Bus Tour - Eastern Canada, PEI & the Maritimes

By Willie Jose
Ontario-Canada
August 13, 2016



This month is the right time of the year to visit these places because of the sunny and warm weather and also the unbeatable and affordable prices being offered by bus tour operators.

Though it was a pleasant trip, the tour was physically tiring and exhausting; most of the time, we traveled from 4 to 6 hours, with some bus stop rests of 15 minutes before reaching our destinations.

We got the chance to visit a number of tourist spots, but still, it was a tough and rushed activity; in some cases, the travel time was longer than the time we could spend sightseeing these places.

Two days before the tour, we had to prepare lots of things such as our clothes, medications, luggage and the pocket money. Well, I thought about all the things that I have to take with me: laptop, a book, notebook, and a sunglass.

So what are some of the benefits of doing this kind of traveling?

One benefit is it’s a good way to relax, to calm down one’s nerves because getting to visit these tourist attractions that we have not been to without spending so much money, without having to drive long distances—what more could we ask for?

Of course, traveling by bus is sometimes quite boring, so it’s a good idea to travel with some friends and family members whom we could talk to; we could to take some nap too—and by the time we wake up, we are already in our dream destinations.

And I had seen some people tinkering their laptops and tablets, listening to music with their Smartphones or simply reading a book and magazine to while away their time.

Oh, today’s traveling is awesome, imagine all throughout our trip, with free Wi-Fi right on the bus, with our laptop and smartphones, we could always stay connected with friends and relatives.

We don’t even have to worry about the cost of this package tour because the prices offered by these bus companies are really unbeatable and affordable even for ordinary folks. Just consider the hotel accommodation, plus the high cost of gas alone, this kind of tour is the cheapest way to travel.

However, visiting these tourist attractions involves more than seeing and snapping photos of the breathtaking scenery of these sites or gobbling up the sumptuous dishes of the different localities.

This tour is also learning process; we’ve learned some life’s lessons like why we need to be punctual always and be cooperative with the rest of the group, thereby allowing Eric to organize the tour schedules more efficiently.

We could not be late in everything—having breakfast, dinner, boarding the bus-- because a delay of a few minutes could adversely affect the rest of the scheduled trips.

Could you imagine if we were late for a boat cruise to the Thousands Islands in Quebec City -- the boat would not wait for us; the boat operators would not even refund the money we had paid them.

During the trip, we made sure we were at the hotel restaurant at 6 a.m. for the breakfast and to board the bus at the 7 a.m. —so waking up early was a must, thereby avoiding the stress of rushing in the routine chores such as washing up and packing stuff in the luggage.

On arriving at the hotel after a long day’s traveling, Eric would immediately confer with the hotel’s staff to get the keys to our rooms and because of sheer exhaustion, we had to go to bed early to regain our strength.

 Eric’s constant reminder to go to the washroom (to pee) before boarding the bus served us well because we didn’t have to experience the discomfort of holding a full bladder until the next bus stop.

Of course, one could pee at the bus washroom at any time but the hassle of the washroom’s bad stink during the entire seven-day trip might seem unbearable.  

During this trip, my wife and I befriended a couple Anne and Mike, who were sitting in front of us and the elderly women, Aida and Roda. From time to time, Anne would share with us their snacks and engage us in a little chat.

This kind of trip is a good way to meet new friends and strengthen bonds with friends.

During the trip, we had eaten several times in some restaurants with all-you-can- eat buffets, and before getting off the bus, again Eric would echo his friendly reminder “ get what you can eat, not what you can waste, remember the people who don’t have enough food.”

Well, Eric was right after all because seeing all these mouth-watering dishes in front of us, it was very tempting as the song goes “ to bite more than I could chew “.

One time, when we were in Quebec for the 3-hour whale watching tour, we forgo that activity; my family and friends stayed at the port--eating and sharing our food with one another. I relished devouring Ping’s bagel sandwiches with cream cheese spread and Rusty’s canned chili Tuna flakes and crackers. Since it was the first time to eat that kind of tuna flakes, I asked Rusty’s beloved, Evelyn where I could buy that.

Of course, we all enjoyed and marveled seeing these magnificent tourist sites: Montreal City, the 13-km engineering marvel Confederation Bridge that connects New Brunswick with the Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia’s Peggy’s Cove where one can view the Atlantic Ocean, the waters of the Saint John River reverse directions during tide changes, the Hopewell Rock and the Bay of Fundy, Carleton Martello Tower, the Cavendish Beach in PEI and Quebec’s Thousand Islands.

With today’s technology, there are some ways of  “seeing “ and appreciating these well-known tourist destinations: watching TV and videos, surfing the computers and tablets, reading books and brochures or by simply traveling there.

The choice is yours but if I were you--I would go by a package bus tour, the cheapest and relaxing way to have a successful vacation these days.