Canada is a country full of natural sites and urban delights where visitors are equally impressed by the wildlife and wilderness as they are by the cultural and cuisine found in the cities.
If you want to see polar bears on the open tundra of Churchill, you can use a canoe. You can eat five-star fusion cuisine in Toronto or attend a street jazz jam session in Montreal.
These are the best places to visit in Canada for a variety of reasons. As the world's second-largest country, you won't be able to do it all in a single trip.
Explore the planet's most surprising adventures with our weekly newsletter delivered to your inbox.
Both awe and action can be found in the mountains straddling the British Columbia-Alberta border. The five national parks of Banff, Yoho, Kootenay, Waterton Lakes and Jasper have a lot to offer, with hiking trails, rushing white water and powdery ski slopes.
In the winter, this is one of the best places to visit in Canada, but outdoor adventures are plentiful in the summer.
Take the train and experience the grandeur from the comfort of your seat, as the steel cars glide by on their way to points east or west.
There is a sea-to-sky beauty surrounding the laid-back, cocktail-loving metropolis. With skiable mountains on the outskirts, beaches on the coast and Stanley Park just steps from downtown's skyscrapers, it's a convergence of city and nature.
During the summer months drinking is legal at most city parks, but for the best of both worlds you can pick up a plate and cold brew from a local joint.
You can spot a celebrity along the way if you shop and stroll through the neighborhoods. The location for many TV and film productions is known as "Hollywood North".
It is one of the best places in Canada to visit in the summer due to its mild climate and beautiful beaches.
When you sail toward the falls in a mist-shrouded boat, you can see the great muscular bands of water that arcs over the precipice.
You can extend your stay by taking a ride on the Wildplay Zipline to the Falls, a ride that offers unparalleled views of the falls below.
One of the world's largest, best-equipped and most popular ski resorts is only a 90-minute drive from downtown.
Summer visitors with their downhill mountain bikes and stand-up paddleboards outnumber their ski season equivalents, making the resort a year-round hot spot for locals and visitors alike.
The Audain Art Museum is one of the highlights of the arts and culture scene inWhistler.
Montréal is Canada's second- largest city and its cultural heart. The Montréal International Jazz Festival has over two million spectators who are equally jazzed. There are hundreds of performances and shows to see.
You can join in on the fun with free drumming lessons and street-side jam sessions.
It's a planning tip not to be into jazz. There are a lot of live music venues in the city.
Québec's capital is more than 400 years old and has an atmosphere similar to that of a European city. If you want to soak it all up, the best way to do it is to walk the old town's labyrinth of lanes and get lost, stopping every so often for a cafe and flaky pastries.
Rte 132 is Québec's honeymoon highway. More than one million people tear down the tarmac each summer on the road that leads to the sea and the mountain.
It has yet to be compared to the romantic popularity of Canada's "Honeymoon Capital," the region that draws more than 14 million visitors each year. Go for the young lovers. If you are on your honeymoon, you don't need a lot of people.
Toronto is a big city with a lot of cultures and neighborhoods. Do you want to eat in Chinatown or Greektown? Is it a fusion or a bacon sandwich?
There are mod-art galleries, theater par excellence and band rooms in Ontario's cool city. Half of the city's residents were born in another country, making it the most diverse city in Canada.
One of the best places to visit in Toronto is the CN Tower, which is considered one of the best places to visit in Toronto, and for an added thrill, take a walk on the Edgewalk, where you can see the city in a whole new way.
bohemian shops, wood-floored coffee bars and a tea-soaked English past are some of the things to see in Victoria.
The capital city of British Columbia is full of charm, but it is only the beginning of an island filled with natural wonders.
The West Coast Trail leads to the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve where surfers line up for waves. One of the best places to go for nature lovers in Canada is here.
The Cowichan Valley is home to welcoming small farms and boutique wineries.
The Rideau Canal leads to the Rideau Canal skateway in winter.
People swoosh by on the 7.8 km of ice, pausing for hot chocolate and fried dough called beavertails.
Once the canal thaws, it becomes a boater's paradise, meaning you can appreciate it regardless of the season.
The largest freshwater island in the world is located in the middle of Lake Huron. The shoreline has jagged expanses of white quartzite and granite outcroppings.
Wild rice, corn soup, and eco- adventures are offered by the island's eight communities.
In Canada's middle ground, there's a lot of solitude. There are fields of golden wheat that stretch to the horizon and then melt into the sun. The wheat sways like waves on the ocean, with the occasional grain elevator rising up.
Big skies mean big storms that can be seen from miles away. Far-flung towns include arty WINNIPEG, booze-filled MOOSE JAW, and Mountie-filled REGINA.
Fundy is not your average Canadian bay, with lighthouses, boats and fishing villages surrounding it, as well as frequent sight of deer and moose.
They stir up serious whale food, with krill and other plankton attracting fin, Humpback and blue whales here to feast, making a whale watch here an extraordinary must-do.
The Royal Tyrrell Museum is one of the planet's pre-eminent fossil collections and is located in Drumheller. This is one of the most unique places to visit in Canada because of its focus on dinosaurs.
The world's largest dinosaur is here, too, and visitors can see it through its mouth. Outside of the dino-hoopla, there are eerie, mushroom-like rock columns called hoodoos that can be seen.
The planning tip is to follow the scenic driving loops.
There is no better place in the world to see a polar bear than the open tundra of Canada, which is right on the bears migration path.
From late September to early November, tundra vehicles head out in search of the razor-clawed beasts, sometimes getting you close enough to look at the bears. You can kayak or stand up paddleboard in the summer.
The landscape of Baffin Island has mountains and a third of the population is Inuit. It is the fifth biggest island in the world and the ideal place to see narwhals, belugas and bears.
Auyuittuq National Park is the crown jewel of the island and it contains glaciers, fjords and vertiginous cliffs. More than a few polar bears can be found in the park.
Studios for high-quality carving, printmaking and weaving can be found in a number of small towns that speckle the area.
The article was first published about a decade ago.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
