Selling Travel - Selling Canada
Travel options to explore Canada
Canada is ideal for touring on a RV road trip, but there are other modes of transport that allow you to soak up all the spendid beauty it has to offer. Charlotte Flach seeks out four fun alternatives
SEA PLANE
British Columbia offers some of the country’s best seaplane tours, with its breathtaking nature best viewed from above.
Described as one of Canada’s most authentic west coast experiences, options offered by Harbour Air reveal some of the highlights of the province and beyond. Packages and flights, ranging from 10 minutes to day trips, are available as group tours or private options.
Take a turn over the skyline of British Columbia’s capital, Victoria, join an all-day island hopping tour of the Gulf Islands, or explore the pretty Sunshine Coast from the air.
The Vancouver seaplane tour is a popular option, with panoramic views of where the cityscape, distant mountains and sprawling harbour meet. The 20-minute small group tour is limited to just 14 people and includes a carbon offset levy for climate-conscious travellers.
Near Whistler, local operator Authentik Canada runs 40-minute seaplane tours that give a bird’s-eye view of the glaciers, mountain peaks, volcanic formations and alpine meadows that surround the waters of Garibaldi Lake. It is not uncommon to see wandering black bears.
RAIL
The Rocky Mountaineer’s Western Canada trips and Via Rail’s coast-to-coast itinerary on The Canadian are relatively well known among UK travel agents, but there are other ways clients can get back on the rails.
For a touch of nostalgia, catch a ride on the Southern Prairie Railway, which provides an authentic pioneer experience. Tours showcase the prairies of southern Saskatchewan and the beauty and wildlife of the grasslands en route to Horizon to the west and Pangman to the East.
In British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, the Kettle Valley Steam Railway chugs along the only preserved section of the historic Kettle Valley Railway built during 1910 and 1915. Alongside traditional trips, the company offers seasonal themed voyages and murder mystery rides.
Canada’s autumn colours have been described as ‘supernatural’ and The Agawa Train which runs through the Agawa Canyon in Ontario is a great platform from which to see them. The 10-hour journey operates from August to mid-October, departing from downtown Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Look out for waterfalls and bears along the way.