AnneLise Sorensen - The Rough Guide to Canada

This Rough Guide is one of a new generation of informative and easy-to-use travel-guide eBooks that guarantees you make the most of your visit before, during and after your stay. Use this eBook both to plan your trip and explore your destination when visiting. So, before you depart, check out the illustrated Introduction, plan your itinerary using the wealth of suggestions on offer, or simply browse the guide and be inspired.

The best way to explore this guide is to begin at the main table of contents. The first section of the eBook gives you a flavour of the destination, with must-see sights and suggested itineraries. This is followed by: the Basics essential practical information; the best sights, area by area; listings on everything from hotels and restaurants to festivals; and Contexts, the history of the destination and its presence in popular culture.

Shorter contents lists appear at the start of every section in the guide, and are designed to make chapter navigation quick and easy. You can jump back to these by tapping the chapter-heading links that sit with an arrow icon at the end of every article.

Every area of the destination has a clear and beautifully presented map. Depending on your hardware, you will be able to double-tap on the maps to see larger-scale versions fill your screen.

As you use this guide, youll notice that some entries are marked by a small Rough Guides running man icon; this denotes the authors picks. You can select your own favourites and create a personalized itinerary by bookmarking the sights, venues and activities that are of most interest, giving you the quickest possible access to everything youll need for your time away.

The home of ice hockey, caribou, lumberjacks, igloos and maple syrup, right? Well, yes but thats just scratching the surface of Canada. In reality, its one of the worlds most striking countries, a mixture of raw beauty and more complex, unexpected landscapes including desert, temperate rainforest and lush orchards. Add the Rockies glittering lakes and majestic peaks, spectacular fjord-slashed coastlines and the rippling prairie expanse with all the sky for a ceiling and youve got more than enough room to truly lose yourself (and the crowds) and explore this almost unimaginably vast land. But theres more than just the great outdoors. Canadas cities charming Qubec, trendy Vancouver, cosmopolitan Toronto and stylish Montral among them are rich with historical and cultural treasures and populated by a diverse, friendly and engagingly modest mix of people.

Bounded by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans on its east and west, Canada stretches from a southern latitude similar to Romes up to the northern reaches of the Arctic Ocean an area the United Kingdom could fit into 41 times over. Much of this expanse is sparsely inhabited and the majority of Canadians live in its southern half, relatively close to the border with the US. Like its neighbour to the south, Canada is a spectrum of cultures, a hotchpotch of immigrant groups who supplanted the continents many aboriginal peoples. But whereas citizens of the US are encouraged to perceive themselves as Americans above all else, Canadas official policy of multiculturalism has fostered an ethnic mosaic where, alongside the majorities of British and French descent, Chinese, Ukrainian, Indian, Haitian, Italian, Greek, Ethiopian and many other communities maintain the traditions of their homelands.

For the visitor, the mix that results from this mostly exemplary tolerance is an exhilarating experience, offering such widely differing cultural, artistic and culinary experiences as Vancouvers huge Chinatown, the Inuit heartlands of the far north, the austere religious enclaves of Manitoba or the Celtic-tinged warmth of the Maritimes.

Yet some Canadians are often troubled by the lack of a clear self-image, tending to emphasize the ways in which their country is different from the US as a means of self-description. The question What is a Canadian? continues to linger, with the on-again, off-again and always acrimonious debate over Qubecs secession, but ultimately there can be no simple characterization of a people whose country is not so much a single nation as it is a committee on a continental scale. Pierre Berton, one of Canadas finest writers, wisely ducked the issue: A Canadian, he quipped, is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe.

Despite this balancing act, one thing is clear: Canadians have an overwhelming sense of pride in their history, their culture and the awe-inspiring beauty of their land. Indeed, Canada embraces all this as well as its own clichs with an energy thats irresistible.

The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto

Jasper National Park, Alberta

Cove Island, Fathom Five National Marine Park, Ontario

Fact file

Canada, the second-largest country in the world, covers almost ten million square kilometers, a quarter of which is the Inuit homeland of Nunavut.

Canada extends across six time zones and shares a border of 8900km with the US. The highest point is Mount Logan (5959m).

The population is almost 33 million, with an average life expectancy at birth of 80 years. Almost a half claim British ancestry, a quarter French ancestry and just under a million (3.3 percent) claim aboriginal ancestry.

Canada is a confederation comprising ten provinces and three territories. It has been self-governing since 1867, but retains ties to Britain: the Canadian head of state is Queen Elizabeth II.

Canadas colossal natural resources help put it among the worlds top-ten richest countries. Almost two-thirds of its power is hydroelectric, and its one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy.

Where to go

The time and expense involved in covering Canadas immense distances means most visitors confine their trips to the area around one of the main cities usually Toronto, Montral, Vancouver or Calgary for arrivals by air. These centres are all culturally rich but still vary widely in what they offer; the one thing they have in common, along with all other Canadian cities, is that they are within easy reach of the great outdoors.

Canadas most southerly region, south Ontario, contains not only the countrys manufacturing heart and its largest city, Toronto, but also Niagara Falls, the premier tourist sight. North of Toronto theres the far less packaged scenic attraction of Georgian Bay, a beautiful waterscape of pine-studded islets set against crystal-blue waters. Like the forested Algonquin park, the bay is also accessible from the Canadian capital, Ottawa not as dynamic a city as Toronto, but still well worth a stay for its galleries, museums and handful of superb restaurants.