canada or east coast honeymoon

[lauralu]

A drawback to getting married in June is the honeymoon and cost...it is high season everywhere in the U.S it seems. Prices for hotel rooms skyrocket in summer in so many areas.

We have been looking into renting a beach house on the ocean anywhere along the east coast. But, it looks like prices jump thousands of dollars during high season.

We are also thinking of going to Canada...but, where would be the ideal location in Canada to go?

Anyone have any ideas, suggestions, advice for either of these two locations? Or ideas for other locations that would be awesome.

Maybe this is more in the states that it is higher priced high season?

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

My favorite places in Canada are:

1) Montreal and Quebec City in the province of Quebec (feels like you are in Europe - very romantic)
2) Vancouver in the province of British Columbia (beautiful lanscape and views of the Rocky''s - again if you are more of a wildlife girl there is soooooooo much to see and do in BC)
3) Niagra on the Lake in Ontario (all Vineyards and little cozy inns - very romantic)
4) East coast (maritimes) like Prince Edward Island - lots of beaches, great seafood and friendly people.

Canada kicks asssssssssssssss!!!

 

[lauralu]

Oh wow.....thank you ilovethiswebsite. This gives me lots to start researching

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Date: 8/16/2008 11:28:10 AM
Author: lauralu
Oh wow.....thank you ilovethiswebsite. This gives me lots to start researching

no problemo lauralu - if you take a few weeks and rent a car you could totally see Niagra-on-the-Lake, Montreal and Quebec city. The drive from Niagra-on-the-lake to Montreal is about 6 hrs, then Montreal to Quebec city is 2.5 hrs.

 

[Selkie]

In Canada, I''d go to Nova Scotia, rent a car and spend some time in various places-it''s small enough that you can visit much of the province in a week. As I recall, relatively cheap as well.

Our own honeymoon was spent sailing on a schooner on the coast of Maine, followed by a weekend at a B&B near Camden. Anywhere in Maine is wonderful! I especially love the mid-coast region: Boothbay, Rockland, Camden. Bar Harbor is great too.

 

[iluvcarats]

We went to Cape Bretton Island, Nova Scotia, and then back down to Mt. Desert Island, Acadia National Park. We had a blast! Of course this was back when the American $ was actually worth something. Now the Canadian $ is worth more

I would also look at Mont Tremblant, Montreal Canada - it is really beautiful there.

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Date: 8/16/2008 12:25:18 PM
Author: iluvcarats
We went to Cape Bretton Island, Nova Scotia, and then back down to Mt. Desert Island, Acadia National Park. We had a blast! Of course this was back when the American $ was actually worth something. Now the Canadian $ is worth more

I would also look at Mont Tremblant, Montreal Canada - it is really beautiful there.

Oh yeah Mont Tremblant! It''s very cute... Not as much to do in the summer though - more of a ski resort... If you like the outdoors you will love it there! It''s about 1.5 hrs north of Montreal.

If you have any questions let me know! I am born and raised in MTL and live in Ontario now.

 

[iluvcarats]

Date: 8/16/2008 12:34:06 PM
Author: ilovethiswebsite

Date: 8/16/2008 12:25:18 PM

Author: iluvcarats

We went to Cape Bretton Island, Nova Scotia, and then back down to Mt. Desert Island, Acadia National Park. We had a blast! Of course this was back when the American $ was actually worth something. Now the Canadian $ is worth more

I would also look at Mont Tremblant, Montreal Canada - it is really beautiful there.

Oh yeah Mont Tremblant! It''s very cute... Not as much to do in the summer though - more of a ski resort... If you like the outdoors you will love it there! It''s about 1.5 hrs north of Montreal.


If you have any questions let me know! I am born and raised in MTL and live in Ontario now.

s
We actually went to Tremblant last summer, and there is a lot to do if you like hiking, mountain biking ect. They had a cool bird of prey show, some shopping and great restaurants. If you don''t do outdoors, then I agree, not good for a honeymoon.
Toronto is a fun city. Museums, theater, shopping, great food.

 

[lauralu]

thanks everyone for all the ideas thus far. i should have said this before. We are not outdoorsy unless it involves the ocean and exploring a beach type setting. We would ideally love to find a place or two or three to stay (we will have 10 days) that we can do day excursions from. We do not like to plant ourselves on a beach and sun, or hike and canoe.

We want to see and experience culture, people and romance. Do I sound like an advertisement for a romance novel? LOL I feel this extreme pressure about our honeymoon. We have never taken a vacation like this before, there are so many things we would love to see and do. Our family is watching our kids and we want to make the MOST of our time.Narrowing it down to the east coast or Canada was difficult. Although progress....I feel almost like I have to find the perfect honeymoon vacation. I have a friend who just got back from a trip to Mexico. I forget where exactly at the moment.

