Im a complete novice to the whole travelling thing, and have recently been fed up with my job and life in general so would love to go travelling and see some of the world!
Ive wanted to go to Canada for a while now, but really have no idea where to start in planning such a trip. I'd like to go from one side to the other, but not sure how. Ive read about the Canada train that goes from one side to the other, can you stop at points along the route or is it a non stop service? I would love to go to some of the national parks and take in some of the views, as well as have a look around the cities. Id be doing the trip alone so is it easy to meet people along the way?
Lots of questions there, sorry! But any advice and experiences would be great!
Rob
Reply to this Hi Rob,
Canada is large, as you probably know. There is NO train that goes completely from one side to the other. On the west coast there is Vancouver Island...there's a decent ferry service to the capital Victoria, in the province of British Columbia. Then trains will take you west from Vancouver to Alberta, Ontario, etc to Nova Sotia. But to get to the island on the east coast, Newfoundland, you need another ferry. In the winter it is a long ride on a boat and then a 8-10 hour bus-ride to get to the capital on this side, St. John's.
National Parks.....winter in the parks is demanding. Some are closed but some, like in BC and Alberta and Quebec are open since there are ski-resorts nearby, etc. Best to check with Parks Canada on that one. Also, some parks do not provide some services and you will need to bring everything with you.
No problem on meeting people, though. But some of the parks are very remote and you could go days without meeting anyone.
If you are not a seasoned winter-traveller, I recommend you stick to cities and towns. Winter gets deadly here sometimes and you don't want to be marooned somewhere during a 3-day blizzard.
Back to the train....you can stop at some places, depending on the kind of ticket you get. I think this varies during the year too.
I hope this helps. If you have any more questions, feel free. I know I have given some negative information but I'm being honest. I live in Newfoundland and if you like snow and cold, then December to March is perfect here for you. If you don't like the cold, you may want to wait until the spring and summer to visit this country.
Brian.
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