Recently in _Canada Category

Greetings, city-lovers! Today we're heading north to Kingston, Ontario, a city Zoe and Don Timperon want recognized for its World Heritage status, and much much more.

Want to see your city on IT? Copy and paste our list of fill-in-the-blank questions into an e-mail, fill in your answers, and send your responses to IntelligentTravel@ngs.org. And if you're still waiting for us to feature yours, fear not! We're going to keep posting as long as we keep getting them (please include photos and links!).

Kingston, Ontario is My City

The first place I take a visitor from out of town is World Heritage site Fort Henry and Kingston's downtown waterfront.

When I crave a delicious and refreshing margarita I always go to Margaritaville.

To escape the stresses of life I head to the waterfront and either go sailing or enjoy a ride on the Wolfe Island ferry.

If I want to relax for a couple hours I go Kingston Mills Locks and watch the boats move along the World Heritage Rideau Canal.

For complete quiet, I can hide away at Big Sandy Bay, a remote shangri-la white sandy beach on Wolfe Island away from everything.

If you come to my city, get your picture taken with our town crier Chris Whyman, ambassador of Kingston.

If you have to order one thing off the menu from Tir Nan Og it has to be shepherd's pie.

Should airlines charge more for people who take up more than one seat? The Canadian Transportation Agency decided last year to stop Canadian airlines from charging an overweight or handicapped person more than the cost of one fare, even if a passenger takes up more than one seat.  Our article about this, in the April issue of Traveler, sparked much debate in our inbox. Our readers sound off:

Jane Bedrosian of Lubbock, Tex., wrote, "Rights for the obese! What about my rights as a normal-size person? I do not want to sit for two hours pressed up against some hot, sweaty stranger! I am very tired of political correctness only being applied to a classified few while the masses must endure and suffer in silence!" Nancy D. Anderson of Urbana, Ill., concurred. "I sure hope U.S. airlines don't do this. If they can't fit into a seat, they should buy two."

Ross Pezzack spoke up for the rights of tall people. "As a flyer of 'excessive' height, I suggest this right also be extended to clients who cannot fit into the small quantity of legroom most seats allow travelers. I would also ask that airlines allow excessive-height clients the right to prevent people in front of them from reclining their seats into their knees (if you are not tall you have no idea how much that hurts)."

Finally, Racheal Galushkin of Medford, Mass., suggested a solution. "While I can appreciate that seat straddlers have been charged extra and that this is a burden to them and the airlines are looking at reducing those costs, perhaps the real issue is a decent seat size. Shouldn't the size of the airline seat be reconsidered so that more of 'today's-sized individuals' fit into them?"

We're sure you have an opinion. Share it with us.

Photo: aslaugsvava via the Intelligent Travel Flickr pool

Hello, city-lovers! Today's city is Vancouver, British Columbia, and it comes to us courtesy of Amanda Ryan.

Want to see your hometown on IT? Copy and paste our list of fill-in-the-blank questions into an e-mail, fill in your answers, and send your responses to IntelligentTravel@ngs.org. And if you're still waiting for us to feature yours, fear not! We're attempting to post them as fast as we can (please include photos and links!).

Vancouver is My City

The first place I take a visitor from out of town is Granville Island. The Public Market is always a bustling place to check out foods and ingredients from around the world, exotic florists, fresh seafood, West Coast artwork in all forms, and lots more. There's always something going on outside as well; no matter how bitterly cold or stifling hot it is, you'll find at least a handful of buskers playing lively music, juggling knives, performing magic tricks or simply entertaining a crowd. From Granville Island I like to take a foot ferry across False Creek to downtown, a much more leisurely and picturesque mode of transportation than the bus.

When I crave sushi I always go to Shin Ju on Broadway. We Vancouverites love our sushi. In fact, there are more sushi restaurants per block here than in Japan! Shin Ju's unpretentious atmosphere, excellent service, and affordable and consistently great food is what brings me back every week.

To escape after a busy week I head to the seawall. Winding along the coastline of the city, the seawall offers the best view of ocean, mountains, beach and great blue herons you'll get on this side of the country. It's also the best place to get lost in a crowd, and benches throughout offer top-notch people watching. Strolling the seawall with a coffee and a good friend is one of the most relaxing and refreshing things you can do here.

If you come to my city, get your picture taken with the Steam Clock in historical Gastown. It's kind of cliché, but the clock is truly unique in that it was the first steam clock to be made by Canadian horologist Raymond Saunders, who went on to build the clocks for cities around the world. Ours is fully functioning with the telltale plumes of steam, and whistles the Westminster Quarters every quarter of an hour.

