What advice would you give someone visiting your city on short notice?

[SignalHillHiker]

A little inside knowledge always helps. I'm curious what advice would you give someone visiting your city? I'm not looking for a list of must-see attractions necessarily, but more things that will make us say... "Oh wow, I'm glad someone told me about that before I went!"

Eventually, I'll edit this post to include a summary of your advice - it could prove valuable, who knows.

[SignalHillHiker]

For St. John's:

If you intend to rent a car, book it as much in advance as you can. For some reason, we simply do not have enough rental cars to meet demand. I have personally called around town 6 months in advance of a summer trip and been unable to reserve anything. If you're coming on short notice, and find a place with something to rent you... TAKE IT, immediately. I've had relatives visiting who have rented U-HAUL vehicles to go around town because they couldn't get anything else.

Don't travel to St. John's by bus from mainland Canada. Once the ferry arrives in Channel-Port-aux-Basques, you'll have 15 hours of trees on either side of you until you reach St. John's. You'll pass through and stop in a couple of cities and towns - like Corner Brook, Grand Falls-Windsor, and Gander... but it's not enough to numb the dreadful monotony of traveling the TCH across the island. The TCH crosses the interior of the island. EVERYTHING else except the highway is along the coast. Take the ferry to Argentia, which is only about 1.5 hours outside St. John's. Or fly. You won't regret it.

[kwoldtimer]

Kitchener-Waterloo: If possible, hit the Kitchener Market or St Jacobs Farmers Market. We're all about the abundance, baby!

[freeweed]

For Calgary, it's all about the weather and elevation:

1. Bring a wider variety of clothes than you think you'll need. You'll need a jacket virtually any time of year, but you may also want lighter clothes in April in case we hit 20 or higher. And you may need a winter-ish coat in May.

2. Bring skin lotion. Calgary's dry air wreaks havoc on your skin, especially if you're from somewhere coastal. About the only month this doesn't apply is June (see next point).

3. An umbrella is a must in June (and late May-early July). Calgary, while semi-arid, gets torrential rains for about a 6 week period every year. We call it "monjune".

4. Don't underestimate elevation effects. While you won't typically see full-blown altitude sickness here (unless you have a medical condition), people find themselves easily out of breath even for the most trivial of exercise. Again, especially if you've lived near sea-level most of your life. Also, combine this with the dry air and anyone with asthma or other breathing problems absolutely has to have their meds on them. The other thing is, the sun is a fair bit stronger here. You'll burn faster in Calgary than any other major city in Canada, due to the thinner air. You'll also want sunglasses more often than you're used to.

5. Headaches - depending on the time of year, people sensitive to air pressure changes can suffer crippling headaches. Especially in our chinook months, but this phenomenon occurs year-round.

Wow, it really sounds like a horrible place to live.

[whatnext]

Vancouver: don't leave valuables in your car!

[sync]

Originally Posted by freeweed

Wow, it really sounds like a horrible place to live.

http://www.reactiongifs.com/lol/goodone1.gif

[Big Sky]

For Calgary I would tell anyone staying downtown in the CBD to go to Stephen Ave, the Beltline or Kensington on off hours. I've met out of towners who are staying downtown and walk around their block at night and find most businesses closed and assume there is nothing open anywhere.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Vancouver: don't leave valuables in your car!

This is an interesting one. Growing up in Winnipeg, it was just obvious that you always locked your car, and never EVER left anything in plain sight. At least half of the people I knew had had their car broken into at some point in the past decade. And I'm sure this is the case with most big cities, I'm not trying to pick on Winnipeg.

Calgary, from what I can tell, just doesn't have vehicle B&Es. I mean I'm sure they happen, but.. walk through any parking lot in the winter, and people have ski gear all over the place, obvious and in view. In summer, same with camping/hiking gear. People leave sports equipment strapped to their unattended vehicles all the time. I see phones, money, books, CDs, you name it - all on car seats and such.

When people come to visit me during the ski season, they all bring along ski locks and other such theft deterrents. It's so cute. It literally never occurs to me that I should even worry about someone stealing something.

[kw5150]

Just explore on your own and forget about tourist attractions.

