Canada Trip.co.uk

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 Friday – and its the big day of the Royal Wedding! So talking about Royalty, when you’re in Niagara next, why not treat yourself like Royalty – and stay in one of the best hotels in the city – the Hilton Niagara Falls.

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! (more…)

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I’ve been going to Canada for six years now, but Niagara Falls is still one of my favourite places. Even if you don’t like all the touristy stuff, make sure – if you’re in the area that you drop by. The falls are worth a visit any day of any month – because they are guaranteed to take your breath away!
I’ve featured various attractions at Niagara Falls before, but this one is a slightly atypical attraction; Niagara Butterfly Conservatory.

The Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory is a butterfly zoo operated by the Niagara Parks Commission in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It is located about 10 minutes by car, north of Niagara Falls on the grounds of the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens & School of Horticulture.

The conservatory was opened in December 1996 with a gift shop, 200-seat theater/auditorium room, and a climate-controlled greenhouse. The conservatory has over 2,000 tropical butterflies from over 60 different species. The conservatory glass dome is 1,022 square meters (11,000 sq ft) in size with 180 meters (590 ft) of paths inside the greenhouse portion, which has a wide variety of foliage. The conservatory can accommodate up to 300 visitors per hour. Since captive butterflies usually have a life span of 2–4 weeks, the conservatory imports up to 3,000 butterflies per month from world butterfly farms in Costa Rica, El Salvador, the Philippines, and Australia. Special netting along the inside of the glass dome keeps the butterflies from getting stuck to it and from dying from hypothermia. Butterfly food plants at the conservatory such as Lantana, Cuphea, Zinnia, Ixora, Liatris, and Pentas are replaced every 2–3 weeks because caterpillars have large appetites. (more…)

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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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If you’re heading out to Southern Ontario this year, visiting Niagara Falls is a must. Almost every trip that i take to Canada usually ends up with us at Niagara for at least one of our days. The atmosphere combined with the beauty of the parks, and of coarse the natural wonder that are the falls themselves make it unmissable… and with a full events schedule through 2011 there’s always something happening through the year! Here’s a couple of events I’ve picked out from the many;

Winter Festival of Lights runs until 31st January so if you’re heading out next week you should be able to catch it still! Visit the 28th annual Winter Festival of Lights, Canada’s largest lights festival with nearly 2 million lights and over 100 animated lighting displays, including the world-famous Enchantment of Disney displays. You’ll also enjoy spectacular fireworks; Concerts at the Arena and children’s entertainment; Candy Cane Lane 5K Race & Fun Run; Winter Festival Candle Light Stroll as well as a variety of dinner theatre shows. Don’t miss all there is to see and do in Niagara Falls during the Winter Festival of Lights! .. Oh yes – and admission is free!

Jan 1st – 31st: Niagara-on-the-Lake Icewine Festival Snow draped vineyards and warm hospitality collide during the Niagara-on-the-Lake Icewine Festival. Icewine comes to life as each of the Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake offer distinct events sure to leave a sweet taste in your mouth. In addition, the Heritage District will be the site of a variety of Icewine-inspired events, the flagship event being the Niagara-on-the-Lake Icewine Village. Held on January 22 and 23 from11 am to 5 pm, the event pairs Icewines from the 25 Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake with Jazz music and Icewine-infused delicacies from Niagara-on-the-Lake dining partners. Admission is free. (more…)

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Today, I’m featuring something that if you love historical war planes (like me!) and you’re in the Toronto / Niagara area, then this is a place you’ll want to head down the QEW to get to!

The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum is a major Canadian aviation museum. It is located at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport on the outskirts of Hamilton, Ontario. The museum is a non-profit organization whose mandate is to acquire, document, preserve and maintain a complete collection of aircraft that were flown by Canadians and the Canadian military services from the beginning of the Second World War to the present.

The Museum’s collection includes aircraft that really fly and several that remain on static display and are interactive workshops. A large collection of military aircraft that have played a major role in the Canadian military are displayed, including one of two airworthy Avro Lancasters and a Supermarine Spitfire. The museum is also in the process of restoring lesser known but historically significant aircraft, including a Westland Lysander and a Bristol Bolingbroke (a version of the Bristol Blenheim).

