Time to start thinking about summer vacation. My wife and I prefer the mountains and lakes over the ocean and beaches. We have enjoyed vacationing in Canada quite a few times and are looking to make a return visit. To date we have done . . .

* Drove from New Jersey to Prince Edward Island (1 star)
* Toronto (4 star)
* Montreal (3.5 star)
* Calgary/Banff/Lake Louise (5 star)
* Vancouver/Whistler (5 star)
* Mont Tremblant (3.5 star)
* Windsor (casinos only) (0 star - i lost my shirt)

We are looking for location(s) with:
* higher-end hotels or resorts
* good restaurants
* golf
* culture (museums, galleries, craftsman)
* bars/pubs

Lakes and mountains are a plus but not a requirement, we loved Vancouver. Night life (dancing/clubs) is not that important.

We have been thinking about a return to Vancouver/Whistler, post-Olympics, to see what has changed in the 4 years since our last visit. We didn't care for PEI and are concerned Halifax might have a similar feel. Other than that, we are open to suggestions. Canada is a big country, looking for a little help in narrowing down potential destinations.

Thanks,
Michael

 

I'd say good plan with heading to Vancouver. I'll be flying out to British Columbia, to the Okanagan, next week for a few days with my brother and his buddies. A bit of a stag/bachelor party as my brother is getting married in a couple months.

I'll let you know how things go there, but it's wine country, with plenty of lakes, and it's supposed to be beautiful. Since you've been to Banff, Alberta I'm not sure if you'll want to go back, but you can certainly stay at some very nice hotels with fantastic views. Where did you stay (hotelwise) last time? Check out the Rimrock, and Banff Springs - though I'm going to guess you stayed at Banff Springs last time if your standards are high. If you didn't check it out last time, Sunday brunch at the Banff Springs hotel is amazing. Literally the best buffet imaginable with every kind of meat, pasta vegetables, breakfast items, etc etc etc. Fantastic!!!

I'll try to throw some tips when I get back in 2 weeks from today and let you know what nice regions I discovered in BC.

 

BTW PEI and Newfoundland have a very similar feel. Very different from the western provinces (BC and Alberta). The people there are super nice, but it's more like fishing communities and small towns - even in the "big" cities there, like Halifax.

 

[QUOTE=MikeyCB,Apr 26 2010, 03:59 PM]

 

 

Banff Springs hotel has cool history, and is awesome to just walk around. Keep walking anywhere you want inside, until someone kicks you out of somewhere you shouldn't be. Beautiful interior woodwork and detailing everywhere, and there's the history room that explains the progression and progression/growth of the hotel over the past 120+ years. Pictures on the walls of Marilyn Monroe and various other famous people golfing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banff_Springs_Hotel

My girlfriend would like to get married on the back terrace of the hotel but I can find much better ways to spend the many 10's of thousands of dollars it will cost for that venue.

This is the view from the terrace:



Side note, the cheapest rooms can cost $300-400+ /night and they're TINY. But you don't have to be a guest to walk around or eat in the restaurants and lounges.

 

Around Banff there are some other quirky smaller places to check out, like Fairmont and Radium. There's a little restaurant in Radium called Helna's Stube.. It's like if a world-class chef decided to move to the boonies and run an unpretentious hole-in-the-wall.

If you liked Banff you might also like Jasper.

 

Here's another view of the terrace:

 

The Fairmont Lake Louise is nice, too. We had lunch there.

 

play hockey!