As someone who loves to travel, I hardly show enough love for my home country. Many people dream of living in Canada and I’ll admit I take it for granted. I’ve seen quite a bit of the country, but most of the trips were when I was younger. Though I enjoyed each of those trips, the memories aren’t super clear aside from a few favourite things to do in each place. So here is a quick summary about the most popular cities to visit in Canada:
The order is just West to East; not ranked!
**The photos for Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, and St. John’s are not mine. Click photos for original link.**
1. Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver is an incredibly beautiful city. It’s the city that people imagine when they think of Canada. Mountains, forests, lakes, and the ocean, all surrounding a large city. It’s also close to the famous ski resort, Whistler. Vancouver is laid back but sadly, a super expensive city to live in.
Must Do: Bike along the Seawall of Stanley Park and walk the Capilano Suspension Bridge.
2. Toronto, Ontario
The “New York of Canada”. It’s the biggest city in Canada, with lots to do. Many movies are filmed here when they need to portray a city like New York, Boston, or Chicago.
Must Do: See the birds-eye view from the CN Tower (Bonus – walk on the glass floor or do the EdgeWalk) and see a comedy show at Second City.
3. Ottawa, Ontario
I have to include my hometown. For those of you who don’t know, Ottawa is the capital of Canada, so the area around Parliament is beautiful to wander.
Must Do: Go skating along the Rideau Canal (winter) or watch the Parliament Sound and Light Show (summer).
4. Montreal, Quebec
For European flare, Montreal is a great place to visit. It’s a bustling French city (and only one and a half hours away from Ottawa if you want to knock off two birds with one stone).
Must Do: Wander Old Montreal, order Poutine (the classic French Canadian dish), and see a comedy show at Just for Laughs.
5. Quebec City, Quebec
Quebec City is lesser known but even more of a little escape to Europe. It’s also near some great ski hills: Mont Saint Anne and Le Massif.
Must Do: The ice toboggan slide at Chateau Frontenac (winter).
6. Halifax, Nova Scotia
You have to visit the east coast of Canada at lease once and Halifax is a great place to start. I really recommend going to university in this city. Infact, I wrote a whole post about what makes Halifax so great – see all the reasons why here.
Must Do: Go on a boat cruise beyond the harbour and visit Peggy’s Cove.
7. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Last summer my friends and I took a road trip to Charlottetown to see The Killers perform at the Big Red Music Festival (don’t get me started on how amazing The Killers were). And I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the small city. It was one of my favourite trips.
Must Do: Harbour Hippo tour and eat seafood along the water.
Honourable Mention: St. John’s, Newfoundland
St. John’s is listed as an honourable mention because I’ve never been, but I’d love to go. I’ve heard it’s like Canada’s own Ireland.
Must Do: participate in a pub-crawl along George Street.
Have you ever been to Canada? What’s your favourite place to visit or where would you want to go? Let me know in the comments.
Ooh nice! I’ve actually never been to Canada but maybe I’ll drag my husband on a road trip there next time we’re back home :)
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It’s definitely worth at least one trip, if even just to tick another country off the list! lol
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Great information. I frequent Vermont and the border is so close to Quebec. Now I have an insight. Thank you
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Perfect! Both cities in Quebec would be a great trip :)
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Awesome :) My plan is to visit Canada next year during summer. Thanks for your suggestions :)
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Glad I could help! :)
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There are several of these cities I want to visit! I tend to prefer smaller cities so this gives me a great starting point :)
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If you like smaller cities I would definitely recommend Quebec City and the East Coast cities (Halifax, Charlottetown, or St. John’s)
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Awesome, thanks for the recommendations!
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Great suggestions! I’ve been to Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City but the East Coast is still on my list.
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The East Coast feels like a completely different country compared to those cities! I hope you get to go :)
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Thanks for featuring Toronto. Love my town!
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Great post!! We drove thru Vancouver en route to Whistler last summer and thought it was a beautiful city! Would love to actually go and stay there sometime. Still confused on the flashing green traffic lights though!? We managed not to run anyone over, but got honked at several times. :)
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I just texted my brother asking him about the flashing green lights, since he lives there … He says “It means it’s a pedestrian controlled intersection. Doesn’t mean you can turn left like in Ontario.” Lol I wouldn’t have known either!
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Ha! Thank you!!!! Well it’s a damn miracle that we didn’t run over anyone then. haha!
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Fantastic article! I’ve been trying to plan a visit to Canada for years now and Montreal looks like so much fun.
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Calgary, Alberta is also a beautiful city to visit because of its proximity to Banff and Lake Louise. I recently moved back to Toronto and I’m already missing the mountains. Undoubtedly, the arts, culture and entertainment scene here is the best in the country.
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Great to know :) I had Calgary in mind when writing this post, since it’s such a big city, but I’ve only crossed through to get to Banff or Fernie. So I never got a feel for the city.
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I seriouslyyyyyy need to get myself Canada. It looks absolutely beautiful. Definitely on the bucket list! Great post! :)
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Thank you!
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You’ve reminded me I must check out Second City. I’ve been living in Toronto since the start of the year and so no more excuses :)
I also must visit your hometown, I’m hoping to visit in the winter months for some river skating.
Great blog!
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I have the same problem; I travel a lot but I neglect Canada, which is also my home country. Glad to see Quebec City is on your list (my town). Usually people are only interested in Montreal, but Quebec has so many more cities to offer!
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