When I'm feeling cash-strapped I go to the Vancouver Public Library. Probably the most controversial piece of architecture in the city (either you love it or you hate it), it's seven stories high and filled with 180-degree views of the downtown core. I love to sit and flip through magazines, wander the levels and shelves picking up books at random, shuffle through jazz CDs or check out whichever free lecture is being given in the conference room. VPL also holds a twice-yearly used book sale, an elbow-to-elbow affair where book rats like me can walk out with an armload of discarded treasures for a meager amount of money.

Photo ops in my city include a view of English Bay, the False Creek Olympic Village, Chinatown in the summer at night, Celebration of Light fireworks in the summer, looking across the water at the downtown skyline, Stanley Park Lagoon and the best vantage points are any high-rise apartment along Beach Avenue, the Shangri-La Hotel, anywhere along the seawall, Granville Island, Charleson Park, and (my favourite) a foot ferry across False Creek.

If you are someone who hopes to hike the entire Appalachian Trail, word to the wise: It's getting longer and longer every day.

OK, so the original Appalachian National Scenic Trail isn't getting longer--those 2,175 miles are staying as is. But the International Appalachian Trail (IAT)--the stretch of trail that follows the Appalachian Mountains beyond the original Appalachian Trail terminus in Maine--is getting longer each year.

Newfoundland and Labrador plan to complete three new sections of trail through the Long Range Mountains, bringing the total length of trail in the province to approximately 750 miles. And with more mileage comes more amazing scenery. The three three sections in the works for 2009--Lewis Hills, Blow Me Down Mountain, and Devil's Bite (pictured below)--boast rugged mountains, pristine river valleys, and 1,000-foot waterfalls.

Don't make plans to trek through the three new paths this summer, as they aren't scheduled for completion until the fall. If you're really chomping at the bit for some fresh IAT action, check out Indian Lookout trail near Gros Morne National Park, which will open on August 1. Surely its views of fjords, scenic backcountry, and a 1,200-foot waterfall can placate you until the full 750 miles are completed.

Read more about the IAT's history and plans for the future after the break.

Traveler staffer Kimberly Calder offers a preview of the 2010 Olympics outside Vancouver, B.C., on the slopes of Whistler.

Whistler Blackcomb is epic. The terrain is endless, the powder is plentiful, and even the locals see the possibilities for adventure as infinite. In 2010, Whistler Blackcomb will be hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Alpine events; however, while it's still dumping snow in Canada (and probably will be until late spring), now is a great time to get a taste of this playground as it revs up to host the games.

One particular improvement done for the Olympics makes choosing your perfect ski adventure even easier. The Peak 2 Peak lift now links the two mountains in an 11-minute gondola ride. (The previous option included a 40-minute run to the base and, depending on lift lines, another 15-minute ride to the top.) Now mixing a little Jersey Cream (at Blackcomb) into your morning runs at Whistler is sweeter than ever.

No matter where you end up, you can easily spend all day on either mountain. While both have an assortment of skiing levels, Whistler has more terrain and can feel crowded because of its popularity. Blackcomb, on the other hand, has more advanced runs but tends to get icy first. One constant is the beautiful valley views from all directions.

Friend of IT Tobias Nowlan just came face-to-face with ferocious polar bears. (And no, he's not on the Island from Lost.)

A siren echoes over town. Now gunshots; one, two, three... A Range Rover pulls up beside me, a man leans out: "get inside now--there's a bear in town!" The aurora flickers dimly and greenly above Hudson Bay. Stalactites have formed on the rim of my woolen hat. I wander back inside.

It's my first night in Churchill, Manitoba. It's taken 18 hours to get here. There are no roads to Churchill--only planes and trains can get there. The train journey takes two days, but is cheaper, and may reward travelers with caribou, moose, and wolf sightings. I've come here for one reason: Churchill has been dubbed the "Polar Bear Capital of the World."

Polar bears gather here every fall, waiting for the waters of Hudson Bay to freeze entirely so they can hunt blubber-coated ringed seals on the ice. Trapped on land for months, the bears are starved. They would kill me in a second given the chance. Due to climatic warming, the bay now freezes later, reducing the bears' hunting season (their hunger increasing each year). The species is literally starving to death.

