Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces

[PNW Judy]

Have you searched for Gen's posts of some of her trips in those areas. I'm sure you'll find some good tips there. I would also send her a PM or an email. While her schedule seems to make it tough for her to visit here often these days, I'm sure she would be glad to give you some tips. This is her neck of the woods, after all.

[UKCraig]

Promising looking tip on the campground; thanks! I note that there is another provincial park campground a little further along also. I will likely choose one of these two unless anyone else has any other suggestions?

I think that I have read most of Gens posts on the site - she sure has been around a bit (in the nicest possible way!) - but most seem to relate to the Atlantic Provinces rather than the Maritime Provinces. However I am very much taking her advice when it comes to Quebec...!

[UKCraig]

Just caught the end of an old episode of Tall Ship Chronicles on TV (I guess that is where I first got the idea of going to Lunenburg?) and this led me to check out their website to see if the ship would be in town when I passed through. It wouldn't. I'd have missed it by a couple of days. Damn!

This got me to thinking and I have come up with the following possible changes which seem to be far better all around. It'll cost me £35 to change my flight date and destination but I'll save a little on the car rental so that makes up for that. The other benefit is that it cuts around a thousand miles off the route by taking the (very keenly priced) train from Montreal to Ottawa and Ottawa to Toronto.

Thursday 1st May Flight: London - Montreal (arrive 8pm local) and pick up rental car
Friday 2nd May Drive to Grand Falls Gorge
Saturday 3rd May Check out Grand Falls Gorge then head south to Fredericton via the Hartland Covered Bridge
Sunday 4th May Ferry: Saint John to Digby Nova Scotia (12.15pm arrive 3.15pm) and head to Kejimkujik National Park
Monday 5th May Drive to Lunenburg to see the Picton Castle depart then head west via Peggys Cove to Halifax
Tuesday 6th May Drive to Cape Breton & drive the Cabot Trail
Wednesday 7th May Cabot Trail
Thursday 8th May Drive back to Caribou
Friday 9th May Ferry: Caribou - Prince Edward Island (am)
Saturday 10th May Prince Edward Island
Sunday 11th May Hopewell Rocks, Fundy National Park
Monday 12th May Drive back towards Quebec City
Tuesday 13th May Drive back towards Quebec City
Wednesday 14th May Quebec City
Thursday 15th May Drive back towards Montreal
Friday 16th May Drive back to Montreal & drop rental car off at railway station downtown before exploring city on foot
Saturday 17th May Train: Montreal to Ottawa (pm)
Sunday 18th May Explore Ottawa on foot
Monday 19th May Train: Ottawa to Toronto (am) & explore Toronto on foot. CN Tower at night?
Tuesday 20th May Train: Toronto to Vancouver (9am)

I'd love to hear the views of you guys. I've got very little experience of travelling by rail in Canada but the couple of journeys that I did seemed to be very efficient and reliable. Is this correct?

Does anyone have any experience with the two ferries that I'm planning on using?

Is Ottawa a city that can be seen on foot when arriving by train? Is there any merit in stopping en route from Ottawa to Torono to visit Kingston?

[Mark Sedenquist]

However I am very much taking her advice when it comes to Quebec...!

Did you ever contact RTA's resident expert in that area? Garry Sowerby lives and works in the Maritimes and you might want to give him a shout.

Mark

[UKCraig]

Good idea, Mark, do you have any contact details for him? I couldn't find anything on the linked page or elsewhere? Maybe you could drop him a line on my behalf and ask him to pop by and have a look at this thread?

Thanks
Craig.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Craig,

Here is Garry's web site and contact info.

And a little more about his team be sure to say howdy for us!

Mark

[Nate]

I've never come into Ottawa by train, but I think you might be able to see some of the skyline and maybe Parliament. Where the station is in regards to downtown is about 5km. There's a fair bit to do downtown that is reachable on foot. Parliament, a few museums and the area known as 'The Market', which is where most of the bars and restaurants are located.

If you're into museums, one I would recommend is the Civilization Museum across the river in Gatineau. There are quite a few great museums and a list of them can be found here.

Kingston is a nice city and has a lot of history. The main attraction that immediately comes to mind is Old Fort Henry.

And defiantly check out the CN Tower at night. If you take public transit in Toronto I would avoid the street cars only because they tend to make more stops than buses and the subway.

[UKCraig]

Thanks again, Nate. Information such as the stationbeing 5km from downtown are very helpful. It's not a problem - I can easily walk that - but you don't want to turn up after dark to be faced with that! Thanks for the tip.

I'm not generally a massive museum-goer but I have heard good things about the Civilization Museum and your suggestion has reinforced that. I will try and get in and have a look myself! Fort Henry is also something that I will keep in mind. Looks interesting.

It might be a long shot but I'll ask anyway :p Do you know anything about the Mosport race circuit - specifically about its location in relation to the nearerst railway station on my route between Ottawa - Kingston - Toronto? I've checked their website, as well as that of Via Rail, but cannot work it out. I even checked Google Earth but cannot really work it out on there either :s

Thanks again!

[Nate]

I hardly use Google when looking for directions. I am a fan of Mapquest. Here's the link to where it's located.

The Mosport race circuit is a fair ways outside of Toronto. The closest via rail stop is Oshawa and that puts you at about 44km away. I suppose you always could take a cab there, but that would probably be around $50 one way. However if it is something you really want to do and don't mind paying the cab you could end your train in Oshawa, take the cab, spend however long you intend to spend there and then take the GO Train into whatever part of Toronto is closest to where you want to be. I had a quick look at the GO transit system and it seems that the farthest north it goes is to Taunton Road West. You could maybe save money on a cab by taking the bus up there and grabbing a cab from there.

That's really all I'm seeing at the moment.

Side note; the civilization museum has an IMAX Theatre. If you've never experienced an IMAX before I would squeeze it in if you have time.

[UKCraig]

Thank you again, Nate, that is very good information. I think that I am probably gonna give Mosport a miss as it looks quite tricky to get to without a car. I appreciate your help in reaching that decision. I'm thinking there'll be plenty of other cars to see later in the trip so I can afford to miss one meeting and spend more time in the Maritimes instead.

I had a very detailed email back from Gen this morning. I'll seek her permission first and hopefully post it up here later as it'd sure be helpful for anyone else travelling through the area.