With U.S. dollars exchanging for almost 1.5 Canadian dollars, Canada continues to grow as an attractive destination for budget adventurers. Here are a variety of services that cater specifically to young backpacking travelers this summer.
– Moose Run Tours offers a hop-on-hop-off backpacker bus service along a 10-day circular route, which starts in Vancouver on Mondays and Thursdays and includes stops in Whistler, Kamloops, Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff, Kelowna and Penticton. Passengers have up to mid-October to finish their journey.
Stops are scheduled at hostels and at activities ranging from river rafting to mountain biking, glacier tours, jet skiing and horseback riding. The fare for the complete circuit is about $235 (all prices converted to U.S.).
Information: Moose Run Adventure Tours, 1653 Coquitlam Ave., Port Coquitlam, BC, V3B 1H8; 604-944-3007 or 888-388-4881; e-mail info@mooserun.com; www.mooserun.com.
– You can explore Vancouver Island with Seagull Expeditions. This small company operates do-it-yourself camping tours in 18- and 11-seat passenger vehicles. Participants pay a small camping fee and contribute to a communal food kitty. Camping equipment is supplied.
The three-day tour to Pacific Rim National Park includes opportunities for mountain biking and whale watching at Tofino. Priced from $66, it departs Victoria every Monday and Thursday. The Strathcona Provincial Park tour, with opportunities to hike in an ancient rain forest and to see salmon spawning channels near the Campbell River, is also three days long, at the same cost. It departs Victoria every Saturday. A five-day combination of both tours is $116, plus $16.50 for the food kitty and $14.50 for camping fees. Some tours will also depart from Vancouver.
Information (including new day tours): Seagull Expeditions, 213-951 Topaz Ave., Victoria, BC, V8T 2M2; 250-360-0893 or 800-580-3890. Seagull Expeditions offers a 5 per cent discount for Internet bookings. Information on Seagull, Bigfoot and Rocky Express tours is available on the Internet at www.backpackertours.com.
– Bigfoot Adventure Tours offers transportation between Vancouver and Banff for $70. Traveling east the 11-passenger vehicles make overnight stops in Squilax at Shuswap Lake, providing the opportunity to explore a beaver dam, swim in the lake and stay in a hostel that has beds in former Canadian National Railway train cabooses. Buses depart Vancouver on Fridays, Wednesdays and Sundays. The service will continue until mid-October. On the westbound route the buses stop in Kamloops, which has a hostel in a former courthouse and opportunities for white-water rafting, horseback riding and hiking. Buses depart Banff on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Hostel accommodations are reserved for Bigfoot passengers at an average cost of $10 per night. New for this year is a two-day tour from Banff to Jasper and back, with an overnight stop at Edith Cavil Hostel. The cost is $60. It operates three times per week.
Information: Bigfoot Adventure Tours, 1900 Valmont Way, Richmond, BC, V6V 1Y4; 604-278-8224 or 888-244-6673; fax 604-278-4881; e-mail bigfoot@mdi.ca.
– True North Tours operates the Rocky Express, a six-day budget adventure through the Rockies in 15-seat vehicles. Into its seventh season, Rocky Express departs Calgary and Banff International Hostels every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, mid-May through mid-October. Stops are made in Banff, Lake Louise, Lake Moraine, David Thompson Country, the Columbia Icefields, Jasper and Maligne Lake.
Optional activities en route include white-water rafting, caving, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, canoeing and a Snowcoach tour (glacier tour on large-tired vehicle). The $132 fare includes all park entrance fees. Accommodations are reserved at Hostelling International facilities, at a total cost of $45 for the week. Participants also contribute $16 to a communal food kitty.
Information: Rocky Express, c/o True North Tours Ltd, Box 75051, Cambrian P.O., Calgary, AB, T2K 6J8; phone/fax: 403-912-0407 or 888-464-4842; e-mail: warden1@telusplanet.net.
– Contiki Holidays, the world’s largest tour operator for travelers 18 to 35, operates a 10-day Rockies tour, with three of its departures scheduled to overlap with the Calgary Stampede. The tours include transportation by air-conditioned coach, twin-share accommodations (except in Banff where it’s four per room), five dinners and nine breakfasts, the services of a guide and a Snowcoach ride on the Athabasca Glacier. The route is Seattle or Vancouver to Banff, Whistler, Kamloops, Jasper, Banff, Calgary, Kelowna, Vancouver/Seattle. Rates from $955.
