Canada's Must-haves
Nicknamed the "Great Northern White", this immense territory is the scene of an incomparable diversity on all levels. Bordered by the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, Canada is home to gigantic wilderness and urban areas of several million people. This disparity, as industrial as it is natural, offers multiple ideas for stays and accessibility for everyone. Whether you prefer to hike in the high rocky peaks, admire the impressive silhouette of humpback whales in the St. Lawrence Estuary, or simply wander the busy streets of Toronto. There is something for every taste. Overview of Canada's must-haves
Vancouver
Nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the rugged coastal mountains, Vancouver is by far the most scenic Canadian city. Vancouver is first and foremost an open-air city, eminently appreciable for its quality of life, where sailing, hiking, skiing in winter, and gardening all year long are a must. Influenced by the city of Seattle, bastion of American counterculture, Vancouver is a bohemian city, worthy representative of the spirit that reigns on the major centers of the west coast. About 150 years ago, the Gold Rush and personal enrichment frenzy shaped the region. Today, the quest for freedom and the great outdoors attracts thousands of young people from around the world every year. With nothing in their pockets, these young adventurers are hoping to find temporary work to enjoy the ski season or simply flirt with the West Coast soul.
The Canadian flag in front of the city of Vancouver © Hannamariah - Shutterstock
Toronto
With its skyscrapers looking down on the rest of the world, Toronto has a taste of America. Industrial and financial, fast-growing, with more than six million inhabitants in and around the city, Canada's largest city is home to one-sixth of the country's population. In a myriad of villages with accents from around the world, offer themselves the polished facades of skyscrapers, the unusual painted walls, specialty of the city, and the numerous parks with lush vegetation. Although the French showed the tip of their nose in 1650 to trade in fur, their community today is one of dozens of others. Toronto means "meeting point": the diversity of its population proves it. Half of the inhabitants are not born in Canada! Some of the reasons to be in Toronto include the cleanliness of the city, the safety of the city, the diversity of its cuisine and the variety of its stores, of which the Eaton Center is the flagship.
The city of Toronto at sunset © Maurizio De Mattei - Shutterstock
The Niagara falls
What to say has not already been said? That Niagara Falls remains the favorite destination of honeymooners worldwide, which they are the most photographed site in the world and they could fill a million baths per second ... One thing is sure, they impress even the most jaded, and some filmmakers were not mistaken seeing an incomparable dramatic potential, like Henry Hathaway (Niagara, 1953, with Marilyn Monroe). All tourists, and they are more than ten million each year, are trapped and happily participate in the general fascination. Apart from these natural wonders, which are worth seeing on the Canadian side, the rest of the city looks like a Luna Park. Fortunately, this is enough - just enough - behind the falls.
The impressive Niagara Falls © Maurizio De Mattei - Shutterstock
Whistler
Nestled at the foot of two peaks, Whistler (2,182 m) and Blackcomb (2,287 m), Whistler Resort has 10,000 inhabitants, more than half of whom are seasonal. Whistler has obvious alpine airs and its village side, although a little overrated, allows it to prance at the best ski resorts in North America. Whistler has become THE very famous ski resort, the Megève of Western Canada. The cost of living was already relatively high before Vancouver was selected to host the 2010 Winter Olympics. But since then, the prices of all services have jumped a lot and are often beyond belief. And yet, there is always this "little" something that makes us come back: its unsurpassed setting.
The summit of Whistler Mountain © Pierre Leclerc - Shutterstock
Montreal
Canada's second-largest city after Toronto, a particularly dynamic financial and commercial center, and a first-class port on the Great Lakes-Atlantic waterway, Montreal is the fourth largest French-speaking city in the world. It is the only city in Canada to have reconciled the influences of the Old Continent with North American modernity, to have been able to reunite the Anglophone and Francophone communities that history has long opposed, and to have succeeded in integrating an ethnic mosaic. of immigration. It is also an agglomeration of once-distinct towns and villages and a cultural metropolis of great vitality.
View of the city of Montreal © Pierre Leclerc - Shutterstock
The Rocky Mountains
Canada's heritage jewels, the Canadian Rockies offer a majestic environment straddling two provinces, Alberta and British Columbia. The landscape on the Alberta side is made up of mountains with sharp peaks, lakes and rivers with crystal clear waters and impressive glaciers. Tourism-related infrastructure is abundant in Banff and Jasper National Parks as well as in towns and villages along major highways. One can imagine the shock experienced by explorers who, at the end of months of march, sometimes guided by the Indians, reached these exceptional places. Even today, hikers are filled with untold emotions, even though the trails are now very well marked. The Rockies continue to impose their raw, unshakable power ...
Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park in the heart of the Rockies © Elena Suvorova - Shutterstock
Gaspesie
The Gaspé Peninsula is one of Quebec's favorite destinations. What's more, she frequently ranks in various National Geographic magazine charts, no less. When we say Gaspésie, we immediately think of lobster, salmon and shrimp. We also think of Percé Rock, Bonaventure Island, Northern Gannets, Chaleur Bay, Forillon, Reford Gardens, coniferous forests, rivers, capes, coves, strikes, fossils and agates. Huge breakthrough in the ocean where the sea and the millions of years old mountains, the territory of the Mi'kmaq, the Indians of the sea, which occupy it for more than 2,500 years, are constantly confronted. Located between the St. Lawrence Estuary, New Brunswick and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Gaspé Peninsula is dominated to the north by the Chic-Chocs Mountains, whose slopes are covered by the thick boreal forest. On the estuary side, its coastline is dotted with peaceful fishing villages, while its eastern rocky point, cut and brushed by the waves, is particularly wild and spectacular.
The Percé Rock, a symbol of Gaspésie © 3523studio - Shutterstock
Drumheller's Dinos
The Dinosaur Trail is located in the Drumheller Valley, 138 km northeast of Calgary. More than 10,000 years ago, melting glacial waters dug a deep valley in this region and exposed the dinosaur fossils that lived in these subtropical plains. The Red Deer River is the main axis of these so-called Badlands, or "bad lands", which break the extent of the Alberta plains. The visit to the Royal Tyrrell Museum must be complemented by a tour on Route 898, also known as the Dinosaur Trail. We will walk along the Red Deer River to admire the panorama of the point of view called "Horsethief Canyon". The road then descends to the river which can be crossed by a ferry (Bleriot Cable Ferry), to discover other admirable points of observation.
Desert Panorama in the Drumheller Valley © Jeremy Klager - Shutterstock
Churchill
The village of Churchill, which has fewer than 1,000 souls, is located in the far north of the province, at the mouth of the Churchill River on the Arctic Ocean's Hudson Bay. In a wild environment, you will surely meet the man who saw the man who saw the man who saw the polar bear! Perhaps you will even have the opportunity to see this favorite animal by yourself. Each summer, more than 3,000 belugas feed, socialize and raise their young in the waters of the Churchill River and many bird species, including the subarctic tundra, a haven for observers. Historically, the powerful Hudson's Bay Company was reputed to be the largest trading company in the world.
A polar bear in Hudson Bay © chbaum - Shutterstock