Canada Travel

The Official Site of the Canadian Tourism Commission is one of the most extensive sources of information on traveling through Canada. Explore the country’s best places to visit, eat, and drink, and learn about Canada’s cultural highlights and modes of transportation. If you’re going to view one Web site before you go, this should be it.

Trail Canada has maps and facts about the provinces and cities. Explore “About Canada” to learn about religion, history, and people, or use the “Travel Guide” to pick up a few French expressions and arrival advice. Also take in the Canadian sights in the “Photos” section, and chat about hotels and events in Canada in the discussion forum.

Lonely Planet provides a quick and easy guide to Canadian travel. Use the links on the left to discover the best time to go and some of the must-see sights, or just browse the stunning photos for inspiration. Practicalities including transportation and how to stay safe are also covered.

IgoUgo ’s Canada site includes a “Journals” section where users can post entries about their trips along with tips and suggestions. Read what other visitors to Canada have experienced to get ideas for your trip.

TravBuddy allows fellow travelers to share their experiences with each other. There are hundreds of blogs devoted to Canada offering insight into various experiences, such as hiking in Banff National Park and visiting the beach in Vancouver.

The Official Site of the Canadian Tourism Commission has information on practical topics like time zones, currency and money, fishing regulations, measurements and voltage, weather and seasons, public holidays and more.

The U.S. Department of State ’s International Travel page for Canada lists pre-trip essentials, including advice for passports, visas, health and safety. Also learn crime statistics and embassy locations.

The Official Site of the Canadian Tourism Commission has this easy-to-follow Web page explaining the passport and visa requirements for entering Canada. Use the links near the top of the page to skip to topics of interest: international visitors, U.S. visitors and FAQ.

Bank of Canada ’s Web site meets all of your currency conversion needs. Pick any currency to convert to or from the Canadian dollar, either by today’s rates or from the past 10 years.

TransCanadaHighway explains some of the basic customs that should be considered when traveling to Canada. Scroll down the page to get a description of standard tipping practices.

Frommer’s offers a short guide on the best times to visit Canada, taking the Canadian climate and weather into account. Also learn about the country’s national holidays, special events and festivals.

CanadaInfo is devoted to information about all things Canadian. This Web page simplifies the structure of the Canadian government, with a chart of the executive, legislative and judicial departments. Find a concise description of the federal government or scroll down for information on the political parties in Canada.

The Government of Canada official Web site details some of the more recent political developments and explains the setup of the government. The “About Canada” section divides information neatly into categories including “Society,” “Government,” “Land,” and “Economy.” Also find information on the various Canadian politicians in the “About Government” section.

Trail Canada offers a short rundown of the country’s history. Learn about the aboriginal peoples, the European settling of Canada and some notable events up to the present day. This history provides a helpful background before visiting the country.

Vacationingincanada.com provides a short overview on getting to Canada. The site notes that the easiest way to get to Canada and see the country is by car, and visitors from the United States can easily cross the border. Also consider flying to Canada or going by train; Amtrak offers trains from New York City, Buffalo and Chicago.

Kayak consolidates flight information and fares from hundreds of individual airlines and online travel agents like CheapTickets and Orbitz. Enter your flight preferences to get a list of possibilities. To learn exactly which airlines and agents the site covers, visit the "Providers" page.

Travelocity is an online travel agent that offers consistently competitive prices for domestic and international flights. They have a variety of online booking services, including an extensive “Last Minute Packages” section with great deals.

Air Canada is a prominent airline in the country. Search for flights to major and not so major Canadian locations—all 65 of them. Air Canada has a very wide presence in the United States and Europe, and also flies throughout the world.

Amtrak serves Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec. Travel to a number of cities in each province (only two in Quebec: St. Lambert and Montreal) by booking a customized trip on this easy-to-use Web site.

Greyhound provides bus service that connects numerous U.S. cities with Canadian cities. Greyhound has a heavy presence in western Canada but is available throughout the country. Choose your country of origin to get started. The site is available in English, Spanish and French.

Coach Canada is another bus service that has routes available between the United States and Canada. This line only services the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, however, so you won’t find buses that go to Canada from the western United States.

Orbitz has a clean look, simple navigation, and offers solid prices on airfare, accommodations, car rentals, cruises, bus trips and rail passes. A cool feature on Orbitz lets you explore their many package deals by destination or activity.

Mobissimo directly searches 45 independent Web sites, including travel agents and hotel chains, to find the lowest hotel prices in the cities of your choice. Results present hotel names, their rating, price and provider in an extremely user-friendly way.

TripAdvisor ranks listed hotels according to real traveler ratings, so the most popular hotels appear at the top of your results. Other resources include access to Frommer's travel guides, a central listing of travel deals by destination (from sites like Orbitz, Expedia, Hotwire and Hotels.com), and extensive traveler reviews of local attractions.

