Sensible traveler Destinations Where they went Travel gear
Holiday shopping in Canada could mean cool savings
By Richard P. Carpenter, Globe Staff, 12/1/2002
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Sensible traveler Destinations Where they went Travel gear
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Not only does our friendly northern neighbor offer supreme shopping, the current exchange rate makes the US dollar worth 40 percent more in Canada. That doesn't mean everything will always cost 40 percent less, but you may well save significantly, especially since many value-added lodging packages are available. Among the noted shopping destinations:
Montreal and Quebec City. The province of Quebec, with its French flair and proximity to New England, is a good place to start. With over 1,500 shops in its Underground City, and more above-ground, Montreal is a shopper's delight. The Underground City is an experience in itself, with 20 miles of well-lighted passageways linking the shops with hotels, restaurants, and attractions. Or you might surface and stroll down boulevard St-Laurent or rue St. Denis, with goods ranging from budget items to designer clothing. For luxury lovers, there's rue Sherbrooke, with its chic boutiques, art galleries, and museums.
Quebec City, meanwhile, is a haven for art and antiques collectors. The streets of Old Quebec are sprinkled with crafts kiosks, designer stores, galleries, and gourmet restaurants. Upper Town galleries offer Inuit and folk art, and the city boasts more than 1,000 stores in five shopping centers.
Yankee Holidays has Montreal/Quebec City Combo packages that include five nights' accommodations, transportation between the cities by motorcoach or rail, dinner at Chez Queux in Montreal and La Maison Serge Bruyere in Quebec City, sightseeing in both cities, a pass to the Montreal Casino, and all taxes and tips. Packages start from $441 US per person, double occupancy, and are available through Feb. 28. Call 800-225-2550 or visit www.yankee-holidays.com.
Toronto. Canada's most cosmopolitan city has more than 25,000 shops, from upscale boutiques such as Gucci and Versace to the more down-to-earth Club Monaco and Gap. The Bloor-Yorkville area is the city's international shopping district, featuring names known across the world as well as Canadian retailers, including Roots, rapidly becoming an American favorite. Birks, in the Manulife Centre, is known for its pearls, diamonds, crystal, and china. For antiques, it's the Mount Pleasant/St. Claire area or the Harbourfront Antique Market. Spadina Avenue's garment district, with its leather, furs, and a lot more, attracts bargain hunters. And the Eaton Centre, a multilevel glass galleria at Yonge and Dundas streets, offers over 360 stores.
A Toronto Shopping Package, also from Yankee Holidays, starts from $113 US and includes two nights' lodging, breakfast daily, a dinner at Joe Badali's Italian Restaurant, and shopping discount coupons. See the contact information listed earlier.
Edmonton. The Guinness Book of World Records agrees: The Edmonton Mall in Alberta is the world's largest shopping/entertainment center. Mixed in with more than 800 stores are an amusement park, a miniature golf course, and even submarine rides in what is said to be the world's largest indoor lake. The Fantasyland Hotel, right in the mall, has 118 themed rooms, resembling everything from African safari grounds to a Victorian coach.
The mall is offering Shop, Drop, Play & Stay! packages through Dec. 19 that start at $108 US and include accommodations and two World Waterpark passes. The West Edmonton Mall Inn, across the street, has rates starting at $75. But for $63 more you can buy the Family Wet & Wild Package, featuring a family pass to World Waterpark or the mall's Galaxyland Amusement Park, four Marinelife passes, four Deep Sea Adventure passes (where you ride the sub), a breakfast buffet for four at Cafe Europa, and underground parking. Call 780-444-WEST or visit www.westedmall.com.
Vancouver. The climate is temperate in this charming British Columbia city and the streets are filled with shops. Robson Street and nearby Burrad and West Hastings streets have high-end fashion shops as well as international designer outlets. Additional elite shops can be found at Sinclair Centre on West Hastings Street. For antiques, try Water Street and Main Street, from 19th to 27th avenues. The Pacific Centre Mall on Georgia Street, meanwhile, has 200 stores and services. Unique to the Vancouver area is First Nations arts and crafts, by descendants of Canada's first inhabitants.
