The continent of North America consists principally of United States of America and Canada and although Mexico and the Caribbean fall within the continental boundaries, for the purposes of this guide we have placed them with Central America because that's where we feel they fit it more comfortably from the traveller's perspective.
Both the USA and Canada are large countries and although sharing a similar history and the English language they have a distinct feeling to them. It is fair to say that both countries scale and geography have contributed both their development and personality.
The US is a land of contrast with the coasts occupied by cosmopolitan cities such as New York and Los Angeles being divided by huge distance and landscape inhabited by a hospitable if not quite as outward looking towns of Middle America. You could have 1000 different holidays in the States and many argue that this is why so few American's have passports. From the everglades in the east to the deserts and mountains in the west the USA is rightly acknowledged as one of the earth's few ‘megadiverse' environments. Most people know America through the movies and that can be part of the excitement visiting a country where so much is strangely familiar and that can make even the most mundane things thrilling from visiting a diner on the road side in Arizona to going to wandering the streets in San Francisco or New York. Travelling in America can be more challenging that lots of countries due the fact they are so car orientated and public transport has never been their strong point, this often leaves visitors feeling they have to rent a car but equally many would argue that this is the only way to see the nation that gave birth to the ‘road trip', but they are trains and the greyhound bus as well as countless domestic flights.
Canada has landscape lots of landscape with a population of around 33 million it has one of the lowest population densities in the world. From the vast flat farmlands of the prairies that make up Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan to the Arctic wilderness in the north the nation is of awe inspiring scale accompanied by the friendly relaxed Canadian people.
Last Edit by Site Administrators on 27/02/2010 EDIT NOW >>