Anywho...she used the travel agent she has used 3 times before. Only this time they ended up in a hotel overlooking a smelly bug infested swamp. OMGosh I don''t want that to happen to us. All of your help and personal experiences are so appreciated.

 

[oshinbreez]

Date: 8/16/2008 1:29:26 PM
Author: lauralu
thanks everyone for all the ideas thus far. i should have said this before. We are not outdoorsy unless it involves the ocean and exploring a beach type setting. We would ideally love to find a place or two or three to stay (we will have 10 days) that we can do day excursions from. We do not like to plant ourselves on a beach and sun, or hike and canoe.


We want to see and experience culture, people and romance. Do I sound like an advertisement for a romance novel? LOL I feel this extreme pressure about our honeymoon. We have never taken a vacation like this before, there are so many things we would love to see and do. Our family is watching our kids and we want to make the MOST of our time.Narrowing it down to the east coast or Canada was difficult. Although progress....I feel almost like I have to find the perfect honeymoon vacation. I have a friend who just got back from a trip to Mexico. I forget where exactly at the moment.


Anywho...she used the travel agent she has used 3 times before. Only this time they ended up in a hotel overlooking a smelly bug infested swamp. OMGosh I don't want that to happen to us. All of your help and personal experiences are so appreciated.

Hi. I've mentioned on this site several times how I absolutely LOVE . St Augustine, FL It has the beach, the old city, outlet malls, horse drawn carriages. We went over the 4th of July weekend and had a fantastic time. When I lived in Jacksonville, I'd visit the old city atleast once a month. I never tire of it As far as a perfect honeymoon vacation, I don't know if any of the 5 wedding parties we saw within an hour were staying or not, but many people do go there for their honeymoon. Check out Trip Advisor. If you do decide to visit, I'd recommend staying in one of the MANY B&B's in the old town.

 

[zoebartlett]

Is there a particular area of the east coast you''d like to focus on? There''s the White Mountains in NH -- lots to do up there and gorgeous scenery. The coast or lakes regions of Maine are beautiful. I got married in York, which is in the southern coast of Maine. There''s so much to see and do on the coast (I know more about the southern coast than I do about the mid coast). Portsmouth, NH, right near York, is a cute little town with lots of shops and nice places to visit. Then there''s Martha''s Vineyard, Nantucket, or the Cape (Cape Cod). MV and Nantucket are islands off the coast of MA, in case you''re unfamiliar with the area. Then of course, there are many, many other places to visit, but I know New England the best.


We actually went to Quebec City on our honeymoon, and we had a fabulous time. Here''s my honeymoon thread, in case you want to see pictures.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/zoes-honeymoon-pics.90845/

I can give you more information about it if you''d like. QC is a very romantic city, and it''s not huge like NY or other large cities. If you do choose to go to QC, I''d defintiely recommend staying within the walls of the older part of the city. You can''t beat the location and it''s PERFECT for a romantic honeymoon. You said you were looking for culture, people, and romance. That was what we wanted too, and QC fit the bill perfectly. Day trips are definitely doable -- we did a few. I''m happy to give you suggestions of places to visit and places to stay, etc. if Quebec City ends up on your short list.

 

[lauralu]

thank you for more GREAT info.... Im going a googling...

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Date: 8/16/2008 1:29:26 PM
Author: lauralu
thanks everyone for all the ideas thus far. i should have said this before. We are not outdoorsy unless it involves the ocean and exploring a beach type setting. We would ideally love to find a place or two or three to stay (we will have 10 days) that we can do day excursions from. We do not like to plant ourselves on a beach and sun, or hike and canoe.

We want to see and experience culture, people and romance. Do I sound like an advertisement for a romance novel? LOL I feel this extreme pressure about our honeymoon. We have never taken a vacation like this before, there are so many things we would love to see and do. Our family is watching our kids and we want to make the MOST of our time.Narrowing it down to the east coast or Canada was difficult. Although progress....I feel almost like I have to find the perfect honeymoon vacation. I have a friend who just got back from a trip to Mexico. I forget where exactly at the moment.

Anywho...she used the travel agent she has used 3 times before. Only this time they ended up in a hotel overlooking a smelly bug infested swamp. OMGosh I don''t want that to happen to us. All of your help and personal experiences are so appreciated.

If you want culture, romance, and experience great food and people I would seriously consider Montreal and Quebec city. it''s just like going to France and very romantic, especially if you stay in the Old Ports of both cities.