[Kitchissippi]

My advice for Ottawa is that it is best explored on a bicycle, so bring one or rent one. If you are driving in, there are several free parking lots along the river parkways from where you can ride your bike into the core on traffic-free pathways in a matter of minutes. I think you'll get a better appreciation of what the Capital all about at your own pace.

• Video Link

[Boris2k7]

Originally Posted by freeweed

For Calgary, it's all about the weather and elevation:

1. Bring a wider variety of clothes than you think you'll need. You'll need a jacket virtually any time of year, but you may also want lighter clothes in April in case we hit 20 or higher. And you may need a winter-ish coat in May.

I think the key with weather in Calgary is layers, layers, layers. Take them off, put them back on.

In the summer, 2 layers. In the winter, 3 layers. You can get away with just a shirt for July-August.

[shreddog]

Originally Posted by freeweed

For Calgary, it's all about the weather and elevation:

1. Bring a wider variety of clothes than you think you'll need. You'll need a jacket virtually any time of year, but you may also want lighter clothes in April in case we hit 20 or higher. And you may need a winter-ish coat in May.

2. Bring skin lotion. Calgary's dry air wreaks havoc on your skin, especially if you're from somewhere coastal. About the only month this doesn't apply is June (see next point).

3. An umbrella is a must in June (and late May-early July). Calgary, while semi-arid, gets torrential rains for about a 6 week period every year. We call it "monjune".

4. Don't underestimate elevation effects. While you won't typically see full-blown altitude sickness here (unless you have a medical condition), people find themselves easily out of breath even for the most trivial of exercise. Again, especially if you've lived near sea-level most of your life. Also, combine this with the dry air and anyone with asthma or other breathing problems absolutely has to have their meds on them. The other thing is, the sun is a fair bit stronger here. You'll burn faster in Calgary than any other major city in Canada, due to the thinner air. You'll also want sunglasses more often than you're used to.

5. Headaches - depending on the time of year, people sensitive to air pressure changes can suffer crippling headaches. Especially in our chinook months, but this phenomenon occurs year-round.

Wow, it really sounds like a horrible place to live.

Jeez, based on what you wrote I think that the real answer to SpringHill's question is "Don't come!"

BTW, I fully agree, but man it looks crappy written down!

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by shreddog

Jeez, based on what you wrote I think that the real answer to SpringHill's question is "Don't come!"

BTW, I fully agree, but man it looks crappy written down!

I think it's that like everywhere, Calgary has its good days and its bad days. More of the good for sure - but the bad can happen at any time and with little warning. It's not like say Vancouver, where you can reliably predict the temperature in any given month (usually).

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by shreddog

Jeez, based on what you wrote I think that the real answer to SpringHill's question is "Don't come!"

BTW, I fully agree, but man it looks crappy written down!

SpringHill? Are you calling me a Nova Scotian?

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by kw5150

Just explore on your own and forget about tourist attractions.

What tourist attractions?

[shreddog]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

SpringHill? Are you calling me a Nova Scotian?

ACCKKKKKK!!!!!

Humblest apologies! Not that I don't like Springhill, but so sorry!

If it makes things any better, I almost got into a fight when I lived in Hali because I said I like Blue Star better than Black Pearl!

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by shreddog

If it makes things any better, I almost got into a fight when I lived in Hali because I said I like Blue Star better than Black Pearl!

Liking Blue Star more than anything else'll likely get you a smack or two here as well.

[Trevor3]

Originally Posted by shreddog

ACCKKKKKK!!!!!If it makes things any better, I almost got into a fight when I lived in Hali because I said I like Blue Star better than Black Pearl!

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Liking Blue Star more than anything else'll likely get you a smack or two here as well.

Blue Star is what you buy someone when they ask you to stop at the store and pick up beer for them. Especially if it's an out of the way stop or inconvenience. They'll never ask you again.

[MexiQuebecois]

Buy condoms.

[Architype]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Vancouver: don't leave valuables in your car!

^ That applies anywhere, but is still good advice for out of province plates.

For Vancouver you may not need a car, just stay in the downtown peninsula area, except to go to the mountains maybe. Transit can take you everywhere else. Just walking around the seawalls, beaches, and Stanley Park gives you the ultimate experience and tells you much about what makes Vancouver special. And if you are driving, watch out for pedestrians, cyclists and buses; they rule the road.