1182 Best Sights in Canada

Green in more ways than one, this waterfront weekend market that hosts more than 250 local farmers, food producers, and artisans is one of Canada's most eco-friendly buildings. Noteworthy features include wind turbines, solar-energy and water-conservation systems, and a "biowall" that allows natural ventilation. There's a wonderful array of fresh produce and crafts, and the international backgrounds of many vendors make it particularly interesting, with some unique offerings. Sampling and shopping opportunities abound, though aside from Saturday not every vendor is out in force (unless a cruise ship is in). Don't confuse this venue with Brewery Square's Historic Farmers' Market, whose vendors didn't want to move here. Both claim to be the country's oldest farmers' market—and in a way, they both are.

You'll see one of the best natural harbors on the upper Bay of Fundy and some of the highest tides anywhere in Hall's Harbour, a small community about 30 km (18 miles) northwest of Wolfville via Kentville and Highway 359. Go for a walk on a gravel beach bordered by cliffs, try sea kayaking, or seek out the artisans whose studios open here during summer months. The small Red Fish House Museum, with local artifacts, is open in summer.

An afternoon or evening strolling along Happy Beer Street will put a smile on the face of any beer connoisseur or foodie. Nine different breweries and one distillery have congregated along a five block stretch of 99 Street, most of which serve delicious fare, from burgers and pizza to more elegant small plates like charcuterie.

Stretching from just west of York Street to Spadina Avenue, this culture-and-recreation center is a match for San Francisco's Pier 39 and Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The original Harbourfront opened in 1974, rejuvenating more than a mile of city; today a streamlined 10-acre version draws more than 3 million visitors each year. Queens Quay Terminal is a former Terminal Warehouse building that was transformed in 1983 into a magnificent, eight-story building with specialty shops, eateries, and the 450-seat Fleck Dance Theatre. Exhibits of contemporary arts are mounted at the Power Plant (free), which can be spotted by its tall red smokestack; it was built in 1927 as a power station for the Terminal Warehouse's ice-making plant.

Developed by renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and garden designer Julie Moir Messervy, the Music Garden on the south side of Queens Quay is Ma's interpretation of J. S. Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 (which consists of six movements—Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Minuet, and Gigue). Each movement is reflected in the park's elaborate design: undulating riverscape, a forest grove of wandering trails, a swirling path through a wildflower meadow, a conifer grove, a formal flower parterre, and giant grass steps. York Quay Centre hosts concerts, theater, readings, and ateliers. The Craft Studio, for example, has professional craftspeople working in ceramics, glass, metal, and textiles from February to December, in full view of the public. A shallow pond outside is used for canoe lessons in warmer months and as the largest artificial ice-skating rink in North America in winter. At the nearby Nautical Centre, many private firms rent boats and give sailing and canoeing lessons. Seasonal events include the Ice Canoe Race in late January, Winterfest in February, a jazz festival in June, Canada Day celebrations and the Parade of Lights in July, the Authors' Festival and Harvest Festival in October, and the Swedish Christmas Fair in November.

This is the spot where Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland for Britain in 1583, much to the amusement of the French, Spanish, and Portuguese fishermen in port at the time. They thought him a fool, a judgment borne out a few days later when he ran his ship aground and drowned. The small park is a good vantage point to watch the boats come and go and a nice spot to stop for a rest. Kids love the bronze Newfoundland and Labrador dog statues you can sit on. With benches placed among the greenery in an amphitheater-style formation, this is a pleasant place to enjoy family-friendly concerts. Enjoy free lunchtime and afternoon performances by some of the best musicians in the city through July and August.

These 6-acre gardens are devoted mainly to indigenous plants from the Acadian Forest Region. Nine native habitats are displayed, and there's also a medicinal and food garden, a beautiful walled garden, and a conservatory.

Looking for all the world like a setting from one of the Harry Potter novels, this neo-Gothic student center opened its doors in 1919. Originally restricted to male students, Hart House has been open to women since 1972. Revolving selections from Hart House's robust art collection, which includes pieces by the Group of Seven and Emily Carr, hang throughout the building. Each year, new pieces are carefully curated by committee, with a focus on living Canadian artists. The Justina M. Barnicke Gallery comprises two rooms of mixed-media art showcasing contemporary creators from Toronto and beyond. The stained-glass windows and vaulted ceiling in the Great Hall are impressive, but so is the cuisine at the on-site Gallery Grill, which offers a menu of grilled seafood, house-made pastas, and creative veggie options from September through June.

A multilevel interpretive center built into the side of a cliff provides information about the lifestyle, legends, and story of the Blackfoot people at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Exhibits describe the history of the buffalo jump, and a film re-creates the event when native peoples herded buffalo over the cliff to their thunderous death. Trails surround the jump, and tours are given by Blackfoot guides. If you visit on Wednesday in summer you can enjoy native dancing, drumming, and singing. During the summer months you can spend the night in a fully equipped Blackfoot tepee. The site is about 18 km (11 mi) west of Fort Macleod.

