Top 10 Canadian Destinations

Canada is a country chock-full of natural sites and urban delights, where visitors are equally as wowed by the wildlife and wilderness, as they are by the cultural and culinary offerings found in the cities that speckle the sprawling nation.

Peruse for polar bears on the open arctic tundra of Churchill or cruise Vancouver’s curvy coastline in a canoe while gawking at the city skyline. Feast on five-star fusion cuisine in Toronto, or take in a street-side jazz jam session in Montreal. 

Whether you’re a first-time visitor or returning to experience something new, these are the 15 best places to see in Canada. But be sure to plan ahead, because as the world’s second-largest country, you just won’t be able to do it all in one trip. 

1. The Canadian Rockies

Best for mountain views

The sawtooth, white-topped mountains straddling the British Columbia–Alberta border inspire both awe and action. Five national parks – Banff, Yoho, Kootenay, Waterton Lakes and Jasper – offer countless opportunities to delve into the lush wilderness, with ribbons of hiking trails, rushing white water and powdery ski slopes to satisfy travelers looking for mountain thrills. 

This is one of the best places to visit in Canada in the winter, but outdoor adventures are aplenty during the summer months too.

Planning Tip: For a different perspective, take the train and experience the grandeur from the comfort of your seat: 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.

2. Vancouver 

Best for combining city and nature

In Vancouver, sea-to-sky beauty surrounds the laid-back, cocktail-lovin’ metropolis. With skiable mountains on the outskirts, beaches fringing the coast and Stanley Park’s thick rainforest just steps from downtown’s sparkling skyscrapers, it’s a harmonic convergence of city and nature.

For the best of both worlds, pick up a plate and cold brew from a local joint and spend a day picnicking at one of the amazing city parks (during the summer months drinking is legal at most city parks). 

Shop and stroll through the diverse and charming neighborhoods – you may even spot a celebrity along the way. Known as “Hollywood North”, Vancouver is the filming location for many TV and film productions shot throughout the year.

Planning Tip: With its mild climate and beautiful beaches, Vancouver is definitely one of the best places in Canada to visit in summer.

3. Niagara Falls

Best for an iconic travel experience

Niagara Falls may be short (it doesn’t even crack the top 500 worldwide for height), but when those great muscular bands of water arc over the precipice like liquid glass, roaring into the void below, and when you sail toward it in a mist-shrouded boat – the falls impress, every time.

While you’re there, extend your stay and head beyond the falls with a two-wheel biking adventure along the Greater Niagara Circle Route, or take a go at the Wildplay Zipline to the Falls, a pulse-pounding rush of a ride that offers unparalleled views of the falls below as you zoom through the sky.

4. Whistler

Best place to ski in Canada

This alpine village and 2010 Winter Olympics venue is one of the world’s largest, best-equipped and most popular ski resorts, and it’s only a 90-minute drive from downtown Vancouver. Featuring over 200 marked runs winding down two towering mountains – Whistler and Blackcomb – this destination is paradise for skiers of all levels.

Skiing may be Whistler’s raison d’être, but 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.

Adding more diversity, Whistler has recently developed a thriving arts and culture scene, with highlights like the Audain Art Museum and Squamish Li’lwat Cultural Centre taking the stage as equally-appealing attractions to the famed slopes.

5. Montréal Jazz Festival 

Best place for music lovers 

As Canada’s second-largest city and the country’s cultural heart, Montréal is a marvel for music lovers. Watch the best jazz-influenced musicians in the world amongst over two million, equally-jazzed spectators at the Montréal International Jazz Festival. There are over 500 performances and shows to enjoy (and countless are free).

BB King, Prince and Astor Piazzolla are among those who’ve performed at the 11-day, late-June music festival. You may even get to join in on the fun with free drumming lessons and street-side jam sessions, as the good times roll day and night.

Planning Tip: Not into jazz? There are lots of live-music venues and events big and small found throughout the city.

6. Old Québec City

Best place to visit in Canada for couples

Québec’s capital is more than 400 years old, and its ancient stone walls, glinting spired cathedrals and jazz-filled corner cafes suffuse it with atmosphere, romance, melancholy, eccentricity and intrigue on par with any European city. The best way to soak it all up is to walk the old town’s labyrinth of lanes and get lost amid the street performers and cozy inns, stopping every so often for a café au lait and flaky pastry.

The city is also home to Québec’s honeymoon highway, Rte 132. Circling the Gaspé Peninsula, this road whisks puppy-eyed couples past the sea and the mountain with joie de vivre (enjoyment of life); more than 700,000 people tear down the tarmac each summer. 

Of course, it has yet to approach the romantic popularity of Canada’s “Honeymoon Capital,” Niagara Falls, a region that draws more than 14 million annual visitors. But head for the La Gaspésie, instead, young lovers. Because if you’re on your honeymoon, you don’t need 14 million other people hanging around.

7. Toronto

Best for multicultural experiences

A hyperactive stew of cultures and neighborhoods, Toronto strikes you with sheer urban awe and cultural diversity. Will you have dinner in Chinatown or Greektown? Five-star fusion or a peameal bacon sandwich?

In Ontario’s coolest city, designer shoes from Bloor-Yorkville are accessorized with tattoos in Queen West, while mod-art galleries, theater par excellence, rockin’ band rooms and hockey mania add to the megalopolis. It is far and away Canada’s largest city, as well as its most diverse – about half of the city’s residents were born in another country. 

Be sure to snap a photo of CN Tower, considered one of the best places to visit in Toronto, and for an added thrill, take a try at the Edgewalk, where you can walk around its perimeter while taking in unparalleled city views.

8. Vancouver Island

Best for nature lovers

Picture-postcard Victoria is the heart of Vancouver Island, beating with bohemian shops, wood-floored coffee bars and a tea-soaked English past steeped in tea culture since the 1840s. 

British Columbia’s capital city is full of charm, but it’s only the kick-off point to an island that boasts a bounty of natural wonders to explore.

Brooding Pacific Rim National Park Reserve sports the West Coast Trail, where the wind-bashed ocean meets a mist-shrouded wilderness, and surfers line up for Tofino’s waves. With so many outdoor adventures to try, this is one of the best places in Canada for nature lovers.

Planning Tip: Wandering foodies will want to head to the Cowichan Valley, studded with welcoming little farms and boutique wineries.

9. Rideau Canal

Best for ice skating

This 185-year-old, 200km-long (124 miles) waterway – consisting of canals, rivers and lakes – connects Ottawa and Kingston via 47 locks. The Rideau Canal is at its finest in wintry Ottawa, where a stretch of its waters become the Rideau Canal Skateway – the world’s largest skating rink.

People swoosh by on the 7.8km (4.8 miles) of groomed ice, pausing for hot chocolate and scrumptious slabs of fried dough called beavertails (a quintessentially Canadian treat). February’s Winterlude festival kicks it up a notch when townsfolk build massive ice sculptures.

Planning Tip: Once the canal thaws, it becomes a boater’s paradise, meaning you can appreciate it whatever time of year you visit.

10. Manitoulin Island 

Best place in Canada to celebrate First Nations culture

The largest freshwater island in the world, floating right in Lake Huron’s midst, Manitoulin is a slowpoke place of beaches and summery cottages. Jagged expanses of white quartzite and granite outcroppings edge the shoreline and lead to shimmering vistas.

First Nations culture pervades, and the island’s eight communities collaborate to offer local foods (wild rice, corn soup) and eco-adventures (canoeing, horseback riding, hiking). Powwows add drumming, dancing and storytelling to the mix for cultural-immersive experiences that connect you with the people and the land of the country that we now know as Canada.

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