Questions about visiting the US over winter

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

PIO - those Boston photos are amazing. It is definitely somewhere we would like to visit and your photos just make it more appealing.

Skiingfast - thanks so much for jumping in with some info. I am dying to see NYC at Christmastime so that is a priority for sure. Cooler weather at WDW doesn't bother us at all, and some things down for refurb are a small price to pay. We don't ride anything really scary and there really are so many other things to do and see there that I wouldn't feel we missed out on anything.

Canada in winter - well I think it would be soooo beautiful to see. My concern is it being so cold to get around. Because while we get cold here in Canberra, it's not in the vicinity of what Canada gets. But the last two times we've been to the US, we've contemplated adding Canada because we'd really like to see even just a little bit of it but it always seems to hard LOL. Because potentially we would be thinking about going late Dec early Jan, the kids are on holidays, I can shut my business down for longer and DH can do whatever so long as he has enough notice. It just seems like this probably would be a last opportunity go visit the US and so tacking on Canada would be perfect. I am not sure whether we would ever just do a trip to Canada itself because we would always want to jump down to NYC haha. So it seems crazy not to consider it this time. I will need to do lots and lots of research.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I think you need to compare the price of the bus ride x 4 people against the cost of hiring a car. Driving on the other side of the road isn't that bad in an automatic car. It took us 90 minutes to get from Downtown Toronto to Niagara. From the airport, it would be about an hour or so.

It just depends on when you are going and how much snow is on the road.

The Clifton Hill area is a little touristy tacky...it just depends on whether you like wax museums, Ripley's Believe it or Not...or not.

I've been to Niagara twice - both times in summer and both times with heaps of other things to do. You might want to ask Skier Pete that question about what else to do in Niagara in the winter. Just pose the question on my TR and hopefully he'll see it and respond.

I can't remember exactly why I didn't train it from Toronto to Quebec. I suspect that it might have to do with the airpass I bought. I think we bought a minimum of 4 flights in the airpass and we used one to get from San Francisco to Toronto. We also used one to get from Boston to LA; and a third to get from LA to San Francisco. We probably had an extra pass to burn and this seemed like the most logical leg to use it in.

Your last part...I would recommend that you might want to consider 5 - 7 days for these 3 bits of Eastern Canada.

Toronto - maybe 1/2 to 1 day? In winter, you wouldn't be able to get out to Toronto Island. So, for Toronto, you would want to head up the Tower...and then check out what other things are in Toronto that you might want to do. It really is another city.

Niagara - you would see the falls in 20 seconds. After one minute...you'll be going "NEXT!". Well...maybe 5 minutes for your photography shots. It just depends on what else is opened and whether you want to do any of it or not.

Quebec City - 2 to 3 days. I loved Quebec. There's a bit to sightsee and shop there. Besides, you'll want to have dinner at two different restaurants in QC.

Montreal - 2 to 3 days. There is definitely much more to see in Montreal that I got round to seeing. I think Queenie made it out to the Biosphere, which is in the Olympic precinct side of things.

Much to Queenie's disgust, we aren't really keen to drive in the US and Canada, it freaks us both out about the other side of the road thing, and to try and do it in winter with conditions we have no idea about makes me even more nervous so I definitey think a bus of some kind would be the way to go. Although $300 is steep for a bus ride of course. And then if we stayed overnight we would essentially be adding an additonal $100 to that price. I wonder if there is a train that goes from Toronto to Niagara, because the pricing might be a bit better. Going to check that out today.

Looking at your estimates of days, you are thinking that Toronto doesn't have all that much to see right?

Quebec sounds heavenly. I love old buildings and beautiful food and my daughter is obsessed with anything "french" hehe.

I don't know much about Montreal but will do a bit more research on that one.

Lots to think about and research to do. It would be a shame if the trip didn't happen but honestly, I love the research so much it would not be wasted time for me anyway

 

[shushh]

Ooh this is a tough one. Both are very appealing. Queenie's idea is a good one, be prepared for both and pounce on the better deal.

I was also going to suggest something similar to what PIO did, that is exploring the rest of the US east, NE coast. We had friends who went to WDW with us who were from Canada (ontario) and they had delays with flights due to snow. Not that this wouldn't happen from the NY/DC end, but at least you'd have other options like train and driving.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Delays due to snow are a bit of a concern. I was thinking that if we did Canada we would do it at the end of the trip so that if there were delays - what would be would be.

But yes, this is a real issue for me.

We had flight delays and problems in NYC going to Orlando with fog in September of all times.

 

[queenie82]

Ahhhh Boston how I love you!!!

Weather delays are always a concern and my only winter travel rule is DON'T GO VIA CHICAGO. That is my only hard and fast rule when travelling in Winter. It is truly hard to know what you'll get. As you say...you got weather delays in September

My winter east coast photos I'm having issues accessing

But here is Niagara in Winter

I found Clifton Hill an ugly and tacky waste of time. It isn't my thing. We stayed there for convenience but other than the falls...I was there for no other reason.