The Avro Lancaster flown out of the museum, one of only two airworthy Lancasters in the world, is known as the Mynarski Memorial Lancaster in honour of Pilot Officer Andrew Charles Mynarski, and is painted in the markings of his aircraft. The other is the City of Lincoln, which I’m sure is very familiar to most people in the UK as it is the only Lancaster you will have likely ever seen in the air at national celebrations, along with local ones. An Ontario Historical Plaque was erected at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum by the province to commemorate Eileen Vollick’s role in Ontario’s heritage. Eileen Vollick was Canada’s first licensed female pilot (more…)

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When someone says Niagara Falls, immediately you think of gushing torrents of water descending down a giant horseshoe shaped fall, misting up into a great cloud that rises up into the sky.. but there’s something that’s still nature going on there – though slightly more man made. As you walk down the pavement with the falls to your right, over the road on your left – is Niagara Falls Queen Victoria Park.

It’s a stark contrast from the busy casinos, amusements, restaurants and rides of Niagara’s town centre, but Niagara Falls Falls Queen Victoria Park does its job well, providing visitors with a calm relaxed open space full of life, both flora and fauna – and colour.

Queen Victoria Park is literally the “heart” of Niagara Parks. Bounded by the steep Fallsview moraine and the Niagara River Great Gorge, the Park contains a valuable collection of unique native and international plants and beautifully maintained gardens.

Walking through the Park beside the Falls, from Clifton Hill to beyond Dufferin Islands, you can enjoy a rock garden, hanging baskets, a Hybrid tea rose garden and attractive carpet-bedding displays. Park benches and well-groomed lawns provide pleasant venues for relaxation and photography.

Queen Victoria Park celebrates every season in style. In Spring, over 500,000 daffodils start the season in their bright and welcoming way. Magnificent magnolia trees, breathtaking tulips and other blooms are all there for you to enjoy. (more…)

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The idyllic 18th-century Niagara-on-the-Lake has been called Canada’s prettiest little town. It is home to some of North America’s finest wineries, a sampling of great hotels, fine restaurants that specialise in local cuisine, eclectic shopping and the Shaw Festival.

Blossoming flowers colour the neat and orderly downtown. Beautiful stone heritage buildings have been restored to their original splendor. Old-fashioned street lights illuminate the horse-drawn carriages that parade up and down Queen Street.

Though its famous name has left it linked with one of the Seven Natural Wonders of North America, the mood and pace of the charming town has little in common with the city of Niagara Falls.

And Niagara-on-the-Lake’s beauty is more substance than superficiality. The Niagara Peninsula is recognized internationally as an outstanding wine-producing locale, with a unique mesoclimate similar to that of the great wine producing regions of the world. This rich agricultural area is more southerly than Bordeaux, and the two Great Lakes, Ontario and Erie, moderate temperatures, ensuring the cool springs and long autumns that are ideal for growing grapes.

Just over an hour’s drive from Toronto and a half-hour from Buffalo, N.Y., the peninsula is home to more than 40 wineries. No longer are they simply purveyors of excellent wines, the wineries have done an outstanding job of tapping into tourism, offering visitors the complete wine country experience. Open year-round, they welcome guests with tours, tastings, special events and the opportunity to experience regional cuisine in their on-site restaurants.
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If you’re out to Canada imminently, and stopping in or visiting Niagara – here’s something that’s happening right now! In the Soil: Niagara’s Home Grown Arts Festival.
I couldn’t put it better than their own site so here’s what they have to say about the festival!

In the Soil: Niagara’s Homegrown Arts Festival:
70 events – 11 venues – 10 days!
Thursday April 15 – Saturday April 24 2010

In The Soil, the Niagara Region’s first multidisciplinary arts festival, is back for its second year to celebrate the original homegrown talent of Niagara. This year 70 acts featuring over 200 artists were chosen by a jury of local veteran and professional artists, proving once again that Niagara’s creative soil is fertile.

Musicians, video, media, theatre, dance and performance artists will be showcased from April 15 to April 24 in a variety of venues throughout the downtown core of St. Catharines. Plus Niagara’s own Juno nominated Great Lakes Swimmers will headline a stellar showcase at Centre for the Arts, Brock University on April 23rd.
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If you’re out and about in Niagara, and the kids want to take swimming to the next level, how about going to a Water Park? Niagara has North America’s biggest indoor water park – Fallsview Indoor Waterpark!

Niagara is world famous for its giant falls, so it only makes sense to have a day spent in water, in a place where water is a big deal!
Located on the Falls Avenue Entertainment Complex, North America’s largest indoor Waterpark and Hotel complex, the Fallsview Indoor Waterpark is the only Fallsview waterpark in Niagara. The park Features a mammoth play area, the massive 1,000 gallon tipping bucket, enormous 6 storey high waterslides, the full-sized wave pool, year-round outdoor activity pool and sundeck, plunge bowl, two over sized adult only Jacuzzis and a children’s play area!

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