I am planning on going on a Holiday to Cananda, possibly visiting the US during the stay.

My Passport is due to expire next year and is the old style with no chip in it. Can I get without a visa or not.

Cheers

Stuart

From what I remember reading (a few years ago) nope, you need the shiny new one with a chip to qualify for the US visa waiver program. (no idea for Canada)

Though, I expect you can get a replacement passport reasonably quickly, especially if you have an existing one.

Failing that, stick it in the washing machine and get a replacement because yours is damaged.

Maybe - but you need pre-authorisation.

Check these pages out:
Visa Waiver Passport Requirements At the top it says e-passport, later it says machine-readable.

But you will need a pre-authorisation: ESTA

BTW, a replacement passport won't take long. If you look the same you don't need countersignatures and mine recently came back in a few days. They will rush you £72 for it though - and that goes to £77.50 on 3rd September.

machine readable was how i understood it, dont think my passport has a chip on it?

Best bet is to ring the US embassy, get it from the horses mouth so to speak

Flights booked now and leave in 3 weeks so hope things will be ok.

I have used it before at the automatic checkin desks and it was ok. Does this mean it is machine readable.

Now flying direct to Seattle then going up to vancouver - calgary - banff then back to seattle through washington state. Quite looking forward to it. Just hope they let me in.

Cheers for the help guys

Stu

I don't think you need anything special except a valid passport to come to Canada, but the States is a bit weird nowadays with regards to passports. Totally paranoid with anyone coming from Canada. They blame us for 911.

RK

Do you have any recomendations of places stay or visit in this area of Canada?

Depends what kind of holiday you want. I did the same trip, and then went to live in Canada for 4 years So be careful

Went to Vancouver Island, whale watching on the RIB from Tofino (West coast of the island) was very good, Tofino is very relaxing.
Hire some Kayaks from Deep Cove (North shore of Vancouver) and paddle up Indian Arm (either on your own for a day or do the full trip with a guide).
Vancouver itself is a big city with lots of things to do, Stanley park is pretty obvious, there are good beaches in Kits if the weather is good to you. North shore mountains for mountain biking/hiking.
The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Sun_Yat-Sen_Classical_Chinese_Garden is good for an hour or two if you like that kind of thing.
Spend a day in Whistler, hire some mountain bikes in summer or ski on the glacier.
Wine tasting (quaffing ) in the Okanagan valley
Around Banff there's lots of hiking - Johnston Valley and the Ink Pots for example.
Drive up to Jasper, there should be lots of wildlife on the roads to see. Again lots of Hiking.
Didn't find much to do in Calgary, but then we were trapped in a rain storm of biblical proportions for the 36 hours we were there.

Take a decent camera, pref an SLR with a long lens.

Personally, we tend to go to one place and fan out from there. This works in Europe, the UK, and here. The distances are far. You can't count on cool little coffee shops and things all along the way, spaced out 1 hour apart, like you find in Europe. You come for the nature.

Good suggestions above for Vancouver. Deep Cove is a great place to kayak, but it can be a bit scary when the waves come up. If you come to Vancouver Island, you probably won't want to leave. Much slower than the lower mainland, perfect weather and much cheaper than the UK, and yet full of ex-pat Brits, mostly retirement age. There are still people trapped in 1968, driving the same VW bus, which I find mildly amusing now, although I hated them growing up.

Cheers guys, think we have now come up with the route.

2 Nights Seattle
1 Night Kelowa
3 - 4 Nights Banff (going up to Jasper for a day)
2 Nights Kamloops
4 Nights Vancover (Possible 1 or 2 on Vancover Island)
1 or 2 Nights Seattle

Hopefully taking in as many of your suggestions as I can, including splashing out on a new camera.

One more thing: NEVER leave anything valuable in the car in Vancouver or Seattle. It WILL be stolen.