cottage in Muskoka! If you haven’t, that’s fine too – the store has a massive selection of gifts – so if you were stuck wondering what you may buy friends and family as mementos from Canada, or maybe you want to treat yourself, your almost sure of finding something you’ll want in this store! .. I certainly did!

The store its self is split into a number of different, almost themed rooms, for example you have the cottage-ware of furniture and ornaments as well as a room for books, and even a sea-shells themed room where you can buy all sorts of shell-based gifts

The Muskoka store however is a General store, and as the name suggests, it sells many different types of goods – in addition to the gifts, furniture, ornaments, books and shells, they also sell clothes – even down to specialist camping equipment. You’ll also find preserves and confectionery – so if you’ve got a sweet tooth you wont be left out here either!

Chosen as Canada’s most innovative retailer of the year by the Retail Council of Canada for good reason, Walter Page’s Muskoka Store combines high-quality merchandise with friendly service. Along with the store though, if you’re hungry why not check out Page’s Grill!
Add some fun to your. meal – eat in a boat! Page’s Grill boasts a seating area with comfortable log chairs inside a 34′ wooden lobster boat, which was given to the restaurant by a local cottager and boating enthusiast.
The Grill is a convenient spot for a casual meal, or lunch with the kids, serving top-quality fast food and with TVs throughout the restaurant to entertain you while you eat. Burgers are made of ground 100% sirloin, grilled over charcoal, and served with Strubb’s pickles, Heinz ketchup, Kraft cheddar cheese – and, of course, crispy, golden french fries. Grilled boneless, skinless chicken breasts are available as a healthy alternative. Shakes and cones are made with real Nestle ice-cream.. when you’re done eating, why not then head outside into the sunshine and have a game of mini-putt golf – which the Muskoka Store provides for free!

Overall Walter Page’s Muskoka Store is definitely a place you wont want to miss.

For more information on opening hours as well as what the store stocks, check out Walter Page’s Muskoka Store’s website: http://www.muskokastore.com/

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I brought you the summer fun of horseshoe valley resort, in the shining light of the 2010 winter games I’ll give you a taste of the Canadian winter in this part 2 resort review.

(Horshoe Valley resort from the top of the hills)

As with the my personal experience with this resort over the past 4 years, everytime I go there I always find something new, something fun, something exciting, and most importantly, something relaxing after a long day.

This year was diffrent, much diffrent, every morning when we hit the slopes the pride of Canada came out in the form of apparel, Canadian gloves, hats, jackets, everything!

This was all brought forth by something that sat in my mind the entire time there which was the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, openly celebrated by Horseshow Valley Resort in it’s winter activities and openly displayed in the restraunts.

There was not a place I could turn and not see a Canadian flag, showing the true pride even in the middle of the hills of Ontario of this great country.

The start of my adventure was of course, skiing! This year dragging along 15 pounds of camera gear to the slopes to give you, our readers the best possible example of this resort, or well the next best thing to being there!

My first ride up ski lift 3 brought my attention to the half pipe, a source for thrill, skill and snowy crashes, the first thing I always notice when going around what is usualy listed as black siamond hills (Highest Skill Rating for the hill) is just how young some of the people are that go down these. Ranging from the age of 5 up to mid 50′s, every seemed to be able to enjoy themselves on even the hardest hills.

(One of the many skilled skiiers catching air on the half pipe)

Making my way down the hill I met up with the tail end of the adventure park, a hill filled with ramps, stairs, railings and other thrills for the most advanced adventure seekers. As I was not able to go down this hill myself I stayed at the trail end with my trusty zoom lense to give you a few good action shots.

(A snowboarder riding one of the railings at the Asventure Park hill)

(Another snowboarder catching air off one of the ramps, my favorite photo from this trip)

As with the many thrill seeking hills, there are alot of hill dedicated to family skiing, hills that you can stick together as you go down, or go on your own and enjoy the amazing scenery around the resort.

(Amazing scenery seen from the top of the hill “Donkey Serenade”)

New to skiing or snow boarding? No need to worry, the resort offers many schooling sessions for all ages and all diffrent skill sets.

(One of the many schools getting ready to go down the hills)

The resort offers so much more besides snowboarding and skiing you can also hit THunder Valley for snowtubing fun, rent a snow mobile and tread snow on the many back trails, go for a horse drawn carrage ride, hike the many wooded areas, enjoy a hot chocolate by the wood burning fire in the lobby, or just enjoy a relaxing time with your family beside the pool or in the spa.

As with alot of my articles, I am going to leave you with a gallery of my adventures in photos!

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Although it was a pretty cloudy day, it was pretty neat to see such a huge structure moving, and it was a lot quicker than i thought it would have been too! check out the short video:

While we were there we actually hit it at a busy time, getting to see it in operation twice, one ferrying a single boat up and the second ferrying three. Since I’ve got so many photos here’s a selection of them

Remember to check out the full article about Kirkfield Lift Lock here – well worth a visit if you’re passing by!

