Moraine Lake to Cape Breton.
The Rockies at first light, Niagara from the boat deck, Old Québec on foot, orcas off Vancouver Island. What each tour is really like, what it costs, and where to book it.
Seven days that carry a Canada trip.
The lakes above Banff before the parking lot fills, the deck of a Niagara boat, a walk inside the walls of Old Québec, a skipper who knows which pod is running off the Strait of Georgia. These are the ones people fly for.
Banff: Banff Gondola Admission Ticket
Ride the Banff Gondola to Sulphur Mountain for 360-degree views, scenic boardwalks to Sanson’s Peak, and food options at the summit.
From $53 per person
Read the full review →
★ 4.6Books out by JuneToronto: Niagara Falls Day Tour with Optional Boat CruiseFrom $533,178 reviews
★ 5.0The one people ask aboutBest of Niagara Falls Canada Premium Tour: Behind Falls and BoatFrom $1473,139 reviews
★ 4.4Worth a 6 a.m. alarmMontreal: Guided Bus TourFrom $263,064 reviews
★ 3.5Fits a spare afternoonBig Bus Vancouver Hop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing TourFrom $483,028 reviews
★ 4.7Runs rain or shineQuebec City: Guided Tour of Fairmont Le Château FrontenacFrom $193,027 reviews
★ 4.4Rockies stapleQuébec City: Guided Sightseeing River CruiseFrom $473,000 reviews
One valley, three lakes worth the drive.
Lake Louise under the Victoria Glacier, Moraine in front of the Ten Peaks, Emerald over the pass in Yoho. Private cars have not been allowed up the Moraine Lake road for years, so a tour is carrying the shuttle seat and the timing for you. That is most of the reason these go first.
Which Rockies day is yours?
Everyone wants the lakes. What changes is how much of the day you are willing to spend in a seat. Three ways to take Banff and Jasper, each one already priced and reviewed.
Shuttle sorted
The two lakes, early
from $61 · 1,023 reviews
Moraine before the light reaches the far shore, Louise while the canoes are still stacked, and no Parks Canada reservation for you to chase. The guide holds the shuttle slots and knows which lot fills first.
See the two-lake tours →
Big driving day
North on the Parkway
1 day · from $96 · 2,444 reviews
Two hundred and thirty kilometres of glacier road between Lake Louise and Jasper, the Columbia Icefield halfway up it, and a glass floor cantilevered over the Sunwapta valley. A long day with no filler in it.
See the Parkway runs →
On foot
The canyon in winter
4 hours (approx.) · from $81 · 502 reviews
Steel catwalks bolted into the limestone, a frozen waterfall at the far end, cleats handed out at the trailhead. It runs from January into March and asks nothing of you but a warm coat.
See the canyon walks →
The sky does the show.
Yellowknife sits under the auroral oval, which is why the odds there beat almost anywhere else on the planet from late August through April. Further south the dark hours belong to the Falls under floodlight, a fireworks cruise below the Rainbow Bridge, and lantern walks through Old Montréal.
The good meals are all on foot.
Bagels out of a wood-fired oven in Mile End, oysters shucked on Granville Island, a sugar shack an hour outside Montréal when the sap runs in March. Three food hours will teach you more about a city than a bus ever does.
Everything reads better from a boat.
Resident orcas off the Strait of Georgia, belugas where the Saguenay drops into the St. Lawrence, and a Niagara deck where the spray arrives like weather. Take the layer you are sure you will not need.
The old towns kept their walls.
Vieux-Québec is the only walled city left north of Mexico and it wants taking slowly: the Petit-Champlain stairs, the boardwalk under the Château, the ferry back across the river at dusk for the view nobody charges for. Old Montréal answers with cobbles, a basilica and a port that still works.
The country splits into a handful of trips.
Niagara for the boat. Banff for the lakes. Québec City for the walls. Vancouver for the mountains at the end of the street. Halifax for the coast road and the lighthouse everyone photographs.
Twelve ways to spend a Canadian day.
Pick the shape of the day first and the country narrows itself down fast. Everything behind these twelve is priced, rated and ready to book.
The best half of the trip is outside the city.
Wine country twenty minutes past the Falls, a fjord three hours below Québec City, Butchart Gardens across the water from Vancouver. Nearly all of these have you back before dinner.
Where a first Canada trip actually goes.
Nobody covers this country in one week, and the people who try spend it in a car. Pick a side, book the days that carry it, and let somebody who knows the road do the driving.
West
The Rockies and the coast
Two days out of Banff for Louise, Moraine and the canyon, the Icefields Parkway north on the third, then west to Vancouver for the North Shore and a whale boat out of Victoria.
Plan the western leg →
Centre
The Falls, the tower, the canal
The Falls first, from the boat deck and from the tunnels behind the water. Toronto for the tower and the Distillery District, then up to the Rideau Canal and Parliament Hill.
Plan the middle →
East
Québec, Montréal, the coast
Two nights inside the walls with Montmorency Falls fifteen minutes down the road, a day of cobbles and bagels in Montréal, then east to Peggy’s Cove if the calendar allows it.
Plan the eastern leg →
What landed on the list this week.
★ 5.0Moraine Lake & Louise – Morning or Sunset Tour from Banff/CanmoreFrom $111194 reviews
★ 5.0Ridge Ride 2-Hour Horseback Trail Ride in KananaskisFrom $151194 reviews
★ 5.0Niagara Falls Canada Walking Tour With Boat CruiseFrom $93195 reviews
★ 5.0Small-Group Guided Via Ferrata Climbing with Banff’s Best ViewsFrom $149195 reviews
★ 4.8Whistler: The Longest Zipline in North AmericaFrom $115197 reviews
★ 5.0eBike and Hike Banff to Johnston Canyon small group guided programFrom $155197 reviews
★ 4.5Kingston: Sunset Dinner CruiseFrom $98197 reviews
★ 4.024 Hour Hop-On, Hop-Off Double Decker Victoria City TourFrom $51198 reviews