Want to get an idea of the budget for a road trip to Canada? Come on to have a look at the expenses I’ve made during my trip.
ITINERARY - CANADA: here is the full itinerary for a tour of Canada.
This is just an example of expenses that can totally be adapted to the trip you are actually planning. You can adjust the expenses according to the choices you make in terms of accomodation, restaurants, activities, additional stops …
And be aware that these expenses apply to an 11-day trip for 2 people.
I am now going to explain the expenses item by item:
Plane tickets
As for every trip, this is one of the biggest parts of the budget. However plane tickets to go to North America are not very expensive. But for sure, it depends on the period you choose on going.
To save money, you can for example skip Vancouver from the road trip (or find a cheaper way to get there) because the domestic flight represents half the price of the transatlantic flight!
Hotels
The budget for this item will depend on the choices you make in terms of accommodation. As I had chosen to get a car rental, it wasn’t that important to me to sleep in the inner city. By booking a hotel located a bit further you can make quite important savings. Moreover, for example, on a Quebec-Ottawa trip that lasts 4 and a half hours, by doing a bit of the drive in the evening, sleeping in a hotel located halfway on the journey and continuing the drive the next morning, you can also save money since the hotel is not located into a big city.
Before leaving, I had made all of my bookings online.
Transportations
The best way to visit Canada is clearly by car. Moreover, car rentals are pretty cheap. Back then I had rented all my cars from the airport since it’s the same price than in town. And it’s very convenient because from the start to the end of your trip you won’t need to worry about your means of transportation. More than that, I rented a one-way car rental from Montreal to Toronto which saved me a lot of time since it avoided me bringing the car back to Montreal at the end of my road trip.
Sightseeings
About sightseeing in Canada, most of the time it’s all about exploring the city, so it doesn’t cost anything. And even when there are some activities such as the cruise to get closer to the Niagara Falls, the price is OK. And for some visits, there is only parking to pay, as for Montmorency Falls Park or Stanley Park. So it’s not on this item that you’ll spend most of your money.
Others expenses
For food and shopping, the budget will depend on whether you choose to eat out or on the go, and whether you want to bring back lots of souvenirs or not. On the other hand, for parking lots and petrol, it’s a mandatory expense. And be aware that you’ll drive a lot in Canada so you’ll spend quite a lot of money on fuel. For my whole trip, I spent CA$200.
Thanks for reading :)