This is Ottawa Parliament. As a city I wasn't impressed...the people at the airport security were the rudest I've ever encountered.
But....there were some lovely buildings. It was snowing while we were there and we were driving but the roads are mostly cleared.
You just get your ice scraper out when you park the car

If you aren't 'game' to go to Canada go around NE USA. BosNYWash...etc...







But still plan Europe




*** it's Beautiful...







Although they TRULY are rude and France...
These are BF's rules -

- Never trust a French map.
- Never help the French. Miserable ungrateful b*stards







Sacre Cur

Notre Dame

View from Montparnasse

And you never know what you'll find near the Tour Eiffel...

Loire Valley

Chambord (yes...the Liquor...which was actually cheaper at Syd Dutyfree )

The TIN TIN Castle

Chateau de Chenonceau

They have a ramp to get TO the door....but getting in is another matter

And if you want "Europe lite" as Samantha Brown puts it

There is the UK


where you will find another "French Chateau"


I'll wait and see if anyone recognises it...

 

[PrincessInOz]

There is the UK


where you will find another "French Chateau"


I'll wait and see if anyone recognises it...

It's astounding and time is fleeting...that no one has responded yet...madness is definitely taking it's toll.

I'm going to take a Jump To the Left.... field.....

(am I the only one caught in this Time Warp...again??)

 

[queenie82]

I don't think they had the computer under the stairs in the film...

But they had these guys!!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I don't think they had the computer under the stairs in the film...

Didja DIS from that 'puter?

 

[queenie82]

Didja DIS from that 'puter?

*clears throat.....putting on prim and proper pommy accent*

For guests only dear...

*cough cough*

back to twang...

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Thanks for sharing those beautiful images Queenie. Hmmmm, you girls do make it hard for little old me to make a decision .

I've just had a little play around on the VIA rail website for Canada and we could catch the train from Toronto-Ottawa-Quebec-Montreal-Toronto for $906 in January with some rough dates I was considering. I thought that was a fairly good price for a family of 4 to travel around a small portion of that country. I haven't looked into possibly flying because I was thinking A. we would potentially see a little bit more of the countryside whizzing past on a train rather than from the air and B. if the weather was crapola, wouldn't there be less chance of delays with trains than planes??? I could be wrong here though.

 

[DVCAustralia]

Originally posted by ms. Shuttergirl
I've just had a little play around on the VIA rail website for Canada and we could catch the train from Toronto-Ottawa-Quebec-Montreal-Toronto for $906 in January with some rough dates I was considering. I thought that was a fairly good price for a family of 4 to travel around a small portion of that country. I haven't looked into possibly flying because I was thinking A. We would potentially see a little bit more of the countryside whizzing past on a train rather than from the air and B. If the weather was crapola, wouldn't there be less chance of delays with trains than planes??? I could be wrong here though.

I would not recommend flying between these cities, only driving or train, but you should look into whether you need to circle all the way back to Toronto or whether you can do all the cities in one straight line.

 

[JennyN]

We were in WDW in January 2010, OMG it was so cold, the first week we were there the temperature did not go above 6 degrees celcius. We had packed basically for a Gold Coast winter, needless to say we layered and bought an awful lot of clothing. Fortunately we were in a unit that had its own laundry facilities so we wore most of our clothes on top of each other every day. However they say it isn't usually that cold.

 

[pix13dust]

Hi! do you mind if a New Yorker joins in. I have two comments, if you truely love the winter, Vermont is only about 30 minutes from Montreal, a bus will bring you back and forth between the two countries. You could stay in Vermont for a couple of days to ski or sled ( they also have some world class Spa's for those of us who prefer the indoors! ). Also, you mentioned you didn't want to drive - it can be very challenging in the winter - not sure if you've heard of the Megabus, it goes all over the East Coast, Toronto, Boston, NYC, DC, Philly, Chicago, Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo... The prices are very cheap and many of the destinations have several departing and arriving times to choose from. Have fun on your trip!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Thanks Pix13dust. Just looked into Megabus on Tripadvisor, the reviews are pretty mixed. My DH would have a fit if I booked this company and some of the things i just read happened to us. Yikes. Would be ok if we weren't travelling with kids but I need to know that we are safe and going to get where we need to go comfortably and on time.

 

[pix13dust]

Thanks Pix13dust. Just looked into Megabus on Tripadvisor, the reviews are pretty mixed. My DH would have a fit if I booked this company and some of the things i just read happened to us. Yikes. Would be ok if we weren't travelling with kids but I need to know that we are safe and going to get where we need to go comfortably and on time.

yeah, the megabus is very hit or miss. We used it last September, it showed up 2 hours late My DH was mad! But the trip home was on time and uneventful. I know they have had problems in the past but recently they have really tried to do better, with that said, i would only use it for short trips with my kids ( NYC to Boston or NYC to DC ). The Train system is good, it goes from NYC to DC or NYC to Buffalo.

 

[Lulu83]

DF and I were in the US and Canada for five weeks last winter (we left on Boxing Day) and both of us just adored the weather! We certainly didn't get sick of the snow or cold and found it a real novelty (we were well equipped with down jackets, thermals etc. though which I think is the key) As an added bonus we're finding the Perth winter positively toasty this year!

