Planning another trip to Canada - suggestions needed

[Fabio_kun]

You guys already are aware that I'm very fond of Canada. Mainly because of OLP, Matt Good and Rush and the fact that they've been a part of my life since I was a kid. So once again I'm planning a trip to Canada. Possibly next year.

Last year I went to Toronto and NYC (had never been to those cities). Actually, I had only been to the US when I was a kid. And all the other trips I did were to Europe. So I enjoyed Toronto and Canada so much that I want to visit some other Canadian cities. So I'm thinking about Montreal, Quebec and maybe Vancouver (which is too far west, so I don't know if that would be possible).

If I were to go back, what cities do you people think I should put on the top of my list? I'm really enjoying the idea of going to Montreal, but since I speak NO french at all, I wonder if that would be a problem. I wonder how people from Montreal deal with both languages. From what I heard, they are very proud of speaking french and don't like it if you only speak in english with them. Is this all true?

And also, if everything goes well is this trip, I may even consider immigrating to Canada. I've been studying the idea and considering the pros and cons, and how to make it possible.

How do you people deal with the amount of new immigrants your country shelters every year? As I said in another post, I was amazed with how many chinese people I saw in Toronto. Sometimes I think I heard more chinese than english. Scary stuff. I believe some people may not like living with so many immigrants...

Soooo...
What would you guys recommend? Vancouver and the west side or maybe Montreal and Quebec?

I may consider going next to winter, since I went to Toronto in the summer. Seeing some snow might be good, for a change.

[Carson79]

Don't go to Vancouver if you are staying away from Chinese immigrants...lol - there are a lot in Vancouver. I think immigration is a normal part of our lives, most people I know don't feel that its a bad thing. Our melting pot society is what makes Canada a very interesting and educational (just go to an elementary school - the one near here has people from 16 different countries and this area is fairly new to immigration).

Montreal is a beautiful city, so is Vancouver. Depending on what you want to see - out west you can visit the mountains and ocean but if you prefer only city dwelling go east.

Ok - that may not be the best advice...but since you did Toronto already I would say go west.

[Fabio_kun]

Don't go to Vancouver if you are staying away from Chinese immigrants...lol - there are a lot in Vancouver. I think immigration is a normal part of our lives, most people I know don't feel that its a bad thing. Our melting pot society is what makes Canada a very interesting and educational (just go to an elementary school - the one near here has people from 16 different countries and this area is fairly new to immigration).

Montreal is a beautiful city, so is Vancouver. Depending on what you want to see - out west you can visit the mountains and ocean but if you prefer only city dwelling go east.

Ok - that may not be the best advice...but since you did Toronto already I would say go west.

LOL. Yeah, I've been told Vancouver has the largest chinese community in Canada. No offense to chinese people, but damn, they are spreading allover, lol.

I really don't know what I want to see yet. I'm really curious about the french side of Canada. And I love big cities, I love metropolis... so anything with cars, buildings, people walking and talking on their phones... that's what I'm all about lol. I've seen pictures of both Vancouver and Montreal and they seem like amazing stunning beautiful cities... so yeah. Too bad they are FAR away from eachother.

[half jill]

i loooove montreal. the french speaking shouldn't be a problem. people either speak only english there, or both english and french...and they can usual tell if you can't understand their french speaking, haha. i've only been there a few times though.

[xjsb125]

I only had the chance to spend a day in Victoria, BC, but it was a beautiful city, and I wish I would have had more time to explore it.

[faninor]

It's not so metropolitan though. But near enough to Vancouver and Seattle.

[Fabio_kun]

I guess living in such a huge country makes it hard even for Canadians to explore their own territory, right?

Funny cause this also happens in Brazil. I live in Rio de Janeiro and I've only been to São Paulo ONCE. And I've never been to any other place in my country. I've actually been to more countries and cities around the world than in Brazil, which is quite a shame...

[Johnny]

Whatever you do, don't visit Edmonton. It's boring.

[myownsatellite]

And Johnny lives there. You wouldn't want to run into him, he's smelly.

[laurel]

I adore Edmonton.

[Johnny]

You're weird.

[Carson79]

I prefer to go to Edmonton over Calgary...but its the people I know in each city that makes my decision (and the fact the I can navigate around Edmonton much easier!) I actually spend a considerable amount of time in Edmonton-but have never ran into any smelly people named Johnny.

[Johnny]

That's cause we're a clean, industrious people.

[myownsatellite]

Except Johnny, who is very very smelly.

[Johnny]

Women find my scent irresistable.

[reza]

I guess living in such a huge country makes it hard even for Canadians to explore their own territory, right?

Funny cause this also happens in Brazil. I live in Rio de Janeiro and I've only been to São Paulo ONCE. And I've never been to any other place in my country. I've actually been to more countries and cities around the world than in Brazil, which is quite a shame...

Let's trade countries, lol.

You haven't by any chance traveled South to Uruguay have you? I'm thinking about buying a summer house in Montevideo so I'll be traveling there before August to check out some properties. Any advice? it will be my first time in Latin America.

Vancouver is really really far from Quebec province, in fact the length of the flight between Quebec City & Vancouver is probably equivalent (or close to) flying to England. Montreal is largely bilingual, so you shouldn't have too much of a hard time there, Quebec City will be tougher because of the language barrier but I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle. Don't fall into the hype too much, you won't get lynched or anything for not knowing French, maybe a couple of dirty looks (if that), a few people may walk away from you if you ask for directions (though that may be because they don't understand Portugese or English themselves) and people just think they're rude. I've been to Quebec many times, the people are friendly, the food is great and it's just simply a wonderful place to be. I hope you like poutine and maple syrup. Ottawa is the most boring city on Earth so I guess it's worth a day-trip so that you can take pictures of Parliament buildings or whatever, there are museums and quite a few nice restaurants.

Personally, I would recommend that you travel East towards the Maritime provinces. I'm sure many people here will disagree with me. Again, in comparison to Montreal or Toronto it will probably seem boring but it's beautiful and fun can be had anywhere if you're with the right people. I hope you like seafood if you go there too. Traveling South from Quebec, you can find your way into the US pretty easily if you want to head towards Boston, it is bit of a drive but it's damn scenic!

If you go to Montreal I highly recommend you go to an eatery called Amelio's. Honestly, it might be a little pricy because of the currency conversion but if you can do it, why not!