We have till Nov. 30th to choose a destination for a special companion fare offer. Were looking for budget (under US $200/night for 2) hotels or B&Bs for about 10 days in a location where we can enjoy a city by walking or taking public transportation everywhere. Nice parks for walking, art museums, galleries and great ethnic cooking are important. We chose the above cities based on air fare and availability of non stop flights. We're looking for bargains, not upscale luxury. Any help is much appreciated.
Jeanne
{typo in title corrected}
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jonathan,
Posts: 492 | Location: Pennsylvania, USA | Registered: 07 March 2003
Toronto has a wide range of ethnic [mostly real and not aimed at tourists] The three Cdn cities all have museums. Ottawa has the national [Brain can't remember the name]
Toronto is very public transit friendly. There must be a TTC website showing the bus/subway maps.
Jeanne, assuming the 10 days will be in the same location, for what time of the year will be the travel? All three Canadian cities can have difficult weather from December to the end of February or even beyond.
This being said, any of the three would offer interesting museums, a lively musical life, and food variety.
On the three criteria I just mentioned I would choose Toronto, and I am waiting for reactions from my fellow Canadians from the other two cities, but I wish to assure you (and them) this is not a biased view. To prove it: have you thought about Vancouver, who would be just as attractive as the other three, and have a bit more clement weather in the winter (snow showers instead of blizzards... )?
The National Gallery is located a few blocks from the Chateau Laurier. It's a pretty cool gallery! I took my 24 year old granddarling there last Christmas for an entire day. We spent our day wandering, reading, sitting, staring, having tea in the solarium...lovely day! If you go, don't miss the gigantic spider lurking outside of the front entrance, waiting to eat you alive!
BB Canada is my go-to site for the best B & B's in any area of the country, so browse this and you'll find some great residences for Ottawa and area.
Rideau Inn is close to most features of the downtown area of Ottawa. This website has a great map that shows the location of the B & B and other interesting sites in the city. You can also use this B & B site for Toronto and Montreal accommodations.
I've been to Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal and although I can't choose for you, I'd likely go back to Ottawa again, if given the choice. Not that I like it better than the others...I've only been there a couple of times and the last trip made me want to go back again and again!
Ask any questions you like, and we'll do our best to help!
“We have never been a melting pot. The fact is we are more like a tossed salad. We are green, some of us are oily and there's a little vinegar injected when you get up to Ottawa.” ~ Arnold Edinborough Brenda
The Jack Pine by Tom Thomson, National Gallery, Ottawa: here is the link: click and check it out! It is the fourth painting down.
Edited to insert link at Brenda's request.
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If you don't have a car, I'm not sure I'd recommend 10 days in Ottawa....even with a car, I think you'd be hard-pressed to stay entertained.
Now, if you chose to split your time between Ottawa and Montreal, which are only about 90 miles apart (you can travel by train or bus between the two cities,) you might have a more interesting time!
But time of year is really important -- Ottawa and Montreal are in a snow belt and it can get pretty brutal in the middle of winter!
BTW, the Canadian dollar dipped to about 77 cents US today, so you'll find bargains anywhere you travel in Canada (at least, if you travel within the next few months!)
You don't mention when you're thinking of travelling.
If you like winter than it won't matter, but if you aren't a fan of the cold then you might want to consider timing.
I am partial to both cities. I work in Toronto and live nearby so I don't take advantages of the riches it has to offer a traveler as much as I might. I travel often to Ottawa and enjoy it a great deal.
Could your ticket be open jaw - i.e. fly into one and home from the other? If so I'd fly into Ottawa, enjoy 4 or 5 days there - so much to see as Brenda has pointed out above - Paliament buildings, Parliament Hill, Museums and galleries.
After time in Ottawa you could take the Via (train) to Toronto. This brings you into the downtown of the city which is a great place to stay. Toronto has undergone a cultural shift in the past few years with more than a billion dollars being spent on new theatres, an opera house, gallery renos etc. Toronto also has the third largest live theatre market in the world (after London and Broadway) so there generally are some great plays on stage - both mainstream and 'campy'. Incredible shopping if you're into that.