This easy 4-km (2.5-mile) round-trip hike is a nice walk through a gorgeous canyon along a creek with a waterfall at the end.

Summit three mountains on this hike that takes you to the summit of Heart Mountain and then along a ridge walk to summit two more Canadian Rockies peaks. It's a challenging hike with a total hiking distance of 10.3 km (6.4 miles) and an elevation gain of 940 meters (3,084 feet).

A 110-foot fully rigged replica of the Hector is moored here, and (although under renovations) you can go aboard to see how early immigrants traveled (on weekends, when the ship isn't being worked on). The handsome post-and-beam interpretive center recounts the story of the first hardy pioneers (33 families plus 25 unmarried men) who arrived aboard the original vessel in 1773, and the flood of Scots who followed them. The site also has working blacksmith, rigger, and carpentry shops.

Henderson Lake Park, 3 km (2 miles) east of downtown Lethbridge, is filled with lush trees, a golf course, a baseball stadium, a swimming pool, an artificial lake, a year-round ice-skating rink, and tennis courts.

If you want to get a firsthand look at how the well-to-do English residents of Québec City lived in a bygone era, this is the place. Built in 1849 by the wife of wealthy businessman William Henry, the Regency-style cottage was bought in 1918 by the sisters Adèle and Mary Stuart. Active in such philanthropic organizations as the Red Cross and the Historical and Literary Society, the sisters were pillars of Québec City's English-speaking community. They also maintained an English-style garden behind the house. The home has since been classified a historic site for its immaculate physical condition and the museumlike quality of its furnishings, almost all of them Victorian. Guided tours of the house and garden start on the hour and include a cup of tea and piece of lemon cake.

On 127 acres of parkland beside the Glenmore Reservoir, Heritage Park is Canada's largest living-history village. This accredited museum includes more than 200 exhibits, hundreds of costumed staff and volunteers, and 45,000 artifacts that re-create western Canadian life prior to 1914. You can visit an 1850s fur-trading post, a ranch, and an old town; ride on a steam locomotive or horse-drawn wagon; and cruise the reservoir on a stern-wheeler.

The 1,049-acre park has camping, a restaurant, playgrounds, a 9-hole, par-36 Geoffrey Cornish golf course, a 1-mile beach, and six hiking trails, one of which follows a carriage and logging trail once used by the Roosevelts.

One of the premier mountain biking and hiking trails in Kananaskis Country and an important part of the Canada-wide Trans-Canada Trail, this 80-km (50-mile) one-way trail can be cycled or hiked in its entirety or enjoyed in smaller sections. The northern end of the trail begins at the Goat Creek Day Use Area in Spray Valley Provincial Park, 1-km (0.6-mile) from the Banff National Park Boundary. If you want to experience part of the trail, one of the highlights is the Blackshale Suspension Bridge, which is a 1-km (0.6-mile) hike and offers spectacular views and photos. Another nice section, the 6.9-km (4.3-mile) stretch between Spray Lakes Day Use Area and the Buller Pass Trail, has beautiful lake views. At the Driftwood Day Use area, the trail crosses Highway 742 (the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Trail) and continues south beyond the Sawmill Day Use Area in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park before crossing back across Highway 742 at the Pocaterra Dam, which is north of the Peninsula Day Use Area at the north end of Lower Kananaskis Lake. The section of this trail that passes through Peter Lougheed Provincial Park traverses diverse landscapes with incredible views. It's common to see bear, moose, and coyotes along the trail. Moderate.

With only one highway through Kootenay National Park, many travelers choose this route as a scenic option to get from Banff to Windermere Valley. The park's terrain is rugged and natural with amazing views of the mountain ranges and the glacial blue rivers that often run alongside the highway. More so than the neighboring Canadian Rocky Mountain National Parks, wildfires have been significant in Kootenay National Park, and, especially in the northern portion of the park, the large stands of burned trees allow a stark view of the mountain peaks and give a romantic, haunting feel to the terrain. These burn areas quickly grow over with lush greenery and wildflowers, providing an important ecosystem for several species of flora and fauna within the park.

The worst coal mining disaster in Canada happened on June 19, 1914 in the community of Hillcrest. A pocket of methane gas ignited and set off a coal dust explosion that killed 189 miners. Most of the victims were buried in a mass grave and a memorial was later erected in the cemetery. There are interpretive signs and you can go on a self-guided tour of the cemetery.