The Canadian Hotel Guide is an extensive source for hotel accommodations in Canada. The site’s user-friendliness and hotel reviews are particularly helpful. Be sure to check the top three guest-rated hotels, featured at the top. Maps and photographs lend visual appeal and added insight into properties on the site.

Trail Canada has a section of its Web site dedicated to finding a hotel. Simply choose where you want to go, when you want to check in and out, and then order the results by value, quality, price or alphabetically.

The Multilingual Accommodation Directory of Canada looks a bit amateur, but it can be a very helpful resource when searching for a place to stay in Canada. Find a variety of accommodations, including cottages, guesthouses, and bed and breakfasts, that probably won’t be featured on some of the larger trip planning sites.

Hostelworld.com is a Web site for finding and booking a hostel on the Internet. This link directs you to the section of Hostelworld for Canada. View user ratings for each hostel, in addition to photographs, descriptions and pricing information.

Canada Budget Hotels leads you to hotels throughout Canada that may not take such a big bite out of your wallet. You won’t find a huge list for each city, especially the smaller ones, but the site certainly provides some helpful budget hotel options.

Campgrounds Campings Canada offers a wealth of information about campsites in the different regions of Canada. Choose a province to find a brief description and a list of regions. Each region links to an overview and a list of campgrounds by location. The site does a great job of teaching you where to camp, and what the area has to offer.

Camping-Canada.com has lists of campgrounds throughout the country. Search by province to yield a wide selection of campgrounds, or narrow the search by region, city or campground type. Campgrounds are listed with the amenities available and some include user reviews.

NorthAmericanSnow.com lists some of the best places to ski in the United States and Canada. Need help narrowing your options when it comes to finding a ski resort in Canada? Simply pick a location from the list on the upper left or on the clickable map of Canada, and the site provides a list of the best resorts with descriptions.

GoSki Canada has a lengthy list of Canadian ski resorts. Focus your search by location using the map on the right. Some ski resorts have pictures and descriptions, whereas others only have the statistics of the trails. Though the descriptions provided are inconsistent, the site does a good job presenting the available options.

Orléans Express is the prominent bus line serving the province of Quebec. The site makes it easy to plan your trip, and find answers to questions such as, “Can I travel with my pet?” in its “FAQ” section.

Acadian bus is a subsidiary of Orléans Express, and their Web sites have similar designs. Acadian serves the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

DRL Coachlines is the leader in bus transportation for the Newfoundland region. See the “NL Schedule” section to book your trip. The company also provides tours of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Greyhound can meet most of your needs throughout Canada. Find trips on Greyhound for Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and the Yukon Territory.

VIA Rail Canada is a great way to get around the country. This government-operated train connects you to popular Canadian destinations fairly quickly. Choose your language and insert the necessary travel information to get started.

Ontario Northland doesn’t criss-cross Canada like VIA Rail Canada but it’s one of the other major railways in the country. Based in Ontario, a great majority of its rails are in Ontario.

Trail Canada offers some great suggestions and caveats about driving through Canada. The article warns you to keep an eye out for wildlife, and beware of hungry bears. Find car rentals and connect to other car rental sites.

411.ca is a Canadian local search engine. This page lists taxi and limo companies throughout Canada, including those with service from airports. Company Web sites, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers are provided in a well-organized, easy-to-read format. You can narrow the search down by location in the “Refine Your Search” box, located in the left-hand sidebar.

Momondo is a relatively new flight search engine that gathers the best prices from more than 440 airlines and travel agencies. The site is brightly colored and has a clear, easy-to-navigate interface. Also consult Momondo’s feature articles, including this one about festivals in Quebec.

Expedia has been around for a while, helping travelers research, plan, and purchase entire trips, or just find a flight. Expedia also has handy tools like a "Flight Fare Calendar," showing the best time to buy tickets, and “Fare Alert,” which sends fares directly to your desktop.

Air Canada Jazz operates mostly within Canada, but does have some service to the United States. This airline takes you essentially anywhere in Canada, with extensive service in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, as well as some of the more remote locations.

Air Creebec is based in Val-d’Or, Quebec. The airline has flights throughout Quebec and parts of Ontario, to and from both large and small cities and towns. Flight schedules are provided online, but to book, you must call the company. The site has flashy features and an unorthodox design, which may take a bit of patience to adjust to the first time you visit. You can always call if the site proves too frustrating.

Bearskin Airlines focuses on northern Ontario. The airline flies from main cities such as Ottawa to the more remote cities and towns of northern Ontario and Manitoba.

WestJet , one of the most popular Canadian airlines, is based on low-cost American models like Southwest Airlines and Morris Air. WestJet primarily serves western Canada but you can also find it in some of the major eastern hubs. While New York is not one of its cities, the airline does include Honolulu, Maui, Kona, Los Angeles, Palm Springs (seasonal), Las Vegas, Phoenix (seasonal), Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers (seasonal) and Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach (seasonal).