CANADA · COAST TO COAST
Rocky Mountain lakes to the far Atlantic shore.
Banff and the Rockies, Vancouver and the Pacific coast, Niagara, Toronto, Montréal and old Québec City. The day trips, lake cruises and city tours that make a Canadian trip, gathered from one coast to the other.
Only in Canada
Three days that could only be Canada.
Plenty of countries have lakes, waterfalls and mountains. None of them have water this shade of blue, a falls this loud, or a glacier you can walk straight out onto. Build the rest of the trip around these.
The Rockies
Water That Blue Isn’t Edited
Glaciers grind the rock above these valleys into a fine flour, and it hangs in the meltwater and catches the light. That is why Lake Louise, Moraine and Emerald glow that impossible turquoise. The colour is real. You just have to stand at the edge of one to believe it.
- 1 Banff: Banff Gondola Admission Ticket
- 2 Banff Gondola Ride Admission
- 3 Emerald Lake, Moraine, Louise, Johnston Canyon & Banff Town
The Falls
Close Enough to Taste It
More than a hundred thousand cubic feet of water drop over the Horseshoe every second, and the boats run right to the foot of it. Stand behind the sheet of water in the tunnels, or ride the open deck into the mist until the spray soaks through the poncho. Nowhere else puts you this close to this much water.
- 1 Niagara Falls: Premium Tour, Boat & Journey Behind the Falls
- 2 Toronto: Niagara Falls Day Tour with Optional Boat Cruise
- 3 Best of Niagara Falls Canada Premium Tour: Behind Falls and Boat
The Icefield
Walk On Ancient Ice
The Columbia Icefield is the largest sheet of ice south of the Arctic, and the Athabasca Glacier spills right down to the road. Ride out onto it and stand on ice that has been here ten thousand years. The road that gets you there, the Icefields Parkway, is one of the great mountain drives on earth.
- 1 Jasper: Columbia Icefield Skywalk and Ice Explorer Ticket
- 2 Columbia Icefield Tour with Glacier Skywalk
- 3 Jasper: Columbia Icefield Skywalk
Coast to coast to coast
Six time zones of mountain, coast and lake.
Canada runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic, the second-largest country on earth and still mostly wild. The Rockies are only the opening act. There are rainforests on one coast and fishing harbours on the other, with big lakes, bright cities and bigger skies the whole way between.
Start exploring →Start here
If you only book one, start here.
More travellers book this than anything else in Canada. A fair place to drop the first pin and plan out from.
The classics
Canada’s Most Popular Tours
Niagara, the Rocky Mountain lakes, the whales off Vancouver Island and a cruise down the St Lawrence. The trips most travellers build a Canadian itinerary around.
By region
Pick a corner of the country.
Banff for the glacier lakes. Vancouver for the coast and the rainforest. Niagara for the falls. Toronto for the skyline and the day trips. Québec City for the old town. Montréal for the food and the festivals.
By experience
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
A boat cruise if you want the water. A city walk if you want the streets. Whale watching off the coast, a gondola up the mountain, a helicopter over the falls, and the rest.
How much time have you got?
A full day, or a free afternoon?
Some of the best of Canada wants a dawn start and a long drive. Some of it is a two-hour walk before dinner. Pick by the time you have, not just the place.
Vancouver & the Coast
Ocean out front, mountains at its back.
Few cities sit like this one. The seawall around Stanley Park, the swaying bridge over the Capilano, Granville Island and Gastown, the gondola up Grouse for the view back across the harbour. Behind it the Sea-to-Sky climbs to Whistler, and the ferries run out to the Island and the whales.
- 1 Victoria & Butchart Gardens Tour with Ferry from Vancouver
- 2 Vancouver: Covered Whale Watching Adventure with Free Photos
- 3 Victoria and Butchart Gardens Day Trip from Vancouver
Out past the breakwater
Whales off both coasts.
Orcas and humpbacks in the Salish Sea off Victoria and Vancouver Island, belugas and fin whales where the Saguenay meets the St Lawrence. These are the three trips we would get on first.
North America, in French
The only walled city north of Mexico.
Stone ramparts, the Château Frontenac up on the cliff, narrow lanes that have stood four hundred years. Québec City feels closer to Europe than anywhere else on the continent. Start with these three walks.
At the table
Taste your way across the country.
Poutine, bagels and smoked meat in Montréal, the food halls of Toronto and Vancouver, the wine roads of the Okanagan and Niagara. Three tours for the days you would rather taste a place than hike it.
Rent a car
Three of the great Canadian drives.
This is a driving country. Three routes worth the rental on their own, each a trip in itself, each one ending somewhere worth staying.
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