A City Break In Vancouver Whether approached by air, land or sea the city of Vancouver never fails to impress. Like a creation lifted straight out of a comic book, this gleaming mass of glass and steel is pure Canadian eye candy. Beneath its grand exterior is a destination worthy of its appearance. Known as one of the cleanest and safest cities in the Americas, Vancouver is a warm, friendly and welcoming place even on a cool winter's day. In fact, such is the ambience and culture here, you may find that you never want to leave! What to see in Vancouver -- Be it adventure, shopping or lying on a beach Vancouver has it all! Here is a selection of some of the best attractions in Vancouver… Vancouver Lookout -- What better way to start a vacation in Vancouver than to see the city laid out like a map before you. At the Vancouver Lookout in the Harbour Centre Tower you can do just this. Affectionately known as 'the hamburger' the Harbour Centre Tower is one of the most iconic buildings on Vancouver waterfront. The circular lookout post enables you to enjoy a 360-degree panorama of the city as well as views of the mountains beyond, including Mount Baker across the border in the US. On the Waterfront -- Explore the Vancouver waterfront by seaplane or short cruise from Vancouver harbour. Views of the city and mountains are stunning. A trip across to North Van on the seabus offers some great views of the waterfront too. Stanley Park & English Bay -- At 1,000 acres Stanley Park, just to the west of Downtown Vancouver, is an oasis of forested parkland over which many walking paths and trails can be explored. Attractions include a totem pole display in the park, children's farmyard and Beaver Lake. A 5.5-mile sea wall and cycle path offers a memorable walk around the Park that takes you down to the fabulous beaches at English Bay. Capilano Suspension Bridge -- Across the water in North Vancouver is a walk among the giant treetops of the West Coast Rainforest courtesy of the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Don't look down! Grouse Mountain -- 15 minutes from Downtown Vancouver is the mountain known locally as the Peak of Vancouver. Popular with snowboarders and skiers during the winter, and hikers during the summer, Grouse Mountain offers wonderful views of Vancouver from the north. A regular cable car service transports guests to the top of the mountain. For the more adventurous the 2.9km Grouse Grind provides access to the mountain's summit too. Science World -- Perfect for kids of all ages, Science World provides hours of indoor entertainment with interactive science displays and shows. Getting around Vancouver -- Vancouver has a superb public transportation system combining buses, a monorail (sic) system (Skytrain) and seabuses. The city is compact so can be easily explored on foot too. Car hire is recommended for exploring the area around Vancouver including Vancouver Island and Whistler in the BC mountains. Car hire can be booked in advance for pick up at Vancouver International Airport or in Downtown Vancouver by visiting http://www.your-carhire.com About the Author -- Seb Jay is a freelance writer specializing in the origination of web content for http://www.your-carhire.com Source: http://www.isnare.com

1) Mountaintop and seaside hiking trails. The Cape Breton Highlands National Park has both easy and rugged trails for both the casual and ambitious hikers. You can hire a hiking tour or just strike out on your own to enjoy the serene and beautiful scenery of the region. 2) Sea Kayaking - hiring a tour guide can provide you with equipment and experience to better encounter the wildlife and rugged scenery of the coast of Cape Breton Island. Depending on where you hire your tour, you can see bald eagles, cormorants, guillemots, pilot whales, a minke. You can find sea kayaking tours from Cheticamp, Cape North, Baddeck, Ingonish, or Louisbourg and places in between. 3) Spend an afternoon in Baddeck, at the Alexander Graham Bell Museum overlooking scenic Bras d' Or Lake. Mr. Bell made his summer home in Baddeck, and the museum houses many of his lesser known, but highly intriguing projects. His hydrofoil, his fascination with tetrahedrons, and many other intriguing things are in the world-class museum for you to discover. 