Information: See a travel agent or call 800-266-8454; www.contiki.com.
– CanaBUS Tours operates a “Jump-On-Jump-Off” bus service along a 1,056-mile route around Ontario. The 24-seat minibuses depart Toronto every Tuesday and Saturday until November. This company’s route includes the giant dunes at Sandbanks Provincial Park, Kingston to explore Old Fort Henry and ride the Wolfe Island Ferry, Ottawa for city sites and white-water rafting on the Ottawa River, jet-ski touring in the Ottawa Valley, Algonquin Park for canoeing and a cookout, the Native Exhibit at Brantford, a beach break at Wasaga, hiking on the Bruce Trail, mountain biking around Blue Mountain, a visit to Mennonite country and Niagara Falls, and hiking in the Niagara Gorge plus a stop at a Niagara winery.
The $185 fare does not include accommodations or entrance/activity fees. CanaBUS has negotiated special rates for its passengers at activities along the route. The driver/guide will drop and pick up passengers at budget accommodations and the company has scouted out locations where accommodations are available for $13.50 per bed, per night. You are free to spend extra time at locations along the route by arranging to board another CanaBUS at a later date.
Information: CanaBUS Tours Inc., 74 Gerrard St. East, Toronto, ON, M5B 1G6; 416-977-8311; E-mail petejoe@canabus.com; www.canabus.com.
– The Moose Travel Company operates a “Hop-On-Hop-Off” service that covers both Ontario and Quebec. Passengers have until mid-October to complete their trip.
Moose’s 15-seat buses make stops for mountain biking, white-water rafting, fiord hikes, whale watching, rock climbing and canoeing. Night stops are made at youth hostels and campsites. If you hop off, another bus is scheduled to pass each point along their routes at least three times per week.
The 930-mile Beaver Trail Tour costs $180 and takes a minimum of four days to complete (they recommend you plan 10 days). The route starts in Toronto and goes to Sand Banks Provincial Park, Kingston, Montreal, Mt. Tremblant, Wakefield, Algonquin Park and back to Toronto. The Loonie Trail costs $126 and takes a minimum of three days to cover (they suggest seven). This 620-mile journey starts in Montreal and includes Quebec City, Tadoussac, Trois Rivieres, Lac St Jean and back to Montreal. Both routes combined become the Moose Trail, a 1,865-mile adventure that costs $220 and takes a minimum of six days (recommended time is 14 days). New for this year is a $23 Niagara Day Tour from Toronto. It is operated in conjunction with Furthur Still Tours and includes the falls plus a stop at a Niagara winery.
Information: 905-853-4760; e-mail moosetc@sprint.ca; www.moosetravelco.com. Passengers of both The Moose Travel Company and CanaBUS Tours are eligible for a 10 per cent discount on Moose Adventure Tours in Western Canada.
– If you see a psychedelic bus heading along a Canadian highway, chances are it’s a group from Furthur Still Tours. The company now has seven “cosmic coaches” painted with flowers by previous passengers.
Furthur Still Tours are not hop-on-hop-off; the same group sticks together from beginning to end. The buses carry 30 passengers who are usually from a variety of countries. Expect stops for swimming, canoeing, hiking, etc. Nights will be spent camping and occasionally at youth hostels (camping equipment is provided). Passengers contribute to a fund that covers expenses for both meals and any accommodation costs.
The Western Expedition (travel either way between Toronto and Vancouver) takes 21 days. The regular rate is $595 plus $205 for the food and accommodations fund. The 2,175-mile Eastern Experience covers a route in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. It takes 14 days and regularly costs $395 plus $120 for the food and accommodations fund. Both tours can be linked for a six-week coast-to-coast tour. Furthur Still also operates three-day Ontario getaways for $68 plus $42 for food and accommodations, and day trips from Toronto to Niagara Falls for $23 or day trips of the Niagara Falls area for $18.
Information: 905-371-8747 or (toll-free) 877-371-8747 or check the Web site at www.furthurstill.com.
