Category: Grey Gap Year Travel

We’ve had an interesting time exploring Vancouver, in varied weather – beautiful sunshine through to rain. It’s in a beautiful setting, surrounded by mountains and water and is apparently one of the most expensive cities to live in. We’ve basically walked to most places from our AirBnB in Strathcona (although had Compass cards in our pockets which were used to get us to Delta and our motorhome for the Rockies trip and for when we return to North Vancouver).

You do have to be aware of where you are, as there is a lot of homeless people on the streets, especially in one area called Downtown Eastside (edge of Gastown, Hastings Street, Crab Park area).
We’ve walked from Strathcona near Chinatown to Canada Place (cruise terminal) via Gas Town and its old buildings and quirky steam clock, along the many seawalls, through Coal Harbour, around the beautiful Stanley Park with its totem poles and lovely seawall walk, visited the fun Granville Island (an old sand spit) with its studios and yummy food market and on to Yaletown with Engine 374 (the first steam engine to traverse coast to coast in I874) and the Time Top sculpture. We’ve bobbed along the False Creek in tiny ferries that reminded us of Captain Pugwash boats, watched dragon boat racing on False Creek and watched slo pitch soft ball in the local park. Not sure we’d recommend the local hop on hop off bus – they are converted school buses and not very comfortable!

We’ve seen seals in the harbour, canadian geese with their goslings, a racoon, turtles, pretty tufted wood ducks and loads of herons. We discovered that there were over 800 craft breweries in Canada at the end of 2022, 40 of which are in the Vancouver area – so of course we’ve tried one or two!!!! Oh, and on our way up to Commercial Drive (where you’ll find the Lunch Lady – famously found in Vietnam by Anthony Bourdain) we also found La Casa Gelato – an ice-cream shop with 238 flavours!!! Took a wee while to decide what to try.

We’ve met some lovely people along the way who have been so kind and helpful (especially the folk in Bennys for providing some glue for some persistently loose screws in our suitcase).

We have arrived in Vancouver after a 4 day, 2740 mile trip on The Canadian train from Toronto. The main stops on the way are Edmonton, Winnepeg and Jasper but there are also a couple of shorter ones (Melville, Saskatoon- named after a berry and Kamloops) so you can get off for a 10 minute stretch. We travelled in the Sleeper Plus section so all meals were included and you certainly won’t go hungry – 3 meals a day plus snacks and lunch and dinner are each 3 courses!. We opted for the cheaper berth seats (well we are trying to stick to budget) and they were fine – in the day they are large seats with a big picture window and at night turn into comfy bunks (upper has no window and takes some clambering into via a ladder) sectioned off from the corridor by thick curtains. There are other general seating areas you can use throughout the day, including the domecar (great views but not so good for photos due to the bugs on the windscreen!).

We travelled through some beautiful, stunning scenery ranging from gorgeous lakes in Ontario, through prairie lands in Saskatewan (lots of potash mineral production here) and Manitoba (bread basket of Canada) and then the mountains in Alberta and British Columbia. Temperatures along the way ranged between -3 and 24 degreesC! We’ve had snowfalls, brilliant sunshine, lovely sunrises and spectacular sunsets.

The thing that made this trip special were our fellow passengers; we gelled really well and had some wonderful laughs along the way – the trip could have been a very different experience if we hadn’t as the cabin toilets in 1 carriage stopped working, we had 3 “passenger incidents” (aka arrested – abusive behavior in the station, drunk and disorderly on the train and 1 had an outstanding warrant!!! I hasten to add these were all in economy and incredibly rare) and we stopped for a small trackside fire.

We saw lots of wildlife, bald headed eagles, beaver lodges but no beavers, deer and even a bear (on our first day!)
The highlight tho was seeing 3 bears (a mother and 2 cubs) on the trackside on our last day whilst we were stopped waiting for a freight train (of which there are many!! Freight takes priority here and some trains can be a couple of miles long!).

Special mentions must be made for some key Via staff members who made our trip easier and very entertaining – Luc, our carriage attendant from Toronto to Winnepeg, Chelsea, our waitress who aided me in no ice cream joke on Andy and Marty our events organiser from Winnepeg. All the staff changeover at Winnepeg.
Recommendations – have no expectations, go with the flow and just enjoy the journey.

