TIPS FOR TRAVELING TO CANADA (AND DON'T FALL IT)

What adventures await you in Canada! Wild land, with spectacular landscapes and inhabited by some of the friendliest people in the world (and, all things said, by some of the fiercest animals, hello, Grizzlies!). Full of attractions and places to visit, from the Rocky Mountain lakes to the impressive Niagara Falls, through interesting cities like Toronto, Quebec City or Vancouver. If you are planning a trip to this unique destination, you are right. And to help you with the planning, let's give you some how many tips to travel to Canada (and not screw it up).

Although it seems that it is in the fifth pine, Canada is really only 8 hours away! You can also find real offers to travel to the east coast of Canada (Toronto or Montreal) on direct flights from Spain, or with short stopovers in a European city. If your idea is to travel to the west coast, add another 5 hours of flight, but interesting prices are also found.

→ Compare flights from Spain to Canada

Remember that when you check in at the airport of Spain (or where you take the plane) you will have to present the eTA and have a reservation of some transport to leave Canada. In the next point we tell you more.

If you are a Spanish / Italian citizen you will NOT need to apply for a visa to travel to Canada, but you will have to apply to obtain the eTA "Electronic Travel Authorization" (similar to the ESTA of the USA). It will allow you to stay in the country until 6 months, it costs 7 CAD and is valid for 5 years since it is taken out. You can order it online here.

You will not need to apply for a new eTA on each trip to Canada, the one you take out will last 5 years and you can travel as many times as you want in that period. Obviously, if your passport expires before, you will have to take out a new one 😉

If you enter Canada from the United States via land (by bus, car or train), Needless that you take the eTA, (it is necessary if you arrive via air). When you cross the border you will simply be asked for your passport and that's it. Here we leave you more information on how to cross the border between the United States and Canada.

This info is valid for Spanish, Italian, and most European countries passports, if this is not your case, find out about the requirements for your country.

wikipedia.org

For weather, we have no doubt: the summer! But everyone knows this, so, as we have been told, in July and August Canada is full of tourists, especially the most popular places like the Rocky Mountains. If we had to choose a month, it would be June or September. The cold will not be a problem and you can enjoy the places with less influx of people.

We traveled to Canada in May and we found it a quite successful month, although we had some days of rain and cold. In Toronto it even snowed a little! And in the Rocky Mountains there was still enough snow, some lakes were still frozen and we found areas for trekking that were still closed.

We leave you some annual temperature charts from Toronto (east coast), Vancouver (west coast) and Banff (Rocky Mountains), east with snow levels too:

Keep in mind that Canada is a huge country, so huge that it is the second largest country in the world, after Russia. That means you will have to study the area you want to visit well and draw a meaningful itinerary. In general, we can divide Canada into two zones:

• East Coast: visit the cities of Toronto, Montreal, Quebec and if you have time, make a roadtrip through the area of ​​the Gaspé Peninsula, or farther away the famous Cabot Trail (in the province of Nova Scotia).
• West Coast: spend a few days in the eclectic Vancouver, tour the Rocky Mountains (by car!), and with more time, take a little trip around the Vancouver Island.

Unless you do not want to know only one of these areas for 1 or 2 weeks, we would recommend you to allocate a total of 3 weeks to Canada, with this possible itinerary:

• Toronto with visit to Niagara Falls (3 days)
• Montreal (2 days)
• Quebec City (2 days)
• Vancouver (3 days)
• Roadtrip through the Rocky Mountains (10-15 days)

Obviously there are other more remote areas in Canada, with sublime beauty, but for a first trip we would focus on the previous ones.

Canada is one of the countries from where you can see the Northern Lights between september and march. Although virtually all of northern Canada (an almost infinite territory) is exposed to this incredible phenomenon, it is recommended to visit the Saskatchewan Province, which is also very cool. If it is within your plans, download Aurora Forecast Y My Aurora Forecast, two APPs that indicate the possibility of seeing auroras and the places where to do it.

To move within Canada you will have 4 options:

BUS

There are several companies, such as Coach Canada, Megabus, Greyhound, Go Transit ... that have routes throughout the country and where you can book tickets online. It is the cheapest option, but somewhat more uncomfortable.