Toronto also has some wonderful ethnic areas that are fun to explore - I work about 2 blocks from Chinatown (and the recently reopened Art Gallery of Ontario - fabulous!) which is always fun and a great source of dim sum . There is also little Italy, India, Korea . . . .
You could easily spend 10 days just in Toronto but Ottawa is such a great spot to visist!
Jerry
The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. ~G.K. Chesterton
Wow!!! I am thrilled with so many responses. Sorry I didn't mention time of year. We'll most likely go in late May or early June. Are there any not to be missed festivals at that time? Splitting the time between Toronto and Ottowa looks like a great idea. I'll explore this further. Thanks everyone for your help, Jeanne
Posts: 492 | Location: Pennsylvania, USA | Registered: 07 March 2003
Jeanne, Although we haven't been there in 3 years, my husband and I always enjoy Toronto for its great food, interesting things to see and do, good public transportation, and good shopping (when we were there last, prices were akin to 30% off American prices). We usually plan to be in the city when the Toronto Jazz Festival is going on (June 26-July 5, 2009) for both the free and ticketed events. We like the Cambridge Suites Hotel for its location and proximity to the Path, the underground walkway that gives access to many places without the need to be outside in poor weather. Rodney's for seafood, Le Select for French bistro fare,and the St Lawrence market for munching and browsing are among our favorites. And you can't miss the Bata Shoe Museum! Marilyn
Posts: 37 | Location: Illinois | Registered: 05 July 2007
If Seattle is still in the consideration, check out this thread that Kathy started. Scroll down and we talk about the Pacific Northwest a bit down into the thread.
There is a good selection of Museums in Seattle - Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Sculpture Garden, Frye, Asian Museum, EMP (Music). You can also take the train to Tacoma where there are three great museums together - Tacoma Glass, Tacoma Art and Washington History.
You can probably get around with public transportation fine in the main downtown or one of the close in neighborhoods. My only concern is hotels. You would probably want to stay a little bit out of the main downtown area. I think there are some B&B up on Capital Hill that might fit your budget.
You can also use public transportation to go out of town - via train you can go to Vancouver or Portland. Via ferry to Victoria. These would probably be overnight although I think you can do Victoria is a fast day trip via the Clipper fast ferry.
Ethnic food - we have good Mexican, Asian, Thai but the best is the local cuisine.
If you do visit Ottawa in May, you might want to consider timing your trip to coincide with the Ottawa Tulip Festival, which will be running May 1-18. It sounds a bit lame, but it's actually quite beautiful.
City parks are really decked out in an amazing array of colourful tulips, there are a lot of live music performances around town, and May weather is usually wonderful.
You might consider whether each city has enough to keep you interested for 10 days. If I were you I'd investigate day trips by public transit too--after all, 10 days is more than most people spend in cities like Paris or NYC. Not that I would be bored in Paris after 10 days but in Ottowa or Seattle...you get my point.
If you choose Seattle it's quite easy to hop on Amtrak to visit Vancouver BC or Portland, or to take the Victoria Clipper to Victoria BC. For festivals, the Folklife Festival happens over Memorial Day weekend. I believe it's the largest folk festival in the US, and it's free.
Seattle has very good parks (many on Puget Sound, like Alki, Lincoln Park, Discovery Park, Myrtle Edwards, all accessible by transit). There are some good museums but we're not NYC, so they will only keep you occupied so long. There is lots of ethnic food especially Asian of all kinds.
Jeanne, I'm going to cheerlead for Montreal. We were there for a week in the summer of 2005. I don't know what part of Pennsylvania you're from, but it was a 7-hour drive from Philly (I know you're planning to fly).
We found the city to be very user-friendly, and never used our car for the time we were there. Mucho accommodations of all varieties and price ranges, and really, Montreal is a foodie's paradise. Steeped in historic and cultural interest, the city has many different neighborhoods, offering their accompanying ethnic cuisines, markets, parks, and shopping districts.
I love Ottawa. It's such a lovely city. Of course it offers less in terms of range of choices than Toronto. So if you want a lot to do, Toronto is your best bet and I can recommend Hotel Victoria. I wrote a review, if you take a look at the review section.