Driven to come to Churchill by a "see them while you can" motive, tourists are trundled over tundra by Tundra Buggies, weaving them between hungry bears. The leviathan trucks will approach bears for a while and stop: Tundra Buggies stick to a policy of not chasing bears and interfering as little as possible. Vehicles follow set tracks closely, and specific areas are designated for specific trucks, preventing Masai Mara-type situations of 12 trucks watching one animal. I found little ethical fault in this thriving industry, and saw that each season, thousands learn of the polar bear's climate change-induced demise firsthand. This doesn't account for the regular occurrence of photographers oblivious to the disturbance of their own volume and of the bears' superb hearing.

I see a mere 70 polar bears this weekend, including sparring (fighting) males, and a mother with cubs. I also watch a huge male try the ice out in the bay, his rear half collapsing through with every other step. He groans as he breaks the ice, falling into freezing water. He cannot afford to get this wet now without the promise of food any time soon. As our world warms, and Churchill's "polar bear season" is likely extended, this scene may become a more frequent one.

All through December we're showcasing the best of the holiday season in cities around the world. Today it's Christmastime in Montreal and we've asked local experts for the essential ways to enjoy the winter's best. Visitors and locals alike come together to celebrate the holidays and the New Year, and we encourage you to share your own favorites with us in the comments below. You can find all of the cities we've already visited and stay up-to-date on the rest by bookmarking the series here.

We've talked a lot about Montreal lately: It has gorgeous architecture, is the second-largest French-speaking city after Paris, and was the first to sign our Center for Sustainable Destinations Geotourism Charter. That's all well and good. But the reason I really love Montreal is the beer.

The Quebec region is nationally famous for its beautifully crafted bières artisanales, but for some reason, few of them make it big in the U.S. As something of a beer lover, I have come to regard Montreal as my holy beer grail. In fact, it's host to the World Festival of Beer, "the most important international beer festival in North America," held annually in early June.

To make a good thing better, most of the city's brewpubs are within walking distance of each other near the city's vibrant Latin Quarter. On a recent weekend trip, I went microbrasserie-hopping, hitting up some old favorites and making new discoveries. I was not disappointed. Here are a few top finds:

Unibroue - This microbrewery is located in the town of Chambly, but the beer is available all over Quebec, including Montreal. This is the producer of my favorite beer ever - La Fin du Monde (which translates as The End of the World). One of the region's trademark breweries, Unibroue brews strictly according to centuries-old European traditions, which means that no artificial chemicals are used in its production. The beers are fermented right in the bottles, and because of their quality, they have an extremely long shelf life ("Flavour evolves to a port wine after ten years," says the website). With eight different year-round beers to choose from, Unibroue has something everyone can enjoy. Most of them are available in U.S. specialty beer stores.
Recommended beers: La Fin du Monde, La Raftman

Check out the complete list after the jump.

The city of Montreal does plenty of things well. Its European architecture melds seamlessly into modern design, its expansive green spaces encourage both athletic endeavors and peaceful meandering, and its lengthy list of cultural attractions easily fill up a weekend getaway, as I found out last month. What was also all-too-easily filled up was my stomach, be it with poutine, brunch at the hip Bagels, Etc..., or luscious Quebecois beer. Or chocolate, another area where the multi-talented Montreal truly shines.

Enter Juliette et Chocolat, a Latin Quarter establishment that causes cocoa-lovers' hearts to quiver. Upon stepping inside (and waiting for a coveted table), red-and-white clad servers with bow ties taunt you with a parade of plates piled with chocolate in all forms. Brownies. Cake. Crepes. Ice Cream. Hot Chocolate. Mousse. Fondue. Fondants. An occasional panini disrupts the theme, as it's also a bistro with a  nice assortment of salty dishes.

Listen up, Franco-Canada-philes. Montreal, the first urban center in the world to sign National Geographic's Center for Sustainable Destinations' Geotourism Charter, is now accepting nominations for CSD's next MapGuide endeavor.

Now through January 15, the general public is encouraged to participate in creating the Montreal MapGuide, which is set to launch in spring 2009. 

MapGuides, poster-sized maps chock full of suggestions that define a sense of place, aim to highlight "sustainable tourism choices to international and domestic tourists."  Categories include culture and traditions, nature and environment, and historic and archaeological sites. This will be the third project of its kind: CSD released the "Yellowstone and Montana" and "Crown of the Continent" MapGuides earlier this year.

To submit your nominations and favorite photos of Montreal to CSD and Montreal's own Geotourism Council, go here.

