US/Canada Winter

[Pag]

Myself and my partner are in the process of trying to organise a 5-6 week trip to the US & Canada in Dec 2012-Jan 2013. This is obviously American winter.

We're looking to do New York first, then up into Boston and through French Canada (Quebec City & Montreal), across to Toronto and Niagara Falls. Then fly over to Vegas for New Years, a bit of snow skiing in the mountains before San Francisco, down the California coast to LA, then a stop-over in Hawaii on the way back.

We've got it all worked out (Contiki for the Vegas onwards part) except the part from Boston - Toronto. I can't find any operators (Contiki, Trafalgar etc) that run any tours up there during the winter.

Has anyone been to Canada in the Winter? How cold is it, and does anyone have any tips for the best/easiest way to see Ontario & Quebec?

[AFLflyer]

Myself and my partner are in the process of trying to organise a 5-6 week trip to the US & Canada in Dec 2012-Jan 2013. This is obviously American winter.

We're looking to do New York first, then up into Boston and through French Canada (Quebec City & Montreal), across to Toronto and Niagara Falls. Then fly over to Vegas for New Years, a bit of snow skiing in the mountains before San Francisco, down the California coast to LA, then a stop-over in Hawaii on the way back.

We've got it all worked out (Contiki for the Vegas onwards part) except the part from Boston - Toronto. I can't find any operators (Contiki, Trafalgar etc) that run any tours up there during the winter.

Has anyone been to Canada in the Winter? How cold is it, and does anyone have any tips for the best/easiest way to see Ontario & Quebec?

VERY

[Dutchy]

I went to Toronto in May and it was cold enough then! My cousin lived there for a number of years. Went down to Niagra Falls, great spot, about an hour from Toronto.

Are you driving down the coast from San Fran to LA? Great trip along the coast, very similar to the Great Ocean Rd, if you are interested in golf stop at the Monterey Peninsula to see Pebble Beach, awesome.

[Pag]

Just found a rail tour that does Toronto - Niagara Falls - Montreal - Quebec City, with a couple of days in each. Might be the best bet.

Dutchy, we're on a bus tour from San Fran down to LA along the cooast, stopping in Santa Barbara. I've heard it's an excellent drive.

[devilsadvocate]

Myself and my partner are in the process of trying to organise a 5-6 week trip to the US & Canada in Dec 2012-Jan 2013. This is obviously American winter.

We're looking to do New York first, then up into Boston and through French Canada (Quebec City & Montreal), across to Toronto and Niagara Falls. Then fly over to Vegas for New Years, a bit of snow skiing in the mountains before San Francisco, down the California coast to LA, then a stop-over in Hawaii on the way back.

We've got it all worked out (Contiki for the Vegas onwards part) except the part from Boston - Toronto. I can't find any operators (Contiki, Trafalgar etc) that run any tours up there during the winter.

Has anyone been to Canada in the Winter? How cold is it, and does anyone have any tips for the best/easiest way to see Ontario & Quebec?

Lived in Canada for 8 months back in 2009. It is #)(^%$*# FREEEEEZING!! The coldest temp we experienced was -42. To give you an idea:

-If you go out with wet hair, you get icicle dreadlocks in about 30 seconds.
-It's tough to blink as your eye liquid triedto freeze
-Without adequate baselayers, your skin will go bright red as a precurser to frost bit within about 6 mins.
-When you breathe out, your nose feels like it's filling with boogs. That's just the condensation from your breath freezing on your nasal hair.

I recall a really cold day, -32 I think, where I was eating a piping hot bacon and egg roll. In the mall it was too hot to hold. Outside, I couldn't eat it quick enough without it freezing.

Anyhoo, I didn't venture east, I was in Banff, Alberta.

If you want to go Skiing, I would highly recommend Revelstoke in British Columbia, Canada. I didn't make it there, but every single person I knew that went came back with a hard on about the place.

Finally, you lucky bastard!

[redandblack]

Just found a rail tour that does Toronto - Niagara Falls - Montreal - Quebec City, with a couple of days in each. Might be the best bet.

Dutchy, we're on a bus tour from San Fran down to LA along the cooast, stopping in Santa Barbara. I've heard it's an excellent drive.

Rail would be a good way to do it, Pag. All 4 places you've mentioned are really interesting.

The drive from SF to LA along the coast is a great drive. Part of it is the Big Sur drive, It also goes past Pebble Beach Golf Course, Morro Baty, Carmel, etc. I drove it a fair while ago and you'll enjoy it.