In the 2 weeks we’ve been away from Toronto it’s surprising how everything has greened up. It was very noticible on the train from Montreal – the snow has gone but there is still lots of water lying from snow melt. Even daffodils and tulips are beginning to flower now, and some of the fields have been ploughed.
On our return to Toronto, we took an organised trip to Niagara, easier than using public transport at this time of year.
On the way we crossed the Welland canal linking Lake Erie (the shallowest of the great lakes) with Lake Ontario (the smallest of the great lakes) and passed rows and rows of vines and fruit trees in blossom.
We started with a wine tasting at the Niagara College (specifically for all things to do with wine and all profits go back into the college to help the students) – we tried their famous Ice Wine (I liked but Andy didn’t!). Then, onto the Niagara Falls themselves – I wasn’t expecting so much commercialisation around the site but the falls were amazing – looking very dramatic with the grey skies above. You forget how close the US is here – literally the Gorge away. We visited the Hard Rock Cafe to get the obligatory keyring!! Then, as it started to rain, we jumped back on the bus to the Maple Leaf shop to taste some maple syrup – it was surprising how different the light, amber and dark were. The trees are tapped once a year.
Then onto our final stop, just as the sun came back out – Niagara on the Lake, a lovely old style town with boutiques and food shops. We bought some Chimney bread from Budapest to go with our local cheese and beer for our late dinner!! Overall, it was a very long day but enjoyable.
Our last day in Toronto was spent exploring the lovely area of Leslieville where our AirBnB is located and then into town to the St Lawrence Market – well worth a trip. Lots of fresh fruit and veg, fish, meat, cheese and bread stalls – all beautifully displayed and places to eat too. We settled for fresh ravioli and sauce before heading back, via The Roy pub in Leslieville (the guy serving us came from Weymouth, where Andy & I met many many years ago!). Then we chilled out ready for our 4 day trip on The Canadian to Vancouver. We have loved our 3 weeks here on the eastern side of Canada and are now looking forward to seeing some of the west.

We travelled from Toronto to Ottowa, Quebec and Montreal using Via Rail trains, as at the time of booking, we were unsure of what the weather would be like for driving in. Train travel was easy, although it is rather like flying regarding checking in etc. You have to have a seat (no standing like in the UK!) and you arrive about 30 minutes before boarding to check in and have your baggage weighed – depending on the journey, train, amount of people etc it may require your larger bags to be stored in the baggage carriage and then you collect them at the station you disembark from. We spent 3 days in each city to give us time to explore – this is probably enough to see the key highlights, especially if you do not have a car and at this time of year. The autumn is possibly a better time as the weather would still be warm but you’d have the added bonus of the colours of the trees – now it is a little grey as spring is only just arriving this year.

Ottawa was chilly and cloudy when we arrived, but then the sun came out, and the temperature soared to 29 degrees yet there was still snow on the ground! From being a quiet empty place on our first day, it was suddenly busy, with people sunbathing and cafes and restaurants having their summer patios built on the streets so that you can enjoy the weather – Ottawa came alive!
It is a compact city, easy to walk around and has some beautiful old architecture, from the Parliament buildings to the Royal Mint, the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel and the stunning silver topped Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica. There are lots of information boards to help with the history of each area so you can easily tour on your own. We had an interesting visit to the Royal Mint and were both millionaires for a couple of seconds – holding the 1.2 million CAD gold bar – sadly we couldn’t keep it! We also visited the Canadian War Museum (until the fire alarm went off and we had to leave!). We stayed at the Byward Blue Inn, just off the Byward Market, which is a vibrant food area. And of course, the highlight of Ottawa was getting the chance to meet up with old friends we have not seen for about 10 years – very special.