Photo: Sparkling Montreal via Djof's Flickr.

Traveler researchers (and Francophile foodies) Ashley Thompson and Kristen Gunderson embarked on a long weekend getaway to Montreal, and offer up a few highlights as they quite literally ate and drank their way through the city. First up: A snack bar with class.

Before my all-too-quick weekend jaunt to Montreal, I was skeptical about sampling the region's staple snack food, poutine. French fries, gravy, and cheese curd? I now admit shamefully that I imagined white creamy sausage gravy spooned over wilted, greasy fries and clumps of gooey cheese. Boy, was I wrong.

For some of the best poutine Montreal's Latin Quarter has to offer, La Paryse is your place. Don't let the hole-in-the-wall (albeit eclectic and colorful!) appearance and inevitable lunchtime lines deter you. And don't fear the poutine here. Mellow brown gravy with shredded mozzarella topped nearly grease-free fries, nothing at all like the scary concoction I had stirred up in my head.

Take the advice of our friend and host Anna, who's living and studying in Montreal for the semester, and sample more than just La Paryse's poutine perfection. Several dozen varieties of burgers and sandwiches greet upon entering the self-proclaimed "snack bar," including three gourmet veggie burgers. I noshed on the delicious mushroom-flavored patty topped with finely sliced peppered potatoes, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, and blue cheese, all nestled between toasted wheat buns.

As a multi-year vegetarian and a fake meat "expert," I can say with confidence it is the best I've ever had. Down the deliciousness with a glass of locally made beer (Boréale pictured to the right), and you just may consider becoming a Canuck. Don't say I didn't warn you.

La Paryse is located at 302 rue Ontario Est in the heart of the Latin Quarter. Most burgers are under $7.

Photo by Ashley Thompson

I'm sure by now everyone's heard of the fabulous Bolt Bus and Mega Bus companies that allow you to ride the Eastern seaboard for as little as $1 each way. But (and I never thought I'd say this) this morning, I just read about something even better. Maybe it's that Canadians have to get a point up on us, but Canuck car rental company CityFlitz is offering rental cars for $1—or one loonie—per day.

Pretty awesome, eh? I think so.

So, with everything, there are a couple catches (but nothing, mind you, that would prevent me from renting one). For one, the service is only available in the Greater Toronto Area (though they're looking to expand to Vancouver), and the car must stay within those limits. The driver must also drive the car about 19 miles (30 kilometers) each day the car is rented. Oh, and each car is basically a mobile billboard, advertising brands like Yahoo, North by Northeast Film & Music Festival, and Global Ryan’s Petfoods, according to a recent report.

“The reason why our rental fee can be so low is the fact that our advertisers want to have their branded cars on the road so they can achieve maximum exposure to their target audience,” President and CEO of CityFlitz Andreas Kotal says. “We are able to offer this exceptional value of $1/day rentals to consumers as part of the agreement to maximize exposure of a client’s branding.”

The bonuses? You get to drive a MINI Cooper or a Smart Car, and each car has Wi-Fi access. And it's $1. That's one dollar Canadian. You can't even buy a bottle of maple syrup for that.

Photo: CityFlitz

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Senior editor Norie Quintos edits Traveler's annual Tours of a Lifetime issue, which selects the 50 best guided tours of the year. So what did she do on her family vacation? She took two tours out West. This week she blogs about sea kayaking in British Columbia; next week, rafting on Idaho’s Salmon River. And the following week, she'll share tips on planning a great family trip.

It took three flights and an hour-long boat ride from northern Vancouver Island to get to Hurst Island, in the heart of one of British Columbia’s newest provincial parks, God’s Pocket. There, a charming seven-room lodge at the water’s edge served as our base for exploring the area by kayak.

I’ve kayaked before, but no way was I going to do it in unfamiliar (not to mention sea mammal-laden) waters, and with two kids in tow. This was a job for an expert outfitter and the one I called on was Sea Kayak Adventures, which has been guiding trips to this area since 1993. The Couer-d’Alene-based company also runs trips to Baja in winter.

The kids weren’t so keen on encountering Shamu up close, but I was fixated on seeing orcas. So it came as a bit of a shock that during the entire five-day trip, we saw not a one. Not. A. One. Apparently, wild orcas, unlike their unfortunate caged brethren at SeaWorld, don’t perform on a schedule, which is why all whale-watching tour operators in the region, including ours, never guarantee sightings.

