Honeymoon in Canada with a toddler

My partner and I are getting married next March and we'd like to come to Canada for our honeymoon in May/June.

My partner has travelled quite a bit in the west of Canada so we're looking at potentially going east. We want to visit some cities but also incorporate a bit of chill out time in the national parks.

We'd also like to bring our little one with us who will be 2.5 years old in May/June 2016.

It would be really helpful if anyone could suggest any itineraries for a three week trip in Canada that would be suitable for us and our toddler. Ideally we don't want to spend hours in the car each day and some toddler-friendly activities as well as outdoorsy activities would be what we are looking for.

We're also looking for unusual places to stay (i.e. house boats, light houses etc) to make the trip really memorable so any recommendations would be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance!

Even if you've narrowed down your options to "east," you're still talking about a huge area. You have big city Toronto and the plethora of lakes to the north, the Niagara Falls area with its wineries, the historical cities of eastern Ontario and the 1000 Islands...and then Quebec with Montreal and Quebec City being charming cities but also many wilderness areas and the Gaspe peninsula...on to the Maritimes with quaint towns and unique culture and, yes, light houses...and then Newfoundland is a world unto itself. I think you need to narrow it down a bit further!

I guess the typical trip would be Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City...with some honeymoon like options consisting of a lakefront cottage in Ontario or a quaint BnB in Quebec's Eastern Townships or at a winery in Niagara...and then "national park" options being a canoe trip in Algonquin Provincial Park or whale watching in Tadoussac or hiking in the Chic-Choc mountains of Quebec or adventure activities in Quebec's Charlevoix region. Or drop all of that and visit the Maritimes.

Did I mention that I think you need to narrow it down a bit further?

i guess you need to give us more details because my i mind went automatically to the maritime area and not the cities of toronto, ottawa, etc. although i was going to suggest that quebec city is suppose (i haven't been) is suppose to be an easy city to get around and somewhat unique. quick thoughts that came to my mind were that you should push it into june as much as possible to hope for warmer weather. june is a great time to see iceburgs off the coast of newfoundland. that's a unique province to visit. i adore nova scotia / cape breton and think you could easily spend 2 weeks there. you could spend a few days in new brusnwick (hopewell rocks, fundy national park) and a few days on pei although it is best visited when it's beach weather which may and june are not.
big cities? or more nature and smaller places.

As the others have mentioned, you two main options are going to the main cities (Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City) with some nature stops in between, or doing the Maritimes where you'd have a mix of smaller cities and towns and natural areas.

Ottawa is a good city to visit in May because that's when the tulips are blooming, and there are tulips throughout the city. Gatineau Park on the north side of the city is a large, lovely park to go for walks in. There are great trails all along the Rideau Canal, Rideau River, and Ottawa River, for easy, flat, scenic cycling if you've got something your toddler can ride in behind a bike. The river/canalside trails are also good for walking. The Canadian Museum of Civilization is excellent and has a children's museum (first floor is very good First Nations stuff, second floor has Children's Museum and temporary exhibitions, third floor is a big walk-through diorama of Canadian history. It's all very good).

Québec City is lovely (although the large number of stairs are not stroller-friendly or toddler-friendly). And if you continue beyond Québec City, you can go to Charlevoix to see the belugas and other whales.

The Toronto Zoo is huge with a ton of animals and would probably be fun for a toddler.

I haven't been to the Maritimes, so I can't offer advice on that, but based on what I've read the beaches on Prince Edward Island sound lovely and Cape Breton Park is very good. There's a ferry between the town of Wood Island on PEI and Pictou in northern Nova Scotia, which cuts the driving distance shorter. You'd probably find more unique places to stay doing the Maritimes than heading to the main cities.

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