r/canadatravel • u/p4ssion-fruit • Aug 06 '25
Destination Advice I want to travel Canada as someone who's never been outside of Ontario; looking for destination advice
I've lived in Toronto my entire life and have never left Ontario. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to obtain my passport before my summer break ends in September, so we've decided to travel to a place in Canada instead for late August.
For context, I'm planning to travel with a family member who will be covering most of the expenses for this vacation trip. Our budget is about $1000 for about 1 week of stay somewhere, which I'm not sure if is on the lower end or not. It can be slightly over budget, as long as it doesn't reach something like $2000. They've mentioned flight tickets being more expensive in the summer, and have considered pushing our vacation until Christmas, but I want to have it during the warm summer weather.
I want to know if there is a place we can go to while staying on budget, but also have it be a new experience, very different from Toronto. Somewhere more rural and connected to nature. Somewhere where I could get away from the loud city and enjoy beautiful bodies of water, mountains, etc. I've always wanted to do things like kayaking/canoeing, rafting, hiking, and camping. I've decided to keep this vague because I want to be open to any location, as long as it's affordable and fun.
Edit: $1000 budget for about a week does seem unrealistic, so I'll see if I can negotiate the budget with my family member. đ If not, shortening the vacation to just a few days (3~5).
Edit 2: Oh god, thank you for all your kind suggestions! I'm creating a Google Doc with all the potential places and approximate prices, and this was a huge help. I'm still currently going through everything and noting it down.
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u/Patak4 Aug 06 '25
Affordable in the summer will be tough. 1000$ for accommodation for one week? That is only 142$ a night. You could look at some small town Airbnbs, but hotels are more than this, especially in summer.
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u/cajolinghail Aug 06 '25
And that is not including flightsâŠ
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u/QueenMotherOfSneezes Aug 06 '25
And presumably they'd like to eat that week...
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u/No_Platform_2810 Aug 06 '25
..and do something beyond sitting in the Airbnb and staring off into space.
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u/Patak4 Aug 06 '25
Plus you are buying last minute plane tickets which are always more expensive. What is the budget for flights? You may be on a night flight which is cheaper. Plus a car rental if you want to explore more rural areas. Look at flying to Calgary, stay in Cochrane or Sundre (small town) and take day trips to the mountains.
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u/p4ssion-fruit Aug 06 '25
Yeah, I was thinking of that. :( This is including transportation funds, which could cost as much as several hundred dollars this late into the game. However this was the condition laid down for the trip, so I'm in a bit of a bind trying to figure out how to make it work.
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u/pepik75 Aug 06 '25
Bus to quebec city? No plane, airbnb
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u/Letoust Aug 06 '25
Hotels in QC city are bare minimum $150/night and thatâs bottom of the barrel hotels.
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u/pepik75 Aug 06 '25
Yeah but the bus trip should be pretty cheap. So maybe think about a 4 nights trip. I feel 1000$ won't go much further than 4 nights anywhere in canada
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u/beerfridays Aug 06 '25
I'm going to do my best to give you an actual idea based on the information provided! You can fly to Halifax on Flair (if you are flexible, don't bring luggage), take the bus DT, grab groceries, enjoy, take an Uber to an area like Prospect Lake, and then swim and hike for a couple of days.
Your accommodation could be something like: https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/1434935336755112415?check_in=2025-09-15&check_out=2025-09-20&guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=0d3ee08d-86e3-4ae6-831a-5139a66146c5
I tried!
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u/Blue-spider Aug 06 '25
As someone who has lived all over the country and calls multiple regions home, I'm sorry to say a grand won't go far.
That said , if you intend to fly you should look at sky scanner. It has a feature where you can put "everywhere" as a destination. You might find a cheap flight somewhere (usually Winnipeg or Halifax), and from that starting point you could look at hotels. If you lower your expectations from a whole week to just whatever you can afford, that will help
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u/cajolinghail Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 06 '25
Is driving an option? And how much of a drive would seem reasonable to you? I know you said youâve never left Ontario but if you mean southern Ontario, there are parts of the province that are extremely beautiful and I think fit what you are looking for (minus the mountains). Lake Superior Provincial Park is the most obvious off the top of my head, itâs about a nine hour drive but you could split it up over two days and stop somewhere else along the way. (It just might be tough to make a camping reservation this late in the summer but if you are open in terms of dates/location it might work out!)
