November 19, 2004 -- Canadians suffer their winters by braving them defiantly and in public -- taking to the outdoors on skates and skis, in furs and downs, with the friendliest, most accepting of attitudes. Winterfests, carnivals, community ice skating rinks, and snow sports are staples of Canadian winters, in temperatures more deeply and persistently frigid than in the continental U.S. Intrepid travelers can bundle up and join in the fun, through a number of package deals to Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Banff.
[Editor's Note: All prices listed are in US dollars. The exchange rate at the time of writing $1US = $.838574CD.]
If you ski, consider the natural splendor of the Canadian Rockies, and take advantage of packages to Banff, Alberta, available from Expedia (tel. 800/551-2534; www.expedia.com) from now through March 31. Tickets are cheapest from January 3 to January 31, 2005, when three nights plus airfare start at $409, with free lift tickets and equipment rentals on the fourth day. Accommodations range from the 2 -1/2 star Hidden Ridge Resort to the 4-star Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. Rates are slightly higher, but still a bargain, from now until December 23, at $472 for three nights in similar lodgings, plus the free lifts and rentals. From the Expedia home page, click "Vacation Packages" then "Ski Trip Dstinations," then "Ski Free/Stay Free."
Expedia is also offering a number of packages to major Canadian cities, with a minor catch: Accommodations are plush but located near the airport. If you're looking for a place to lay your head at night, though, the discounts make the location worthwhile -- convenient, even, in its way. Airfare and four nights at the spanking new, ultra-comfortable Toronto Sheraton Gateway Hotel, for example, start at $699, which includes discounts on the Toronto City Pass. The city pass entitles you to more than $100 worth of admissions to venues such as the CN Tower, the Art Gallery of Toronto, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Ontario Science Center.
Travelocity (www.travelocity.com) is also running a slew of last-minute deals to Toronto for the next few weeks. Samples fares include four nights at the 2-star Holiday Inn for $301, departing November 19 and returning November 23. The 3-star Courtyard by Marriott Mississauga, is $15 extra per person. Toronto in winter is one big outdoor party, with Winter City 2004, from January 30 to February 12; the 22nd Annual Designs in Ice, an ice carving competition in the heart of downtown Toronto, from December 27 to 29; First Night Toronto on December 31; and Winter Waterfront at Harbourfront Centre, with its very popular community ice rink.
In Vancouver, Expedia is featuring four nights at the sumptuous Fairmont Vancouver Airport -- a great value, starting at $575. The package includes discounted admission to Vancouver's five-hour Mountain and Sea Tour, at $57. The tour starts with a cruise across Burrard Inlet to North Vancouver then lifts visitors 4,000 feet above the city, to Grouse Mountain. There a skyride takes you on a one-mile tour in mid-air, with stunning views of the city, the Pacific, and surrounding mountains.
In Montreal, Expedia is offering four nights at the four-star Delta Montreal, in the heart of the city, for $377. Montreal in winter is also rife with festivals. The Fete de Neiges, in the Parc Jean-Drapeau, runs from from January 24 to February 5, featuring an acrobatic high diving show, ice and snow sculptures, skating, dog sledding, and tube slides. The Festival Voix d'Ameriques, from February 11 to 17, 2005, features poets, writers, rappers and other artists performing in multiple languages. For film buffs, Les Rendez-vous du cinema qu¿b¿cois, runs from February 17 to 27. And, of course, if you can't take the cold, burrow below street level, into Underground Montreal, the city's 8-mile network of tunnels lined with shops, restaurants, theaters, and other commercial buildings.
At any time of year, Hostelling International (www.hiayh.org) has an exceptionally extensive network of clean, safe accommodations in major cities and national parks throughout Canada. And, increasingly, private rooms are available for couples and families. The settings can be unusually inventive: HI has established hostels in converted train cars, rustic cabins, historic prisons, and dairy barns. Be sure, before you book, that private rooms are available at your destination. Otherwise you'll be bunking same-sex in a room with anywhere from 2 to 8 others. And you'll need a membership card to qualify for the best rates. Average cost per person is $22 a night but can range from $8 to $50 a night, depending on location. (Cities tend to cost more.)
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