Where will your first post-Covid vacation be?

[isabellea]

I was always wondering what the difference was between the sides, other than I knew the Canadian side is bigger?

Yes, I would enjoy QC. I've travelled in Quebec some when I was growing up, in that region, Ste Anne, up through the Gaspe etc... very beautiful. 'Course my ideal would be to visit the area in the winter so I can get some skiing in

Skiing in QC is great! I grew up in the suburbs of Quebec city, only 8 minutes from a ski resort and we thought going to Mont Ste-Anne and Le Massif (my favourite hill for skiing so far) was far with a 30-45 minutes drive. lol. Now, I live in Montreal and the closest hill is 30-45 minutes away. For great skiing it's over 1h away!

 

[pooh2001]

We are schedule for Nov 10 - Nov 17, 2020
Have not moved it as of yet.
I hope there are some discounts
My job may not be back till September and our income went down with only DH salary to live on

 

[StarSeven7]

Skiing in QC is great! I grew up in the suburbs of Quebec city, only 8 minutes from a ski resort and we thought going to Mont Ste-Anne and Le Massif (my favourite hill for skiing so far) was far with a 30-45 minutes drive. lol. Now, I live in Montreal and the closest hill is 30-45 minutes away. For great skiing it's over 1h away!

Try living in SW Ontario after living in Calgary for 5 years! It's about4-5 hour drive for crappy skiing! Hahaha!

 

[mshanson3121]

Where is New Hampshire? We are thinking of going to Loon mountain area for a long weekend and going to see the Ice Castles. Have you been to the Ice Castles?

We were planning on staying in Bartlett (North Conway area). I've never heard of the ice castles!

 

[monica9]

We were planning on staying in Bartlett (North Conway area). I've never heard of the ice castles!

You need to look it up! So cool! Think they are frozen themed

 

[mshanson3121]

You need to look it up! So cool! Think they are frozen themed

Really?!!! Is this something they do yearly? I would love to do a winter trip to NH sometime. Thought it would be fun to visit Santa's Village during Christmas season, and this sounds like it would be a fun thing to add on.

 

[monica9]

Really?!!! Is this something they do yearly? I would love to do a winter trip to NH sometime. Thought it would be fun to visit Santa's Village during Christmas season, and this sounds like it would be a fun thing to add on.

Yes, I guess it's new for 2020. They have them in other states too. Only thing is I think they start late December so unless you go after Christmas to Santa's Village, you may not get to do both at the same time. Look up Ice Castles NH

 

[Griffin11]

We have a trip to Disney planned (and semi-booked) for late January 2021. Hopefully it will be a go, but I wouldn't hesitate to cancel if I didn't think it would be safe for us or the community at large.

Whether or not that goes ahead, summer 2021 would be an in-Canada trip. I would like to rent a cottage near the Saguenay in Quebec for an extended period, not sure if my kids would be old enough for that to be an enjoyable vacation.

Before COVID-19 I was wishing for a solo NYC trip, so I'd like to do that too.

 

[dish rag]

Have a house rented in Bar Harbor for late September into October. Who knows what things will be like then. Cancelled flights to go to our place in Orlando for next week for over Easter. The second this gets settled we will go there. I’m starting to wonder it that will even happen before fall. I miss being home.

 

[Donald - my hero]

We don't have any plans to travel anywhere, anytime soon and for sure Disney is off the radar for at least a year. Couple of reasons for that - the border, when it will open, the situation in the states is worse than here (heck than anywhere right now) for a variety of reasons (some that might get me a warning from the moderators ) but the one that will keep us away is strictly financial!

A Disney holiday is $$$ and the exchange rate just makes it even more $$$$$. We usually just take that in stride because we can't do anything about that but things will change now. It will cost more for insurance and will it even cover as much as it did pre-COVID-19? But I can't imagine going to Disney and being able to get full value until every other person who feels they missed out on their trips goes! it will be super busy and it will take them some time to figure out how to deal with the fact that the virus won't be "gone" so how many people will be allowed in the parks, restaurants, resorts?

I agree with everyone who has said it cost far too much to travel within our own country and hopefully we will see some discounts as businesses try to draw visitors. I remember how cheap it was to stay in Toronto for the year post SARS.

