thinking of a honeymoon in canada???

[handyandy]

Still on the Canadian Rockie theme but with a train thrown in the mix.

[albertaboy]

I agree with a couple of the posts above.

BC:
- The Wickaninnish Inn on Vancouver Island is amazing. Have stayed there a few times-- is absolutely beautiful and the food is outstanding. The island is a good choice because you guys could see a lot of pretty spectacular things between Victoria and Tofino. Fly into Vic and take a day to drive to Tofino. Spend a night or two at the Tigh-na-mara Resort in Parksville on your way.
- You mention wanting to see an NHL game. Depending on the time of year you're going you guys could easily catch a ferry or sea plane and head over to Vancouver (2ish hour ferry ride, 30ish minute sea-plane ride) to see the Canucks. Vancouver is a big. busy city, but is absolutely worth seeing.
- Whistler is (used to be before the Olympic highway construction) a 2ish hour drive from North Vancouver. I've spent a ton of time in Whistler and would be happy to recommend some very 'unique' (read: not bank-breaking, but luxurious and memorable.) places. There are some outstanding restaurants in Whistler as well.


AB:
There are very few places in the world that compare to Banff/Lake Louise/Jasper in terms of "burst into tears beauty". Outstanding restaurants and accommodations. Handy Andy's suggestions of hotels are quite good. Personally I wouldn't stay at the Post Hotel (it's lost its luster in the past few years Andy), but would definitely suggest eating there. I love staying at Deer Lodge while in Lake Louise--first class subtle luxury. The chateau is nice to visit, but the 'average' rooms aren't anything spectacular and are silly expensive.
- Fly into Edmonton and drive through Jasper and the Columbia Ice Fields before ending up in Lake Louise and then Banff. Spend a few days in Calgary, catch a Flames game, and fly home out of Calgary. This is where I live, so rather than go into more details on here, if you're interested let me know and I can give you as much info as you need. My personal preference is to find something a bit 'off-the-beaten-path' but still top-notch. I avoid most Fairmont hotels for example, just because I find too big, 'common', and worn out (if that makes sense without sounding snotty).
- If you time it right you could fly into Edmonton, see an Oilers game, drive through Jasper and the Columbia Ice fields, spend a few nights in Lake Louise/Banff, and drive to Calgary and see a Flames game.
- Someone mentioned Kicking Horse. It's a really great place to ski, but the town of Golden doesn't really appeal to me as a 'destination' for folks coming from the UK looking to see a wide-range of Canada. It's coming though. Give that town a few more years, and it's going to be outstanding. Property is at the point now where the town needs to 'catch-up' to the prices that are being charged.

This is just a scratch on the surface. Any questions, let me know. I would definitely look at the West (BC, Alberta) before I went to Central (Ontario) though. No offence to Ontarians, just a lot more to see out this way for a first-timer (and the hockey is better).

Quebec is absolutely beautiful too--just full of French people...

The Maritimes are spectacular in the summer, but no hockey to speak of in the summer. If you go in the winter you can see some of the best Major Junior hockey anywhere (QMJHL), but the winters on that coast can be pretty brutal--not the picture of Canada you should leave with...

[cuprajake]

to revive this thread, lol were still getting married haha and still set on canada we've prety much got it down to the vancover bc area, we think, thigs like banff etc, we dont have huge ammounts of cash to spend i'd say max about $2000 on accomodation, then we can source flights spending etc after obs for something really nice and exchage rates our money could go further any suggestions?

[Lopaschuk]

Originally Posted by handyandy

Lake Louise~ Chateau Lake Louise and Post Hotel
Banff~ Banff Springs Hotel
Jasper~ Jasper Park Lodge

The first two are good suggestions, but IMHO, JPL has gone far downhill very fast, so I'd avoid that if I were you.

What time of year are you planning to go? Places like Jasper, Lake Louise, Whistler ect are good year round and offer a completely different experience, but equally good, between summer and winter. Places like Vancouver Island are fantastic during the summer but get a tad chilly during the winter and aren't quite as nice. There's some really great storm watching places on the west coast of Vancouver Island where it's usually nice and warm and beautiful during the day, you can hike, bike, horseback ride, then just goes nuts at night and you can just sit and lounge watching some amazingly powerful weather. There was a place in inner BC I stayed at that I would definately recommend called Tyax ( Tyax Resort | Tyax Resort - The Mountains are Calling ) that was like Jasper Park Lodge, but had a little more to do and was a little more peaceful.

The territories were pretty mediocre in my opinion, way too many mosquitos.

[cuprajake]

Cheers for the reply, were getting wed may 1st 09 so the two weeks after that is when we would be going, we had thought about a stay and cruise in canada/alaska, it starts with two days in vancover, 7 days cruising alaska then the rest of the days in whistler. but we found out that on top of this the cruise ship was costly and you had to pay extra for everything lol so that got a bit expensive

so i though perhaps rent a vaction home or something, then we can get a car etc.

jake

[cuprajake]

found a site that does holiday homes, as this is another option, there is quite a nice cottage in niagra on the lake,

whats that area like,

[handyandy]

Originally Posted by cuprajake

found a site that does holiday homes, as this is another option, there is quite a nice cottage in niagra on the lake,

whats that area like,

It's really nice but nothing that special. It's nice to go to for a day and drink wine there. If you're coming to Canada it has to be the Rockies.