4) Dust off your kilt and don your dancing shoes. Cape Breton is full of Celtic colors and tunes. If you're driving through town and see home-made signs that say "Ceili Tonight" it might be worth stopping for a spontaneous sampling of Celtic culture. Otherwise, you can also plan your Ceili (pronounced Kay-Lee) experience by checking local tourist bureaus for feature events. In October, the entire island is abuzz with the Celtic Colours International Festival, the largest celebration of its kind in North American, but you'll also find smaller events at other times of the year. 5) Scuba diving around Cape Breton Island. Literally hundreds of shipwrecks litter the ocean floor along Cape Breton Island. In fact, since 1597, more than one thousand shipwrecks have been recorded along Cape Breton Island's coast. For the most rewarding diving, consider St. Ann's Bay to St. Paul Island. 6) Descend down into a coal mine beneath the ocean floor in an underground tour of the Ocean Deeps Colliery Your guides for the underground excursion are retired coal miners who will help you imagine making your daily living in dark quarters beneath the ocean floor. Located about one mile from downtown Glace Bay on Cape Breton Island. 7) Hit the beach and bum around. The beaches of Cape Breton Island can be small and isolated, or large and packed with people - or any combination in between. If you've seen on Cape Breton beach, you have NOT seen them all. So, if beaches are one of your interests, you may want to consider a sampling of Cape Breton's beaches and find out which ones suit you the best for your vacationing state of mind, and your personal travelling style. 8) Visit the Fortress Louisbourg. Spend your time wandering freely through a wonderfully restored centuries-old Acadian village. Staff at the fortress are dressed in clothing from the period, and restaurants on site serve food from the era. It's a delightful step-back in time at North America's LIVE largest historic reconstruction on the east coast of Cape Breton Island. 9) Hit the road (or the mountains) on your bicycle. Cape Breton's scenery has been embraced by bikers worldwide, and Cape Breton Island officials have greeted them with arms wide open. Several wonderful biking trails (cycling and mountain biking) are available across the entire Cape Breton Island. Local chambers of commerce should have ample information about their specific locales trail system and related service providers. 10) Whale watching tours from Cape Breton Island will not only give you a chance to see the large graceful creatures, but you'll also likely have a fair shot at seeing white dolphins, seals, leatherback turtles, and native birds. On portion of Cape Breton boasts a 95% success rate in whale sightings, and some tours will give you a certificate for another free excursion if you a whale isn't sighted (or perhaps that's just in Tiverton). Some tours use Zodiac boats, others use schooners, and some are via kayak. Cape Breton has plenty of options for the aspiring whale watcher. About the Author C.S. Deam and his wife fell in love with Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island on their first vacation to the region in 2001. Since then they've grown to be avid promoters of the scenery and lifestyle enjoyed by Nova Scotia residents and vacationers. Their website http://www.Vacation-Nova-Scotia-Tourism.com is a visual treat.

In 2004, I completed two Inuit art buying trips to Iqaluit (formerly Frobisher Bay), the capital of Nunavut, Canada's newest territory. For both trips, I flew out of Ottawa on Canadian North airlines. The other airline that services Nunavut is First Air. Only the last half of the jets was allocated for passengers as the entire first half was for cargo. Being so remote, Canadian Arctic Inuit communities pretty well have to have everything shipped up there by plane or by boat during the summers since there are no roads connecting to the rest of Canada or even between each Nunavut community. The Arctic landscape from the air was desolate, hilly and barren. As the plane got closer to Iqaluit, the airport's small terminal building stood out with its bright yellow color. The airport itself is within walking distance to the rest of the town. There are taxis that charge a flat rate of $5 per trip anywhere in Iqaluit. Interestingly enough, these taxis also pick up and drop off other passengers along the way so shared rides with others are common here. There are several hotels in Iqaluit and rooms are generally clean, comfortable