Be a Tourist in your Own Backyard!

Planning to get away can be a challenge these days, with both time and money at a premium for many would-be travellers. Fortunately, there is a way to satisfy wanderlust that is easy on both: be a tourist in your own backyard. Discovering what others come to see in your hometown is a fun and rewarding all-season activity.

Explore the affordable, eclectic and unsurpassed mix of dining, shopping, history, art and nature that is Burlington on your own or with your family - it’s all waiting for you now! The best thing about touring your hometown is that it is so easy to do. Start with a call, e-mail or visit to the Burlington Tourism Visitor Centre, located in downtown Burlington at 414 Locust and a half block north of Lakeshore. Get the information you need from our friendly counsellors and then make your plan. It can be a series of day trips or a longer vacation where you get away without having to go away. No matter what your vacation style, you can indulge it right here in Burlington.

Be sure to include all the touristy basics in your plan:

Get Back to Nature. Natural beauty of awe-inspiring diversity is all around you in Burlington. From the waterfront, to parks and conservation areas, nature beckons. Answer the call by visiting them all or choose among them to round out your other interests. Bronte Creek Provincial Park, Kelso/Glen Eden, Mountsberg, Crawford Lake, Hilton Falls, Rattlesnake Point and Mount Nemo conservation areas are rugged park experiences and each reflects a distinct character with special attractions. The unique ecosystem of the Niagara Escarpment provides world-class outdoor activities, including challenging hikes along the Bruce Trail. For a more urban park experience, visit The Waterfront at Downtown Burlington; the one-of-a-kind Paletta Mansion and Lakefront Park, a 14-acre heritage estate on the lake; and LaSalle Park, winter home to trumpeter swans.

Reserve a picnic area at Hidden Valley Park, LaSalle Park, or Lowville Park and spend the day. Canada’s largest botanical garden, the Royal Botanical Gardens, offers year-round experiences. Explore acres of nature areas, trails, and spectacular seasonal shows of lilacs, tulips, iris, roses, and fall colours.

Embrace Burlington’s jewel by the waterfront, Discovery Landing. In addition to sweeping vistas of Lake Ontario, it offers 14,200 square feet of enjoyment for the entire family, including a weather observatory, restaurant, expansive children’s playground, water jet plaza and pond used for model boats in the summer and skating in the winter.

Get Some Exercise! All of this natural beauty goes hand-in-hand with healthy living, where you can indulge your passion for action and family fun. Whether you like to walk, run, roll, swim, swing a golf club or skate, the exercise is complemented by the wonderful scenery, parks and attractions along the way.

Join Family-Fun Events. Burlington hosts numerous festivals, including Doors Open, Festival of Fine Art & Crafts, road races, The Sound of Music, Canada Day, Country & Blue BarBQ Festival, Joseph Brant Day, Children’s Festival, a Sandcastle Festival, the Rotary Ribfest, and much more. The Visitor Centre can provide information on them all.

Take a Step Back in Time. Experience Burlington’s proud history. Joseph Brant Museum, a replica of the home of Captain Joseph Brant, houses Burlington history and Canadian costume and accessory displays. After touring it, take a stroll along Downtown Burlington’s streets to discover some of the beautiful first homes built, dating back to the late 1800s. A Walking Tour of Burlington Downtown brochure is available from the Visitor Centre. Travel through three distinct time periods with a visit to Ireland House at Oakridge Farm, circa 1835-1837, a living history museum and 3.68 acres of woodland, gardens, a potting shed, cottage/drive shed, and picnic areas. Tours, historical demonstrations, special events and educational programs are offered. Travel north of the city to see the history preserved at the Halton Region Museum and visit the Streetcar & Electric Railway Museum, where you can take a ride and explore the 1912 Grand Trunk railway station.