Otherwise, Ottawa would be my choice. Sorry I cannot help with hotels, though, because we alwayys stay at my husband's parents' place. The Tulip festival is amazing by the way.
Just another comment about Ottawa... I love the feeling of this city. It has an old-world feeling, similar to Montreal, and I wished for much more time there after my first trip last winter. My 24 year old granddaughter and I were there for a long weekend right before Christmas last year. The weather was totally crappy, wet and rain and snow and slush all over the place. We were soaked through, every time we stepped outside of our hotel. That didn't matter. We had a fantastic time!
I took her to the Chateau Laurier, an elegant old hotel, right across the river from the Parliament buildings. I found a really cheap rate for a 4 day/3 night weekend so I booked it for us as a surprise from her Mugga to help her mend a broken heart!
It was a beautiful time! We spent one full day at the National Gallery, another day wandering through shops and stores, cafes and coffee bars. Winding up that day at the lounge in the Chateau Laurier, we closed the place down! (Shhhh, don't tell her parents!! )
As we were leaving, I knew I'd definitely go back again, and next time I'd like to be there for 10 - 14 days. I'd take the train to Montreal for a few days, as well as spending time in Ottawa.
Hope this helps!
"Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." ~ Miriam Beard Brenda
I generally agree with the above usual Canadian suspects.
Glad the sandrac mentioned the recent precipitous drop in our dollar - great for you, painful for most of us. And your time of year makes it much easier to recommend visiting anywhere in our part of Canada.
I live near Ottawa - 10 days would seem to be a long time & public transit isn't great - but a few days in May-June would likely be very pleasant.
Toronto would be my first choice - agree with Jerry & sandrac that a few days in Ottawa would be a great idea. I wrote a brief report about a weekend in Toronto last September. Toronto offers a lot of different options.
With three days to go here's an update on our planning process. We are paring down the length of stay to 5 or 7 days in order to have more vacation time for a local trip we can do with our dog. Although all the cities are very attractive I'm tending to favor Ottowa and the Rideau Inn B&B. Because happenings after Sept. 11, 2001 aborted a trip to a conference in Ottowa I almost feel like this is a journey I need to complete. I would like to save the Seattle area for a longer trip, and see Toronto and Montreal at another time.
I'll let you know of our final plans, hubby has not given his final vote yet. All of your input is so much appreciated.
Thanks, Jeanne
Posts: 492 | Location: Pennsylvania, USA | Registered: 07 March 2003
Keep us in the loop with the rest of your plans, Jeanne. I've really learned quite a bit from this thread, and my curiosity is officially piqued about Ottawa, Toronto, and Seattle.
Just to echo what others have said, Jeanne, please keep us posted!
BTW, I don't know the Rideau Inn B+B, but it looks lovely. And it's in my neighborhood so I can certainly vouch for the location -- very central, very safe.
I know it's probably too late, but in ten days you could do Toronto Ottawa and Montreal. If you book in advance you can get pretty cheap VIA rail train tickets. 2 hours between Ottawa and Montreal with some nice scenary - 4.5 hours between Toronto and Montreal if you get the express train.
I live in Toronto and I think it's a great place.
Lots of good food of all prices and types - lots of true ethnic food due to the diverse population
Good shopping especially with the exchange rate the way it is
Tourist sites - Royal Ontario museum just added new space, and is interesting architecturally, Bata shoe museum if you love shoes, Art Gallery of Ontario - just opened again after renovation, Kleinburg art gallery for Group of Seven (need a car), Gardiner ceramic museum
Art Galleries - lots of local ones
Interesting walking streets - Gerrard for Little India, Kensington Market for eclectic offbeat stuff from around the world, Queen Street west, multiple chinatowns, Dundas Square for entertainment of all types of street stuff, Bloor Yorkville for designer stores
Events - Jazz festival, Pride weekend
Close by: Niagara Falls and the Niagara wine region with some good wine
Theatre - Stratford would be open for Shakespeare, Niagara on the Lake for Shaw festival and whatever is playing in Toronto (right now the biggies are Jersey Boys, Dirty Dancing, but there are lots of smaller theatres as well as broadway show types)
)?
. There is also little Italy, India, Korea . . . .
(Shhhh, don't tell her parents!! 
)