[zipzap]

Currently living in Kingston, Ontario, about 2 1/2 hours drive from Toronto. V Rail train from Toronto is very good Pag. We're off to Quebec for the Carnival in a couple of weeks - can't wait!

Prior to our arrival about 10 days ago, apparently it had been unseasonably 'warm'. The day we arrived Kingston was hit by freak snowstorms and mass blackouts! The cold isn't an issue when you're inside - as long as the furnace is going! Not so much fun in a blackout!

The weather changes abruptly - nice sunny day today, now it's snowing lightly with threats of frozen rain (that's a trip!) to follow this evening. The icy sidewalks are an absolute death trap! Fun driving on icy roads too. But it's all part of the fun that is Canada. Looks mighty purdy too

Let me know if we can assist you in any way. We'll be here for 12 months before we too do the west coast of the US before heading home

[Pag]

How long did it take you to adjust to the weather zipzap?

Our itinerary has been sorted...

Get into NYC on December 16th, and have 10 nights, and leaving on Boxing Day. Need to find somewhere to head for a good Xmas lunch.

Flying to Montreal on the 26th, to start a nine-day rail tour. 2 nights in Montreal, 2 nights in Quebec City (Staying at Le Chateau Frontenac), two nights in Niagara Falls (including NYE) and 2 nights in Toronto.

Fly out of Toronto on Jan 3rd, via Minneapolis to Orange County, CA. Missus wants to see some of the beaches (newport, Huntington etc) so got a couple of nights there.

Driving from Newport to Las Vegas on Sat 5th, got told to stop at Calico for lunch on the way. Four nights at Harrah's on the strip, with a Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour in there, with the last night being the first night of our Contiki.

Jan 9 on the Contiki bus up to Lake Tahoe, on the California/Nevada border. Got three nights here to ski, snow board and toboggan.

Jan 12 on the bus across to San Francisco, only two nights here as part of the Contiki. Wouldve loved longer but just can't fit it in.

Jan 14 drive down the coast of California, spending the night in Santa Barbara. Finish in LA the day after, two nights there.

Jan 17 flying to Honolulu, got four nights on Waikiki Beach before flying home.

[Johno6]

good work pag, sounds awesome.

me and the missus are lookin at something similar for the us/canada for earlyish next year.

wanna head off for atleast 4 weeks, prob will be only chance to do it so gotta make it worth while.

[zipzap]

How long did it take you to adjust to the weather zipzap?

Our itinerary has been sorted...

Get into NYC on December 16th, and have 10 nights, and leaving on Boxing Day. Need to find somewhere to head for a good Xmas lunch.

Flying to Montreal on the 26th, to start a nine-day rail tour. 2 nights in Montreal, 2 nights in Quebec City (Staying at Le Chateau Frontenac), two nights in Niagara Falls (including NYE) and 2 nights in Toronto.

Sounds like a good plan Pag - Quebec is particularly beautiful, the Chateau is breathtaking...ly expensive! There is an amazing toboggan ride out the front which is lots of fun. Was thinking (dreaming?) about having a NYC Christmas but having just spent a week there that might be enough for now.

As for the weather, overall it's been pretty crazy. We arrived mid-January to snowstorms and although there have been a few days like that, a lot of the time it's been fairly mild, at least by Canadian standards - at or just below 0 degrees much of the time. At the moment it's 20-25 degrees which has a lot of people scratching their heads. We left our car in heavy snow in Syracuse a week ago to catch the train to NYC only to come back to find it pristine clean in dry, green grass with sunny blue skies - it was actually bordering on hot!

Where are you staying in NYC? If you're anywhere near East Village pop into the Tuck Shop on East 1st St, a tiny cafe run by an ex-pat Aussie who sells Coopers and makes INCREDIBLE pie floaters!

[Pag]

How long did it take you to adjust to the weather zipzap?

Our itinerary has been sorted...

Get into NYC on December 16th, and have 10 nights, and leaving on Boxing Day. Need to find somewhere to head for a good Xmas lunch.

Flying to Montreal on the 26th, to start a nine-day rail tour. 2 nights in Montreal, 2 nights in Quebec City (Staying at Le Chateau Frontenac), two nights in Niagara Falls (including NYE) and 2 nights in Toronto.

Sounds like a good plan Pag - Quebec is particularly beautiful, the Chateau is breathtaking...ly expensive! There is an amazing toboggan ride out the front which is lots of fun. Was thinking (dreaming?) about having a NYC Christmas but having just spent a week there that might be enough for now.