See Inspirational Art. Expand your artistic boundaries with a visit to the Burlington Art Centre, home of Canada’s foremost collection of contemporary Canadian ceramics; art exhibits; the Art Etc Gallery Shop; an indoor conservatory and a cafe overlooking the lake. Artists Walk in historic Village Square offers unique items created by Canadian artisans, and Burlington galleries allow you to browse to your heart’s content. The city’s passion for the arts also is represented by numerous performance groups, so check to see what’s going on during your tourist time.

Tantalize Your Taste Buds. Food is always a key element in the success of any vacation, and Burlington restaurants offer the variety needed to ensure memorable excursions. With several award-winning establishments, a mix of family-friendly, casual and fine dining and a wide range of menus to choose from, deciding where to go will be a challenge in itself. Enjoy a new culinary experience. The Taste of Burlington Event offers a pre-fix menu dining event. Checkout A Taste of Burlington for more details and participating restaurants and event dates.

Shop Until You Drop. Like food, shopping is one of the guilty pleasures of being on vacation, and shopping in Burlington provides hours of browsing pleasure for the whole family. Downtown Burlington has strong ties to the past, yet offers an upscale, eclectic shopping environment. Burlington also has other distinct shopping areas, including retail plazas, two large malls, and big box centres, such as IKEA, Lee Valley, Mountain Equipment Co-Op, and Costco.

Become a Day-tripper. No time for a longer vacation? One of the unique benefits of being a tourist in your own backyard is day-tripping, and Burlington is a day-tripper’s paradise. There are great destinations just a short drive away. Burlington also has numerous scenic routes featuring leisurely drives along the waterfront or through the Burlington countryside, with interesting stops along the way. Burlington has so much to offer that getting away without going away just makes sense. Whatever the season, decide what you want to do, check out where to do it in Burlington, and go. Learn, see, do, exercise, relax, shop, dine – all in Burlington. Then head home without any travel stress and start planning your next adventure as a tourist in Burlington.

Get set to celebrate June 6-12, 2011! Tourism Week in Canada is an annual, country-wide celebration that aims to increase the profile of Canada’s $70.6 billion tourism sector among the media, general public and governments at all levels. Tourism Week provides a focal point for activities organized by tourism industry associations, destination marketing organizations, individual businesses and other tourism partners. Tourism Burlington will be celebrating National Tourism Week this year, to promote local attractions, events and Tourism Ambassador Training. Check the tourism Burlington website for more details.

To celebrate National Tourism Week, June 6-12, we invite you to send your friends and family an E-Postcard of beautiful Burlington! With over 20 different E-Postcards to choose from highlighting Burlington’s summer festivals, fall nature and culinary experiences, you can customize a personal message to your recipient; share on your Facebook, Twitter and Myspace for your chance to win a Burlington gift basket valued at $300.00! The more E-Postcards you send to family and friends, the more chances you have at filling out our short survey and winning!

Our E-Postcard contest runs the entire month of June ending at 4pm on June 30.

RBG – Spring Paradise Found

If there is ever any doubt whether spring has arrived, your fears can be quelled at the RBG.  I always love going to events throughout the year at the RBG as the beautiful gift shop and indoor & outdoor gardens are a pick me up for all your senses. 

The day I was at the RBG centre, it was a busy place with several tour buses of visitors and many meetings on the go.  The front flower beds were full of yellow and red tulips, a bright welcome to everyone!   I had a meeting in one of the far classrooms, so I had a chance to walk through the Mediterranean Garden – the hyacinths in the greenhouse smelled heavenly.  I buy forced bulbs in winter so the house is filled with that wonderful aroma.  The flowering vines and many other plants were in bloom.   I always find the Mediterranean Garden a hidden oasis with its fish ponds, benches tucked away in quiet corners and canopy of blooming tropical plants. 

The other weekend was Mother’s Day and the café at the gardens served brunch to over 600 people!  Since we finally had some spring-like weather, many people visited the Rock Gardens to see the tulips in bloom.  Once the Tulip Festival finishes, the Lilac Festival begins on the May long weekend and then the Rose Festival follows in June and July in Hendrie Park.

