Canada Trip.co.uk

I went to meet my parents back from Lanzarote last night at Manchester Airport Terminal 2.. and when we were walking to the terminal through the carpark.. my partner said ‘im sure i just saw someone with a Tim Hortons cup’ and i replied in a dismissive manner.

We got into the Arrivals and there’s a Spa shop on the left, and to our amazement — THEY SOLD TIM HORTONS COFFEE AND DOUGHNUTS!.. We picked ourselves up a coffee and doughnut – and for the UK – at a reasonable price – the Doughnuts were 89p each but if you bought a Large coffee, hot chocolate, laté or cappuccino – with a doughnut you could get both for £2.19! ..

Anyway — that’s my swooning over the amazing story of Tim Hortons in the UK over with . . So – Today’s article is courtesy of the Metro. On the tram heading to work – and find a great article featuring Montreal and the food aspect of the city – so Here is ‘Take a big bite out of Montreal’ By Sarah Baxter of The Metro:

Foodie Canada: Gordon Ramsay got into a bit of a stew when he opened his first Canadian venture in Quebec’s largest city. But it does just fine without him BY SARAH BAXTER

In August, Gordon Ramsay launched his first restaurant in Montreal. On opening night, the sprinklers went doolally and diners were forced to evacuate. Unfortunate? Perhaps. But I think Montreal was trying to tell him something: a watery way of delivering its own f-word.

The Quebec city doesn’t need Sweary Gordon. It has an incredible food scene already. This metropolis, floating on an island in the St Lawrence River, mixes French, north American and immigrant influences to mouthwatering effect. And there’s always another great local deli/chocolatier/charcuterie the next block up. (more…)

Share on Facebook

Tags: Foodies, Foody, Metro Article, Montreal, Tim Hortons in the UK
Posted in Montreal, Places to Eat, Quebec | No Comments »

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…)

Share on Facebook

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
(more…)

Share on Facebook

Posted in Alberta, British Columbia, Canada Trip.co.uk, Flights/Car Parking/Hire etc, Montreal, Niagara Falls, Niagara, ON, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Ottawa, Quebec, Toronto, Vancouver | Comments Off

It’s Friday, its almost spring – but who says you cant visit tropical a climate in Canada, at even this time of year? If you or your kids ever wanted to be able to visit a number of different places around the world within a few hours, the Montreal Biodome is the place you’ll want to take your family!

The Montreal Biodome (French: Biodôme de Montréal) is a facility located in Montreal that allows visitors to walk through replicas of four ecosystems found in the Americas. The building was originally constructed for the 1976 Olympic Games as a velodrome. It hosted both track cycling and judo events. Renovations on the building began in 1989 and in 1992 the indoor nature exhibit was opened.

The building was designed by French architect Roger Taillibert as part of his larger plan for an Olympic park that included the Montreal Olympic Stadium and the Olympic pool. The venue was a combined velodrome and Judo facility. Construction of the building began in August 1973, and the facility was officially opened in April 1976. (more…)

Share on Facebook

Posted in Montreal, Quebec | 1 Comment »

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…)

Share on Facebook

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

Its Friday again! so time for another article. And I’m once again going to delve into the history of Canada. Anyone who happens to be a member of English Heritage or National Trust in the UK may be interested in Castles, and simply for its imposing position, significance and importance – The Citadelle in Quebec City I would probably most likely compare to Dover Castle, as far as visitor experience is concerned. Just like you should visit Dover Castle if you’re in Dover, If you are even half interested in history – The Citadelle is something you simply cannot miss out on while visiting Quebec City.

The Citadelle—the French name is used both in English and French—is a military installation and official residence located atop Cap Diamant, adjoining the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. This citadel is part of the fortifications of Quebec City, the only city with extant city walls in North America.

The Quebec Parliament Building and many other provincial government buildings and several large hotels are also nearby, towering over this sunken or flat citadel, typical of the late 18th century and early 19th century. (more…)

Share on Facebook

Posted in Quebec | 1 Comment »

Well, it’s Monday – and with Christmas being on Saturday, i hope you have all your shopping done! Isn’t it crazy how of all things, snow is causing problems for Santa this year in the UK!
I decided today’s article will be again on a transport type topic – a place to visit in Ottawa, that being the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.

The museum’s collection contains a wide variety of civilian and military aircraft, representing the history of Canadian aviation from the pioneer era before the First World War up to the present day. Particularly noteworthy is the collection of vintage bushplanes from the 1920s to the 1940s. The military aircraft represent aircraft flown by Canadians in the First World War, Second World War, and the Cold War. The museum’s best known exhibit is the surviving components of the Avro Arrow interceptor from the late 1950s.

Also on site are interactive activities on the science of flight, films, demonstrations, a boutique, and guided tours.

A few of the tours take the visitors “behind the scenes” to see conservation and restoration work in progress, and pieces which are in storage. (more…)

Share on Facebook

Posted in Ontario, Ottawa, Quebec | No Comments »

If you have kids, love history and or trains – this is one place that if you’re in Montreal in Quebec, you will not want to miss out of your trip!
Since i was a kid, I’ve always loved trains – i can’t say exactly what it was that started the fascination off.. but i can probably pin it down to Thomas the Tank Engine, followed up by a trip (the first of many) to York Railway Museum where i got to see these massive feats of engineering up close, saw Stevenson’s Rocket and the Mallard.. and then it was compounded by my very first visit to a real train station; Sheffield, where on just stepping onto platform 1 with my mother, a National Rail Intercity 125 thundered in and stopped in front of me. As kids i suppose we’re very impressionable, but even now as an adult i cant help but stop and think for a moment when i see these giant machines (just as i do planes) and remember exactly how much these actually helped change the face of transport, industry and life its self… Sorry – I sometimes get a little carried away.. But – If you like York Railway Museum, and maybe even feel the same way as i do about these machines – you really need to make your way to the Canadian Railway Museum – Exporail.

Operated by the Canadian Railroad Historical Association and using the brand name ExpoRail, the museum maintains the largest collection of railway equipment in Canada with over 140 pieces of rolling stock. There are also over 250,000 objects and documents from Canada’s railway history in the collection which is maintained in the archives on the property.

The museum operates a heritage streetcar line around the grounds as well as a heritage railway which pulls a small passenger train on a former freight spur to Montée des Bouleaux. The streetcar operates daily during the spring, summer and fall while the railway operates every Sunday during the same period. (more…)

Share on Facebook

Posted in Montreal, Quebec | No Comments »