Alberta

This fantastic museum is one of the pre-eminent dinosaur museums on the planet, made even better by a $5.9 million expansion project completed in 2019. Even if you have no interest in dinos, you'll come out feeling like you missed your calling as a paleontologist. The exhibits are nothing short of mind-blowing. Unlike some other dinosaur exhibits, there's nothing dusty or musty about this super-modern place. Children will love the interactive displays.

More remote than Banff's historic springs, Miette Hot Springs ('discovered' in 1909) are 61km northeast of Jasper off Hwy 16, near the park's eastern boundary. The soothing waters, kept at a pleasant 37°C (98°F) to 40°C (104°F), are surrounded by peaks and are especially enjoyable when the fall snow is drifting down and steam envelops the crowd. Raining summer evenings also make for stunning, misty conditions.

Walking into this open-air museum experience is quite literally like stepping back to the turn of the century. Staff aren't just in costume, they perform in roles of real-life immigrants from Ukraine and go about their day as if they really are the hotelier, the farmer, the schoolteacher or the blacksmith. Some speak only Ukrainian; others speak English with heavy accents. The buildings are all original, moved here and refurbished to their original state – from sod houses to Byzantine churches.

You'll have already seen the indescribably vibrant blue color of Peyto Lake in a thousand publicity shots, but there's nothing like gazing at the real thing – especially since the viewing point for this lake is from a lofty vantage point several hundred feet above the water. The lake is best visited in early morning, between the time the sun first illuminates the water and the first tour bus arrives.

The Icefields Pkwy is often referred to locally as the ‘world’s most spectacular road,’ and it’s tough to argue. Stretching for 230km north from Lake Louise all the way to Jasper, the parkway climbs through an amazingly diverse range of Rocky Mountain scenery, from surging rivers and high-alpine glaciers to mountain passes and brilliant blue lakes.

The story behind this Unesco World Heritage site with the strangest name of any attraction in Alberta is one of ingenuity and resourcefulness – and is key to the First Nations' cultural heritage (and Canada's, too!). The Blackfoot people used the cliffs near the town of Fort Macleod to hunt buffalo when conditions were right. The well-presented displays and films at the interpretive center built cleverly into the hillside are definitely worth the excursion from Calgary or Lethbridge.

Looking like a whimsical copper castle, this fabulous new museum is entirely entertaining, taking you on a ride through Canada's musical history with rotating exhibits, cool artifacts (like the guitar Guess Who used to record 'American Woman') and interactive displays. Test your skill at the drums, electric guitar or in a sound-recording room and even create your own instruments. Don't miss the Body Phonic room or the solar-powered Skywalk with its repurposed pianos destroyed in the 2013 flood.

Here flat prairies collide dramatically with the Rockies, with a sparkling lake and a hilltop castle that may make you wonder if you've fallen into a fairy tale. Sadly, Waterton Lakes National Park is rarely known to outside visitors and is slowly recovering from a devastating wildfire in 2017 which damaged large swaths of the park (many hikes were accessible by hiking or cycling to the trailheads in the summer of 2019). While Banff and Jasper, its siblings to the north, hemorrhage with tourists and weekend warriors, Waterton is a pocket of sublime tranquility.

The 3.4km hike from Lake Louise to Lake Agnes is among the area's most popular – surely because it ends here. This fabulously rustic alpine teahouse perched at 2135m (7005ft) seems to hang in the clouds beside the ethereal lake and its adjacent waterfall. Homemade soup, thick-cut sandwiches and lake-water tea help fuel the jaunt back down. Cash only. Expect queues.