Hi All, The place I work give you 4 weeks plus the Christmas period up till new year paid holiday. They run from January till the end of December, due to people pulling out and generally not going anywhere. I've got two weeks to use before next year otherwise I'll lose them. I live a 5 minute walk from work, so staying at home would feel to much like work, with the possibly of being called should they need me. So I have to get out the area. I've never been to North America before so I would like to possibly go there either this month or next month. The places I'd consider visiting at the moment are Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal or Quebec, and finally due to the the American Dollar being so weak America is looking so cheap (£1 = $2.10) So somewhere north east of America probably New York would be good. Due to Friends now not having any paid holiday leave left or having girl friends ect. I'll probably go alone in less one friend gets permission from work to come. I have some questions, what is public transport like, should I consider hiring a car, are there enough things to do bearing in mind I may be alone? In Quebec they speak French, is it common for them to also speak English as well or I am going to have to learn French fast to get around? The other thing I'd like to know is climate. I've been on wiki for some of these locations, in Ottawa for example you can ice skate on the Rideau Canal, if I go in November/December will it have frozen over enough to skate? It would be great if there was some snow as well, I haven't seen any in ages. That's not to important though as some friends are also off work over the Christmas period so there may be a skiing trip to Calgary on.
I can't answer any questions on Canada. But the northeast US has pretty subpar public transportation unless you stay in a heavy urban area(New York, Boston). In Boston and New York, you have no choice but to use the subway or a taxi. If you go west/southwest(which it sounds like you wont) don't count on public transportation. In LA, San Diego, all the way to AZ/NV you wont be finding anything except a couple busses on a slow route(barring Vegas's supposedly bitchen monorail).
Yup, public transportation in the west, is your car that you're not ashamed to be seen driving in public.
From a US perspective, not canadian: Atlanta public transport is not very good. if all you'd like to do is stay downtown then you should be OK. There are usually some kind of bus or shuttle that'll take you around town to town if you really need. Renting a car really won't be too expensive, so you're probably OK there should you want. The thing you'll find in cities though, is that parking can be either cheap, sketchy, expensive, or impossible to find. /end communication
If you're going to be up in the Northeast, it's best to find someone to show you around. Public transportation is unreliable and sporadic at best. It can also be difficult to find your way around many large cities without being ripped off by someone at some point (food, transportation, attractions, etc...). If you are interested in traveling to the NE USA, I might be able to help you out (depending on my schedule). I live 1/2 way between Boston, MA and NYC. Might even be able to help with a place to stay. ~Will Courtier~
Thanks for your replies. Thank you for your advice and help bigwill, I will have to see how things pan out. I need to convince the person who may come with me, he's a "I'm not going there in less I've seen it before" type of person. Which means he wants to go to Las Vegas despite the fact he went two years ago already.
I know the area quite well, and may even be able to get you some tours related to the submarine base here. Let him know that through me, I could get VERY cheap tickets to broadway shows in NYC, and could take him to see the famous USS Constitution in Boston, MA. You two could see the Empire State building, the Statue of Liberty, and quite a bit more. I should be out of work for holiday stand down, and I'll be here until shortly after Christmas. Everything's within driving distance of my home, and I've already done a ton of the tourist stuff considering I'm not a native of here. Just PM me if you have any questions about this area or how to plan such a trip. ~Will Courtier~
If you decide to come west Vancouver, Portland and Seattle are relatively close to each other. Vancouver and Portland have great public transit as well.
If you decide to stay a while in Quebec, There's two places you could visit in which you could manage in english very well. In Montreal, most of the city is bilingual, so that's not a problem. In the Outaouais region (just besides Ottawa) most people also speak both languages.
Yes, me and my friends had no problem when we visited Montreal. If you are going to visit NYC at all, I can give you some recommendations on shows, tourist spots, places to eat, etc, and maybe meet up for lunch or a beer if you want. I live about an hour from the city, but my friend has an apartment right accross the river that I stay with on the weekends. FYI, public transportation is horrible in NJ/NYC area unless you are in subway range or don't mind paying out the ass for a taxi.