But we did spot something else in the water. And that something else turned out to be just as awesome and thrilling. Huge humpback whales, hunted to near extinction and a rare sight in this former whaling area, have made a dramatic comeback in the last decade.

We spotted several humpbacks, including a mother and calf that entered the cove at the entrance to the lodge. However, the encounter that made chills run down my spine was kayaking on Browning Passage and hearing behind us the forceful exhalation of air through the blowhole of one of these otherwise silent creatures—like Darth Vader, but friendlier. Is there anyone who can listen to the breath of that gentle giant (which might have gone the way of the dodo) and not become an instant environmentalist?

Besides "crazy" I’ve been called lots of things for willingly leaving my job and traveling around the world for a year with my wife and two young boys. Adventurous, courageous, brave—even fortunate—were other adjectives used that I personally think better describe the situation. I prefer being labeled as an "explorer," "adventure seeker," or just plain old "world traveler" myself. The word "tourist" had never even entered the vocabulary. Well that’s exactly what we were transformed into the moment we arrived in Quebec City, staring blankly at a road atlas and asking directions in English in a French-speaking town.

Carol and I had been to Quebec City’s old town several years earlier for Winter Carnival, where the city becomes a sort of North Pole for revelers, complete with snow sculptures, ice climbing walls, dogsled rides, plenty of alcohol to warm the spirits, and a snow bath where the participants are dressed only in bathing suits. I did mention it was winter and there was alcohol involved, right? Well, needless to say, Carol and I didn’t pack the proper clothing for this event, so I think, like us, very few tourists took part. This time, we arrive in 80-degree temperatures, but still with plenty of people crowding the walled city for fun and amusement. It turns out 2008 marks Quebec’s 400th birthday, and much to our good fortune, this was the week the province celebrated with Festival d’Ete de Quebec—a music festival that culminated the weekend we arrived. 

In hindsight, we seemed pretty lucky to get a B&B right smack in the middle of town and for only $100 a night to boot. That’s the payoff for having planned this itinerary well in advance! Room number six at the Hotel La Maison Demers fit all four of us, no problem, with two queen beds, although it gave us our first true taste of quality family time. No privacy in this joint! But no need to be indoors when there was so much going on.

No, you’re not seeing double. Those are twin brothers marching in last year’s Twins Parade in Montreal. Founded in 1998 by a set of twin sisters from Quebec, the event was designed to provide an opportunity for siblings to celebrate their multiplicity. This year’s festivities, to be held on July 12th, will also include a look-alike contest and a costume contest for the siblings whose get-ups best fit this year’s theme, “Traveling through the stages of life.” Organizers expect 2,000 multiples to march in the parade, which takes place during the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal. If you were unlucky enough to be born as a "single," you can join the 250,000 expected spectators, but don’t try to grab a look-alike and join in the fun: the event brochure says organizers reserved the right to require “proof of twinning” from all participants (apparently birth certificates suffice).

If you can’t make it to Montreal, or just want more twins in your life, check out the Twins Day festival in Twinsburg, Ohio,  August 1-3, or head to the Twins Network website for a listing of twins events around the world.

Photo: courtesy of the Montreal Just for Laughs festival

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Even though the Beijing Olympics are practically upon us, the International Olympic Committee is always focused on the future. The IOC just recently announced the shortlist for the XXXI Summer Olympiad, to take place in 2016. Four hopeful cities, Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro are now vying for the ultimate sports blazon: being an Olympic host. So we took a moment to handicap the contestants.

Rio is the only candidate in a country which hasn't yet hosted the event, but it is no stranger to big sports competitions, having successfully staged the XV Pan American Games last year. A winning bid for Rio would also mark the first time for the event to be held in South America. Chicago and Tokyo have both won previous bids—Chicago's bid, however, was transferred to St. Louis to coincide with the World's Fair that year (1904)—and the Japanese capital served as host to the Games in 1964. A Madrid win would come 24 years after Barcelona bore that torch for Spain's first Olympics in 1992.

If sports tourism is your thing, you'll be happy to know your destination choices will be narrowed down in October of 2009, when the winning city is announced. In the meantime, you can enjoy more statistics and catch up on bid standings here and here. And if 2016 is too far ahead, and your team-spirit cravings need more immediate satisfaction, you can start planning right away for any of these upcoming global sports events after the jump:

Jeffrey DiNunzio is a production coordinator at National Geographic magazine, and an avowed hockey addict. He recently ventured northward to Halifax to revel in the best that international ice hockey has to offer, and returned with a report on this sustainable city.