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Muskoka Heritage Place is a trip back in time to an authentic pioneer village – all fully furnished genuine muskoka buildings including General Store, Church, Inn, Barn, Blacksmith Shop, dwellings and a trapper’s cabin. You will also find a First Nations’ Museum Exhibit & Encampment, the Muskoka Museum, Costumed Narrators, Farm Animals and Gardens and hands on demonstrations! If you’ve been to Beamish Open air museum in the UK, this place is a smaller version of that style of attraction, all based around a time gone by in Muskoka, Ontario.

As you can see from the image above, the Heritage Place has its own steam engine, which runs rides through the season. They have brought an historic narrow-guage steam train back to life. The Portage Flyer has a long history in the Muskoka Area, running from 1901 until 1959. The engine and cars have been restored to their original splendour. They have also re-created a 1920 train station. It’s important to note however if you’re heading out this year, the train is undergoing some renovation this year but will be up and running by December 19th for a special event called “Portage Flyer Christmas” Their one and only pre-2010 train event which is a train ride to Santa! This event happens on Saturday 19th December 2009 between 5pm and 8pm. The Heritage Place run a number of events throughout each season so remember to check out their events website by clicking here

If you like steam trains though, the train isn’t the only attraction that may interest you as there is also a steam museum!

Muskoka Heritage Place is located just two hours north of Toronto, in the town of Huntsville, within easy walking distance from the main street.

The current admission prices for this season are:

Museum:
Adult: $2
Child: $1*

Village:
Adult: $10
Child: $7*

* One child under 3 is admitted free with each paid adult.

The Muskoka Heritage Place is part of the Muskoka Attractions scheme, if you have proof of purchase from any of the other participating attractions you will be able to get into the Muskoka Museum free.

The Museum is open 10am to 4pm Daily between May 16th to October 10th 2009 – but remember there are two events after this date – the Great Pumpkin Trail Hallowe’en Night on 31st October and the Portage Flyer Christmas, so if you will be around then it’s worth contacting them for information on how to take part!

You can find the Muskoka Heritage Place by putting the following address into your Sat Nav:
88 Brunel Road
Huntsville, ON P1H 1R1, Canada

or ring on
+1 705-789-7576

Alternatively you can always use trusty Google Maps

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This place is definitely a must see for anyone who really wants to get a sense of the true pioneering days of Canada while you’re out on your trip! Remember to check out their website at www.muskokaheritageplace.org for a list of all the events, and more information about what’s there!

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So here’s what it’s about:

Muskoka is a region in Ontario north of Lake Simcoe, so like many regions there’s always lots to do. The clever thing Muskoka region have done is team together their attractions to help customers experiance more in Muskoka, rather than simply seeing one of the attractions. I’m going to briefly mention the attractions in Muskoka which are participating in the scheme – I’ll have articles in the future about a number of them, so keep your eyes open for this, especially if you’re planning on a Muskoka road trip!

The way the scheme works, is you go to one of the attractions and get proof of purchase for your visit. You can then go to any of the listed participating attractions – provide them with this proof of purchase and you will get a discount or receive the offer they state on this flyer!

The participating places to visit in Muskoka are:

Santa’s Village
Lady Muskoka Cruises
Muskoka Wildlife Centre (Highly reccomended!)
Muskoka Heritage Place
Back Country Paintball
Muskoka Lake Museum
Rich Hill Candles / Gifts
Bala’s Museum
The Real Muskoka Experiance
Bethune Memorial House
Muskoka Rails Museum
Eaglecrest Aerial Park

To check out exactly what discounts or offers these great attractions are offering in this scheme take a look at Muskoka Attractions’ Website: http://www.muskokaattractions.com – this gives you a breakdown of each attraction and lets you know exactly what each attraction is offering. A couple of examples are:

Muskoka Heritage Place: [With proof of purchase from another 2009 participating attraction] Visit the Muskoka Museum at Muskoka Heritage Place free of charge.

The Real Muskoka Experiance: [With proof of purchase from another 2009 participating attraction] Recieve 50% off admission to the Muskoka Boat and Heritage Centre.

Black Country Paintball: [With proof of purchase from another 2009 participating attraction] Recieve free admission for up to 3 players including marker rental, hopper and goggles. (customers would purchase paintballs)

So, if you’re heading to the Muskoka area, get your proof of purchases and make the most of this great scheme!

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(The main entrance to the Resort Hotel, Photo ©2009)

This resort is proof that Canada is a diffrent country every time the seasons change, in this article, I’ll give you a taste of the summer fun at this mountain top resort.

Lets start with the area, Horseshoe Valley Resort is located just outside of Barrie in amazing mountainous terrain providing an amazing view from all sides of the resort. If you’re up for a hike, these mountains are for you!

(The Ski hills durring the summer, now only used for curious guests climbing to the top, and a putting practise area, Photo ©2009)

Just driving to the resort you’ll notice one major thing, the trees, there’s trillions of them, which means lots of local animals, although most animals avoid the resorts so they are likely to be seen unless you wonder into the woods.