but quite basic. Accommodations and dining up north in Nunavut are both expensive. All food items with the exception of local Inuit fare must be flown up from the Canadian south. A carton of milk will cost about $10 in Iqaluit. Most Inuit locals cannot afford to buy overpriced fruits, vegetables and meat from the south. Many local families still rely on Inuit hunters who bring caribou, seal and whale to the table. There is only one high rise building in Iqaluit and it is used mainly for local Nunavut government offices. All other buildings are low rise, including the hospital. The vast majority of the residential housing is similar to cabins that are raised off the ground because of the harsh Canadian Arctic winters. Many look a bit run down with junk and disposed items piled outside. With the fact that there are no lawns or trees possible this far north, the neighborhoods are certainly not the prettiest sights around. But one Inuit art carver told me that his government subsidized rent is only $36 per month. There are some small clusters of nice homes on the outskirts of town. Some houses have husky dogs tied up outside and many have snowmobiles. In fact, the roads, most of them unpaved, are shared by cars, trucks, snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles and people. During the summers, Iqaluit can get quite dusty with all the vehicles turning up the dirt on the roads. As a result, Iqaluit did look a bit nicer during my first trip which was during the winter when the city was in white snow rather than brown dirt. There is new construction going on since with the creation of the Nunavut territory, Iqaluit is growing as more Inuit from other Arctic communities are migrating to the city. One thing that was very noticeable in Iqaluit was the large numbers of children everywhere. Nunavut has a very young population with 56% under the age of 25. I saw many Inuit mothers wearing traditional Inuit parkas with large hoods in the back where their babies are carried. The Inuit youth is one of the Canadian Arctic's untapped resources and its future. They have access to satellite television and dress just like their counterparts in the south. However, at present only about 25% of high school students graduate so a big challenge for the Nunavut government is to encourage the Inuit kids to stay in school. During my second trip, there was darkness for only a few hours each day so it was very strange to be walking around town at 10 pm in the evening with daylight still present. Even at this hour, there were still quite a few young Inuit children playing outside. The locals, Inuit and non-Inuit alike were very friendly. I got the impression of a tight community perhaps because of the isolation of the Canadian Arctic. However, the local Inuit were also very open to visitors and willing to share a bit of their lives. During the daytime, I went up to a few Inuit art carvers who were working outside their houses. Each turned off their power saws when I approached them and seemed happy to talk to me. I met most of them later during the evenings when they showed me their finished works of Inuit art. I had the opportunity to walk about 30 minutes to the outskirts of town past the airport one day. I climbed up a hilltop with a satellite dish facility overlooking an expansive valley. There was nobody else around and it was incredible how silent the area was. It was like a vacuum where I could hear only my own breathing. It was a very peaceful and even spiritual moment there. While sitting on this Arctic hilltop, I was suddenly startled at one point by a noise and it turned out to be the flapping wings of a large raven flying by. There are tours offered by local outfitters to see the northern wildlife and experience some of the Arctic tundra further out. I hope to take one of these tours on a future visit. A trip to Nunavut is not cheap since everything, including flights are so expensive. However, I will definitely return not only for more Inuit art, but also to experience more of the local Inuit culture and the Arctic land. About the Author: Clint Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca , an online gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art including carvings, sculpture and prints. Free Spirit Gallery has numerous information resource articles with photos of authentic Inuit and Native Indian art as well as free eCards.

