jjamon.nospam@gmail.com a =E9crit :
> We are from Europe. Is it worth visiting NY and/or Quebec (Montreal
> etc) during February? Or is it better to wait until April? We would
> come for about 10-14 days and, besides visiting NY or Montreal, also
> would like to rent a car to discover the countryside.
> We also have not yet decided where exactly to go: NY (never visited)
> or (Eastern) Canada (also never visited) or somewhere else USA/Canada
> East (Boston, Quebec City etc). Any suggestions?
For having travelled most of the region between Niagara
and New Brunswick over the last 25 years at almost all
seasons, I would recommend May/June or September for
a first visit from Europe.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the several winter-trips, even with
temperatures below -20 and even once -35 degre Celsius.
First its relatively dry when really cold (partially compensated
by the wind blowing often enough directly from North Pole).
Sure that outdoor activities are somehow limited, but
I liked crosscountry skiing, skating on frozen canals, did
(but did not like) a few tries on snowmobiles (prefer "real"
motorbikes) and found downhill skiing kind of limited.
On the other hand, interesting places to visit, such as
the "underground world" in Montreal, the ice-hotel now in
Sainte-Catherine de la Jacques-Cartier (neat Quebec-city),
or simply watching old Quebec-city with Chateau-Frontenac
on the "taversier" crossing ice-covered St.Lawrence
to Levy and back. Niagara-Falls (kind of far from Montreal,
but at one hour driving from Toronto) are special in winter!
In addition, might be worth mentionning that a few years
ago, temperatures in Southern Quebec were above freezing
(10 degre Celsius and more!) during a vacation late
February - no snowmobile tour, no crosscountry skiing!
If I had to choose between February and early April for
a trip to Southern Ontario and Southern Quebec, I would
definitely opt for February..
Regarding possible tour: you might fly to NY-City or
Boston (I prefer), use public transportation or taxi for
visiting the city/cities, take a train to Montreal (worth the
experience ? Have never used a train in North America),
and rent a car there for touring Quebec-City and/or Ottawa
(imho more interesting for visitors from Europe than
Quebec-city) or even Toronto/Niagara
This Winter, Quebec Carnaval is scheduled for Jan 27 to
Feb 12 - might be worth considering it in your vacation
plans. More at http://www.carnaval.qc.ca/fr/ (not that
I am fond of that kind of activities - but probably worth
visiting if you are not to far away ...)
|