As for the weather, overall it's been pretty crazy. We arrived mid-January to snowstorms and although there have been a few days like that, a lot of the time it's been fairly mild, at least by Canadian standards - at or just below 0 degrees much of the time. At the moment it's 20-25 degrees which has a lot of people scratching their heads. We left our car in heavy snow in Syracuse a week ago to catch the train to NYC only to come back to find it pristine clean in dry, green grass with sunny blue skies - it was actually bordering on hot!

Where are you staying in NYC? If you're anywhere near East Village pop into the Tuck Shop on East 1st St, a tiny cafe run by an ex-pat Aussie who sells Coopers and makes INCREDIBLE pie floaters!

We paid an extra $100 to upgrade to the Chateau for the two nights which we thought was worth it just to say we'd stayed there, were originally slated to stay at Hotel Manoir Victoria.

In NYC we're at the Distrikt Hotel on West 40th St in the Theatre District, opposite the Port Authority Bus Terminal. We'll try and explore as many corners as we can in ten days, I'm sure we'll be in the vicinity of East Village at some point. A Coopers over there would be the best of both worlds. The more suggestions the better. I've actually gotta find somehwere to have a Xmas lunch too, my partner wants to have a traditional lunch with turkey and ham etc but I reckon she may struggle to find something like that, especially with turkey being the food of choice for Thanksgiving.

[zipzap]

There's a sensational grocery chain in NYC called Whole Foods which has 6 packs of Pale AND Sparking Ale for 12.99!! Brought some back with me on the train to Canada

There are LOADS of Irish Pubs - Greenwich Village, SoHo for example - where you might stand a very good chance of scoring a traditional Chrissie dinner.

I'm sure you'll get loads of advice from people more familiar with NYC than myself - Jimmy for starters! - but here's my 2c.

My enjoyment of NYC increased exponentially the further I got away from the tourist traps. Times Square is incredible once or twice but you begin to pine for some open spaces and clean air. Central Park is obviously the pick here, but there are a number of perhaps less well-known parks and squares which are both beautiful and, come evening time, a hub of community activity. Washington Square, Bryant, Hester St in Chinatown, Union Square are all fun parks / playgrounds as well as the multitude you just stumble across by walking around the suburbs.

Don't pay too much for a circle line cruise around the Statue of Liberty - the Staten Island ferry is free and gets pretty close up.

Walk the Brooklyn Bridge - catch the subway over and walk back for the best views. There's a great pizza joint - Grimaldi's - to visit before you burn off the k's on the walk back

Do the 'Top of the Rock' observation deck rather than Empire State building. Everyone we spoke to said it's heaps better.

Take a photo outside Tom's Diner (of Seinfeld / Suzanne Vega fame) but for god's sake don't eat in it!

I found the Ground Zero memorial extremely moving - even though it's free, book your place online first and avoid the crowds. A colleague recommended we visit the St Paul's Chapel a couple of blocks away and it was well worth it - it played a major part in the short and long term recovery after 911 and has some great displays. I'm not religious but we happened to be there when a service was on...which moved me to tears. Not to mention all the kids' letters to firemen from 10 years ago. Haunting but inspiring

If you're there for a week get a $30 metro card which gives you unlimited rides on the subway and buses. If you're going to get one of those hop-on-hop-off tour things, haggle with the sales reps at bus stops. They will give a much better deal than online if they think you're going to walk away. Mind you, we didn't use them as much as we could have (due to a combination of lack of planning, having little kids that slowed us up during the day, and the fact that they stop at 5pm) so we kinda felt ripped off. Subway / bus a better value option IMO.

If you plan to shop at Macy's, collect an international visitor's card BEFORE you start buying - this means you won't pay any tax and can save quite a bit. We actually managed to do it AFTER but it was much more difficult. Still got a lot back though.

Hope some of that helps

[Pag]

Thanks for all the tips zipzap, will definitely use the public transport. Would like to walk as much as I can while i'm there, I always think you get a better feeling for a city walking around it, but will use the subway/buses when I need to. Have heard the same about the Top of the Rock and the Brooklyn Bridge/Grimaldi's. The missus wants to head to Macy's so will definitely get the card, cheers for that.

[BZB27]

Me and my partner are looking to travel around the us in jan/feb next year for about 3 to 4 weeks we are mainly going to spend our time in New York, LA, Las Vegas, Colorado, Orlando and maybe go on a 7 day cruise around the caribbean.
I'm wondering if anyone can help me on how much roughly we might need and also what is the best sorta accomadation to stay in apart from fancy hotels that cost an arm and a leg?

[Freo HeaveHo]

Me and my partner are looking to travel around the us in jan/feb next year for about 3 to 4 weeks we are mainly going to spend our time in New York, LA, Las Vegas, Colorado, Orlando and maybe go on a 7 day cruise around the caribbean.
I'm wondering if anyone can help me on how much roughly we might need and also what is the best sorta accomadation to stay in apart from fancy hotels that cost an arm and a leg?