TRAIN

The train company in Canada is Via Rail. You can buy tickets online directly. If you are traveling from or to the United States (for example from New York to Niagara Falls, or from Vancouver to Seattle), you will have to do it from the Amtrak website. There are short-haul trains, especially in the area between Toronto - Montreal - Quebec, and longer ones such as the “The Canadian”That runs across the country, from Toronto to Vancouver, in 4 days!

CAR RENTAL / AUTOCARAVANA

The best option to tour the Rocky Mountain area. We did a 14-day roadtrip with a start and end in Vancouver, although if you want to focus only on Jasper and Banff National Parks, you can fly to Calgary and rent a car there.

If you want to make the trip even more epic, rent a van or motorhome! Canada is quite well prepared for van tourism, and there are many quality and charming campsites to enjoy nature (usually paid, although they are also free, the app WikiCamps CA It helps a lot). Ideal trip to go with family! Before, check out these relocation options, in case any match dates and destinations.

→ Compare car rentals in Canada
→ Options to rent a motorhome in Canada

Although in principle the driving license Spanish is enough to drive in Canada, we always recommend taking out the international card (It costs about € 12 and is taken at the moment in any DGT by appointment). Being written in different languages ​​can help.

Both Toronto and Montreal have subway network, which also serves the inhabitants not to have to go out almost to the street in the middle of winter, when it is cold that peels. In addition, like the other cities, they are well served with systems of urban buses, Y trams Y light trains in some cases. The price of a individual ticket It is usually about 3 CAD (€ 2), and that of daily bonuses on 10-15 CAD (€ 7-10). Here we leave you the transport websites of the main cities:

You will also have the option to use UBER (register with promotion), that if you travel as a couple or in a group, it is usually very good price.

Accommodation in Canada does not stand out for its quality / price ratio. In general they are expensive and you don't usually find charming options for a backpacking budget. We pull above all of the HI hostels in the big cities and in the area of ​​the Rockies, and of Airbnb or motels On the road by car. But obviously you can also stay at Hotels.

If your idea is to camp, we recommend using the app WikiCamps CA (There are very few free places to park and spend the night, but there are), or book through the official website of National Parks reservation.pc.gc.ca.

Either way, book accommodations in advance, especially if you travel in high season. Finding hostels on the go is not a good idea and in the Rocky Mountains less.

The currency in Canada is the Canadian Dollar (CAD), which has a lower exchange rate than the US dollar. To be able to get a few tickets, you will not need to change currency in Spain: you can get money at ATMs in Canada without commission, thanks to the boom of special cards for travelers. They serve both to get money at ATMs and to make payments, but each has its limits.

The solution we found a while ago to withdraw money abroad and make payments in currency not € without being crossed to commissions, it was to take two cards: the Bnext card as the first option, and the N26 card for possible emergencies. Both are free cards with excellent conditions to save us good money in commissions, but with certain limitations, so they complement each other perfectly. In addition, in Bnext there is a € 5 welcome promo!

There are other travel card options that we talk about here.

These cards are free and it is convenient to have them for other trips, in addition they usually have points programs and other benefits that make them interesting, but if you prefer not to request any, options you have to get money in Canada They are (from the most interesting to the least):

• Change money at a currency exchange or bank in the city
• Change money at an exchange office at the airport on arrival
• Get money at an ATM with your normal bank card
• Ask for Canadian dollars at your bank before traveling

We travel with the Holafly SIM card and we had no problems: it worked well, we always had coverage and the connection was very good (except in the Rockies, where the signal is usually lost). It is a more expensive option than buying a SIM with data in Canada, but you take the trouble of having to compare prices, find the store ... and you will have internet from the moment you land. Here you can book it with a 5% discount. Remember to bring a free mobile!

If it doesn't convince you, you have the option of buy a SIM from a Canadian telephone company. There are 3 large telecommunications companies in Canada: Rogers, TELUS and Bell, which in turn provide other minor service companies: Fido (Rogers), Koodo and Public Mobile (TELUS), Bell, Freedom Mobile ... You will have to buy a SIM (about $ 10) and charge the plan that suits you, depending on the amount of GB, days, etc. You can compare prepaid plans in Canada here. SIMs are bought in supermarkets, specialty stores and stalls in the main airports.

If you are not very hooked on the mobile and you only need it to check the mail and tell your parents that you are still alive and no bear has eaten you, you can avoid buying a SIM since in practically all hotels, hostels, restaurants there is free wifi.