There are so many things to see and do at the Gardens.  I can’t mention them all here, but will give you a taste of things to come:

• Music at the Gardens Summer Concerts: Tranquil Tuesdays and Red Hot Jazz & Cool Blues
• Used Bulb Sale
• Auxiliary Garden Party
• Public Programs: Painting/Canoeing/Gardening
• Facebook Contest (with membership)
• Stargazing
• North American Lily Society Show and Convention
• Garden Tours for RBG Members
• Guest Speakers
• Kids Camps
• Veggie Village: 100 Mile Produce Gardens
• VIA Rail Garden Route Contest
• Photo Contest: Never-ending!
• Meetings
• Garden Shop Sale: June 22nd

We will blog some more about some of the above over the next few months but in the meantime check out their website.               

tourburlgirl

Visitor Information Centre

Fabulous weather is finally here and a summer full of activities, festivals and events is right around the corner. To help give you a summer filled with fun memories, we thought we’d share some of the services our Visitor Information Centre in beautiful downtown Burlington provides and how we can help you have a summer you’ll never forget!

Tourism Burlington’s Visitor Information Centre welcomes over 18,000 visitors a year, providing them with information on what to see and do, where to dine, where to shop and where to stay. Our visitors include locals from here within Halton Region as well as travelers from all around the World; we’ve welcomed visitors from all over Canada, the Continental USA, Great Britain, Eastern & Western Europe, parts of Africa, Eastern Asia and Oceania.

Once you enter through our doors, you will find very friendly staff able to help you with whatever request you have and believe us, if we don’t know it, we soon will! We’ve helped our numerous visitors by providing them with our Visitor Guide, our Discover Burlington Coupon Book, maps of Burlington, Halton Region and Ontario; local brochures and guides along with information on areas throughout all of Ontario, Canada’s other provinces and even a few guides from the closer U.S. States. We also have transit guides, cycling maps, heritage walking tour pamphlets, community notices and information, event listings and Burlington souvenirs.

Visitors from out of town often come in looking for a place to stay.  We have information on all the types of accommodation here in Burlington, including hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts and campsites. Looking for a long-term stay? We can help you with that too. If you’re looking for a good deal on your hotel rate, we’ve got that covered. We often suggest the Burlington Hotel Association’s Hotel Deals to our visitors, a special rate which includes $20 off the standard rack rate PLUS your choice of one $20 gift card to area shopping and local services. Give us a call or drop by for more information and a list of participating hotels. 

In 2010, 57% of our visitors enjoyed shopping in Burlington. They explored our unique boutiques, specialty shops, expansive department stores and even made IKEA the #1 shopping destination in Burlington. We hope they found one-of-a-kind treasures! Have you enjoyed the tastes Burlington has to offer? 51% of our visitors have! They’ve enjoyed new culinary experiences and tantalized their taste buds throughout our 300+ restaurants offering a variety of dining experiences featuring ethnic and Canadian cuisine, many in picturesque settings. With both casual and fine dining available, you are bound to find several favourites that will excite your palate!

Whether it’s for an hour, an afternoon, a weekend or longer, at the Visitor Information Centre, we can help you find and choose between many fun activities in Burlington and the surrounding area. We have information on recreational activities, the arts, events, shopping, dining and more. We’re never short on ideas to help you get the most out of your time here in beautiful Burlington.

So if you’re in the area, be sure to stop by, say hello to our Volunteers and Summer Travel Counsellors, or simply give us a call, we’ll be happy to help! We’re located at 414 Locust Street in downtown Burlington, just north of Spencer Smith Park on the ground floor of the downtown parking garage where visitors get 20 minutes FREE parking! We’re open 7 days a week!