 

[mshanson3121]

We don't have any plans to travel anywhere, anytime soon and for sure Disney is off the radar for at least a year. Couple of reasons for that - the border, when it will open, the situation in the states is worse than here (heck than anywhere right now) for a variety of reasons (some that might get me a warning from the moderators ) but the one that will keep us away is strictly financial!

A Disney holiday is $$$ and the exchange rate just makes it even more $$$$$. We usually just take that in stride because we can't do anything about that but things will change now. It will cost more for insurance and will it even cover as much as it did pre-COVID-19? But I can't imagine going to Disney and being able to get full value until every other person who feels they missed out on their trips goes! it will be super busy and it will take them some time to figure out how to deal with the fact that the virus won't be "gone" so how many people will be allowed in the parks, restaurants, resorts?

I agree with everyone who has said it cost far too much to travel within our own country and hopefully we will see some discounts as businesses try to draw visitors. I remember how cheap it was to stay in Toronto for the year post SARS.

Good points. So many on Disney sites have been hoping for good Disney discounts. Hopefully we'll see some good discounts within our own country - it would especially be nice to see the price of flights drop down to semi-normal levels, lol. I just honestly don't know where I would really want to go. I really hoped that our 2021 vacation would include the warmth of the south and some beaches to boot, lol. Where on earth can you go to a beach in Canada in June and actually be assured of having nice warm, 80F+ beach weather? lol

 

[pigletto]

One thing I will say about travel in our own county ... we did a three week driving trip from southern Ontario to Banff /Jasper/ and Yoho national parks . We stayed in hotels on the drive out and back but camped exclusively once we were in the parks. I wouldn’t have done it any other way. It was by far the most spectacular trip I’ve ever taken. I think we did the whole three weeks for about 3K ..we used mostly airmiles for gas and hotel bookings. We didn’t eat out much but used grocery stores and cooked a lot . Not the type of travel everyone would enjoy but we just loved it . Travel in our country can be expensive or cheap depending on what you want to do.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

One thing I will say about travel in our own county ... we did a three week driving trip from southern Ontario to Banff /Jasper/ and Yoho national parks . We stayed in hotels on the drive out and back but camped exclusively once we were in the parks. I wouldn’t have done it any other way. It was by far the most spectacular trip I’ve ever taken. I think we did the whole three weeks for about 3K ..we used mostly airmiles for gas and hotel bookings. We didn’t eat out much but used grocery stores and cooked a lot . Not the type of travel everyone would enjoy but we just loved it . Travel in our country can be expensive or cheap depending on what you want to do.

Our trip out West to Banff with our trailer was also one of our most memorable and we'd like to go back again. With gas being a lot cheaper now, it makes a road trip with the trailer a lot cheaper.

 

[mshanson3121]

One thing I will say about travel in our own county ... we did a three week driving trip from southern Ontario to Banff /Jasper/ and Yoho national parks . We stayed in hotels on the drive out and back but camped exclusively once we were in the parks. I wouldn’t have done it any other way. It was by far the most spectacular trip I’ve ever taken. I think we did the whole three weeks for about 3K ..we used mostly airmiles for gas and hotel bookings. We didn’t eat out much but used grocery stores and cooked a lot . Not the type of travel everyone would enjoy but we just loved it . Travel in our country can be expensive or cheap depending on what you want to do.

For us, it's more what we need to do vs. want to do due to special needs and health issues. Camping is out for us for now, which sucks, but someday I hope we'll be able to purchase a trailer, which would be a game changer. I absolutely love the idea of just taking off on road trips, with no real destination in mind, just seeing what you see! Go across Canada (and I would love to include the territories in that), drive route 66, drive the eastern seaboard... just drive and park and explore! Friends of ours did a trip similar to yours last summer, and they loved it! Now they camped the whole way, traveling from NB to Alberta, and then returning through the states going to Montana, Wyoming etc... The photos were just stunning. It's definitely a trip we plan to do in a few years. Of the three parks you visited, which was your favorite? I've heard that Jasper is less touristy than Banff, and easier to visit?

