Altona Based · Day Trips Across Manitoba
The best shops in Manitoba aren't on Google.
They are down a back lane, in a basement, in a town you drive past on the way to somewhere else. Josie has spent years finding them. Every month she fills a coach with good company and takes you to them. You bring an empty tote. We handle absolutely everything else.
01The Saturday Problem
You have been meaning to do this for three years.
Not because you do not want to. Because the day never quite works.
- You save a shop to your phone. By the time you get there, it has closed for good.
- You drive an hour out of town and the one place you came for is shut on Sundays.
- You circle downtown for parking, lose twenty minutes, and go home instead.
- The friend who was going to come with you cancels. Again.
- You finally walk in, and it is all reproduction farmhouse signs at antique prices.
None of that is a you problem. It is a logistics problem. Knowing which doors are worth opening, which days they are actually open, and how to see six of them without spending the whole day behind the wheel. Logistics is the entire thing we solve.
02What a Trip Actually Is
One coach.
One curated route.
One very good day.
A full day out with a proper motor coach, a driver, and a route Josie has already driven herself. Thrift rooms, antique and vintage finds, bakeries, cafés and seasonal markets, in an order that makes sense, at the hours those places are at their best.
You are not herded. There is no whistle. At every stop you get real time to dig through the bins, talk to the owner, and carry your finds back to a bus with a luggage bay that swallows anything short of a sideboard.
In between you get a window seat while somebody else deals with the highway, and depending on the trip there are onboard games, prizes, snacks and refreshments too. That is the whole pitch. It just happens to be the difference between a day you keep postponing and a day you talk about for a month.
03Hour by Hour
What a day on the little road looks like.
Times shift a little by trip. Every trip picks up in both Altona and Winnipeg.
Board in Altona
Coffee and something warm from a local bakery before the wheels move. You get your route card for the day.
Board in Winnipeg
Second pick-up at the park and ride. Leave the car, take the window seat, and the day is somebody else's problem.
The first room
We open big. Furniture, lighting and glass, and a dealer who knows where every piece came from.
The one with no sign
No website, cash on a card table. This is the stop people message Josie about afterward.
The lunch stop
A local spot, and on the trips where lunch is covered the table is booked ahead so there is no scrambling for a seat. Your itinerary says which.
Vintage and estate finds
Linens, china, jewellery, paper ephemera. The quiet stop, and usually where the best small things turn up.
The bakery
The reason half the bus signed up. Boxes come with us. Loaves, tarts, and whatever came out of the oven that morning.
The long shot
One stop Josie rotates every trip so regulars always get somewhere new. Sometimes a barn. Sometimes a back room nobody advertises.
Home, with the trunk full
Winnipeg drop first, then Altona. Bags out of the bay, already deciding what you are going to hang where.
You get on the bus with strangers. You get off it with a group chat.
Every trip, without fail
04Everything in the Seat
One fare, and the hard part of the day is already done.
No fuel, no parking, no circling for a spot, no working out the route. Seat prices move with how far we go and where you board, and what each fare covers changes from trip to trip. Josie confirms exactly what your fare covers when you book, and the full itinerary follows once you have paid.
Return coach travelA proper motor coach for the full day, with a luggage bay for everything you buy. This is the part that moves with distance and pick-up point.
A route scouted before you see itJosie drives it and walks every shop first. Nothing makes the list on a guess.
A driver, and the whole day plannedOpening hours, drive times, where the coach can actually park. None of it your problem.
Printed route card and dealer notesWhat each stop is known for, what to ask about, and who to ask.
Lunch, bakery boxes, market entry, games and prizesThese change from trip to trip. Josie tells you exactly what your fare covers when you book, so you know well before the day.
The honest comparison is not a list price. It is the same Saturday done yourself: a tank of fuel, six hours behind the wheel, parking downtown, four shops that turned out to be closed, and no idea which doors were worth opening in the first place.
Send the form and Josie emails your e-transfer details. Seats are confirmed in the order payment arrives.
Step One
Pick the day you want a window seat on.
More than one trip a month, each going somewhere different. Every trip is capped so the shops can actually hold us and you are never queueing to pay. When one fills, you can still join the waitlist.
The stops stay private until you have paid. Several are small family businesses that would not survive a crowd, your itinerary arrives just before the trip, and the surprise is half the day.
Step Two
Tell us who is coming, and how to look after you.
About two minutes. The emergency contact and allergy questions are not box-ticking. We are on the road all day and Josie carries this list with her.
This trip is fully booked. Fill this in to join the waitlist and Josie will call you first if a seat opens up. Nothing is owed unless you take it.
Your request is in.
Josie will email your e-transfer details. Your seat is confirmed once payment arrives, first paid, first confirmed. If you have not heard back within a day, text Josie at (204) 899-5909.
05About Little Road Adventures
Hi, I'm Josie.
Little Road Adventures is an Altona-based tour company running fun, organized day trips throughout Manitoba. The trips are built for people who love thrift shopping, antique and vintage finds, bakeries, cafés, seasonal markets and the kind of local places you only find if somebody tells you.
I started it because I kept doing this on my own anyway. Saturdays spent driving little highways, walking into shops on a hunch, coming home with one good chair and a very long story about it. Friends asked to come. Then their friends. Eventually there were more people than seats in my car, so I booked a coach.
You relax and enjoy the day while we take care of the transportation and the itinerary. Most trips pick up in both Altona and Winnipeg. Along the way there are new places and new people to meet, and on many trips games, prizes, snacks and refreshments as well.
