Hey folks,

I'll be doing this tour next summer. Hoping others want to come celebrate Canada Day on tour as well as come out to a unique Calgary Stampede experience. This will be my 10th Contiki tour. If anyone else is going on this tour, please feel free to drop me a line and say hi.

Christopher

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RS1973SAR,

gday christopher, are you booked for this tour? Ive been looking at booking it this for a while but im tossed up as to whether to do canada by myself or with contiki....the tour isnt cheap but i know it will be awesome

hi, i'm now booked on the tour, can't wait, looks amazing.

Oli

Hi Oli,

Yea, the tour's definitely not as cheap... but seeing as how we're spending all our nights in hotels and in a nice chalet in Banff... it's definitely worth the price of the trip

I'm doing the tour this summer as a way to end out my Contiki experience, in fact I've put in an offer to help out the road crew, so you'll have a Canadian on board with group... well at least one anyway... should be a blast... we're having Canada Day and hopefully fireworks celebration in Jasper and Stampede is one of those once in a lifetime things people should experience along with scenery you won't get anywhere else in the world.

I'm also hoping people will stay for a day or two afterwards and a night before the trip. There's plenty to do in Vancouver... especially with the Winter Olympics coming in 2010. When it comes closer to the date hopefully more people will post on the message board and we can get a pre-tour group together for a little party in Vancouver or a post-tour mini-trip.

I think there's going to be a lot of bonuses on this tour that isn't offered on the other Canada & The Rockies tours... so you did pick a good one to go on... for sure... we'll have an awesome time

So where are you from? Judging from the G'Day, I'm expecting somewhere in Australia?

hi chris,

i'm 21 & from england but the person who wrote before me could well be from australia.

I'll get to Vancouver the afternoon/evening before the tour starts after hopefully seeing some family in Seattle so I'm up for a pre-tour party.

Oli

guys does this tour leave from New york???

Hi Oli,

oh yea, didn't notice it, sorry... but yea, this trip's gonna be good... the more the merrier. I've got a friend from one of my previous Contiki tours booked on this trip and he's from Australia... and a couple of other friends interested... so I'm trying to get a full bus going for this one. (There's 50 available seats)

I'm going to probably use what worked really well on other Contiki trips for this one... like I'll be bringing my laptop along in case people want to download pictures and save them onto a DVD-R or CD-R at the end of the trip, which someone did on our Australia trip... saves people time from having to go hunt a camera shop in the middle of the trip to make more space on their memory card... this way I would suggest people taking as many good quality shots in hi resolution. There's a couple other places I would like to do group photos as well and it's just nice reminders.

If I have a couple of days off work, then I'll prob be able to meet people at the airport and bring them out to the hotel without you guys having the hassle of trying to figure out directions in Vancouver... it can be a real pain sometimes... Don't take a taxi... the airport's a far ways off... If you know where to go then the bus is far cheaper... there's only one bus to really take and it comes like every 10-15 minutes... it's only $3.25 one way. it drops you off about 4 blocks from the hotel though, if Contiki's using the same hotel, which I think is the Sandman.

For people that want cowboy hats for Stampede... there's a place in Banff (before we head to Calgary, I can take people to - again it beats having to ask for directions ) and you guys are going to have a blast in Calgary... I know most of the cool places to hangout... more commonly known as the Red Mile is 17th Ave and it's easily accessible... lots of pubs and hangouts there.

Even though there's a lot of travel time, there's a lot of down time and time for people to recuperate from big nights and that mid trip... Kamloops is one and Vernon is the other... I would suggest people turn in early in Vernon... cause coming back to Vancouver and everyone pretty much well does the Harbor Cruise at the end, is going to be a wild night...

I think the tour manager's gonna have it easy this trip with a "ringer" on board...

In response to the other question from Explorer1082015... this trip does not leave from New York... it leaves from Vancouver...

one of the downsides I've found with Contiki is people hopping on the bus mid tour... it happened in New Zealand, Australia (this wasn't so much a big deal as people were hopping off tour instead of new people coming on) & UK/Southern Ireland... and the dynamics changed quite significantly... friendships and bonds are already formed, and though not impossible, is hard for new people to come onto tour mid trip. The Grand Canadian trip (which is what I think you're referring to) departs from New York) hooks up with Canada & The Rockies... so it's really 2 separate tours combined into one...

I would suggest that if you want to see the east coast... you do the Eastern Discovery which gives you a lot more bang for the buck and also includes New York, and do eastern Canada on your own and the only really 2 places to go see are Toronto and Montreal, and you definitely need more than one or two nights there... the other thing is the Grand Canadian doesn't take you through Niagara Falls, which I think is a shame... It actually really all depends on what you want to do. It'd be nice to have you on our tour... but you've got to plan what works out for your schedule and your budget too... Hope this helps... good luck with your decision... but def... go Contiki all the way!!

Grand Canadian incl. Calgary Stampede

okay so this is the tour im booked on...i actually didnt know it hooks up with another tour, thats wierd. you guys arent on this one right nor do you hook up with it?

im heading inti new york a week b4 tour, might try and get to niagra falls for a day trip...whats the best way to get there? fly?

i'm doing just the calgary stampede & i'm guessing chris is doing just that one as well.

chris will probably be able to help you with niagra falls & flights & stuff.

Oli

yup... I'm just doing the Canada & The Rockies tour...

as for Niagara Falls... there's really no airport close by except Buffalo, NY... and then you have to drive out there or taxi/bus (it's about a half hour)... ummm... if you end up having a lot of free time in Toronto, it's only a couple of hours drive south... But if you're in NYC for a week, then it might be worth the road trip...

Gday Boys
Make some room on the bus for little old me. This will be my 2nd contiki tour. Did NZ this year and am getting really itchy feet for Canada. Wish I was able to do more of Canada, but I'm only off work for 3 weeks. BUGGER!
But hey, lucky to get that. Work had a fit when they got my application for leave for Feb 2009. 3 months off to do, Africa and Asia. Fun, fun, fun.
So drop me a line. I love to meet the people i will be drinking/touring with.
Halz

Hi Halz,

Hows it going? I know how you feel about wanting to do more of Canada. Have used up the last of my holiday time for this trip having booked a holiday for S.America in March.

So where abouts are you from? I'm 21 & from England.

Oli

Hi Oli
Nice to hear back from you.
I'm 22 and from NSW Australia.
Are you doing the Canada trip by yourself?
That is so cool that you are doing S. America. I am hoping to do that in the next 5 years, because I a want to go for 3 months and see it all and walk the Inca Trail. Waiting for my Long Service leave. I had to beg and pray to get my 3 months off for Africa and Asia. I am doing it on unpaid leave. Luckily I'm good at my job and still have one when I get back.
I am a manager at my local supermarket. What do you do?
We have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Talk to you soon
Hayley

Hi Hayley,

Welcome Aboard. I see you've met Oli. There's always room for more... the more the merrier... Looking forward to meeting you as well... Hope my liver holds up till then I've got 2 Contikis booked... Simply Italy and LA to the Bay before taking on Canada & The Rockies next year. Looks like everyone's doing a lot of travelling in '08... Catch ya later...

Chris