 

[pigletto]

For us, it's more what we need to do vs. want to do due to special needs and health issues. Camping is out for us for now, which sucks, but someday I hope we'll be able to purchase a trailer, which would be a game changer. I absolutely love the idea of just taking off on road trips, with no real destination in mind, just seeing what you see! Go across Canada (and I would love to include the territories in that), drive route 66, drive the eastern seaboard... just drive and park and explore! Friends of ours did a trip similar to yours last summer, and they loved it! Now they camped the whole way, traveling from NB to Alberta, and then returning through the states going to Montana, Wyoming etc... The photos were just stunning. It's definitely a trip we plan to do in a few years. Of the three parks you visited, which was your favorite? I've heard that Jasper is less touristy than Banff, and easier to visit?

Jasper was quieter overall but I enjoyed them all equally . I think camping and hiking really made the difference . Once you are off the main strip and into some hikes and drives you lose most of the people . The National park campgrounds are full but they do an excellent job with rules and they are quiet at night and everyone we ran into was quite respectful and friendly . No real noise or parties .

 

[mshanson3121]

Jasper was quieter overall but I enjoyed them all equally . I think camping and hiking really made the difference . Once you are off the main strip and into some hikes and drives you lose most of the people . The National park campgrounds are full but they do an excellent job with rules and they are quiet at night and everyone we ran into was quite respectful and friendly . No real noise or parties .

Our friends said this exact same thing. They found them really great that way. The thing they found hard was how busy the parks were. They said most days they had to be in the parking lot by 7:00ish am, if they wanted to be able to get in (they were travelling during peak summer season). Did you experience that at all? We love to hike, albeit we have to stick to the easy trails for DD, but it's still fun.

 

[pigletto]

You definitely want to be at the more popular trails or to the parking areas for places like Lake Louise early . But there are a great many trails that are just as beautiful as the popular ones that aren’t nearly as packed . There’s jaw dropping beauty everywhere you look and it’s not hard to get away from the crowds at all .

 

[rangerxenos]

We are CT too. You like Acadia? Trying to find a nice weekend winter vacation with the kids or maybe just a fall weekend getaway me and my husband only. Not sure which one yet.

Love it, but I wouldn't suggest it for a weekend, it's about an 8 hour drive each way from CT. You really need at least 4 - 5 days. We usually go up for a week.

 

[rangerxenos]

Ooh care to share what you do in Acadia, where you stay, best (easier, family friendly) hiking etc? We've talked about doing this as well. We've been to Bar Harbor (it's only 2.5 hours from us) but never explored the park.

I can't speak for family friendly, as we don't have kids, but we usually stay here:

http://www.barharbormanor.com/
It's a short walk to downtown Bar Harbor, and pretty reasonably priced for the area.

There are tons of non-killer hikes and walks in the park, those are the ones we normally do as DH is not a real hiker. The old carriage roads are great for walking. We love the beaches as well, not to swim at (the water's too cold!) but to walk, we love the rocky shores.

Our favorite spots on Mount Desert Island and in the park: Little Hunter's Beach (hard to find, but a gorgeous spot), Eagle Lake, Somesville Bridge, and Asticou Azalea Gardens.

 

[dish rag]

I can't speak for family friendly, as we don't have kids, but we usually stay here:

http://www.barharbormanor.com/
It's a short walk to downtown Bar Harbor, and pretty reasonably priced for the area.

There are tons of non-killer hikes and walks in the park, those are the ones we normally do as DH is not a real hiker. The old carriage roads are great for walking. We love the beaches as well, not to swim at (the water's too cold!) but to walk, we love the rocky shores.

Our favorite spots on Mount Desert Island and in the park: Little Hunter's Beach (hard to find, but a gorgeous spot), Eagle Lake, Somesville Bridge, and Asticou Azalea Gardens.

We get a house right in town near the old church with the title grave yard. Love Rosalie’s pizza and Gedi’s. All the little stores in town. We spend the days hiking the numerous trails. Love Cadillac mountain. Love Jordan pond. We are in Waterloo, it’s a long drive. Twice I have flown to Orlando then to Bangor and my wife has picked me up on the way lol. I don’t care for the long drive like she does. Valley Cove is very nice too, a Very mysterious area. Usually no one is there.