Same here brayman , originally planned last year to be there now but a new job meant pushing it back 12 months . We are lokking going just before Xmas through to late Jan and doing LA , San Fran , Vegas , NY and Miami . This year cannot go quick enough ! That's probably a lot to squeeze in for a month ? For those that have been before would it be worthwhile stopping over in Hawaii for a day or two ? Or would doing that many cities be enough flights within a month ?

[Sky Pilot]

Me and my partner are looking to travel around the us in jan/feb next year for about 3 to 4 weeks we are mainly going to spend our time in New York, LA, Las Vegas, Colorado, Orlando and maybe go on a 7 day cruise around the caribbean.
I'm wondering if anyone can help me on how much roughly we might need and also what is the best sorta accomadation to stay in apart from fancy hotels that cost an arm and a leg?

Same here brayman , originally planned last year to be there now but a new job meant pushing it back 12 months . We are lokking going just before Xmas through to late Jan and doing LA , San Fran , Vegas , NY and Miami . This year cannot go quick enough ! That's probably a lot to squeeze in for a month ? For those that have been before would it be worthwhile stopping over in Hawaii for a day or two ? Or would doing that many cities be enough flights within a month ?

The secret to doing this stuff is to minimise your time in the air and consequently in faaaaarking airports, which in America are horror shows. As an example i went Sydney to New York via LA and had a six-hour lay over in LA and only just made the connecting flight to NYC. I would always include Washington DC on any trip to the US. It s simply mind blowing to be there and see and touch the history and monuments and see the Whitehouse and Capitol Hill etc etc.

[Pag]

Me and my partner are looking to travel around the us in jan/feb next year for about 3 to 4 weeks we are mainly going to spend our time in New York, LA, Las Vegas, Colorado, Orlando and maybe go on a 7 day cruise around the caribbean.
I'm wondering if anyone can help me on how much roughly we might need and also what is the best sorta accomadation to stay in apart from fancy hotels that cost an arm and a leg?

Same here brayman , originally planned last year to be there now but a new job meant pushing it back 12 months . We are lokking going just before Xmas through to late Jan and doing LA , San Fran , Vegas , NY and Miami . This year cannot go quick enough ! That's probably a lot to squeeze in for a month ? For those that have been before would it be worthwhile stopping over in Hawaii for a day or two ? Or would doing that many cities be enough flights within a month ?

Mate we did NYC, Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Orange County, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, LA and Honolulu from mid-December to late January. You'll be fine if you're only visiting five cities.

We 9 nights in NYC and it wasn't enough, but 2 nights in LA was. Don't think you have to spend the same amount of time in each city.

[Failed Creation]

Currently living in Kingston, Ontario, about 2 1/2 hours drive from Toronto. V Rail train from Toronto is very good Pag. We're off to Quebec for the Carnival in a couple of weeks - can't wait!

Prior to our arrival about 10 days ago, apparently it had been unseasonably 'warm'. The day we arrived Kingston was hit by freak snowstorms and mass blackouts! The cold isn't an issue when you're inside - as long as the furnace is going! Not so much fun in a blackout!

The weather changes abruptly - nice sunny day today, now it's snowing lightly with threats of frozen rain (that's a trip!) to follow this evening. The icy sidewalks are an absolute death trap! Fun driving on icy roads too. But it's all part of the fun that is Canada. Looks mighty purdy too

Let me know if we can assist you in any way. We'll be here for 12 months before we too do the west coast of the US before heading home

I loved Kingston, I have a few relatives there, and I think it's a good sized town. Did you ever go on the Wolfe Island ferry?

[Freo HeaveHo]

Yea pretty much everyone I've spoken to haven't had glowing reports of LA . I'm more than happy to spend a day or two just to see it and spend more time in other cities. NY and Vegas are probably the two we want to spend the most time at . Miami is mainly to feed my addiction of basketball

[Failed Creation]

Yea pretty much everyone I've spoken to haven't had glowing reports of LA . I'm more than happy to spend a day or two just to see it and spend more time in other cities. NY and Vegas are probably the two we want to spend the most time at . Miami is mainly to feed my addiction of basketball

I didn't mind L.A., to be honest. I took a nice bus tour both times I was there, and quite enjoyed it. I also enjoyed Hollywood too.

I based myself in Long Beach the first time I was there, and Anaheim the other time. Long Beach is quite a cool place with plenty to look at, while Anaheim was convenient if you are looking to explore Orange County.