The photos a previous poster put up of Boston look gorgeous, I have to say that's the one place we didn't really enjoy and found too cold (I think it was below -15C during the day and the coldest place of our whole trip)

We had a real whirlwind trip and only spent a night or two in most places but longer in the bigger cities like NYC as we wanted to see as much of the countries as possible (this was perfect for us but we are young and energetic and it's just the two of us so for families or people who need more rest/would have trouble lugging luggage around or want to spent more time exploring each place in detail this itinerary might be a bit too frantic!). A bit of a rough overview of all the places we slept and how we got there is: started in LA - drove to San Diego - drove to Phoneix - drove to Vegas - drove back to LA - drove the Pacific Coast Hwy to San Fran sleeping at San Luis Obispo in between the two day drive - flew to Seattle - train to Vancouver - flew to Montreal - train to Toronto - train to Niagara Falls - train to Buffalo then flew to NYC - train to Washington DC - train back to NYC - train to Boston then flew back to LA (and Anaheim yay!)

We hired a car on the west coast but used Amtrak/VIA Rail to get everywhere on the East Coast and highly recommend it. Unfortunately I can't remember the costs but we did a lot of research and it was the most cost effective for us. We booked with STA Travel and they booked all our rail tickets for us (and got better prices) which saved us a lot of hassle. We also booked all our internal flights before we left and carefully weighed up the benefits of flying versus rail (based on travel time and costs)

Feel free to ask me any questions about our trip if I can help you at all!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

DF and I were in the US and Canada for five weeks last winter (we left on Boxing Day) and both of us just adored the weather! We certainly didn't get sick of the snow or cold and found it a real novelty (we were well equipped with down jackets, thermals etc. though which I think is the key) As an added bonus we're finding the Perth winter positively toasty this year!

The photos a previous poster put up of Boston look gorgeous, I have to say that's the one place we didn't really enjoy and found too cold (I think it was below -15C during the day and the coldest place of our whole trip)

We had a real whirlwind trip and only spent a night or two in most places but longer in the bigger cities like NYC as we wanted to see as much of the countries as possible (this was perfect for us but we are young and energetic and it's just the two of us so for families or people who need more rest/would have trouble lugging luggage around or want to spent more time exploring each place in detail this itinerary might be a bit too frantic!). A bit of a rough overview of all the places we slept and how we got there is: started in LA - drove to San Diego - drove to Phoneix - drove to Vegas - drove back to LA - drove the Pacific Coast Hwy to San Fran sleeping at San Luis Obispo in between the two day drive - flew to Seattle - train to Vancouver - flew to Montreal - train to Toronto - train to Niagara Falls - train to Buffalo then flew to NYC - train to Washington DC - train back to NYC - train to Boston then flew back to LA (and Anaheim yay!)

We hired a car on the west coast but used Amtrak/VIA Rail to get everywhere on the East Coast and highly recommend it. Unfortunately I can't remember the costs but we did a lot of research and it was the most cost effective for us. We booked with STA Travel and they booked all our rail tickets for us (and got better prices) which saved us a lot of hassle. We also booked all our internal flights before we left and carefully weighed up the benefits of flying versus rail (based on travel time and costs)

Feel free to ask me any questions about our trip if I can help you at all!

Thanks for all the info, sounds like you had a wonderful trip.

When you were in Canada and the cooler cities, what type of footwear did you wear. Were sneakers sufficient or did you go with a hiking boot type thing? Did you need thermal underwear? Gloves, hats?

My main concern is for warmth for the family, and maneouverability so that we are warm but can still function easily and not get too dragged down with clothing and movement.

 

[Anne_Aus]

The photos a previous poster put up of Boston look gorgeous, I have to say that's the one place we didn't really enjoy and found too cold (I think it was below -15C during the day and the coldest place of our whole trip)

With how cold it was in Boston did you still manage to see much? How many days would you suggest to spend in Boston?

flew to Montreal - train to Toronto - train to Niagara Falls - train to Buffalo then flew to NYC - train to Washington DC - train back to NYC - train to Boston then flew back to LA (and Anaheim yay!)

Once again a time question how long did you spend in Montreal, Toronto, Niagara? Also suggestions on where to stay?

I also have a clothes and shoes question for all the colder regions did you go for snow clothes or just regular clothing over thermals eg jeans and layers on top?
Shoes are the other big thing, regular shoes or special snow shoes? I want to get a decent pair of leather boots, but I am wondering if these are best for the areas where its not snowing heavily, and whether snow boots would be best in the areas where it is

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Anne - PrincessinOz has a big trip report that she is writing from her 2007 trip and she went to Boston and Canada. She shared lots of beautiful photos. It should only be a few threads down the aussie section.

 

[austraveler]

Don't underestimate the chance of a very cold winter with lots of snow....We have had a couple of trips where we were snowed in in Boston and one which turned out to be the coldest winter in 10 years inNew York where we really could not venture out at all. I grew up in Washington state and am not troubled by a little snow but it was Freezing. Just a heads up.....