Horshoe Valley Resort is host to a top of the line golf course providing an amazing challenge with the hilly terrian. If you’re there for adventure the resort has many out door summer activities including: Tree top treks (rope bridges among the tree tops) ATV and segway all terrian trails and all of this wouldn’t be complete without zip lines! If you’re there to relax, the resort has a spa and hair salon, indoor and outdoor pools.

(The indoor pool at Horseshoe Valley Resort, Photo ©2009)

 Adventure and relaxation will lead to everyone’s all time favorite thing to do, eat! Horseshoe Valley resort is home to 3 restraunts, although only 2 are opened durring the summer seasons. The first restraunt, and my personal favorite, The CrazyHorse Saloon, this family centered restraunt is home to all of your favorite Canadian classics, including Pizza, hamburgers and so much more! The next food stop on my lis of good eats is the FireSide Cafe, a more fancy dining experience, perfect for the romantic night out or an amazing sunset dinner, the FireSide Cafe is also host to the breakfast buffet on weekdays and the Brunch on Sundays.

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So if you want an out of the way family adventure, horseshoe valley resort is the place to be for summer fun! Stay tuned for part 2 of the Horseshoe valley resort where I’ll bring you on the winter side of this home away from home.

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Upper Canada Mall Entrance

If you like shopping, this place pretty much has it all, and is the biggest mall in the area – catching people from all the way up from Orillia and the whole Lake Simcoe Region. The mall is located right in the middle of Newmarket and easy to get to no matter which direction you come from. Now I’ve been to Fairview Mall, which is another mall in Toronto, and I’m sure this place is bigger than it – and the variety of stores will pretty much suit any need you’d have.

Walking around the mall, it reminds me a lot of my own home city mall / shopping centre Meadowhall, with both these malls being on two floors, with large open areas through the upper floor so you can view the concourse below.. But me being me… food is one of the reasons i love this Mall.. This mall, like many Canadian malls has a huge variety of different foods available for you to try

The variety of different foods include typical American burgers and hot dogs, Canadian sandwich deli, doughnuts and coffee shop Tim Horton’s, Subway for any other sandwich needs, Mexican, Fried Chicken, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Korean, Italian, Greek, and Mediterranean all in one tidy, and recently revamped food court!

Upper Canada Mall's Food Court

Of coarse, if you’re just thirsty — there’s plenty of places to get a drink – I’d straight up recommend Tim Horton’s.. I’ll be featuring this chain of great coffee shops in its own article later this week, but if you want the best hot chocolate you can buy for incredibly low prices – this is the place you want to go .. Not only would i recommend their hot chocolate.. but they also do a French Vanilla Coffee… this is another one you want to try while out there, providing you like your coffee sweet of coarse! But if you’re looking for other places, there’s always Starbucks or another specialist coffee shop – Timothy’s Coffees of the World. You’ll also find a great Juice shop which specialises in all sorts of exotic combinations of fresh fruit juices.

And since I’m a foody – - I’ll also mention that you can also find in this mall, a frozen yoghurt store – Yogen Fruz, a store dedicated to Muffins – Mmmarvelous Mmmuffins, a sushi bar – Mac Sushi, a french pastry store – Crepe de Licious, a popcorn stall, doughnut holes store and of coarse a pretzel store.. Oh .. and yes – for you chocolate lovers out there, there’s certainly a classy chocolate shop there too!

With all those food outlets, its difficult to imagine the mall actually has space for all the normal things a mall would sell, but this place is definitely big enough to carry this out successfully. The mall boasts a huge selection of Women’s Clothing stores, as well as catering for Men. It also has a number of large department stores, health and beauty stores, hair salons and spas, Electronics and mobile phone stores, and yes – this Mall does have an HMV!

If you have small children the mall also has a Soft Foam Play Park, located in the Toys R Us wing – this park also has free Wi-Fi available so while your kids play you can get on your blackberry, netbook or laptop and check on your emails.. or maybe even the latest article here on Canada Trip.. sorry i had to! Another thing you’ll find at the entrances is that there are no shortages of single and double seated “strollers” themed as various emergency vehicles.. no this isn’t so that you can relive your childhood – it’s for your kids to be pushed around the mall, keeping them safe and happy while you browse the store windows. They’re available for $3 with $0.25 going to charity.

Mall hours are:

Monday to Friday – 9:30am to 9pm
Saturday – 9am to 6pm
Sunday – 11am to 5pm

You can find the mall on your GPS by using the following address:
17600 Yonge Street, Newmarket, ON, L3Y 4ZI

Telephone them on 905-895-1961

Go to their website: www.uppercanadamall.com

or you can use our trusty google map below

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So! Do check this place out, its definitely worth going here before going all the way down to Toronto – if you’re staying in the Lake Simcoe Area.. especially if you want a different style of food every day of the week!!

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