World Travel Guide Search for a City   Destination Guides > North America > Canada Canada •  Canada   · Where To Go •  When To Go •  Getting There •  Red Tape And Visas •  Information, Web Sites And Maps •  Travellers With Disabilities •  Insurance, Crime And Personal Safety •  Costs, Money And Banks •  Health •  Getting Around •  Eating And Drinking •  Communications, Post, Phones, And The Media •  History •  Language •  Emergency Number •  Opening Hours, Time Zones And Holidays •  Nature •  Spectator Sports •  Directory •  Canada's Aboriginal Peoples •  Books •  Explore Canada CANADA - GETTING AROUND Canada    view all cities Top Destinations •  Calgary •  Edmonton •  Halifax •  Montreal •  Ottawa •  Quebec City •  St John's •  Toronto •  Vancouver •  Victoria •  Winnipeg It's essential to plan carefully how you'll get around. With VIA Rail services becoming more skeletal each year, provincewide bus companies provide the main surface links between major cities, though in isolated areas you may be thrown back on more sporadic local services. Flying is of course more expensive, but competition in the skies can lead to some decent bargains. On most forms of public transport there are discounted fares for children under 12, for youths between 13 and 21, and over-60s. It has to be said, however, that things are always easier if you have a car : even if a bus can take you to the general vicinity of a provincial park, for example, it can prove impossible to explore the interior without your own vehicle. By bus If you're travelling on your own, buses are by far the cheapest way to get around. Greyhound Canada runs most of the long-distance buses west of Toronto, including a service along the Trans-Canada Highway from Toronto to Vancouver. The major centres in the east of the country are served by a network of smaller lines and by a wide range of different companies. Long-distance buses run to a fairly full timetable (at least during the day), stopping only for meal breaks and driver changeovers. Nearly all are nonsmoking, have toilets and coffee-making facilities and are less uncomfortable than you might expect - it's feasible to save on a night's accommodation by sleeping on the bus, though you may not feel up to much the next day. Any sizeable community will have a main bus station, but in smaller places a gas station or restaurant will double as the bus stop and ticket office - though often they are inconveniently situated on the edge of town. Seats can be reserved but this is rarely necessary: only those services between nearby cities like Montréal and Québec are likely to get booked out, and even then you'll have to wait only an hour or so for the next departure. Out in the less populated areas, buses are fairly scarce, sometimes only appearing once or twice a week, and here you'll need to plot your route with care. Fares are pretty standard from company to company: as an example, Toronto to Winnipeg, a distance of 2100km, costs $167 one-way. The free Official Canadian Bus Guide , containing all Canadian (and northern US) bus timetables , is produced bimonthly but is not made readily available to travellers. Consequently you'll need to rely on free individual timetables from the major bus stations or local tourist offices. Always double-check routes and times by phoning the local terminal (we've included telephone numbers for most cities), or the companies. For Greyhound Canada, reservations are not necessary; if a bus is full, another is automatically laid on. However, an increasing number of services can make "seat selection" for a small fee which guarantees a specific seat on the first bus out (useful for window-seat sightseeing). By train The railway may have created modern Canada but passenger trains are now few and far between - at the beginning of 1990 more than half the VIA Rail services were eliminated at a stroke and fares were increased dramatically. Services are notoriously slow and delays common as passenger trains give way to freight, though the city links between Montréal and Toronto are still speedy and efficient. However, rail travel can still be a very rewarding experience, especially on trains with special "dome cars" that allow an uninterrupted rooftop view of the countryside. One of the saddest losses of the VIA cutbacks was the legendary Canadian train which followed the old Canadian Pacific lines daily from Montréal to Vancouver. Today's Canadian departs three times a week from Toronto and uses the more northerly old Canadian National lines, through the monotonous muskeg of northern Ontario, stopping at Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Edmonton before hitting Jasper. However, the scenery between there and Kamloops, the last big station before Vancouver, is some of the Rockies' best. The trip is scheduled to take three nights but usually runs late; it costs a minimum of $418 per person one-way in low season, $615 in high. The other major VIA trains still running are the Western Canada services from Winnipeg to Churchill, Jasper to Prince Rupert, and Victoria to Courtenay; Ontario has services linking Toronto with Windsor, Ottawa and Niagara Falls; Québec has trains between Montréal and Québec City - as well as Ottawa; and the Eastern Canada network runs between Montréal, Halifax and the Gaspé. By air The complexity of Canada's internal flight network is immense, and throughout this guide we have given indications of which services are most useful. Now that Air Canada has bought Canadian Airlines, it has the most prolific domestic service, with planes serving more than 125 destinations, linking up with numerous minor lines - like Labrador Airways in Labrador - to reach the farthest-flung recesses of Canada. One company to look out for is Canada 3000, an economical, international carrier that also serves Canada's big cities and links Whitehorse with Vancouver. However, no one could pretend that flying around Canada is, in general terms at least, a low-budget option. For special bargains, look in the travel sections of local newspapers, especially on Sundays, or splash out on one of the many varieties of airpass , each of which brings hefty discounts. If you're set on exploring the deep north, there is no alternative to air transport, as these zones are unpenetrated by rail line or road, with a few rare exceptions, such as Churchill in Manitoba. By car Travelling by car is the best way to see Canada, even though a vehicle can be a bit of a liability in the big cities, with their stringent parking areas and rush-hour tailbacks. Any US and UK national over 21 with a full driving licence is allowed to drive in Canada, though rental companies may refuse to