Planning a vacation? Visit our website where you will find a wealth of knowledge about Burlington and you can even send an e-Postcard to family and friends! While there, subscribe to receive seasonal updates from Tourism Burlington regarding local events, attractions, shopping, dining and more! Did you know that we’re on Facebook? Like us and add your photos of Burlington to our albums! Are you using Twitter and Flickr? Send us your tweets and add pictures of your experiences of Burlington during your stay to our photo-stream. We also have quite a few videos on YouTube highlighting all the great things Burlington has to offer to visitors and residents alike!

Thank you to everyone who has ever dropped in to our Visitor Information Centre. A world of thanks! We’ve had visitors from Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Columbia, Denmark, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, North Korea, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States of America and of course, Canada!

Sound of Music Announces its Festival Line-up

Today various media, sponsors and partners were invited to the media launch for the Burlington’s Sound of Music Festival and despite the rain (again!) we were all in a summertime mood.  The launch took place at the DeGroote School – Ron Joyce Centre in their beautiful lobby and first floor auditorium. If the weather had cooperated we could have spilled outside to the patio, but I guess they are saving the sunshine for the festival!

We got a chance to mingle with various VIP’s including past President of the Festival and Tourism Ambassador Award winner Judi Scetta, newly reelected M.P. Mike Wallace, the Mayor and Councillors Meed-Ward, Sharman and Dennison before the formalities began.

The President of the Sound of Music Gerry Murphy welcomed everyone to the 32^nd year of the festival and thanked the hundreds of volunteers. After a few brief comments about how proud they are of the festival and the contribution it makes to the city from Mayor Goldring and Mike Wallace, the eagerly anticipated line-up was announced by Dave Miller the Festival Executive Director.

The Sound of Music is one of the top 100 festivals in Ontario and features a unique blend of new and emerging artists, Canadian icons and favourites from the past. Dave promised that this year’s lineup will rock the park; with over 90 Musical Acts, a Grande Festival Parade with more than 20 marching bands, Downtown Streetfest, Family Zone, Carnival and much more.

Thursday June 16

On the ArcelorMittal Dofasco stage, Bedouin Soundclash, should put on a high energy show (www.bedouinsoundclash.com), opening for Bedouin Soundclash, is Canadian Music Weeks “best band” Yukon Blonde (www.myspace.com/yukonblondeband). Check out the rock ‘n’ roll, Celtic and bluegrass sounds of The Stanfields, (www.thestanfields.ca) and the rock and roll tunes of The Respectables (http://www.myspace.com/therespectablesmusic), both featured on the OLG stage.

Friday June 17

Friday evening boasts headliner names such as Emerson Drive www.emersondrive.com), The Reason (www.thereasonmusic.com/) and Toronto’s own Crash Karma www.crashkarma.com).  Appearing on the Cogeco Stage a feast for your ears, Micheal Kaeshammer (www.kaeshammer.com).

Saturday June 18

Saturday afternoon, on the ArcelorMittal Dofasco stage check out Stereos (www.wearestereos.com) their thrilling live show will bring a pop-rock mentality and newly explored electro-club sound to the Festival, followed in the evening by Hollerado (www.hollerado.com) and Tokyo Police Club (tokyopoliceclub.com). Over on the OLG stage, is the country and psychedelic blend of The Sadies (www.thesadies.net). Be sure to stay for the evening and see Jimmy Rankin (http://jimmyrankin.com/) and later the Barra McNeils (www.barramacneils.com), a band widely regarded as one of the greatest

live concert acts in the Celtic world.

Throughout the weekend music steeped in African tradition, Mighty Popo (www.mightypopo.ca), Sultans of String (www.sultansofstring.com) and Juno award nominated Luke Doucet & the White Falcon (www.lukedoucet.com) will be performing on the Cogeco Stage, located on Brant Street at Civic Square where you get a different feel to the Festival, while enjoying a café style setup.

Family Zone has a fun filled weekend lined up with lots of fabulous children’s acts to keep the family busy all weekend long.  We will outline these acts closer to the event for you.

