Canada Travel Guide

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Sighs alternate with gawps at the white-dipped mountains, mist-cloaked seascapes and epic northern roadways. And with more festivals than you can swing a moose at, youll even forget its cold.

The globes second-biggest country has an endless variety of landscapes. Spiky mountains, glinting glaciers, spectral rainforests, wheat-waving prairies theyre all here, spread across six time zones. Expect wave-bashed beaches, too. With the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic Oceans gnashing on three sides, Canada has a coastline thatd reach halfway to the moon, if stretched out.

Its the backdrop for plenty of ah-inspiring moments and the playground for a big provincial menagerie. We mean big as in polar bears, grizzly bears, whales and everyones favorite, the ballerina-legged moose. Youre pretty much guaranteed to see one of these behemoths when you leave the city behind.

Winter or summer, grand adventures lurk throughout Canada. Whether its snowboarding Whistlers mountains, surfing Nova Scotias swell, hiking Newfoundlands Appalachian Trail or kayaking the Northwest Territories white-frothed South Nahanni River, outfitters will help you gear up for it. Gentler adventures abound, too, like strolling Vancouvers Stanley Park seawall, swimming off Prince Edward Islands (PEI) pink-sand beaches, or ice skating Ottawas Rideau Canal. Before you know it, youll be zipping up the fleece and heeding the call to action (and maybe having a go at dog-sledding, walleye fishing, snow-kiting).

Rarely do you hear people sigh over Canadian food the way they do, say, over Italian or French fare. So lets just call the distinctive seafood, piquant cheeses and off-the-vine fruits and veggies our little secret. Ditto for the bold reds and crisp whites the countrys vine-striped valleys grow.

Canada is a local food smorgasbord. If you grazed from east to west across the country, youd fill your plate like this: lobster with a dab of melted butter in the Atlantic provinces, poutine (golden fries soaked in gravy and cheese curds) in Qubec, a bulging slice of berry pie in the Prairies and wild salmon and velvety scallops in British Columbia (BC).

Its best to leave the belt at home.

Lets see: Okanagans icewine festival in January, Quebec Citys winter carnival in February, Reginas powwow in March, Whistlers ski and snowboard fest in April, Ottawas tulip fest in May, Montrals jazz fest in June, Calgarys stampede in July, New Brunwicks Acadian fest in August, Torontos film fest in September, Kitchners Oktoberfest in October, Hamiltons Aboriginal Fest in November, Niagaras winter festival in December yep, Canada parties all year long. Even places you might not automatically think of say Edmonton, Winnipeg and St Johns rock with fringe festivals, live music clubs and shiny new art museums.

The Rockies (BC/Alberta)

The sawtooth of white-dipped mountains straddling the Alberta/BC border inspires both awe and action. Four national parks Banff, Yoho, Kootenay and Jasper offer opportunities for hiking, kayaking and most of all, skiing. The train provides another popular way to experience the grandeur. Luminous lakes, jumbles of wildflowers and glistening glaciers glide by as the steel cars chug up mountain passes and down river valleys en route to points east or west.

Jasper National Park
FRANK CARTER

Haida Gwaii (BC)

Once known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, this dagger-shaped archipelago ( ) 80km off BCs coast is a magical trip for those who make it. Colossal spruce and cedars cloak the wild, rainy landscape. Bald eagle and bear roam the ancient forest, while sea lion and orca patrol the waters. But the islands real soul is the resurgent Haida people, best known for their war canoe and totem pole carvings. See the lot at Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, which combines lost Haida villages, burial caves and hot springs with some of the continents best kayaking.

ERNEST MANEWAL

Vancouver (BC)

Vancouver ( ) always lands atop the best places to live lists, and whos to argue? Sea-to-sky beauty surrounds the laid-back, cocktail-lovin metropolis. With skiable mountains on the outskirts, 11 beaches fringing the core and Stanley Parks thick rainforest just blocks from downtowns glass skyscrapers, its a harmonic convergence of city with nature. It also mixes Hollywood chic (many movies are filmed here) with a freewheeling counterculture (a popular nude beach and Marijuana Party political headquarters) and buzzing Chinese neighborhoods.

RICHARD CUMMINS

Niagara Falls (Ontario)

Crowded? Cheesy? Well, yes. Niagara ( ) is short, too it barely cracks the top 500 worldwide for height. But cmon, when those great muscular bands of water arch over the precipice like liquid glass, roaring into the void below, and when you sail toward it in a misty little boat, Niagara Falls impresses big time. In terms of sheer volume nowhere in North America beats its thundering cascade, with more than one million bathtubs of water plummeting over the edge every Bay of Fundy second.

JON DAVISON

Cabot Trail (Nova Scotia)

The 300km Cabot Trail ( ) winds and climbs over coastal mountains, with heart-stopping sea views at every turn, breaching whales just offshore, moose nibbling roadside and plenty of trails to stop and hike. Be sure to tote your dancing shoes Celtic and Acadian communities dot the area, and their foot-stompin, crazy-fiddlin music vibrates through local pubs.

TONY HAMBLIN/FLPA

Nahanni National Park Reserve (Northwest Territories)

Gorgeous hot springs, haunted gorges and gorging grizzlies fill this remote park ( ) near the Yukon border, and youll have to fly or j-stroke in to reach them. Only about 1000 visitors per year make the trek, half of them paddlers trying to conquer the South Nahanni River. Untamed and pure-blooded, it churns 500km through the Mackenzie Mountains. Thirty-story waterfalls, towering canyons and legends of giants and lost gold round out the journey north.