Through Dec. 31, Sutton Place Hotel, in the center of the arts and entertainment district, is offering Sutton Shopper packages starting at $169 US, including accommodations and a card good for up to 30 percent off in the shops on Robson Street, as well as spa services, parking, a continental breakfast for two, and other amenities. Call 800-HELLO-BC or visit www.tourismvancouver.com.
A fact of life in Canada is the 7 percent Goods and Services Tax, or GST. But rebates are available to Americans for accommodations of less than 30 days and goods costing at least $50 Canadian. Rebate forms are available in many shops, and instant refunds are available at stores labeled Canadian Duty Free. Or you can save your receipts and get the rebate via a mail-in program. Just be sure you have those receipts validated at the airport or when you cross the border. There is also usually a provincial tax, or PST, with the percent varying by province. Alas, this is seldom refundable, although Alberta charges non-Canadian shoppers no PST.
As for customs fees, the total value of merchandise travelers may bring back to the United States without having to pay duty has just been increased from $400 to $800. Families may combine their exemptions.
For more information on GST rebates, call 800-66-VISIT from within Canada, 902-432-5608 outside Canada, or log on to www.
ccra.gc.ca no matter where you are. For more information about Canada shopping, or about that good nation in general, call the Canadian Tourism Commission at 877-8-CANADA or visit www.travelcanada.ca.
Cooking tour
Three bed-and-breakfast inns in New Hampshire's Mount Washington Valley are offering a three-day series of progressive cooking classes, titled - get this! - Cook Inn the White Mountains.
The dates are Dec. 8-10 and Jan. 12-14 and 26-28. Participants arrive on a Sunday at the Cabernet Inn in North Conway where the first hands-on, 21/2-hour class will be held after breakfast Monday. That afternoon, participants will move to the Crowes' Nest in Jackson and on Tuesday have a class with a different chef. On Tuesday afternoon, the budding cooks travel to the Notchland Inn in Hart's Location for their third chef and final class, after breakfast on Wednesday.
Prices for two start at $775 and include a deluxe room, a country breakfast daily, the classes, and taxes. Other packages are available for more.
Contact any of the three inns: The Notchland at 800-866-6131 or www.notchland.com, the Crowes' Nest at 800-511-8383 or www.crowesnest.net, and the Cabernet at 800-866-4704 or www. cabernetinn.com.
Russia for $777
In 2003, Russia's cultural capital, St. Petersburg, will mark its 300th anniversary. If you'd like to be there at midnight, Interactive Russia has a trip Dec. 30-Jan. 5 for a land-only price of $777.
The New Year's Winter Wonderland program includes tours, troika rides, performances by modern artists, and a Russian royal banquet on New Year's Eve. For more money, you can also attend ballet performances at the Mariinsky Theatre and a masquerade ball at Yusupov Palace. Discounted flights are available.
E-mail travel@in-russia.com or visit http://travel.in-russia.com.
Spa service included
Le Grand Courlan Spa Resort in Tobago includes spa treatments in its all-inclusive program - something not all spa resorts do.
Through Dec. 20, rates begin at $152 per person per day. From Jan. 6-April 15, rates start at $270.
Call 868-639-9667 or visit www.legrandcourlan-resort.com.
Holiday spirit
The Lincoln-Woodstock area of New Hampshire has Christmas Tree Packages that should ease you into the holiday spirit. The area, just inside the White Mountain National Forest, has been called scenic, nostalgic, and, yes, romantic.
Fifteen area inns, B&Bs, hotels, motels, and rental condominiums offer package deals with the Rocks Estate, a 1,300-acre working tree farm just north of Lincoln-Woodstock, where you can cut your own Christmas tree. Two area accommodations - the Loon Mountain Club and the Wilderness Inn - also have arrangements with nearby Windy Ridge Orchard in North Haverhill, where guests can take a hayride into the tree orchard, then follow their tree-cutting with hot cider.
Prices range from $53 per person per night at Loon Mountain Club to $419 for a family of four for two nights at Alpine Village Resort.
Call the Lincoln-Woodstock Chamber of Commerce at 603-745-6621 or visit www.lincolnwoodstock.com.