After 9 days in the Dominican Republic we enjoyed the sun and were able to adjust to the time difference of 6 hours, we went on to Montreal in Canada. From here started our almost 3-week round trip with a caravan through the east of Canada.
Table of contents
Our flight from the Dominican Republic to Canada
From Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, it is about 3,000 kilometers north to Montreal in Canada. The good thing is that both cities are in the same time zone and therefore you don’t have a time difference. Our flight with Air Canada took about 4 hours and we landed at Montreal-Trudeau Airport around 6pm. For the flight we paid 544 EUR for 2 adults and 1 baby on the lap.
Entering Canada
After the borders of Canada were closed to international tourists for a long time due to the corona pandemic, on 07.09.2021 the borders were reopened to vaccinated tourists – under certain requirements. We arrived a few days after the opening of the border and at the time of our entry the following conditions applied:
(1) Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA)
(2) Vaccination status: Fully vaccinated with recognised vaccines
(3) Negative PCR test max. 72 hours before departure
(4) Upload all important data, a quarantine plan and vaccination certificates in the ArriveCAN app
(5) It can happen that you are randomly selected for another test at immigration (was not the case with us)
All our documents have been checked several times before departure, check-in and arrival. Basically, the entry went totally smoothly, i.e. we were not asked any “interrogation questions” or the like. However, travelers with children were made extremely difficult to enter the country, with families and unvaccinated (Canadians) having to queue up separately. And exactly for this stroke, which became extremely long, at times only 1 switch was open. The remaining 10 counters were occupied and mostly free. But we weren’t allowed to go there. As a result, the entry has dragged on for about 1.5 hours – and that in the early evening with small screaming, crying, tired babies and children. Only when the resentment of the travelers in the queue became bigger and bigger, they opened more counters or sent us to the free counters. That just wasn’t well organized 🙁
IMPORTANT NOTE: Before travelling, always inform the Federal Foreign Office or the Canadian government about the current entry requirements!
For the first night in Canada, we chose the Quality Inn & Suites P.E. Trudeau Airport – a hotel near the airport in Montreal. It is important to know here that a motorhome in Canada may not be taken over on the day of arrival, but at the earliest on the following day. So you have to stay at least one night in a hotel after arrival before you can take over a camper.
Our route planning for eastern Canada
For our 19-day trip through eastern Canada, we had 2 different options to choose from:
– a round trip with the rental car & hotels or apartments
– a round trip with the camper
We have never been on the road with a caravan, but we always wanted to try it out. Therefore, after extensive research, we decided on the round trip with the camper. But we were absolute camper newbies. And especially when planning such a trip, you naturally ask yourself a lot of questions: What do we have to pay attention to? Will it be totally complicated or in the end everything will be completely simple? In our travel report “Camping in Canada” we have therefore written together all our questions, answers and tips.
Here is a brief overview of our route:
Stage 1: Montreal > La Mauricie National Park > Quebec City > Tadoussac (560 kilometers)
The starting and ending point of our round trip was the city of Montreal. From here we went with our camper first to the La Mauricie National Park and then on to the city of Quebec. The north-easternmost point of our route was then the small coastal town of Tadoussac, which is considered an ideal starting point for whale watching in the St. Lawrence River.
Stage 2: Tadoussac > Ottawa > Algonquin Provincial Park (960 kilometers)
From Tadoussac it went in a long drive 660 kilometers southeast to Ottawa, the capital of Canada. Here we spent 2 nights and then drove further west towards “Algonquin Provincial Park”.
Stage 3: Algonquin Provincial Park > Bruce Peninsula National Park > Niagara Falls (760 kilometers)
From our campsite at the western exit of the national park it was 360 kilometers to the Bruce Peninsula and the “Bruce Peninsula National Park”. Again, we spent 2 nights at a beautiful campsite and drove from there further south to the town of Niagara Falls, where the world-famous waterfalls of the same name are located.
Stage 4: Niagara Falls > Toronto > Thousand Islands National Park > Montreal (670 kilometers)
The last part of our round trip through Canada took us from Niagara Falls first to the metropolis of Toronto. After 2 nights we continued along the St. Lawrence River upstream to Gananoque, the gateway to the “Thousand Islands”. From there we went another 260 kilometers north-east back to Montreal, the starting point of our round trip.
Our route by caravan through the east of Canada
In total, we drove almost 3,300 kilometers with our motorhome and explored beautiful regions and cities in eastern Canada. The hoped-for Indian Summer has shown itself in mid/ end of September unfortunately only very sporadically, but mostly the colors of the trees were still rich green. But in the 3 weeks we had almost exclusively nice weather with temperatures well over 20 degrees, which is not self-evident for Canada at this time of year 🙂
We found this route perfect to combine all the major cities and some of the most famous national parks. Certainly we would have liked to stay a little longer at one or the other place, but at least we got a very good insight into the beautiful east of Canada.
All travel reports from our camper round trip through Canada
Vacation with the camper or motor home in Canada - for many probably quite normal, but for us it was actually the first time. We have never been on the road with a camper, but always wanted to try it. In total, we drove almost 3,300 kilometers with our camper and explored beautiful regions and cities in eastern Canada.
» Our Holiday in Canada 2021 - Flight, Entry & Itinerary» Camping in Canada - Our Questions, Experiences & Tips
» La Mauricie National Park - A hike on the Les Cascades Trail
» Québec City - Things to do, Sights & Photo Spots
» Canyon Sainte-Anne - Waterfalls, Cascades & Suspension Bridges
» Tadoussac - Whale watching on the Saint Lawrence River
» Parc Omega - Drive-Through Safari in Quebec
» Ottawa - The capital city of Canada
» Algonquin Provincial Park - Lakes, forests and magnificent viewpoints
» Bruce Peninsula National Park - Dreamlike bays at Lake Huron
» Niagara Falls - The largest waterfalls in North America
» Toronto - Things to do, Sights & Photo Spots
» Thousand-Islands National Park - 1.864 Islands in the Saint Lawrence River
» Montreal - Things to do, Sights & Photo Spots