How to organize a caravan holiday in Canada with children? Francesca tells us today that with her motorhome she circumnavigated the Gaspesie peninsula in Québec with her two children, Margherita and Dario (4 and 2 years old).
Thinking about the summer holidays last year we were oriented towards destinations outside Europe, so that we could make the most of Dario's last almost free trip, which takes place almost free of charge in September. Usually our travel plans begin with great fantasies and long searches for thousands of possible aerial combinations, and in our surfing the Internet we came across direct flights from Venice to Montreal and Toronto at a very interesting price, and we understood that we found our destination!
Canada had already conquered us in the past: in 2014 we visited British Columbia with Margherita, who then had a year and a half, and it was the first important trip made in 3. We were struck by the beautiful national parks and huge spaces, the kindness of the Canadians and their welcome to the children, so we knew we were safe.
CANADA WITH CHILDREN: FLY WITH THE
LOW COST AIR TRANSATLANTIC COMPANY
We were a little bit slow before buying air tickets because unfortunately I had to wait for the summer holiday plan, but keeping track of prices between January and March we did not notice big fluctuations for this route.
Our flights have been:
08/07/2017: Venice (14:35) - Toronto (17:50)
22/07/2017: Montreal (21:25) - Venice (10:50 +1)
After a bit of indecision due to not really comforting reviews read on the internet, we decided to fly with the Canadian low cost airline AirTransat. We flew with an A310, which is not really the most modern aircraft in the world, but the size of the seats are normal and the bathrooms quite small but in the standards of a low cost.
Meals with AirTransat are reduced to a single main meal and a snack, as well as free unlimited drinks, and even Dario, despite being infant, was entitled to a full meal. When we called the airline company to figure out how to organise our meals for Dario, they explained that AirTransat does not have a baby menu but that it is also possible to request the adult menu for infants. However, you should check this information at the time of your trip because things may change over time. At the call center they were very available, but there are no operators who speak Italian.
Respecting the philosophy of low cost companies, every comfort is paid for: the headphones for entertainment on board, the blanket and pillow, any extras or variations to the menu proposed must be paid for separately. On our plane there were no screens on the seat, but hanging from the ceiling there was a screen every 4 rows of seats. However, you can download the AirTransat app (cost best to do it at home) on your tablet.
Apart from this, we were still able to board the Dario stroller and car seats free of charge, and included in the ticket price was a large piece of checked baggage.
Would I go back to flying with AirTransat? Frankly yes. I think that the convenience of a trip is a subjective concept and for us the limitations imposed by AirTransat have not been a problem.
In the Margaret's backpack we had put their favorite games and a new game and book head to head that we had discarded during the flight, also I was equipped with some snacks and a tablet, even if only one tablet for two children was not a particularly brilliant idea: we were forced to put it away quickly enough after having to settle some disputes between brothers. The return flight instead was nocturnal so, apart from the discomfort of sleeping seated, it was all smooth yarn.
Learn more about it:
How to entertain children by plane
Managing a long journey with children
Last note for those who are wondering how good the offer was: we spent a total of 2 adults, a child and a beauty infant of 1155 euros. It seemed really a great price to us!
HOW TO RENT A CAMPER VAN IN CANADA
When we visited Canada in 2014, we were not very well prepared to travel with children and we had given up on renting a camper van because it seemed too difficult for us organically: we had never made a camper van trip or an intercontinental trip with our child and we were full of doubts. During the vacation, however, we were a little bit repented of the choice made. We have therefore decided to work hard so that we can make our holiday aboard a beautiful Canadian motorhome: we love camping life and we wanted to live an experience as close as possible to nature, we also wanted the freedom to decide where to stop and for how long.
Despite being more experienced than 3 years ago, we had to cope with a lot of organizational difficulties and high rental prices, but we didn't let ourselves be discouraged. After lengthy research we understood that the offers of the big companies had now run away and that the local companies did not allow drop-offs; we were forced, therefore, to use the motorhome only for a ring tour on Montreal and to find a different means of transport that would allow us to travel the Toronto - Montreal route. Initially we thought of travelling by train for the first part of the journey, but ticket prices are not at all cheap and did not justify the inconvenience of having to drag children, suitcases and car seats around!
Our equipment was new and in very good condition, and we were provided with the kitchen equipment (pots, crockery, cutlery, cutlery, kettle,...), 900km of travel, water pipe, electric cable and kits for emptying the tanks included in the rental price. We purchased apart from a package of 2000 km and the kit of blankets and towels, while we decided not to rent table and chairs.
