Travel Planning Know How
Tips für einen Gelungenen Kanada-Roadtrip
Grundsätzlich ist es sehr schwer, jemandem einen wirklichen Rat zu einem Roadtrip durch Kanada zu geben. Da für uns gerade das Individuelle das Tolle daran ist und eben jeder Mensch dann doch anders ist und andere Vorlieben und Interessen hat. Oft sind Dinge, die für uns super toll sind, für andere eher uninteressant. Aus diesem Grund versuchen wir unsere Tips hier so objektiv wie möglich zu halten.
Questions that arise before the actual planning
Vor jedem Roadtrip, den wir planen, gehen wir erst einmal unser ToDo Liste durch und entscheiden dann was wir davon als nächstes anschauen wollen. Aus dem Grund würden wir jedem raten, sich erst einmal eine Liste von den Orten zu machen, die er am liebsten besuchen möchte. Gut ist es hier auch schon mal eine Wertung vorzunehmen mit Orten die auf jeden Fall auf der Reise dabei sein sollen und den Orten die zwar ganz nett sind aber kein unbedingtes Muss sind. Meistens kristallisiert sich dann eine Region heraus, die besonders viele Orte enthält, die man sich wünscht. Vor allem denjenigen die Kanada das erste mal besuchen raten wir, sich auf eine Region zu beschränken und nicht zu versuchen, alles in einen 3-Wochen Roadtrip zu quetschen.
What is important for me when traveling? - What type of traveler am I?
How long should the trip last?
Viewpoint hopping or hiking?
A different place every night?
Busy places or loneliness?
By car or camper?
Exact planning or spontaneity?
City trip or nature experience?
What is my budget?
Hotel or campground?
Packed days or more relaxed?
Maximum length of a hike?
Do I care about the nightlife?
Am I bound to certain travel times?
Which season for which region?
Interested in culture and history?
Duration of the trip, travel time and budget?
The days that you invest for a road trip, of course, everyone determines for themselves. In our opinion, three weeks are a good basis to experience a lot. Especially if you are on the road for the first time, you should consider that the absorption capacity is often not endless and you have to process the experiences.
Die Auswahl der Reisezeit hängt vor allem von den eigenen Interessen ab. So kann man z.B. Eisberge in Neufundland am besten Ende Mai/Anfang Juni sehen. Wale beobachtet man in Quebec und Neufundland am besten im Sommer bis in den frühen Herbst hinein. Spektakulär bunte Bäume in Ontario und Quebec hat man meistens Mitte September bis Anfang Oktober. Die beste Reisezeit für die Rocky Mountains ist wohl der frühe Sommer bis in den Herbst hinein, allerdings bietet natürlich auch der Winter jede Menge Möglichkeiten um Wintersport jeglicher Art zu betreiben.
The budget of the trip is not so easy to determine and depends very much on your own requirements. As a rough guideline, we set a budget of 3000€/person for a 3-week round trip. This includes the flight, the rental car incl. fuel, overnight stays in hotels/motels and a mixture of self-catering and restaurants. The budget does not include souvenirs. If one finds a very favorable flight bargain, stays overnight in the tent and self-supplies, instead of dining out, this can of course become a little cheaper. If you plan a city trip, it can also quickly become more expensive, because usually higher accommodation costs, entrance fees and food costs are higher.
Our Our travel routes can perhaps already provide one or the other suggestion for a first rough planning.
Detailed planning after the rough framework is defined
Flight and rental car
Nachdem wir in etwa die Dauer der Reise und die Reisezeit festgelegt haben, buchen wir eigentlich so gut wie immer zuerst den Flug. Hier hängt der Preis natürlich sehr stark vom Anspruch ab. Economy, mit oder ohne Gepäck, Premium Economy, Business, First Class…. nach oben hin ist der Preis offen. Ist man zeitlich flexibel ist es oft möglich günstigere Preise zu finden. Wer gerne ein wenig mehr investiert und bei Abflugort und zeitlich flexibel ist, kann auch auf Schnäppchen in höheren Kategorien spekulieren.
Until 2015, we always booked our flights at a travel agency. Since then, we have been booking online. We first search for a flight using popular comparison websites such as Google Flights, and then we prefer to book directly with the airline. Basically, it can be said that there is a huge selection of flights available. In addition to price, comfort has also become more important to us in recent years. We prefer to fly from our “home airport” in Nuremberg and connect in Europe. This has proven to be the most relaxed combination for us, for which we are sometimes willing to pay a slightly higher price.
After booking the flight, we book the rental car next.
Our experience with the Rental car booking. For rental cars, you can expect to pay around €300–400/week for a midsize SUV. However, prices vary greatly and depend on factors such as the location of the rental and the season. We always choose the rental car based on what we have planned for the tour. Are we going on a real road trip with long distances? Do we plan to leave the paved roads? etc. It is also important to note that you may lose your insurance coverage if you drive on unpaved roads. In this case, it is advisable to read the insurance terms and conditions carefully or to ask the rental company for details. Not all rental companies allow driving on unpaved roads.
More accurate route planning and hotel booking
After the flight and the rental car are booked, the detailed planning begins. At the latest at this point the excitement for the trip begins.
Especially for those planning their first road trip, we would recommend planning from rough to fine. After the region is determined, we pick the locations from our list that we definitely want to see. These then form the basic framework of the trip and are filled in with places and activities that are nearby, or fit into the schedule. After the framework is set, the detailed planning begins. Everyone is different here, as we've seen almost everything from totally exact plans to collections of stuff. Based on the description of Our travel routes you get an impression of what we do in a day. The daily stages can be planned well with Google Maps. The times that are given for the individual stages, however, should only serve as a rough guide. You can easily add 20% - 30% to the times for a more realistic planning, because experience shows that you make more frequent breaks for photos, food or just to look and enjoy the view.
For a few years now, we have been booking the hotels almost all in advance. The biggest advantage for us is that we can see exactly where we are staying beforehand. Often, when booking, we also consider the infrastructure that is in the vicinity of the hotel. This way, we don't have to travel long distances to go shopping or to our favorite restaurant in the evening. Some interesting facts about hotel booking and our experiences with various hotels can be found on our hotel sites..
…und damit der Einstieg in die Planung ein wenig leichter fällt, sind hier ein paar unser must see locations in Ontario (zumindest für diese Woche)…