I still scout every stop myself, and every dollar we spend goes to local shops, bakeries and Manitoba businesses. If a place has gone downhill it comes off the list. If somebody opens a room full of estate china in a town of four hundred people, we are going there next month.
Small trips. Cozy stops. Good company.
06From the Trips
A few days on the little road.
07Straight From the Group Chat
What people text Josie after the bus drops them off.
Not survey answers. These are real messages from women who have been on a trip, quoted as they were written.
Our Promise to You
Come along. If the day is not worth it, you do not pay for it.
Ride the whole trip. If you get back to the drop-off and feel the day was not worth the seat, tell Josie before you walk to your car and you get every dollar back. Keep whatever you bought, and anything the trip sent home with you. No form to fill out, no argument.
Cancellation policy
48 hours or more before the trip: eligible for a refund.
Less than 48 hours before: non-refundable, but 100% of what you paid
is credited toward a future Little Road Adventures tour.
If we cancel
A coach handles Manitoba weather better than your car does, so we usually go. If Josie decides the highways are genuinely unsafe, or a trip does not reach its minimum, you choose: move to another date, or take a full refund. You will always hear it from Josie directly, by phone.
Gift Certificates
Give somebody a whole day out.
Available in any amount, or for a specific trip. Josie sends a printable certificate by email, usually the same day, with no expiry inside a year.
Request sent.
Josie will email you the certificate and sort out payment, usually the same day.
Private Group Trips
Bring your own busload.
Staff days, family reunions, book clubs, or a carload of friends who all like the same kind of day. Josie will build a route around what your group actually likes and pick a date that suits you.
Enquiry sent.
Josie will be in touch to talk through dates and what your group would enjoy.
Before You Book
The things everybody asks.
Where do the trips leave from?
We are based in Altona, and every trip picks up in both Altona and Winnipeg. Which comes first depends on where the day is headed. The exact spot and time come with your itinerary once you have paid.
Which shops are we actually going to?
Your itinerary arrives privately just before the trip, once you have paid. Several stops are small, family-run, and not set up for a rush of visitors, so we keep the list off the internet out of respect for them. Ask Josie if you want a feel for the day before you book.
I would be coming on my own. Is that strange?
It is the most common way people come. Roughly a third of every bus is solo, and by the second stop nobody is solo any more. The onboard games help. There is no forced icebreaker anywhere in the day.
How much walking is there, and is it accessible?
Less than you think. The coach drops at the door of every stop, so the walking is all inside and entirely at your pace. Some older buildings have a few steps. Tell us in the booking form and Josie will plan around it.
Why do trips cost different amounts?
Two things move it: how far we go, and whether lunch is covered. A morning around the city with lunch on your own costs a lot less to run than a full day to the Interlake with a catered table waiting. Where you board matters too, because whoever boards first rides the longest. Every trip shows both fares, and Josie is happy to explain what is behind the number.
Why do Altona and Winnipeg seats cost different amounts?
Because one pick-up spends more of the day on the coach than the other. On a trip heading south of Winnipeg, Altona is close by and Winnipeg riders have the longer ride; on a trip into the city, it is the other way around. The shorter ride pays less. Both fares are on every trip, and the one you pick in the booking form is the one you are quoted.
How do I pay?
Not on this page. Send the form and Josie emails you the e-transfer details. Seats are confirmed in the order payment arrives, first paid, first confirmed. Nothing is charged automatically and no card details are ever entered on this site.
The trip I want is full. Now what?
Join the waitlist on that trip. Josie calls waitlisted guests first when somebody cancels, in the order they joined, and nothing is owed unless you take the seat. Cancellations happen more often than you would think.
What if I buy something large?
That is what the luggage bay is for. Chairs, mirrors, boxes of glassware and small tables all travel fine. If you fall in love with a sideboard, the dealers on our list know us and will hold it while you arrange a pickup.
Is lunch included?
On some trips, not all, and Josie tells you which when you book. Lunch is one of the two things that move the fare, along with how far we go, so a trip with a catered sit-down lunch costs more than one where we stop somewhere good and you buy your own. Neither is the better day out. They are just priced honestly.
Can I buy this for somebody else?
Yes. Gift certificates are available in any amount or for a specific trip, and Josie emails a printable certificate. There is a request form further up this page.
What happens if the weather is bad?
A coach handles Manitoba weather better than your car does, so we usually go. If Josie decides the highways are genuinely unsafe the trip moves and your seat moves with it, or you take a full refund. Your choice, and she will phone you.
New Dates First
Trips sell out. The list hears first.
One email when new dates go up, and nothing else. No weekly newsletter, no forwarding your address to anybody. Unsubscribe in one click.
You are on the list. Josie will email when the next dates go up.
Tell Us Where to Go
Know a place we should be stopping at?
Half our best stops came from a guest saying "you have to go to my aunt's town." Tell us about a shop, a bakery, a market, or a trip you wish we ran.
Got it, thank you.
Josie reads every one of these. A surprising number turn into trips.
Contact
Talk to Josie, not a booking system.
Altona, Manitoba
Running trips across the province, with Winnipeg pick-ups.
Last Thing
The shops are already out there. The only thing missing is the Saturday.
Seats are limited on every trip, confirmed in the order payment arrives, and the good dates go first. Pick one now and spend the next few weeks looking forward to it.
Book yourSaturday