I had to dust off my school girl french in Quebec but we managed to get by and if you try folk quickly flip to english to help out! We had lovely blue skies on our first day so we set off up the hill to the Old City (its otherwise known as Uptown as its on a cliff – Cap Diamant) Some lovely old buildings here dating from the 1700s as the French settled here until the British won the Battle of Quebec (on the Plains of Abraham) in 1759. We walked around the Citadel (reminiscent of the one in Plymouth, UK but bigger), promenaded on the Governors promenade and the Dufferin Terrace (sadly the toboggan run had closed for the season), alongside the famous Chateau Frontenac – a 610 bedroom hotel opened in 1893 and which has hosted many famous people and events including 2 during World War 2 with Roosevelt & Churchill attending. You can pay to go on a tour of the public areas if you wish. We visited the Notre Dame Basilica Cathedral and learnt about Saint Francois de Laval and just generally wandered soaking up the atmosphere. We returned Down Town and ate at La Korrigane (a microbrewery) just up from our hotel.
Next day was grey and a bitterly cold wind was blowing but it didn’t stop us exploring Down Town, the Place Royal and the Petit Chaplain quarter at the base of the Cap Diamant cliff – it has been renovated and now houses boutiques with quirky signs, antique shops and restaurants etc. It was a lovely area to walk around but must get very crowded on cruise ship days and in the summer. We heading back Uptown (stairs not the funicular) and found the most amazing shop Epiceree Europpeenne – the staff were lovely, the range of goods amazing – downstairs they have 211 different herbs and spices in a cupboard with tiny drawers, loads of different teas and coffee beans too.
We found an excellent bistro Ninkasi (serving great beer and the poutine went down well too, just what was needed on such a cold day – really good gravy).
2 days in Quebec is probably enough to explore the Old City but if you’re here for longer there are the Montmorency waterfalls and the Isle d’orleans to explore a bit further afield. We chilled out on our 3rd day but did have a yummy dinner at Noctem, a microbrewery (of which there are many in Canada!!) serving food.
The Best Western plus hotel was great, the staff at reception and the bar were particularly friendly and very helpful. Then it was back on the train for 5 hours to Montreal.

Whilst Montreal hasn’t been our favourite place so far, we did walk our feet off exploring. The old town and port are so reminiscent of Paris – old, tall buildings in French styles, muddled among huge glass skyscrapers.
We stayed in our first hostel, which was great (after a shaky start – a freezing cold night until we sorted out the heating). Lots of people of all ages from 3 months to 60 plus, all very friendly and eager to know each others stories. Breakfast was good too!! Montreal has over 20 miles of underground walkways linking metros with shopping complexes, restaurants and even the Opera House, which is probably good in the winter months but not for a claustrophobic like me. Montreal is actually an island with lots of waterway trails, but it is a big place to try and cover in the short time we had. The street we were on was nearly 20miles long!!!!!

Then, finally, we got back on the train to return to Toronto for a couple of days before crossing Canada to Vancouver. It was surprising to see how green everything had become in just the 2 weeks we were away.

We had an uneventful Air Canada flight (albeit so full we couldn’t sit together) to Toronto. Although it was lovely to be reminded of the wonder of flying by my young travel companion Joshua, who was flying for the first time, everything was a novelty and sooooo cool for him. It’s so easy to become complacent about these things when you do them often.

We managed to get the bus to Hamilton with no hiccups, having bought Presto travel cards from the terminal ($6 each then preload) which then covered us for Hamilton, Toronto and Ottawa. We spent the next couple of days with Andy’s cousins and their families who we’d either not seen for 40 + years or never met at all – great to catch up with everyone. The first day we got soaked but then the sun came out but brrr was it cold, thank goodness for hat and gloves! Whilst in Hamilton, we came across the site of the first Tim Hortons donut shop (now a worldwide coffee chain, set up originally by a Canadian hockey player) in Ottawa Street and, sadly for my waistline, they do sell incredible doughnuts (oh dear!).

Next was the bus to Toronto and on to find our 2nd Airbnb, a lovely studio hosted by the amazing Deanna, a real gem, who went over and above to help us with the local area. This enabled us to sample the delights of the Godspeed brewery, the delicious cheese at The Pantry and on Easter Sunday we treated ourselves to wonderfully fluffy pancakes from the Lazy Daisy cafe – all in the Gerald Street East area.

We spent the next couple of gloriously sunny days exploring bits of Toronto. Managing to reach the 101st floor of the CN Tower (quite expensive, but the queues weren’t too long and worth it to see the views over the city and shoreline of Lake Ontario), we checked out the free Railway Museum on the site of the old Roundhouse that used to house 32 train sheds serviced by a huge turntable, strolled along the Toronto shoreline before heading inland to the historic Distillery District. The old Gooderham & Worts brewery buildings now house cafes, shops and restaurants – good to see these old buildings reused instead of demolished. The St Lawrence Market was closed, being Easter, so we’ll try and get there when we come back to Toronto later this month. Instead we visited The Beaches area and walked the Boardwalk past Woodbine and Kew beaches before heading inland for ice cream!!

We had a short but enjoyable trip and were soon on the Via Rail train to Ottawa. This was an experience, rather like checking in at an airport – you have to have a booked seat, arrive early to have your ticket checked and baggage weighed before boarding. The rails and platforms are really low compared to UK ones and the trains are very high up – making it a bit of a struggle to get your luggage on board! 4 1/2 hours later we arrived in Canada’s capital city ready to explore for 3 days.