I'm going on a year abroad as part of my degree next Friday, I'll be studying at UWO in London, Ontario.
Just wondered really if any lifers who live in Canada or who have been there before have any suggestions of must see places whilst I'm out there, and any general advice really.
Thanks!
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Envious.
I'm sure you are going to love it out here, but unless you've got a good trust fund behind you don't necessarily get your hopes up of seeing the whole country in your year. One of the first adjustments you have to make is getting used to how bloody vast the country is. A flight from here to Toronto or Montreal is not far short of the cost of a flight to London and is about half the distance. There isn't a whole lot in the way of passenger rail either and the drives are obviously loooooong so getting from east to west is tricky and/or expensive.
I haven't been over to Ontario or Quebec since I've been out here so can't offer any tips for that part of the country, but if you do make it over here then the Rockies are the obvious must see - both Banff and Jasper are awesome towns in their own ways and the Icefield Parkway between the two has to be one of the most scenic roads in the world. @Oakster will be able to give you some good local tips for the Banff/Canmore area. If you're going to visit one of the Albertan cities then choose Calgary over Edmonton, especially if you can do it during the Stampede. I love living here in Edmonton but I can't in good conscience recommend it to tourists as a must see. Drumheller is pretty cool too and has some unusual scenery. The Okanagan in Southern BC is amazing and great for wine, fruit and sun worshipping and then you can head down to Vancouver and Vancouver Island. Heading somewhere up north like Yellowknife is kinda cool too, but again it's pricey to get there and stay there but you'll see something very different and its a great spot to see the northern lights in spring and autumn.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/western-ontario-top-party-school-playboy-1.1057310
What Exiled said. Was thinking of taking in PEI this w/e - we're going to Halifax NS to take eldest to university. Doesn't look far on the map - Hear great things about PEI, but further inspection shows that its a 400 mile round trip! One of my favourite countries. Would take time out at end of year to travel. All advice above is spot on. BC - awesome place. In the meantime you're not far from Toronto and US border.
Enjoy!!
Ontario only serves alcohol between 11am - 2am, can only buy your beer from the LCBO (liquor control board of ontario) or the Beer Store which has a vast variety. Beer is expensive. I would recommend getting down to BMO field and you can check out Jermain Defoe and if they play the Red Bulls you can catch Henry and Bradley.
London will have everything you need as its a college town.
Boston & New York are About 8-9 Hours away from you, Montreal(5-6hrs) a real party city serves till 4am i believe and you can buy alcohol in the convenience store there at 18. Obviously the states is 21+ for drinking so take that into account, beer is cheaper there though, 15$ for 30 cans and you can buy it everywhere.
If you are looking to travel while your here definitely take a look at a groupon option and you can get a cheap flight or can use via rail to get you to some of these places. There is a train station in London which is helpful in this case.
As you can see from the article below so does UWO (http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/58432179.html) Enjoy!
I dated a Canadian girl last year - she was fcuking crazy, but don't let that pit you off - Canadians in general are great people.
Loads of things to do in Toronto - Rogers Centre for the baseball, ACC for the hockey, Toronto Islands, CN tower, the area near the harbour for bars and food, the museums are good (if that floats your boat), niagara falls trip etc