CANADA. Welcome to Canada Canada is more than its hulkingmountain, craggy-coast good looks: it

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1 Welcome to Canada Canada is more than its hulkingmountain, craggy-coast good looks: it also cooks extraordinary meals, rocks cool culture and unfurls wild, moosespotting road trips. CANADA TO P S I G H TS, AU T H E N T I C E X P E R I E N C ES The globe s second-biggest country has an endless variety of landscapes, from sky-high mountains and glinting glaciers to spectral rainforests and remote beaches, along with a big cast of local characters including grizzly bears, whales and moose. The terrain makes for a fantastic playground whether it s snowboarding, surfing, kayaking, strolling Vancouver s Stanley Park or swimming off Prince Edward s pink-sand beaches. Culturally, Canada is a mixed bag. You ll hear it in the wild-fiddling Celtic music, see it in the rainforestcloaked Aboriginal villages on Haida Gwaii, and taste it in Vancouver s Asian dining scene. Indeed, Canadian cuisine is another landscape to explore. If you grazed from west to east, you d fill your plate with wild salmon, velvety scallops, and a bounty of cherries and peaches in British Columbia; poutine (golden fries topped with gravy and cheese curds) in Québec; and lobster with a dab of melted butter in the Atlantic provinces all washed down with award-winning crisp whites and bold reds produced from the country s vine-striped valleys. WaterCanada With all of this, you might be surprised to hear that Canada has world-class museums, too. Cultural hubs such as the new National Music Centre or Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 will leave you wowed, while the National Gallery of Canada gives you a taste of just how artistic these Canucks really are. It s true. Canada s got it all going on. Park, d - Sky, al,, Outntains, THIS EDITION WRIT TEN AND RESE ARCHED BY Ko r i n a M i l l e r, K a te A r m s t ro n g, J a m e s B a i n b r i d g ge e, A d a m K a r l i n, J o h n L e e, C a ro l y n M c C a r t hy, Ad h y, P h i l l i p Ta n g, R y a n Ve r B e r k m o e s a n d B e n e d i c t Wa l ke r From sky-high mountains and glinting glaciers to spectral rainforests and remote beaches Icefields Parkway (p188), the Rockies MICHAEL WHEATLEY / GETTY IMAGES 00-planner-bo-can1.indd 1 13/01/2017 3:01:13 PM

2 2 ARCTIC OCEAN I C E LAN D GREENLAND Ellesmere DENMARK Contents s Na re Axel Heiberg Str Beaufort Sea a it Melville ALASKA USA Banks Fairbanks Somerset Tuktoyaktuk Prince of Wales Victoria THE YUKON p253 Juneau Fort Simpson Toronto it 36 Sights Labrador Sea Iqaluit Hud so Activities...49 Yellowknife Shopping...50 rait Eating...51 Drinking & Nightlife Entertainment Information Prince Rupert BRITISH COLUMBIA s tain oun Rocky M Prince George VANCOUVER ISLAND p229 Nanaimo Victoria PACIFIC O C E A N Seattle Labrador Churchill THE ROCKIES p183 Louise Banff Kelowna SASKATCHEWAN Edmonton Jasper THE PRAIRIES p161 Calgary VANCOUVER Medicine Hat p201 Where to Stay Prince Albert Thompson Winnipeg 44 Saskatoon ONTARIO Yorkton QUÉBEC Moosonee Rivière du-loup Regina Winnipeg Thunder Bay Sudbury Sault Ste Marie UNITED STATES OF AMERICA North Bay Georgian Bay Huron TORONTO p35 Minneapolis Michigan Chicago London Detroit Erie _ Fredericton Saint John MONTRÉAL p101 Kingston Ontario Niagara Moncton Newfoundland Port aux Basques Charlottetown Halifax Boston Falls NIAGARA REGION p61 Niagara Region Visiting Niagara Falls...64 Wine Country Niagara-on-the Niagara Falls Welland Canal Area...73 NOVA SCOTIA The Atlantic Provinces OTTAWA p143 NEW PEI BRUNSWICK QUÉBEC CITY p123 Superior 1,000 km 500 miles THE ATLANTIC PROVINCES p75 MANITOBA Corner Brook James Bay Brandon Portland 00-planner-bo-can1.indd 2 Getting Around St John's 0 0 NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR ALBERTA Kamloops Getting There & Away Hudson Bay Athabasca The Viking Trail...80 The Cabot Trail Halifax Charlottetown Cavendish St John s Itineraries...26 Family Travel...32 Calg ATLANTIC OCEAN Peggy s Cove Sights Tours Shopping at Drinking & Nightlife Icef Information Getting There & Away Getting Around Sights Ottawa Tours Canadian Museum of History Parliament Hill Shopping Sights Eating Activities Drinking & Nightlife Tours Entertainment Eating Information Drinking & Nightlife Getting There & Away Entertainment Getting Around Information Where to Stay Getting There & Away Activities Getting Around Québec City La Citadelle Old Québec City Walking Tour The Eating Montréal Montréal Jazz Festival Old Montréal Walking Tour Winn Activities Entertainment Tours...50 n St Great Slave HAIDA GWAII p CN Tower Diverse Dining...40 Southampton Local Life...20 Month by Month...22 Get Inspired...25 Nati Cen Ukra Heri Sask Foxe Basin NUNAVUT NORTHWEST TERRITORIES vi ss tra Gulf of Boothia Great Bear Watson Da Baffin Whitehorse Canada s Top Need to Know Hot Spots for...18 Viscount Melville Sound Inuvik Dawson City YUKON TERRITORY Plan Your Trip Devon The Prairies Exploring Drumheller New York 13/01/2017 3:01:32 PM Banf Jasp Ski Wh Van at Stan

