I was fortunate enough to obtain a grant to attend a conference in Toronto, Canada. Instead of booking direct flights and a hotel, I used that same amount of money (and actually, quite a bit less) to go on a little overland East Canada road trip. I travelled Halifax to Québec City to Montréal to Ottawa to Toronto to Halifax. I have this blog post about the road trip experience itself but if you want further details on each location, I recommend you checking out the individual blog posts I have for each travel stop.
Short Version
- 02/08/24 1h flight Manchester to Dublin £60.76
- 03/08/24 6h8 flight Dublin to Halifax £395.99 return
- 04/08/25 19h43 train Halifax to Québec £121.89
- 08/08/24 3h8 train Québec to Montreal £31.64
- 08/08/24 2h1 train Montreal to Ottawa £41.07
- 11/08/24 5h50 bus Ottawa to Toronto £21.35
- 17/08/24 1h30 bus to and from Toronto and Niagra Falls £52.90
- 18/08/24 2h08 flight Toronto to Halifax £60.99
- 19/08/24 6h flight Halifax to London Gatwick £395.99 return
- Total £786.69
Long Version
Location 1 Dublin, Ireland
I started my road trip by flying 1h from Manchester to
Dublin. In Dublin I had just enough time to visit the Guiness Factory Tour,
have a pint of Guinness at Temple Bar and eat some soda bread before going to
sleep in time for my 6h flight Dublin to Halifax. I really liked Dublin as a
city, it had old-town charm but also so much vibrancy and life, with live music
pouring out of every venue. I definitely made a strong plan to return.
- Travel:
- 02/08/24 12:10-1:10pm 1h Flight Manchester to Dublin £60.76
- 02/08/24 1:35pm-2:19pm Dublin Express bus to Dublin City Centre £8.80
- 03/08/24 5:40am-6:21am Dublin Express bus to Airport £8.80
- 03/08/24 9:30am to 11:38am (in local times) 6h8 Flight Dublin to Halifax £395.99 return
- Accommodation: 1 x night at Generator Dublin £50.70
- What I did: Guinness Factory Tour, Temple Bar
Location 2 Halifax, Nova Scotia
Next up was the official start of my Canadian adventure, as
I arrived into Halifax. It was almost like a seaside, just without the beach!
There were the nice colourful buildings by the water, everyone was chilling on
the waterfront with a coffee or going for a run by the water. It was pretty
chilled out. There were much rougher areas outside of the harbourfront but it’s
generally a great place to go if you fancy a chill few days.
- Travel: 03/08/24 4:15-5:03pm bus Halifax Airport to Halifax Downtown £4.80
- Accommodation: 1 x night at Halifax Backpackers Hostel £33.67
- What I did: ate out at the brightly coloured huts near Salt Yard Social, went to the Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market, had a "fairy latte", ate a donaire (a gyro/doner kebab but a very popular food in Halifax), went for an excursion to George’s Island, tasted beer at a local distillery
Location 3 Train
I took the sleeper train The Ocean, to get me all the way
from Halifax to Québec at a journey time of over 20 hours! And I took it with
just a seat (not a cabin) to save on expenses. I recommend checking the train
before you even check the flights because there was only one every 6-7 days! It
was so much nicer than trains in the UK though, with free drinking water
available, plenty of leg room and I had no-one sitting next to me. I didn’t
sleep so much but it was free accommodation as I needed to travel anyway. I
even had a “bus replacement service” from SFOY to QBEC but it was a luxury-type
shuttle bus (just make sure it is going to the station you intend to arrive at
because there may be multiple!).
- Accommodation: 1 x night on the train
Location 4 Québec City, Québec
Québec City was stop number two for me in Canada. I found
Québec City to be very Parisian, very European. The architecture was beautiful.
Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, which is the giant castle in every picture of
the city that you see, is like a real life fairy castle. There were cobbled
streets, artists painting caricatures on the streets, artwork hanging left,
right and centre. It was my favourite place I visited in Canada on my road trip
and I cannot recommend a visit enough. The only drawback is that it was heaving
with tourists in August! The beauty of Québec City is not at all a well kept
secret!
- Travel: 08/08/24 5:29am-8:37am 3h8 train Québec Gare du Palais to Montreal Central Station £31.64
- Accommodation: 3 x nights at Auberge Internationale de Québec £96.98
- What I did: Old Town, various views of Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, explored some very Instagrammable streets, a long walk to see some beautiful views, seeing the fireworks, visiting an almost private rooftop spa at Sky Spa and a hike and cable car at Montmorency Falls.