rent to a driver who has held a full licence for less than one year, and under-25s will probably get lumbered with a higher insurance premium. Car-rental companies will also expect you to have a credit card; if you don't have one they may let you leave a hefty deposit (at least $300) but don't count on it. Most of Canada's vehicles - and almost every rental car - run on unleaded fuel, which is sold by the litre; prices vary, but are generally around 70-80¢ per litre. Fuel is readily available - there are literally hundreds of gas stations, though they thin out markedly in the more remote regions, where you should exercise some caution by checking locally about the distance to the next one. Roads, rules and regulations The best roads for covering long distances quickly are the straight and fast multilane highways that radiate for some distance from major population centres. These have a maximum of six lanes divided by a central causeway and are marked on maps with thick lines and shields that contain the highway number. Outside populated areas, highways go down to one lane each way and, though paved, the hard shoulder consists of gravel - which you must on all accounts avoid hitting at speed as this will throw you into a spin, a potentially lethal experience. Up in the north and off the beaten track, highways may be entirely of gravel - broken windscreens are an occupational hazard on some stretches of the Alaska Highway, for example. Note also that after rain gravel and dirt roads are especially treacherous and indeed if you're planning a lot of dirt-road driving, you'd be well advised to rent a four-wheel-drive. The Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) travels from coast to coast and is marked by maple-leaf signs at regular intervals along its length. Different sections of the TCH do, however, carry different highway numbers and in some places the TCH forks to offer more than one possible routing. Lesser roads go by a variety of names - county roads, provincial routes, rural roads or forest roads. Out in the wilds rural and forest roads are rarely paved. Canadians drive on the right-hand side of the road. In most urban areas streets are arranged on a grid system, with traffic lights at most intersections; at junctions without lights there will be either yellow triangular "Yield" signs or red octagonal "Stop" signs ("Arrêt" in Québec) at all four corners. In the latter case, priority is given to the first car to arrive, and to the car on the right if two or more cars arrive at the same time. Except in Québec, you can turn right on a red light if there is no traffic approaching from the left. Traffic in both directions must stop if a yellow school bus is stationary with its flashing lights on, as this means children are getting on or off. Roundabouts or rotaries are almost unknown. Exits on multilane highways are numbered by the kilometre distance from the beginning of the highway, as opposed to sequentially - thus exit 55 is 10km after exit 45. This system works fine, but gets a little confusing when junctions are close together and carry the same number supplemented by "A", "B", etc. Rural road hazards include bears, moose and other large animals trundling into the road - particularly in the summer, and at dawn and dusk, when the beasts crash through the undergrowth onto the highway to escape the flies, and in spring, when they are attracted to the salt on the roads. Warning signs are posted in the more hazardous areas. Headlights can dazzle wild animals and render them temporarily immobile. Driving laws are made at provincial level, but the uniform maximum speed limit is 100kph on major highways, 80kph on rural highways and 50 kph or less in built-up areas - though there has been some provincial tinkering with the maximum limit on the highways, experiments which may result in permanent change. Canadians have a justifiable paranoia about speed traps and the traffic-control planes that hover over major highways to catch offenders - if you see one, slow down. On-the-spot fines are standard for speeding violations, for failing to carry your licence with you, and for having anyone on board who isn't wearing a seat belt . Canadian law also requires that any alcohol be carried unopened in the boot of the car, and it can't be stressed enough that drunk driving is a very serious offence. Bars in some provinces now have designated driver schemes whereby the driver of a group gives the keys to the head barperson and is then given free soft drinks all night; if the driver is spotted taking a sip of alcohol, he or she must pay for all the soft drinks consumed and leave their keys in the bar until the following morning. On the road, spot checks are frequently carried out, particularly at the entrances and exits to towns, and the police do not need an excuse to stop you. If you are over the limit your keys and licence will be taken away, and you may end up in jail for a few days. In cities parking meters are commonplace, charging 25¢-$1 or more per hour. Car parks charge up to $30 a day. If you park in the wrong place (such as within 5m of a fire hydrant) your car will be towed away - if this happens, the police will tell you where your car is impounded and then charge you upwards of $150 to hand it back. A minor parking offence will set you back around $25; clamps are also routinely used in major cities, with a fine of between $100 and $150. Also, when parking, ensure you park in the same direction as the traffic flows. If you're using your own vehicle - or borrowing a friend's - get the appropriate insurance and make sure you're covered for free breakdown service . Your home motoring organization will issue an appropriate insurance and breakdown policy with all the appropriate documentation. The Canadian Automobile Association, Suite 200, 1145 Hunt Club Rd, Ottawa, ON K1V 0Y3 (tel 613/820-1890), is the biggest recovery and repair company in Canada, and has offices in most major cities. By bike Cyclists are reasonably well catered for in environment-friendly Canada: most cities have cycling lanes and produce special maps for cyclists, and long-distance buses and trains will allow you to transport your bike, perhaps for a small fee. The Canadian Cycling Association (CCA), 1600 James Naismith Drive, Gloucester, ON K1B 5N4 (tel 613/748-5629, www.canadiancycling.com ), can offer information on cycling throughout the country and publishes several books, including the invaluable Complete Guide to Cycling in Canada ($24 including postage and packing). Standard bike-rental costs are around $15 per day, plus a sizeable cash sum or a credit card as deposit; outlets are listed throughout the Guide.