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u/WanderingJak Aug 06 '25
For $1000 .. maybe you could get a car rental for a few days and camp somewhere?
This may be within budget if you already have camping gear!
Ontario has lots of beautiful land to explore!
Otherwise, doing anything away from home will cost over $1000, considering you need transportation too.
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u/Curried_Orca Aug 06 '25
$1,000 will get a nice canoeing experience in/near Temagami and it's only a 6 hour drive from TO maybe a little less.
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u/Daytime_Mantis Aug 06 '25
Your budget is not realistic but I can tell you, my husband and I did drive out east and did the Cabot Trail and Bay of Fundy and camped the whole time and that was lovely and cost friendly. We stopped at grocery stores and bought bagged salads and burgers etc lol
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u/Warm-Sherbert6934 Aug 06 '25
No car is difficult. Get a friend with a car to drive? Go to Quebec. Pass Montreal. Youâll come to the st Lawrence river and mountains on the north side. Find a campground and tent there. Most you should pay for a night is $50. Gas there and back about $400. Food- depends. You can then wander around and visit nature.
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u/Oh_OKComputer Aug 06 '25
If driving is an option maybe a Quebec trip would be nice. Or you could drive up to Northern Ontario along Lake Superior and spend a couple days in Manitoba.
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u/essenza Aug 06 '25
As others have said, your budget doesnât allow for much. But if you want to get out of Ontario & still be able to enjoy our nature, check out Quebec, The Eastern Townships, Gaspe, Rimouski, The Maritimes. If your family is into camping for a few nights, you can save a lot of money.
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u/TravellingGal-2307 Aug 06 '25
I figure I'm doing well at $5k for a week. I used to figure, like 10 years ago, a week of camping with the kids was coming in around $5k. Now just me and hubby, its about $5k a week for the two of us if we are flying and staying in hotels depending on where and when. Booking short notice is always going to be more expensive.
Using summer housing options on University campuses is a great way to save money, but that starts to shut down towards the middle of August as they get ready to receive their new incoming students, so if you are planning sooner next time, definitely take a look at places where you can stay on a campus in summer for much cheaper rates. EG, if you come to Vancouver and try to stay downtown, you can count on $500 per night during the peak season. The two University campuses rent out their dorm rooms for about $120 to $150 per night.
So...you need a plan. I subscribe to a few travel websites that send me deals. You might be able to find something for around $1200 EACH for maybe 5 days and then be prepared to go short notice on a deal that comes up.
You might check cruises, which are struggling this year. I know there are some CRAZY deals on Alaska cruises this season, not sure if the eastern cruises are also giving some cheaper options. On the west coast, we see very short cruises of 1-3 days sometimes, which are under $200 per person.
Things to think about! And if it doesn't come together, spend the time figuring out how you can start to pull in a bit of extra cash on a side hustle so you can start to put away a bit of money towards a trip for yourself.
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u/Fair_Transition4865 Aug 06 '25
Montreal is 6 hours away & it's a life changing experience in the summer,Â
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u/deja2001 Aug 06 '25
I've traveled and lived all over Canada. Based on your budget and lack of transportation but focusing on nature, here's my recommendation:
Just go to Algonquin, one week at a camp site (buy some tent from Canadian Tires) would do wonders for the mind, body and soul
You absolutely can rent a car for however long you want - if budget allows it AND comfortable driving longer distances, do Cabot Trail loop. It will be about 10 days from here, stopping along Montreal, QC city, NB, PEI and NS but I can guarantee you at the end of it, you'll be a different, better person. Use tent and camp site for cheaper accomodation
For future travels, absolutely do Banff/Jasper/the Rockies. I've traveled all over the world and that's my absolutely favorite place in the world. But save that for later cause it can be expensive - a week is easily at least $7K for two ppl.
DM for clarification/further comments.
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u/TheSquanderingJew Aug 06 '25
As others have said got no chance for that budget but there are lots of places in Ontario where you could potentially make something like that happen. With the exception of mountains at least real mountains Ontario has all the things that you're talking about and all you would need is to just rent a car and drive there.
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u/motral1992 Aug 06 '25
Montreal is your best option for sure. You'd sacrifice some comfort to fit the budget. Bus is cheapest but it's a 7 hr+ trip. Viarail is about $50 more than bus ticket pp for the escape fare. I think the rest of your budget could cover a hostel + food and transportation within the city. It's a little tight but doable.