This choice proved to be the right one: in all paid parking areas, on the campsite, and even on days when we stayed free, we have always found comfortable wooden tables for outdoor dining.
I would like to make one point, which I think is right: in this travel journal I only have my personal experience. According to what we were told when we picked up the camper van, free parking in Canada is tolerated, provided we do not stop off on the road or inside private property. We have decided to stop off and we have seen many camper vans stopped in municipal parking areas or in parking lots away from the road, but before stopping outside the campsites you have to be aware that it is done at your own risk. Since we are not experienced motorhome riders (it was our second camper van holiday) I found this site where parking areas for free and paid camper vans are indicated. The three nights we stayed free we relied on the advice of the site, and for our little experience it proved to be reliable.
Unfortunately we were a little bit uninvolved and we discovered only on camper rental made that Discount Québec does not allow drop-off of any means of transport that comes from a state other than Québec. We thought we could rent a car from Discount to Toronto and deliver it to Sainte Hilaire's motorhome rental company (near Montreal) but it was not possible and we were forced to look for another rental company that had a car agency relatively close to the camper collection and that would allow us to drop-off from Toronto. The logistics of the car delivery day and camper van collection wasn't really easy and I wouldn't feel like I would recommend to anyone the car - camper van pass as we did!
CANADA IN MOTORHOME: WHAT TO PUT IN YOUR SUITCASE
As far as clothing is concerned, we have followed to the letter what Alessia wrote in this very useful suitcase for Canada: what to bring.
We never pulled the waterproof jacket out of the suitcase and we used the fleece a few times but never and never would I ever have dreamed of leaving without! I started without an umbrella, but with the weather we were very lucky and there was always a warm and sunny climate, excluding a drizzle in the early morning in Toronto and a resounding shower on the penultimate day in Montreal.
During the day she was quietly sitting in shorts and shorts and in the evening a sweatshirt was enough. Only in Gaspésie we used batteries in the evening, but there is also to say that we slept on the campsite and dined outdoors.
Scarf and hat have been fundamental especially for children both to shelter themselves from the wind and to protect them from the annoying mouches blanches that we met in Gaspésie, and that have the ugly vice of stinging in the head and behind the ears.
After a long indecisive decision we thought of bringing our two car seats from home: we were planning an on the road holiday with several kilometres to grind every day, and we felt that the certainty that the children were comfortable and safe in their seats was essential. Surely traveling with two car seats is not the most comfortable thing in the world, but grandmother has provided us with a suitcase of epic size, with a handle and wheels, in which I was able to fit both seats and some other thigh.
For Dario we have brought both stroller and baby carrier, as well as baby backpack and going back I would not leave any of these three things at home.
The stroller in the city was fundamental: for me it would have been too tiring to travel all day with Dario in the marsupium, which instead we exploited in the moments of great tiredness of both children (especially the first days) or for short routes. In the national parks, however, we used only the children's backpack because it gave us the opportunity to keep Dario away from the sun and put in the various pockets everything we needed to stay out half a day.
Since the father is passionate about photography, there's no way to get him to carry anything other than his photographic backpack, and as a result, the child, lunch and spare clothes had to find a place on my sturdy shoulders! For Margherita, on the other hand, we have not brought anything special, also because at four and a half years of age we walk more!
As a luggage we have therefore "limited" to a huge suitcase with inside the car seats, a large suitcase that also contained a carrier bag and trekking backpack for Dario, a cabin trolley, a 35L trekking backpack, the mythical Trunky and a backpack brought by the baby traveller Margherita. For our standards we started very lightly!
CANADA TRIP: CHOOSE THE TELEPHONE CONTRACT
At the time of our trip, roaming on Canada with our Italian telephone operator cost 6 euros per day, and we decided to buy a prepaid SIM card once arrived in Canada mainly because sleeping at the campsite we imagined that we would find it difficult to find an internet connection. After some research, we decided to buy a prepaid CHATR card directly in a shop in Toronto (the card can also be purchased online but can only be sent to Canadian addresses), because it had to be the one with the best coverage and the lowest price.
In our case, however, those for the Canadian SIM did not prove to be well spent money: as soon as we passed Tadoussac and entered Gaspésie we no longer had a signal and we found ourselves in any case without an internet connection until we returned to Quebec.
Soon for the first stops of our trip to Canada.... you leave Ontario!