Canada/Toronto in October ?

I'm thinking of heading to Canada in mid-October.

Anybody been there at that time of year ? ....Weather ?

Am considering staying in Toronto and doing various day trips from there
e.g. Niagra Falls (90 mins away).

Would an escorted tour/package be a good idea ?
I will be travelling solo.

Also, any advice on "what not to miss" in and around Toronto ?

....or indeed, is another Canadian city a better option ?

Cheers,
Silvera.

Weather in October, about the same as here. Not too bad, getting a bit cooler.

I went there in september 98 and I went on a escorted tour that took in Quebec, Ottawa, Torronto, the falls. I thought it was good value and easy.

Do go up to the top of the CN tower, the tallest free standing structure in the world.

As for other Canadian cities, they all have their charm. Quebec is a delightful place for its history, montreal for its atmosphere and the white water rafting. Ottawa for the Parlament and government. Get a photo of yourself with a real mountie! Toronto is just another big city tbh. The falls is like a huge version of Tramore, non stop noise and lights into the small hours.

Hope that helps!

Agree with Bond-007

Toronto is not that exciting at all really .. The CN Tower is pretty cool (from the top it looks just like a simcity game out the window!) - but there's not a whole lot else really - it's a big city which is mostly very new.

Niagara Falls is dissapointing really - the falls are impressive yes .. but the immediate surroundings are so incredibly tacky as to pretty much ruin it ... if you're in the area it's worth a visit .. but it's not worth a trip just to see the falls.

To the north of the falls the vineyards (yes they make wine in Canada!) around Niagara on the lake are quite fun to go around .. and the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake is nice too.

Weather is cool so not too cold.
Agree with all said so far.
Toronto:
... is a big city, not a huge amount to see.
CN tower is good, although if you can book a table in the resturant there. You can spend an hour or more enjoying good food and enjoying the view, it turns around, and you don't pay the any entry fee to go up as you are eating there.
Toronto zoo is good if you are really stuck.
Black creek Pioneer Park is very good, lots of old buildings gatherd and being run by actors to make it very authentic.

Niagra: town is tacky but falls are good, if poss try and do the "maid of the mist" boat ride, makes it all more real as you get a real sense of the greatness of the falls and the amount of water going or them. Niagra on the Lake is nice, tea shops and browsing shops.

Ottawa:
about 5 hrs drive from Toronto.
Great city, I lived there for 2 years. Plenty of museums, galleries there if into that.
National Gallery, Old Jail, Parliment buildings (do the tour),
Eatout in the city or do the various streets, loads of good food.
Gateneapark is nice that time of year.
The city Haunted walk is great fun.

Montreal:
Do the Biodome, Olympic tower, not a great many "big" attractions to visit. Nice place to eat, drink out.

Quebec:
quite a drive from Toronto about 10hrs approx.
Do the city bus tour - best way to see whats there.
Visit the fort, and Place Royale, various other old buildings, museums.

There are lots of places to stop in between travelling these bigger cities. If you do drive, then use the tourist info centres to reseve B&Bs, free service and makes it very relaxed, stayed in loads of B&Bs and all generally very high quality.

If you are staying put and not driving then you might want to consider staying Ottawa, loads more to see and do there. And you can visit Toronto, Quebec from there instead.

Other suggestion is to go to Ottawa in Winterlude, usually around mid Feb. Very cold but great fun as you can skate on the canal, do ice and snow sculpting and loads of other events take place.

HTH

George Hook on newstalk 106 does an excellent travel segment. email them on info@newstalk106.ie tell them where you intend to go and they will forward a factsheet to you with info on what to see hotels restaurants etc.

Great info guys !!

Sounds like Toronto is very like Auckland, New Zealand (was there last year), i.e. just another large city with little to see.

Wonder if flights to Ottawa are easy to get from Ireland ?
.....am seriously thinking of a guided tour - if I can get one at an ok price ?!

My 20 yr old son has just spent the Summer in Vancouver and loved it. He loved it so much he may go back next year. Weather was beautiful, the kind of place you could picnic out in twelve months of the year - very temperate. people really friendly, don't know the meaning of the word 'racist', no litter, prices very competitive, and loads to see and do, especially if you like photography, huge public parks and fish that tastes like fish!! . Police (Mounties), super friendly and helpful. He also went to Vancouver Island which is just off the coast and has Victoria, which is actually the capital of British Columbia and he was well impressed. Very old English feeling about the place, lots of tearooms and nobody in a rush. I swear we don't work for the Canadian Tourist Board but he couldn't think of one thing he didn't like about the place. I would love to go next year but fare is not cheap - he went on a special student rate thingy I think.

Look up CIE tours for info. Ottawa is tricky to fly to from Ireland. You need to go via Chicago to get there from Dublin.

Hi Silvera,


Heading to Canada (vancouver) myself in October and have found the [broken link removed] website excellant for info. With regards to weather there is plenty of advise about bringing wetgear as the chance of rain at that time of the year is quite high. There is also loads of advise on that website of places to visit or indeed avoid. Also if you are interested to guided tours a friend of mine took a trip with www.thetraveldepartment.ie last year which started in Vancouver and took in a number the cities across Canada to the east coast, she couldn't recommend them enough. Hope this helps.

Trishka

Thanks for the links trishka !

The Virtual Tourist site has a ton of info ...... almost too much info

Cheers,
Silvera.

There is a travel programme on BBC this evening (Monday) with a report about Toronto.