 

[Dogmom]

How about a cruise? There are some lovely cruises from Boston, New York and Montreal that travel to Eastern Canada and New England. Here is a link to Holland America''s New England/Canadian cruises. I think Norwegian Caribbean sails there as well.

 

[lauralu]

well we have it narrowed down some more...We have decided to wait on seeing Canada until we can go in a few more years with the kids. I know Booooooo Hooooooo lost romance and culture just so the kids can go.

I found this.....
http://www.ameliaislandvacation.com/Houses/KatiesLight/


which looks like it would be sooooo awesome. Being that close to the ocean...But, we decided we would rather be up the coast more. Or down the coast whichever way you refer to it. Past Virginia beach and up..This is also very expensive in June. Maybe we should wait to take our honeymoon until September just to help our money stretch further...

We still haven''t let go of St Augustine...that looks AWESOME as well nice. OSHINBREEZ...I have always heard June weather in Florida is a killer heat wise. Would you be able to tell us what that might be like? By the ocean I would imagine it to not be as bad?

This is so time consuming...I should stop obsessing for a week or so..

 

[doodle]

how about key west? it''s GORGEOUS, fun, and how''s this for culture? Key West seceded from the Union in 1982 because the government put up road blocks all over the bridges getting to the island and were checking people for drugs, so Key West''s government decided "screw this! if we''re going to be treated like a foreign country, so be it!". Just to prove a point, they seceded, became the Conch Republic, and the mayor hit a man dressed in US Navy uniform with a piece of stale Cuban bread! after one minute, they surrendered and then demanded 1 Billion dollars in federal aid and war relief. they never got it, but their point was proven. talk about a place with personality! Cuban food is also YUMMAY!

Savannah, GA is also really pretty and extremely romantic, IMO...but i got engaged there, so i''m partial!

 

[oshinbreez]

Sorry for not replying earlier.

About Amelia Island, it''s a nice town, but there really isn''t much to do there. It''s just north of Jacksonville. It''s is a pretty town, but I would still recommend staying in St Augustine and taking a day trip to Amelia Island.

June weather in that area isn''t bad, atleast I don''t think it is. I''d guess average daytime high is around 80-85, and nights high 60''s to low 70''s. Our HOT weather is July and August. But it can be very humid and feel hotter than the actual temp.

If you do decide to go to St Augustine, you''ll enjoy it. A lot of free things also. St Augustine is a walking town. The historical area, the old town is probably no more than a 2 or 5 mile square. But there is so much to do. Be sure to buy trolley passes and ride around to see where everything is located and learn the history.

If you want to know anything about the area, feel free to ask.

 

[anchor31]

I second everyone''s suggestions in the province of Québec. So much to do and see! Tremblant is great if you''re one for the outdoors, there kayaking/canoeing, horseback riding, biking, swimming... and great spas too if you''d like to get pampered at bit! We had our own honeymoon not too far from there.

I also wanted to add that it''s high season in summer up here too, and the dollar''s pretty strong, so that''s something to consider. Might not really be cheaper!

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Looks like you''ve got some great options! I''d recommend Nag''s Head, NC or Duck, NC if you wanted somewhere more quiet, but it''s pricey. Anywhere from $1000 for a tiny cottage to you name it they have it. I''d say average for oceanfront is $3000-$5000 for a week in my opinion. Myrtle Beach is also kind of expensive, but it''s nice and more partyish.

Just my thoughts.

 

[oobiecoo]

I LOVE Rye, NH. It isn''t very tourist-y and it has a small town feel. The beaches aren''t crowded and the seafood is AMAZING!

We''re going to Key West for our honeymoon in January and can''t wait so I vote for that as well!

 

[oshinbreez]

Here are some vacation rentals I found in St Aug.

1

2

3

4

Have you thought about Charleston, SC?

Where are you from?

 

[oshinbreez]

I found this link that might help. Half way down the page shows the average temps, humidity, rainfall, etc.

 

[lauralu]

oh wow...oshinbreez...thanks for all of your help Thanks for all of the info. Some of those beach homes in Augustine look promising. I am busy bookmarking galore!!I haven''t looked into Charleston SC yet. I think I am busy making my way up the coast.

Originally we were thinking of taking 2 weeks and just traveling down the coast from Maine to Virginia Beach staying where ever we ended up each night. Stopping where ever it looked interesting. Taking our cues from the residents of the places we stayed. But, FI is not so crazy about leaving our nights stays up to chance. He thinks reserving a place or two and taking day trips is the way to go

oobiecoo Rye Nh is small about 5000 ppl! thanks for the suggestion. i will check it out!