Christmas lights that would make the Griswold family green with envy. Hot chocolate and mulled wine on a snowy winter’s night. There are plenty of traditional Christmas activities taking place over the holidays across Canada this year. But you’ll also find some oddball bits that bely our boring reputation; murder mysteries in Calgary, ugly sweater cruises in Toronto’s harbour and a festival in Newfoundland where folks are encourage to don an over-sized bra. Here’s a look at some great places and ways to celebrate the holiday season. ALBERTA The best place for winter in Canada (in my estimation) has a Read more
Parks Canada
I mentioned Edmonton in a blog a couple weeks ago, showing some photos of a city that’s very much on the rise. Today I’ll stick to the mountains and a bit of Calgary as I continue my look at great Canadian destinations.
This is getting harder. Now that I’m travelling a lot more (and not tied to the desk as much as when I was the Toronto Star Travel editor, a post I left in August, 2013), my year-end “Jimmy Awards” are proving a little more tricky. I did a fair bit of travelling in Canada this year, hitting all the provinces except Newfoundland and New Brunswick. Which means I have a great many more things to single out than in previous years. Which is why I’m splitting up the Jimmy’s into two categories: Canada and the rest of the world. I’ll Read more
BANFF, ALBERTA – It’s one of the great tourist attractions of Canada. And one of the top views in the world. I’ve been up the Sulphur Mountain Gondola in Banff several times. This year was the first time I’d done it in winter. And it was spectacular. I was out in the Rockies on a recent visit and had been hoping to do a helicopter tour near Kananaskis _ a gorgeous part of Alberta – and maybe some snowshoeing high in the mountains. But the winds were fierce and the chopper pilot said it wasn’t safe to fly. I always Read more
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND – I love it. The first (well maybe not, but close enough) road sign I see on my first trip here in 16 years gives me the distance to the nearest town. Below that is a blue and white saying with an arrow pointing north and the words “Liquor Store, 13 km.” Now THAT’s what I call a good tourism concept. In all seriousness, I had a great first day on the island. I got an 8 a.m. ferry with Northumberland Ferries Ltd. and was heading to Montague, PEI by 9:45 or so. It was windy as Read more
