Off to Canada: The beginning of our journey 

Welcome to Canada! We still can't quite believe that after seven hours of pure flight time, we are now standing on Canadian soil at Montreal airport, where our journey and adventure begins. 

You can read why we flew to Montreal and not directly to Halifax, where our camper arrives, in the blog post “We are flying to Canada” . 

Lots of luggage, little space: A slightly chaotic start to our trip to Canada 

We arrived in the evening and it was already around 9 p.m. when we pushed ourselves through the sliding door of the airport with two fully loaded trolleys into the Canadian air and breathed it in for the first time. Organized as we are, we had of course not bothered to arrange a transfer before our trip to Canada, or rather the hotel advised us to just take the taxis on site. Neither they nor we had taken into account that we were traveling with the luggage of a family of four and a dog. But help in need came in the form of a limo service and took pity on us. With great difficulty we managed to stow everything away and were now on our way to the hotel, in whose beds we fell asleep a short time later, exhausted but happy. 

Good morning Montreal, are you awake yet?

Good morning jet lag! It's 4:30 a.m. Canadian time, we and the children are wide awake and anyone who has children knows that when you wake up you get hungry - not so good at this time of day, of course. Luckily we still had some energy left from the flight and were able to bridge the time until breakfast. We made a conscious decision to take our large Thule Cross on the plane and to have a rental car with us for the first week of our trip. So we could set off with the children and explore the still sleeping city. It was about seven o'clock and unfortunately everything was still closed. The streets were being cleaned from the previous day and Montreal was slowly waking up. The peace and quiet is good for us to arrive, take in the city and find our way around the new situation. 

We entered the first café, which was already open and had a good espresso machine, and had breakfast. Refreshed, we continued through the streets of this metropolis, towards the harbor, through beautifully landscaped parks and into the old town. We explored the inner city of Montreal on foot. At the end of the day, we had covered almost 14 km, visited three playgrounds and had many new impressions, and were enjoying the last rays of sunshine in a Persian restaurant. 

Farewell to Montreal and off to adventure Canada

Montreal is our wonderful start to the journey through Canada that lies ahead of us and shows a wonderful metropolitan, multicultural and yet very down-to-earth side. The following day we explored in the other direction, away from the crowds and towards a nice café and were rewarded with a new impression of the city. Less chic, less touristy, authentic and lovely. The Shaughnessy Café is exactly what we were looking for: a café, a good portafilter machine and homemade treats like cakes and cinnamon rolls. At lunchtime we said goodbye to Montreal. We certainly haven't seen everything yet, but the country appeals to us and, especially now at the beginning, we are hungry for more, for space, for nature, for Canada. 

By car towards nature The first few meters in the crammed rental car feel like freedom. We don't have a precise plan, just a date when we can pick up our Sprinter in Halifax, and so we speed along the St. Lawrence River for the first few meters on the Canadian highway. Huge trucks, pickups and loud roaring engines are all around us.

Small and big Canadian dreams on the St. Lawrence River

Our first short stop on the trip takes us to a beach on the St. Lawrence River, which couldn't be more picturesque. Boulders lie in the water, the tide is out and has exposed a lot of the bottom, so that the sandy beach is full of driftwood and shells. A real adventure playground for the children. A picnic stop in the park near Montcalm in Quebec City. We want to explore the city itself in more detail later. We drive on and eventually end up in a classic motel on the highway. It's funny how you can be happy about a stop like that, but we've both always wanted to stay in a typical motel like the ones you see in the movies. The neon sign glows at us in the twilight and we park the car right in front of the room. 

After arriving in Canada, we are still suffering from jet lag and the nights are rather short, so we make the most of the early mornings to play with the children to compensate them for the upcoming journeys. The next morning we leave the province of Quebec and arrive in New Brunswick. A short stop for lunch and a playground takes us to Grand Falls. The waterfalls there are impressive, but the town unfortunately lacks any charm. 

Great hospitality in Saint John

We continue along the US border to Saint John. Once there, finding a hotel is rather difficult. After a bit of back and forth, we found the nice B&B Mahogany Manor , in a beautifully restored Victorian house. The friendly owners greet us warmly, take care to organize something for us for dinner and even set the table for us at 10 p.m. This accommodation is something very special, not just visually, but above all because of the incredible hospitality of the hosts. You immediately feel at home and at home. The next morning, we are served a freshly prepared breakfast with scrambled eggs, homemade muffins, jam and fresh fruit. Unfortunately, we are just passing through and have to move on, but if we pass through Saint John again, this will be the first place we stop. 

Before we get back in the car, we explore the beautiful town on the Bay of Fundy. The town is a perfect starting point for exploring the area. From here you can go on a whale-watching tour in the bay by boat, experience the incredible tide or let yourself be enchanted by the charm of an old fishing village. The choice of restaurants is large and everything is geared towards tourism, but in May there was nothing going on and we were almost alone. 

The excitement is building: Reunion with the sprinter in Canada

We drove further north along the bay, through Fundy National Park , made a short stop in Alma and tried the highly praised lobster. Since we hardly eat meat or fish anymore, it was good, but not the absolute highlight for us. The journey continued northeast past the Hopewell Rocks and on the highway towards Halifax, because according to the shipping company, our Sprinter was ready for pickup the next day. The night in this hotel was also rather short, we still hadn't gotten over the jet lag after five days and the excitement was just too great. Will everything work out? Is the Sprinter undamaged? 

Now it's only a few hours until our journey and our adventure in Canada really begins. Curious to see what happens next? Here you can read how things went for us and our Sprinter .