3 CONTENTS PLAN YOUR TRIP 3 * National Music Centre Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village Calgary Saskatoon Winnipeg The Rockies Louise Icefields Parkway Banff Town Jasper Skiing at Whistler 198 Vancouver Stanley Park Granville Public Market Sights Activities Tours Shopping Eating Drinking & Nightlife Entertainment Information Getting There & Away Getting Around Where to Stay Vancouver Chinatown Tofino Victoria Parksville & Qualicum Haida Gwaii Haida Heritage Centre Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve Queen Charlotte, Skidegate & Masset The Yukon Dawson s Klondike History Paddle the Yukon River Whitehorse Dawson City In Focus 265 Canada Today History Arts & Culture Canadian Cuisine Outdoor Activities Wildlife Spectator Sports Survival Guide 294 Directory A Z Transport Language Index Symbols & Map Key Toronto (p35) D3SIGN / MOMENT RF / GETTY IMAGES

4 CANADA S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP FOTOFRIENDS / SHUTTERSTOCK Vancouver Harmonic convergence of city and nature With skiable mountains on the outskirts, 11 beaches fringing the core and Stanley Park s thick rainforest just blocks from the glass skyscrapers downtown, Vancouver (p201) is a heady, bewitching brew. Throw in Hollywood chic (many movies are filmed here), a freewheeling counterculture and buzzing multicultural communities, and you have a city that keeps on landing atop worldwide best places to live lists. Above: Totem pole, Stanley Park (p204) 01-top-12-bo-can1.indd /01/2017 9:01:51 AM

5 CANADA S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP 15 JOHN X HAN / SHUTTERSTOCK The Prairies Solitude reigns in Canada s middle ground Driving through the flatlands (p161) turns up uninterrupted fields of golden wheat that stretch to the horizon. When the wind blows, the wheat sways like waves on the ocean, punctuated by the occasional grain elevator rising up like a tall ship, and when big storms come they are visible on the skyline for kilometers. 11 ELENA_SUVOROVA / SHUTTERSTOCK Niagara Region A world-renowned waterfall and a vineyard (or 10) It may not be among the world s tallest waterfalls, but when those great bands of water arc over the precipice like liquid glass, roaring into the void below, Niagara Falls impresses big time. Nowhere in North America beats its thundering cascade, with more than a million bathtubs of water plummeting over the edge every second. Beyond it stretches a region (p61) speckled with vineyards and home to one of the country s best-preserved 19th-century towns. 01-top-12-bo-can1.indd /01/2017 9:01:57 AM

6 16 Plan Your Trip Need to Know When to Go Dry climate Warm to hot summers, mild winters Summers mild to warm (north & east) & warm to hot (south), cold winters Polar climate Vancouver GO Jun Aug Banff GO Jul Sep High Season (J u n Au g) Sunshine and warm weather prevail; far northern regions briefly thaw. Accommodation prices peak (up 30% on average). December through March is equally busy and expensive in ski resort towns. Shoulder (May, Sep & Oct) Crowds and prices drop off; attractions keep shorter hours. Temperatures are cool but comfortable. Fall foliage areas remain busy. Low Season (Nov Apr) Churchill GO Sep Nov Montréal GO Jun Aug Places outside the big cities and ski resorts close. Halifax GO Jul Sep C Currency Canadian dollar ($) Languages English, French Visas Visitors from certain countries require a visa to enter Canada. Those who are exempt require an Electronic Travel Authorization, with the exception of Americans. This must be applied for prior to traveling and can be completed online; see visit/eta-start.asp. Money ATMs widely available. Credit cards accepted in most hotels and restaurants. Cell Phones Local SIM cards can be used in unlocked GSM 850/1900 compatible phones. Other phones must be set to roaming. Time Canada spans six of the world s 24 time zones. The time difference from coast to coast is 4½ hours. Darkness and cold take over.