Location 5 Montréal, Québec
Montréal was stop number three for me in Canada. The overall
vibe for me in Montréal was that it seemed like a big city. The port area
seemed almost add odds with the city. There seemed to be quite a clear divide
to me between the touristy parts and the city parts. There was plenty to eat
and do but it could sometimes be very far away so I would take public transport
next time instead of just walking.
- Travel: 08/08/24 6:50pm-8:51pm 2h1 train Montreal to Ottawa £41.07
- Accommodation: None £0
- What I did: La Grande Roue de Montréal (the Ferris wheel), Mont Royal for some great views of the city, a walk around the Old Port, saw the beautiful rainbow coloured building that is The Montréal Convention Centre, Atwater Market, Jean-Talon Market, ate a maple sugar pie from Succeries de L’erable and ate a bagel at Fairmont Bagels
Location 6 Ottawa, Ontario
Next up on the travel itinerary was Ottawa, the capital city
of Canada. The overall feeling in Ottawa surprised me. I had previously visited
Toronto so I (wrongly) assumed with Ottawa being the capital, that it would
feel bigger and even more city-like than Toronto. Ottawa actually has the 6th
greatest population (after Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton).
Queen Victoria way back in 1857 actually chose Ottawa as Canada's capital
because of its defensible location. I actually found Ottawa to be kind of cute
and compact. I really liked the Bywater Market area and it was chock full of
beautiful Victorian architecture. Many Canadian questioned my visit there and
recommended I go elsewhere but I’m glad I stuck to my guns! If only for my
amazing accommodation, the Ottawa Jail Hostel, which I can’t recommend enough
for people who like a spooky museum.
- Travel:
- 11/08/24 Uber to Ottawa bus stop because it was far away! £11.37
- 11/08/24 2:30pm-8:29pm 5h50 bus Ottawa to Toronto £21.35
- Accommodation: 3 x nights at Ottawa Jail Hostel £68.13
- What I did: Ottawa Jail Hostel tour, Bywater Market, ate a butter tart from Rocky Mountain Chocolate, photographed the Ottawa sign, saw the spider at the National Gallery of Canada, wandered around the beautiful different buildings at Parliament Hill and saw more fireworks
Location 7 Toronto, Ontario
Toronto feels like the real capital, like a giant sprawling
city. I feel like Toronto is properly lived in, with most people seeming like
they were there for work, rather than for tourism. I feel like there is not so
much to do there as a tourist because of that though. It’s really cool that
there is the underground PATH system- I feel like you could totally miss it if
you have not heard of it. It is a great system for when the city is both incredibly
hot and incredibly cold.
- Travel: 17/08/24 bus from Toronto to Niagara Falls £29.44
- Accommodation: 6 x nights at Toronto University £230.35
- What I did: Mostly just visited my conference!, took photos with the Canada sign, visited Toronto Island, Hockey Hall of Fame, went on a Tour Guys free graffiti walking tour, scuba dived in Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, visited a Harry Potter bar, explored the Historic Distillery District, read at the beach at Sugar Beach Park, saw the Canadian Walk of Fame and ate a Peameal Bacon Sandwich at Carousal Bakery at St. Lawrence Market.
Location 8 Niagara Falls, Ontario
After my conference was over, I had a spare day before my
flight back to Halifax but I felt like I had explored a lot of Toronto and was
ready for something different. I booked a bus from Toronto Train Station to Niagara
Falls for the day and a second bus that would drop me off straight at the
airport, avoiding the Toronto traffic. Niagara Falls is such a beautiful place.
I was so happy to see it with a rainbow! And I felt lucky but also very surprised
to be able to roll my own maple taffy on ice (in August!) within Fallsview
Casino Resort! This is for certain somewhere I would visit again and again,
despite the tourism and tackiness.
- Accommodation: None £0
- What I did: viewed the falls, visited a vineyard (Tawse Winery) to try ice wine, the Hornblower Boat Tour, rolled my own maple taffy on ice in Fallsview Casino Resort, The Skylon Tower, Journey Beneath The Falls
Location 9 Halifax, Nova Scotia
I flew back to Halifax for the last couple of days on my
Canadian adventure before then flying to London.
- Travel:
- 18/08/24 11:15pm-2:23am (local time) 2h08 flight Toronto to Halifax £60.99
- 18/08/24 taxi from Halifax airport to Halifax Downtown £24.84
- 19/08/24-20/08/24 11pm-9am (local time) 6h flight Halifax to London Gatwick £395.99 return
- Accommodation: 2 x nights at Atlantica Hotel Halifax £284.47
