Introducing Canada
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, you’ll even forget it’s cold.
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Sublime Nature The globe’s second-biggest country has an endless variety of landscapes. Spiky mountains, glinting glaciers, spectral rainforests, wheat-waving prairies – they’re 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 that’d reach halfway to the moon, if stretched out.
It’s 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 everyone’s favourite, the ballerina-legged moose. You’re pretty much guaranteed to see one of these behemoths when you leave the city behind.
Active Endeavours Winter or summer, grand adventures lurk throughout Canada. Whether it’s snowboarding Whistler’s mountains, surfing Nova Scotia’s swell, hiking Newfoundland’s 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 Vancouver’s Stanley Park seawall, swimming off Prince Edward Island’s (PEI) pink-sand beaches, or ice skating Ottawa’s Rideau Canal. Before you know it, you’ll be zipping up the fleece and heeding the call to action (and maybe having a go at dog-sledding, walleye fishing, snow-kiting...).
Cuisine (& Poutine) Rarely do you hear people sigh over Canadian food the way they do, say, over Italian or French fare. So let’s 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 country’s vine-striped valleys grow.
Canada is a local food smorgasbord. If you grazed from east to west across the country, you’d 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 Québec, a bulging slice of berry pie in the Prairies and wild salmon and velvety scallops in British Columbia (BC).
It’s best to leave the belt at home.
Cultural Flair Let’s see: Okanagan’s icewine festival in January, Quebec City’s winter carnival in February, Regina’s powwow in March, Whistler’s ski and snowboard fest in April, Ottawa’s tulip fest in May, Montréal’s jazz fest in June, Calgary’s stampede in July, New Brunswick’s Acadian fest in August, Toronto’s film fest in September, Kitchner’s Oktoberfest in October, Hamilton’s Aboriginal Fest in November, Niagara’s winter festival in December – yep, Canada parties all year long. Even places you might not automatically think of – say Edmonton, Winnipeg and St John’s – rock with fringe festivals, live music clubs and shiny new art museums.
Ready to go?
These tours & activities make it easy:
- Explore western Canada's best national parks on foot
- Discover the majesty of Niagara Falls
- Spot polar bears in Churchill
- See orcas and grizzlies in British Columbia
Last updated: Jan 22, 2013
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Canada
Things to do
- All things to do (4,617)
- Activities (1,013)
- Entertainment (927)
- Restaurants (1,148)
- Shopping (471)
- Sights (1,016)
- Tours (42)
Make it happen
Our Top Picks For Canada
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1 Banff & Jasper National Parks
Towering peaks, tumbling glaciers, baby-blue lakes and an ark's worth of animals
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2 Québec Old Town
Distinguished birthplace of modern Canada, lorded over by Le Château Frontenac's mighty towers
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3 Dawson City
Character-filled heritage town amid awesome natural beauty
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4 Toronto
Canada's biggest, busiest and many say best city to eat, shop and drink in
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5 Queen Charlotte Islands
Isles of beauty, mystery and the resurgent Haida culture
Fast Facts about Canada
- Canadians who speak French as their first language
21.6%
- Number of countries that spend a bigger percentage of GDP on the military
135 (including Latvia, Burkina Faso, Belgium and Sweden)
- Amount of world’s diamonds produced
15%
- Annual potato consumption
15.8kg per person
- Unemployment rate
7.5%
- Population
34.3 million
- Life expectancy
81.48 years