What you shouldn't skip is take out travel insurance, which covers medical and other expenses during the entire period in which you travel. In Canada, medical assistance for non-residents it's not free, not even when it comes to emergencies, and prices, as you can imagine, can shoot you. Do not play with health. Save from anywhere, but not from here. We travel with Iati and delighted with life.

If you are going to visit several National Parks, you may need to buy a annual pass which allows entry to all of them (up to 80!). Is named Discovery Pass, it costs 136,40CAD and you can buy it at the entrance of any National Park (it can be paid in cash or by card). Otherwise, each day you spend inside a park costs CAD 19.80, so it is profitable if you visit National Parks 7 days or more. This is the price of a family pass, which is valid for 1 car and up to 7 people, but if you travel alone there is also a annual individual pass It costs 67.70 CAD. More information.

The best thing about this pass is that, being valid for one year and not being linked to the car's license plate, you can resell it at the end of the trip (either to a friend who travels to Canada or in traveler forums).

In Canada, as in the US, the issue of tips is practically law. In restaurants it is usually left between a 15-20% of the price without VAT.

It is not a cheap destination, although with respect to the United States we do find a difference. For a trip of 3-4 weeks, like ours, calculate some € 2,000 of expenses per person (flights included).

Canada is a super safe and quiet country, friendly people and at no time we had a feeling of being in danger. Of course, there are areas (like Hastings Street in Vancouver), which is better to avoid ... Not to mention the dangers of visiting wild places, hello bears!

Oh the Bears... The truth is that I (Lety) this issue overwhelmed me a little. In the Rocky Mountains it is very common to see bears (grizzlies and grizzlies) and in fact we saw more than 10! The most important thing, in case of bumping into a bear in the wild, is to keep calmaajajajajaja, of course. I cross a bear and what I do is throw salt on it, tell it to eat me fast and take advantage. Top quality Italian hams. Not seriously. The first thing you have to do is buy (or ask at the hostel / hotel) an anti-spray (pepper type) to use in case of an unexpected encounter. The second is to pray to find none. And the third ... read this post where they tell you what you have to do in case of crossing with a bear (and no, it is not salt on you).

- If you like the country a lot, you are under 35 years old and want to live an incredible year, find out about the working holiday visa (WHV), a visa that allows you to be 12 months in the country and work. We made this experience in New Zealand and it's very cool!

- The pegs in canada they are type A (two flat tabs) and the voltage is 120V, while in Spain they are type C and F and the voltage is 220V. What does it mean? That you will have to buy an adapter and that you check that all the chargers and devices that you are going to use tolerate different voltages (they will have something written like “INPUT 100-240V”). Otherwise, in principle nothing more serious should happen that they do not work, being a lower voltage than you need (on the contrary there would be a problem).

- There are up 6 time slots! Newfoundland Island (GMT-3: 30); Nova Scotia (GMT-4); Winnipeg (GMT-6); Regina (GMT-6); Edmonton (GMT-7); Vancouver (GMT-8).

- The measurement units to which we are accustomed, contrary to its neighboring United States:

• Celsius degrees, for temperature
• Meters and km / h, for distance and speed
• Liters, for the liquid
• Grams, for weight

- In Canada there are two official languages: English Y French (which is spoken especially in the area of ​​Quebéc) so if you do not master them ... try to learn some phrases even. The good thing is that thanks to the WHV there are quite a few Spanish speakers in the country. It doesn't hurt that you download a simultaneous translation APP.

- One of the things we didn't enjoy too much in Canada was the food, and see that it is rare in us! But it has seemed repetitive and very basic here (they have a lot of junk food, hamburgers, sandwiches, wraps ...). The good thing is that being a country with many immigrants, there is a wide variety of ethnic restaurants (especially Asian and Mexican).

- Always carry the passport: more than anything because if you want to enter a bar and have a beer ... you will most likely be asked. Yes, even if you are 30 years old and have wrinkles!

- Is it a good destination for travel with children? Definitely! We believe it can be a special trip, as it unites so much culture (there are countless museums, events and things to see) with nature and fun. Come on, Canada seems like a perfect trip for children, looking forward to taking our nephews! 🙂

- Here you can read the rest of the recommendations made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Have you visited this beautiful country? Do you know more tips for traveling to Canada (and not screw it up)?