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Big City Glamour
Vancouver rejoices in a favoured harbour-andmountains setting, an equable climate, the untamed spaces of Stanley Park within the city limits, fine beaches, ocean views and forests. A walk around the peninsula, along what is known as the sea wall, discloses many pleasures, including nesting cormorants along the cliff's edge and the occasionally-to-be-seen great blue heron. Vancouver is in the forefront of modernity with its shops along Robson Street, lively Robson Square, Victorian Gastown and the prosperous Chinese quarter. There are first-rate nightclubs and restaurants and every whim is seemingly catered for. Toronto has done much recently to develop the leisure potential of its waterfront setting - the fabulous Harbourfront complex facing Lake Ontario is dominated by the CN Tower, on top of which is a revolving restaurant where, on a clear day, you can see the USA. A cafeteria on a slightly lower level gives much the same vistas. It is a city replete with department stores plus, designer shops and places-tobe-seen-in restaurants and bistros are further north on Bloor Street. Montreal has spent a fortune making itself one of the smartest and most modern of cities - with an underground city, protected from the somewhat harsh winters, as its most dazzling achievement. You can shop, dine, go to the cinema and travel the city from end to end without having to go out on the street. When you do emerge it is to encounter a delightful climate from May through October, that enables you to dine al fresco at one of the pavement cafés in Vieux-Montreal, the old town that has retained its early 18th century charm. Being `French', it follows that country's big-city habits with a vibrant night-life and restaurants which offer both a meal and an experience. Quebec City survives gloriously in all its 17th and 18th century splendour within its old walls - seven square miles to wander in twisting cobbled streets, fountain squares and, of course, the famous boardwalk alongside the St. Lawrence Seaway. This first settlement of French explorers and trappers, although it has burst its boundaries with modern development outside the walls, still has its heartbeat in an atmosphere more akin to a large provincial French town than a city. The view from Parc Montmorency and the city's highest point Cap Diament, where the Laurentian Mountains jut majestically over the river is stunning. In addition to the most sophisticated boutiques and charming craft shops, there are the
bistros and cafés, redolent of France - charming in their close-tables intimacy, animated conversation and smells of good food and coffee. Truly a city to savour. Ottawa, Queen Victoria's choice as Canada's capital city is defiantly provincial. Its streets and shop fronts have something of the air of a British town in the 1950s. Outside its Parliament Buildings, architecturally reminiscent of our own, traditional redcoated `Mounties' may be seen on national holidays. The pace of life is unhurried, and a boat along the Rideau Canal, where the city's elite have their homes with gardens leading down to the waterfront, is a pleasing experience. Halifax is the smallest of the big cities, but certainly one of the most enchanting. It is steeped in seafaring history yet has a captivating modern feel. With fine shops, restaurants and hotels all in close proximity, everything is in walking distance along the flower bedecked paths in the oldest Victorian gardens in North America and the broad walkways along the city's sparkling waterfront. Dining out in Halifax can be a gastronomic feast. Being situated on the world's second largest natural harbour, the seafood is divine and in plentiful supply and to ensure your memories last that little bit longer, many fishmongers will happily forward a delicious lobster to your home address.
Niagara Falls
New England
New England's delightful cluster of picturesque villages with their white clapboard houses and delicately steepled churches really has no parallel anywhere in the world. Especially when you take into account its variety of wonderful foliage - the vivid golds of the birches, poplars and gingkos, the oranges of hickory and mountain ash and the scarlets of maple, red oak and sassafras, among many other varieties. This region offers so many incidental pleasures, marvellous traffic free vistas and villages unspoilt by trampling tourists.
pleasures of George Washington's Pennsylvania and charming Philadelphia before concluding in elegant Washington. The heartland of New England is best explored in Eastern Panorama, progressing from the Eastern Townships through the noble Appalachian Mountains to Lake Champlain and meandering delightfully down to Boston. Or why not enjoy the coastal glories of Canada as well as the USA New England's Coastal Villages and Nova Scotia is a delightfully different holiday.
Canada
Land for all seasons
The leafy byways explored in the above tours are justly celebrated for their blossoming spring finery and fall (autumnal) colours. April to June is spring flowering time in these regions, beginning with the earlier warm weather in Virginia and progressing north to Canada. Temperatures and conditions of wind and rain are the unpredictable factors in determining the best times for fall colours. In Canada, leaves generally start to turn in the first week of September, continuing through the month and usually well into October, while in New England the best time is from the latter part of September until almost the end of October.
Vancouver
Scope and variety
No one tour can encompass all that these states have to offer, which is why we have established such an exciting portfolio for client choice and for the many who wish to visit the area more than once. A most comprehensive introduction to the entire eastern seaboard is our long-running Eastern Extravaganza holiday, which starts in French Montreal, runs via Niagara and gives a delightful overview of New York State, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut before arriving in New York. It then takes in the rural
GREENLAND
ALASKA
FAIRBANKS ANCHORAGE
SKAGWAY JUNEAU KETCHIKAN
CANADA
PRINCE RUPERT JASPER EDMONTON LAKE LOUISE PRINCE GEORGE PORT HARDY BANFF
Hudson Bay
CHURCHILL ST JOHNS CHARLOTTETOWN QUEBEC CITY WINNIPEG OTTAWA SAINT JOHNS MONTREAL KINGSTON HALIFAX
Pacific Ocean
CALGARY SASKATOON VANCOUVER WATERTON REGINA
VICTORIA
TORONTO
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
NIAGARA FALLS
Black Bear, Rocky Mountains
Atlantic Ocean
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