If you're an avid hockey fan, you already know that 2008 marks the centennial of the official “governing body of international ice hockey and inline hockey.” But for the sake the novice, here's a quick tutorial: Each year the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) holds the World Hockey Championship tournament in a different host country. Recognizing Canada’s distinguished honor as the origin of the sport, the IIHF scheduled this year’s tourney in Canada for the first time. Held between May 2 and May 14 this year, the games were split between Quebec City and Halifax. And as one of approximately three hockey fans in the United States, I entered the Atlantic time zone to scope out Halifax.

It’s a long drive from Pennsylvania to Halifax—perfect for that 1,070-mile power nap you need. Anyone who’s ever complained about overcrowding has likely never driven the 1 North or 2, 104, or 102 West from the U.S.-Canada border crossing at St. Stephen, New Brunswick to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Only howling, filthy, speeding 18-wheelers rouse the sleepy towns that freckle eastern Canada’s barren hills. As for signs of life, the 102 can be a sorry stretch of asphalt. But patience yields rewards. The freeway expires in the distinctly Canadian city—a town that’s absorbed the best traits of Europe and America (except rail transit) while creating its own unique character.

"My Shadow on the River"

Photographer: Sarah M. Ligon of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Getting the Shot: I took this photo on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River on Leap Year Day 2008 using my Leica C-LUX 1 point-and-shoot camera. Although the scene looks like it could be in one of Alberta's more remote regions, it is actually in the heart of downtown Edmonton, a city of more than a million people. A fluke of geography, the river's steep banks made it impossible for developers to build along the river, and so the whole river valley was turned into an elaborate park system, nearly 16 miles (25 kilometers) long. This particular spot is on a popular off-leash dog park.

The Details:  I'm a Southern girl, originally from Arkansas, and this was my first winter in Canada. Needless to say, after months of dark days and -40-degree temperatures, I came down with a bit of cabin fever. But on this particular day, the sun was radiant, and so I stole the opportunity to head out-of-doors. I shot for hours along the river, taking advantage of the long sunsets we have in the North this time of the year, and it really raised my spirits. In particular, I was tickled to discover the strange split-beam house perched on the bluff. I saw so many houses like this one when I lived in Bavaria last year, but I never expected to find one in Edmonton. It was a pleasant reminder of my happy time in another beautiful corner of the world.

Now that spring has officially sprung here in D.C., we're fully aware our pleasant afternoons of mid-70s and 80s will soon make way for the sticky heat of our infamously sweltering summers. In an act of repression and denial, we offer this quiet scene of winter reflection.

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Starting today, a fleet of 28 EcoCabs has descended upon the smoggy streets of downtown Toronto.

What’s an EcoCab, you ask? In addition to being an adorably goofy alternative to the iconic yellow cab, the EcoCab runs mostly on a trained driver’s pedal-power (in other words, a modern-day rickshaw) and is powered by a rechargeable electric battery. The emission-free three-wheelers clip along at a sprightly 7.5 miles an hour in bike lanes and offer residents and tourists short-distance transport between Toronto's shopping, dining, and entertainment destinations as well as office buildings and transit stations. Each cab is equipped to carry two adult passengers. The best part? Rides are free of charge, funded by advertising on the exterior of each vehicle.

According to speculation, EcoCabs will hit Vancouver and Montreal next year.

Photo: Kazuyoshi Ehara/CNW Group

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Equally as important as answering the question, "Where should I go on my next vacation?" is "Where should I stay on my next vacation?" Where you sleep can make or break any holiday, be it a long weekend away from the office, a family trip with the kids, or a romantic getaway for two. Sure, Motel 6 is cheap, and places like Holiday Inn have frequent-sleeper rewards, but nights spent at these stays tend to be forgettable (not to offend you, Motel 6: I can't count the times I've been on a road trip pleading to the highway gods for the next exit sign to read "Motel 6, next right").

But for those who are looking for a hotel that incorporates the destination's history, culture, and community, Traveler's got the ultimate guide to authentic getaways in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean: The Stay List.

We sent detailed surveys to some 600 properties and, thanks to our hardworking research staff, narrowed down the list to the top 150 hotels. These Stay List-worthy hotels embrace authenticity, location-inspired architecture, eco-stewardship, and giving back to their community. While I can't obviously feature all 150 hotels in this post alone (you'll have to check out the April 2008 issue for that), I'd like to highlight a few of my favorites.