Canada's Greatest Attractions

Canada's natural and built attractions are among the most varied on Earth. The challenge is not finding things to see — it is making the choices, because the country is simply too large to cover in a single trip. A strategic visitor approaches Canada the way Canadians approach it: one region at a time, knowing that returning is not a failure but a plan.

Banff and Jasper National Parks, Alberta

The Canadian Rockies are the single most dramatic landscape in the country. Banff National Park, established in 1885 as Canada's first national park, contains Lake Louise — whose turquoise glacial water beneath the Victoria Glacier is possibly the most photographed scene in Canadian nature — and Moraine Lake, where the Valley of the Ten Peaks is reflected in water so deeply coloured that photographs of it are sometimes rejected by stock photo agencies for appearing unrealistic. Jasper National Park, larger and less visited than Banff, has the Columbia Icefield — the largest icefield in the Rocky Mountains south of Alaska — and the Icefields Parkway connecting the two parks: 230 kilometres of road that consistently ranks among the world's greatest drives. Wildlife is everywhere: elk wander into the town of Banff in the early morning, bighorn sheep gather on Highway 1A near Exshaw, and grizzly bears can be spotted in the Bow Valley meadows at dawn and dusk in late summer and early autumn.

Niagara Falls, Ontario

The Canadian side of Niagara Falls offers what the American side does not: the full frontal view. The Horseshoe Falls, which carries 90 per cent of the total water flow, curves around the Canadian shore. The volume of water — 168,000 cubic metres per minute during peak flow — produces a permanent mist cloud visible from 20 kilometres away. Journey Behind the Falls, an attraction built into the rock behind the curtain of water, places visitors in tunnels that emerge at the base of the falls. The Maid of the Mist boat tour, operating since 1846, brings passengers into the base of the Horseshoe Falls in conditions that require rain ponchos even on sunny days. The town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, 20 minutes north, is one of the best-preserved nineteenth-century towns in Canada, home to the Shaw Festival theatre company and the Niagara wine region.

Old Québec City

Old Québec is a UNESCO World Heritage Site — the only fortified city north of Mexico, and the only place in North America where you can walk along intact 17th and 18th-century city walls. The lower town, Place Royale, is where Samuel de Champlain founded the city in 1608, and the narrow cobblestone streets of Rue du Petit-Champlain are among the most atmospheric in Canada. The Château Frontenac, the grand railway hotel that has dominated the city's skyline since 1893, is the most photographed hotel in the world. In February, the Quebec Winter Carnival fills the old city with ice sculptures, snow slides, and the torchlight parades of Bonhomme Carnaval — and the temperature regularly drops below -20°C, which is the point.

Cape Breton Island and the Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia

The Cabot Trail is a 298-kilometre scenic highway that loops around the northern tip of Cape Breton Island, tracing cliffs above the Gulf of St Lawrence, dropping into Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and passing through communities where Gaelic is still spoken. The views from the Cabot Trail's high points — particularly the stretch between Chéticamp and Pleasant Bay — are among the most dramatic coastal scenery in eastern North America. The town of Baddeck was the home of Alexander Graham Bell, whose laboratory still stands; the Bell Museum there houses the original tetrahedral kite experiments and the Silver Dart aircraft that made the first powered heavier-than-air flight in Canada in 1909. Cape Breton's Celtic music tradition — preserved more completely here than in Scotland — fills the bars and kitchen parties of the island every weekend in summer.

The Great Canadian Road Trips

The Trans-Canada Highway: Coast to Coast

The Trans-Canada Highway runs 7,821 kilometres from Victoria, British Columbia to St John's, Newfoundland — the world's longest national highway when it was completed in 1962. Driving the full route takes approximately ten days of solid driving, or three to four weeks if you actually stop. The highway passes through every province, crosses the Rockies west of Calgary, runs across the wheat-coloured Prairies for a thousand kilometres, skirts the north shore of Lake Superior in a stretch that has no services for long stretches, passes through Ottawa and Montreal, and reaches the Atlantic shore of New Brunswick before the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island and the ferry crossing to Newfoundland. Most Canadians never drive it end to end; it exists partly as a symbolic project, the country held together by a thin line of pavement.

The Icefields Parkway, Alberta

Highway 93 between Banff and Jasper is 230 kilometres of road beside glaciers, turquoise lakes, and peaks that rise more than 3,000 metres from the valley floor. The drive takes three hours without stops; the first time visitors make it, they almost always take twice that. Bow Lake, Peyto Lake (shaped like a wolf's head when viewed from the overlook), the Athabasca Glacier (where you can walk, with a guide, onto the icefield itself), Sunwapta Falls, and Athabasca Falls all demand at least a short stop. In June and July, the roadsides are covered in wildflowers. In September and October, the larches in the high meadows turn gold. In February, the falls partially freeze into sculptural ice formations. There is no bad time to drive this road.

The Sea to Sky Highway, British Columbia

Highway 99 north from Vancouver to Whistler — 120 kilometres — is called the Sea to Sky Highway and earns the name. The road leaves Vancouver's North Shore mountains and climbs along the eastern shore of Howe Sound, a fjord of startling beauty, before entering the Coast Mountains and arriving at Whistler Blackcomb, North America's largest ski resort. The road passes Shannon Falls (the third-highest waterfall in British Columbia), Squamish (where the Stawamus Chief, a 700-metre granite dome, is a world-class rock climbing destination), and the Brandywine Falls. The village of Whistler itself, built for the 2010 Winter Olympics, has an infrastructure of restaurants, galleries, and outdoor activities that far exceeds what you would expect from a mountain town of ten thousand people.

Best-Of Canada: Quick Reference Lists

Best Cities for First-Time Visitors

Toronto offers the widest variety of food, culture, and neighbourhoods. Vancouver gives the most dramatic natural setting of any Canadian city. Québec City provides the strongest sense of historical and linguistic distinctness. Montreal combines European café culture with North American energy. Halifax offers the most accessible introduction to Atlantic Canada, with excellent seafood, a lively waterfront, and the Citadel.

Best Seasons to Visit Each Region

British Columbia is best July through September, when the mountains are accessible and the coast is at its warmest. The Rockies are spectacular any time but most manageable June through September; October brings golden larches and smaller crowds. The Prairies are at their best in July and August, though spring canola season (late May and early June) turns Saskatchewan and Manitoba yellow. Ontario and Quebec are excellent in summer but arguably most beautiful in September and October, when the deciduous forest turns red and gold. Atlantic Canada is warmest July through August, with lobster season and the Celtic festival calendar at full strength. Northern Canada (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut) is best visited either in summer for the midnight sun, or in February for aurora borealis viewing.

Best Festivals in Canada

The Calgary Stampede (July) is the world's largest rodeo and outdoor show. The Montreal International Jazz Festival (July) is the world's largest jazz festival. The Quebec Winter Carnival (February) is the world's largest winter carnival. The Toronto International Film Festival (September) is the most important film festival in North America and one of the top three in the world. Folklorama in Winnipeg (August) is the world's largest multicultural festival. The Stratford Festival (April–October) is one of the world's great classical theatre companies. Ottawa's Canada Day celebrations (July 1) are the largest in the country, with free concerts on Parliament Hill and fireworks over the Ottawa River.