British Columbia is situated on the extreme west of Canada. On the northwest side, it is bounded by the US state of Alaska. The direct northern portion of Canada comprises Yukon and Northwest Territories. The eastern side of British Columbia is demarcated by Alberta and on the south, you will get to see the states of Washington, Idaho and Montana. Victoria situated at the southeast of Vancouver Island is the capital city of British Columbia. Towards the center of British Columbia, you will find Prince George the main center of modern urbanization. In 1871, British Columbia joined the confederation as the sixth most important province of Canada. In the year 2004, the population of British Columbia was 4,168,123. If you really want to enjoy the essence of British Columbia vacation then the various lodges, village country inns and river run cottages will surely make your dream come true. These interior provisions are wonderful locales where you are sure to discover calmness and peaceful environmental set up which usually lacks in the busy country life. An abundance of fauna and flora gives a splendid visual pleasure to cherish for the rest of your life. The British Columbia Real Estate Association precisely known as BCREA characterizes twelve member real estate boards and associated 14000 REALTORS on all regional matters. They provide an extensive communications network, standard forms, government relations, required post-licensing courses and continuing education. The British Columbia Real Estate Association is also liable to encourage financial vivacity, provide accommodation prospects and builds societies with standard institutions and hospitable localities comprising respectable citizens. To have a real taste of British Columbia vacation and to let yourself melt away into the wild Canadian Rockies you can easily go for car hire Vancouver. Whether you are going for a shopping trip or for visiting the special and exotic locales of British Columbia, the easy car rental facilities in Vancouver at reasonable costs will surely prove a helping hand for you. Some of the main attractions which has successfully made British Columbia a glorious remembrance forever include Whistler Blackcomb Resort, Stanley Park of Vancouver, Butchart Gardens of Victoria situated on the Vancouver Island, Whistler Mountain, University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, Grouse Mountain in Vancouver, Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Center, China Town in Vancouver and many more to add on to the list. These attractions significantly establish British Columbia a paradise worth visiting in Canada. About the Author: Terry Malone is the owner and developer of http://www.vrul.com VRUL.com is an established vacation rentals by owner website with over 1000 listings worldwide. Rent directly from the owner and save money.

The uniqueness of Canada's provinces makes each one worth visiting. Whether you like to ski or swim, fish or golf, visit national monuments or museums, Canada has it all in one beautiful, thirteen-province country. One of the most popular travel destinations in Canada is Ontario, a metropolitan centre of industry and culture. With a population of more than 12 million, Ontario is home to about one in three Canadians, eighty per cent of which live in urban centres, largely in cities on the shores of the Great Lakes. What is Ontario weather like? Ontario weather varies greatly. In the summer, temperatures can soar above 30°C (86°F), while in the winter temperatures vary greatly depending on what part of the province you are in. For example, in the south of Ontario like in Toronto, temperatures often go down to -12°C (10°F) in the winter months (December, January, February) whereas the winters are colder still in a northern city like Timmins, Ontario. All areas of Ontario receive snow in winter yet have warm comfortable summers. What can we do in Ontario? Every year, Ontario tourism revolves around three major places, Toronto, Ottawa, and Niagara Falls. Toronto is the largest city in Canada and the fourth largest in North America. Some of the key attractions of the city are the CN Tower, the Harbour Front, the Skydome, the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the Toronto Zoo. Ottawa, the capital city of Canada, offers a variety of fun activities and museums to fill your day. The Ontario tourist cannot leave Ottawa without visiting Parliament Hill, the Rideau Canal, and the National Gallery. Known as the honeymoon capital, Niagara Falls is one of Ontario's main tourist attractions. Twelve million tourists flock here every year to witness the wonder of the three major falls--American Falls (1060 feet wide, 176 feet high), Bridal Veil Falls (1060 feet wide, 176 feet high), and Canadian Horseshoe Falls (2600 feet wide, 160 feet high). Niagara Falls is open and active 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Other places of interest for tourists in Ontario are St. Lawrence Market, Ontario Science Centre, Paramount Canada's Wonderland, the Toronto Islands, and the Stratford Festival. Can we go fishing in Ontario? Of course! Ontario has the largest fresh water lakes in the world and a huge diversity of fish, making it the best place in the country for a fishing trip. However, make sure to familiarize yourself with all the regulations regarding Ontario fishing before planning your trip. Contact the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources for full licensing details. Are there any Ontario resorts? Ontario resorts are in abundance. Many are beautiful waterfront properties nestled in forests, providing the perfect setting for a romantic getaway, a family vacation, or a fishing trip. About the Author: Johnny Mangiante is an online journalist. He is also the editor and webmaster for many websites. For more information see http://www.visitorstocanada.com/.