Sunday June 19

Celebrate Fathers Day at the festival and sing along with a band that spans generations, Devo (www.clubdevo.com), as well as Chic Gamine (www.chicgamine.com), Le Vent du Nord (www.leventdunord.com), The Salads (www.thesalads.com) and The Creepshow

(www.thecreepshow.org). Is it safe to dance? with Men Without Hats

www.danceifyouwant.com/ ).  We danced to Whip It a 1980 #1 hit by Devo at our wedding reception, boy do I feel old!

And just to tease us a little we were told to stay tuned for the release of “withheld” headlining artists, for more Festival excitement. 

Our Team Burlington partner Burlington Downtown together with our soon to be next door neighbours the Burlington Performing Arts Centre (BPAC) are teaming up to put on Downtown Streetfest on Saturday and Sunday.  With various performances throughout the day and evening plus sidewalk sales, and outdoor patios spilling into the street you may not even make it down to the park!  Both Brian Dean from Downtown and Graham Frampton from BPAC were lucky winners of door prizes at the launch! 

Make sure you mark your calendar for "Four Fabulous Days of Free Music and Fun” along our beautiful picturesque waterfront park and throughout downtown Burlington. Through the generosity and support of sponsors and the dedication of over 600 volunteers, the Festival continues to be a free event for music lovers of all ages, welcoming close to 200,000 visitors annually.

Tourism Burlington is pleased to be working with the festival to attract visitors to our city and welcome them once they are here.  For more details visit the newly redesigned website soundofmusic.ca or call the Festival Hotline 905-333-6364.

Tourism Industry Ambassador Training

During National Tourism Week, Tourism Burlington together with the Burlington Hotel Association are offering a complimentary Tourism Industry Ambassador Training session for frontline, seasonal and middle management staff that support or work within the Hospitality Industry.

Our goal is to develop local Tourism Ambassadors who are aware of the many attractions, accommodations, events and activities that are of interest to tourists coming to Burlington. With this information, ambassadors are then able to encourage visitors to extend their stay by making light of all the great things beautiful Burlington has to offer.

This interactive and informative training session is suitable for tour guides, front desk and reception staff, bus and taxi drivers, restaurant hosts and anyone who has regular contact with visitors to Burlington. If you have new staff that are unfamiliar with the city, it is a great orientation or serves as a refresher to learn what’s new.

This year we will be awarding the 3rd Annual Pickle Awards to employees who have been recognized by their peers as demonstrating exemplary customer service who have also gone above and beyond the call of duty. We’ll also feature speakers from Bronte Creek Provincial Park, the Museums of Burlington, the Burlington Art Centre, the Historical Society as well as the Burlington Performing Arts Centre to highlight all the great things to see and do in our wonderful city.

Participants will receive a wealth of knowledge about our city as well as an Ambassador Pin and Certificate for attending. We look forward to seeing you at this session.

When: Thursday, June 9, 2011 from 8:30 am – 12 noon

Where: Burlington Art Centre (parking available at BAC parking lot)

To register, please see our registration form or for any other inquiries, please contact us by May 31st.

Warbirds over the Bay

Recently, Tourism Burlington was asked to make a presentation to the Burlington Radio Control Modellers (BRCM) club about our services.  This non-profit organization builds and flys radio controlled model aircrafts and maintains two airfields, one in Bayfield Park on

King Rd.

and one at Bronte Creek Provincial Park. 

Before the meeting got started, I had a chance to check out a number of the model aircraft on display in the Central library meeting room.  There was a variety of planes from different eras fueled by gas, electricity and one that used jet fuel and can fly at over 200 mpg!  The owners hovered near their planes, eager to answer any questions and explain how the planes were built and their special features. 

For the second year, this club is hosting Warbirds Over the Bay on July 23-24 at Bayfield Park.  This event features all different types of military aircraft including planes and helicopters and attracts competitors from all over Canada and the U.S.  They encourage spectators to attend the showcase where you can talk to pilots about their planes plus there are a number of demonstrations throughout the two days.  Let’s hope there are clear skies for this prestigious event.