This series of restored waterfront warehouses dates from the days when trade and war made Halifax prosperous. They were built by such raffish characters as Enos Collins, a privateer, smuggler, and shipper, whose vessels defied Napoléon's blockade to bring American supplies to the Duke of Wellington. The buildings have since been taken over by shops, offices, restaurants, and pubs, including those in Privateer's Warehouse. Seven of them, all erected between the late 18th and early 19th century, have been designated as National Historic Sites.

Near Siwash Rock, this centuries-old, 56-foot-wide burnt cedar stump has shrunk over the years but still gives an idea of how large some of the old-growth trees can grow. A Hollow Tree Society, made up of private citizens and donations, acts as the tree's unofficial caretaker. (You can also view an exact replica of the 43-foot-high Hollow Tree, coated in gold finish, at the corner of Marine and Cambie Streets, designed by Canadian Artist Douglas Coupland.)

A scenic view of the rocky spires known as hoodoos can be seen from this viewpoint 3.2 km (2 miles) up Tunnel Mountain Road. If you want to get closer to the hoodoos, you can hike along the trail that leaves from the viewpoint.

Art studios, an artisans' co-op, Pender Chocolates, and views to Saturna and Mayne islands are the draws at Hope Bay, a lovely cove on North Pender's eastern shore.

A few jagged stone walls are all that remain of Montréal's first general hospital. The ruins—which once formed the west wing and the transept of the chapel—have been preserved as a memorial to Canada's first native-born saint, Marguerite d'Youville (1701–71), who took over the hospital in 1747 and ran it until a fire destroyed the building in 1765. Ste-Marguerite's life was no walk in the park, as you'll find out if you visit the Maison de Mère d'Youville next door to the ruins. Marguerite started looking after the city's down-and-outers after the death of her abusive and disreputable husband. Amused that the widow of a whiskey trader should be helping the town drunks, locals took to calling Marguerite and her Soeurs de la Charité (Sisters of Charity) the Soeurs-Grises (Grey Nuns), slang for "tipsy nuns." The Maison has some remarkable reminders of her life, such as the kitchen where she worked, with its enormous fireplace and stone sink. Call ahead for tours of the house.  As of June 2025, the museum is still under renovation but the exterior is pretty.

This little town, tucked under the Coast Mountains on the shore of Howe Sound, marks the western edge of West Vancouver. Best known for its BC Ferries terminal, with service to Vancouver Island, Bowen Island, and the Sunshine Coast, Horseshoe Bay also marks the start of the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler. Most people pass through, but it's worth making time for a fish-and-chips lunch at Troll's (operated by the same family since the 1940s) or any of several restaurants with ocean- and mountain-view decks. You can also make a day of it, swimming or scuba diving at Whytecliffe Park or joining an eco-tour with Sewell's Marina.

The extensive five-year restoration and modernization of Montréal's Second Empire–style city hall was completed in 2024, at a price tag of C$211 million dollars. That's almost double the predicted cost, but it was worth it. During renovations of the interior, workers uncovered original moldings and plasterwork that had been hidden under more modern ceilings, as well as original wood and marble floors concealed by carpeting. Windows, doors, all made of wood, in addition to wrought iron grilles, light fixtures, bronzes, and stained glass windows were all restored to their original glory. As for the exterior, workers spent two and half years cleaning and repairing the facade, replacing some cornices and a hundred or so limestone stones, and polishing and replacing some parts of the copper roof. It's a place in which Montrealers can take pride.

The newly renovated city hall is brighter and more energy efficient, eco-friendly and user-friendly. It's also more welcoming and accessible. Visitors can view a permanent exhibition, art works and some areas previously closed to the public. A tour of the museum, including the permanent exhibition, is free.

The Assemblée Nationale du Québec, the sole French-speaking legislature in continental North America, convenes within the stately Second Empire–style building constructed between 1877 and 1886. If the Assembly is in session, try to secure a spot in the visitors' gallery to witness the spirited exchanges between the federalist-leaning Liberals and the secessionist Parti Quebecois. But even if a session isn't underway, the buildings themselves, designed by Québec architect Eugène-Étienne Taché, are well worth exploring. The façade is adorned with statues of pivotal figures in Québec history, including Cartier, Champlain, Frontenac, Wolfe, and Montcalm.

A 60-minute guided tour (offered in English or French) provides access to the President's Gallery, the Parlementaire restaurant, the Legislative Council Chamber, and the National Assembly Chamber. Keep in mind that tours may be restricted during legislative sessions. Additionally, outdoor tours of the gardens and statues are available during the summer months.

Kitty-corner to the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, this building has a five-story-high public atrium, regularly changing art exhibitions, and one of the city's more intriguing public art installations. Pendulum, by British Columbia artist Alan Storey, is a 90-foot-long hollow aluminum sculpture that arcs hypnotically overhead.