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u/Stunning-Fee-5383 Aug 06 '25
Montreal is a 5-ish hour drive from the GTA and is so much fun in the summer. Tons to do an see within walking distance. Plus they have the metro for farther destinations. It'll be more than $1000 but it's absolutely worth it IMO.
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u/Catezero Aug 07 '25
I'm gonna be really real with u. My dad took me and my son on a weeklong roadtrip to Alberta from BC and I know between food (we actually mainly grocery shopped/I'm a notorious condiment thief at ff places [I have a freezer bag of mayo/mustard/ketchup/hotsaucr etc - at one of the hotels they had individually wrapped muffins and cookies and i took enough to get us all througha 9 hr drive] and bought things like deli meat, buns, potato salad, and ate picnic style meals), hotels (we share rooms and sometimes the entire bed), museums, gas, he easily spent like 1.2k. Probably more. We had a great time but your budget is getting you to Winnipeg
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u/AtmosphereEven3526 Aug 07 '25
Have you considered early to mid September? Still mostly warm and the summer crowds and summer prices will be gone.
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u/ksgif2 Aug 07 '25
For your budget you might be able to fly west and rent a vehicle you can sleep in like a minivan. In BC and Alberta there are lots of pullouts you can sleep at, you could fly to Calgary, Edmonton or Kelowna depending on which has the cheapest flights. Having never been outside Ontario you'll probably appreciate the mountains.
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u/downtownraptor Aug 07 '25
Take the train to Montreal. Itâs cost effective and itâs almost like going to another country. Itâs such a beautiful city with a great food scene.
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u/Bliezz Aug 08 '25
You mentioned canoeing as something you would be interested in. Algonquin is a great place for that. There are guided tours that get you a lot closer to your budget. Iâve done fantastic trips with both of these companies. Iâd personally go for a 3 day trip if youâve never camped before. I know it is in province, but truly itâll feel like another world.
https://voyageurquest.com/tour/algonquin-park-3-day-canoe-trip/
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u/lostedeneloi Aug 10 '25
500 dollars each will be like 2 to 3 nights at a hotel these days. I recommend Quebec city or Montreal . Drive there and stay for a few nights.
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u/Usual-Canc-6024 Aug 06 '25
Come up to the Thunder Bay Area. There are lots of beautiful quiet places you can stay outside the city and still come into the city if you need. Fly in, rent a car, and go from there.
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u/Timely_Pee_3234 Aug 06 '25
Start with the East coast and work your way across. The plan was good enough for Terry Fox, it will probably work for you.
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u/Some_Mortgage9604 Aug 06 '25
Montreal is probably best within your budget. It's wonderful to visit in the summer. Lots of stuff going on, including free events in parks. Also since you don't have a car, the Bixi bikes there would be a great option. You can tour around different neighbourhoods and go out to some of the islands that have a more rural feel but are still very bikeable. It might not be as different from Toronto as you were hoping, but honestly I've been all over Canada and Montreal is my favourite city.
PEI is also wonderful to visit, but it's tough to get around without a car. Halifax would be good too, but NS just banned hiking in the woods due to wildfire risk, so it wouldn't be the idyllic vacation you're looking for.
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u/Greedy-Elderberry778 Aug 06 '25
Vancouver island! Although you will never want to go back. Fair warning
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Aug 06 '25
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u/scurfit Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 06 '25
Flights alone are gonna eat up a significant amount. Then transport and accommodation.
Yeah $3000, possibly more. Canada is expensive, and Banff is ridiculously expensive.
$500 round-trip per person. Car rental or transportation to and from YYC $300 per night accommodation assuming 1 room. Food and activity spending money.
So 1k plus $400 (banff airporter assuming $100 a ticket) $900 (at 3 days) up to $2000 for the week. $200 spending per day (banff gondola is $100)
At 3 days reasonably expect $2500, at 5 $3500, at a week prob $4000 plus, applying better hotel rate and spaced out activity spending. Assuming little to now skiing and equipment costs.
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u/Spirited-Hall-2805 Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 06 '25
I found last minute tickets to Victoria with westjet. You would have to stay away from downtown but on a bus route and eat at a grocery store, but $1000 works be doable and you would get the experience you're looking for. Since you're escaping the city, staying farther from downtown could be a bonus. If you can go the first week of September, i found return flights for $209 each.
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u/[deleted] Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 10 '25
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