Tourism Burlington has been helping them promote this event to visitors and residents.  BRCM were successful in acquiring an Event Funding Grant from Tourism Burlington and the Burlington Hotel Association to help them attract more visitors who will stay overnight and I was happy to make the cheque presentation to them that evening.

If you are interested in radio control models this group seems to be both knowledgeable but also have a lot of fun.  They welcomed a number of new members at this meeting and had over 50 attendees (and it wasn’t because I was the speaker!)  They meet the last Thursday of the month at the Library and you can get more details from their website.

tourburlgirl

Doors Open Burlington

Doors Open Burlington had a display booth on April 30 at the Health and Wellness Show at the Burlington Seniors Centre. Tourism Burlington is a member of the organizing committee, so myself and Dohn Nagy, a volunteer from the Historical Society “manned” the booth. It was a beautiful sunny day after a week of rain, so the weather may have affected attendance a little but we were pleased to talk to over 100 people about Doors Open.

The most frequently asked question at the booth was “What is Doors Open?”  As outlined in the Doors Open Ontario brochure, it is a program that provides public access to buildings not normally open for viewing or that has an admission fee. This is the second year that Burlington has been a part of Doors Open, a world-wide event that has been offered in Ontario for 10 years.  Last year there were 56 cities involved across the province that featured 1,322 sites and attracted almost a half a million visitors.  Being the 10th anniversary Doors Open Ontario has created a survey where you can vote for your favorite Doors Open site online.

In our first year, Doors Open Burlington had 17 sites and over 5,000 visits during the weekend and was seen as a resounding success.  We didn’t have the best weather to start with a rainy Saturday morning which impacted visits.  This year there are 18 sites with some old favorites and several new locations to appeal to young and old alike.  Some of the sites and activities include:

• Both Joseph Brant and Ireland House museums are doing tours, demonstrations and children’s activities plus the RCL Branch 60 War Museum is open on the Saturday and serves a great lunch;
• The Art Centre, which is holding it’s Fine Arts & Craft Festival that same weekend in adjacent Brock Park, has numerous demonstrations and displays in the centre (also free).
• Historic churches include St. Luke’s, St. John’s and Nelson United and the Halton Mosque is also open to the public (note: dress code in effect- socks required and no shorts)
• A couple of new sites are included due to their environmental features DeGroote School of Business Ron Joyce Centre and Mountain Equipment Coop. 
• The Burlington Performing Arts Centre will not be open yet due to construction still underway but will have a display at the Doors Open headquarters at Tourism Burlington Visitor Information Centre (414 Locust St.)
  
• The Historical Society is doing a talk about the former Brant Inn at Discovery Landing on Saturday and Heritage Burlington is hosting walking tours downtown from Tourism offices.
• One of the oldest private cemeteries in Nelson Township Union Burying Grounds will be open for tours.
• Gingerbread House, one of the prettiest homes in the historic downtown core will have it’s gardens open to the public and displays.
• Central Park will be a busy location with the Library and the historic archives open on Saturday with displays and the Music Centre will feature music including the Burlington Teen Tour band.
• The kids will love the Central Fire Station tours and trucks.  A information display of the historic Freeman Station will also be on site.

Doors Open Burlington 2011 is being held on Saturday June 11 and Sunday June 12, so be sure to mark it on your calendar and invite friends and family to join you.  For more information check out the website.

The Health and Wellness Show is hosted annually by the Burlington Seniors Centre and promotes health and vital living for seniors and their adult children.  This year they featured 45 vendors and I was able to spend a little bit of time browsing and picking up interesting material on nutrition, fitness and tours(of course!).  Doors Open has participated in this event for the past 2 years and we have found it was a great opportunity to promote to a very engaged audience. 

tourburlgirl