1182 Best Sights in Canada

Located at the junction of the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93) and Highway 11, this is the only place that offers basic services (gas, convenience store, restaurant, and lodgings) between the hamlet of Lake Louise and the town of Jasper.

Explore ancient caves, hike along craggy hilltop trails, get a thrill on zipline rides, or brave the suspension footbridge—25 meters (82 feet) above the ground with amazing views of the bay 300 meters (985 feet) below. Hiking boots or sneakers are required.

Under a gigantic, shiny dome on the False Creek waterfront, this hands-on science center encourages children to participate in interactive exhibits and demonstrations about the natural world, the human body, and other science topics. Exhibits change throughout the year, so there's always something new to see. Adjacent to the museum, and included in the admission, the Ken Spencer Science Park is an outdoor exhibit area focusing on environmental issues. Science World is an easy walk (or mini-ferry ride) from Yaletown or a short walk from the Olympic Village; the Main Street-Science World SkyTrain station is across the street. Limited paid parking is available.

Behind imposing iron gates, nestled beside the Notre-Dame de Québec Cathedral, stands a tranquil courtyard. It's encircled by austere stone buildings and soaring steeples that have continuously served as classrooms and student residences since 1663. This is the Québec Seminary, founded by François de Montmorency Laval, New France's first bishop, with the vital mission of training priests for the burgeoning colony. Remarkably, in 1852, this very institution gave rise to Université Laval, establishing itself as the first francophone university in North America.

Today priests still live on the premises, and Québec City's architecture school occupies part of the building. The small Second Empire–style Chapelle Extérieure, at the west entrance of the seminary, was built in 1888 after fire destroyed the 1750 original; its interior is patterned after that of the Église de la Trinité in Paris.

A simulated ride underwater in a deep-sea elevator is just the beginning of a visit to this fun and educational marine interpretive center. Devoted entirely to the aquatic life and conservation needs of the Salish Sea—the waters south and east of Vancouver Island—the small but modern center displays local sea life, including luminous jellyfish, bright purple sea stars, wolf eels, rockfish, and octopi.

On Shelburne's historic waterfront, big-ticket attractions include three properties operated by the Shelburne Historical Society. The Ross-Thomson House and Store is reputedly the oldest surviving (and from the looks of it, best stocked) general store in North America, restored to its 1820s appearance. Shelburne once had a thriving boatbuilding industry turning out the traditional dories that were the mainstay of the fishing fleet. At the former waterfront workshop that houses the J.C. Williams Dory Shop, you can watch artisans craft new ones using old-fashioned techniques. Rounding out the trio, the Shelburne County Museum provides an overview of area history. There are tours of the historic district and a lively program of events and activities for all ages.

The three main areas of this freshwater preserve—Germantown Marsh, Mary's Point, and New Horton—comprise an important habitat for species, including the American bittern, sora, and pied-billed grebe, and are also a staging point for tens of thousands of migrating shorebirds, such as American black duck, green- and blue-winged teal, and ring-necked duck. Most notable, perhaps, is the fact that 98% of the world population of sandpipers stop to feed on the mud shrimp in the Bay of Fundy on their way south. The mammal population includes moose, bobcats, white-tailed deer, coyotes, otters, and mink. The shoreline at Mary's Point—a Ramsar-designated conservation site—offers spectacular sightings during the peak season from July 20 through mid-August and also has an interpretation center. Shepody is a great place for hiking, and at Mary's Point you can follow the shoreline and stroll through forests for land-bird sightings, which include bald eagles and peregrine falcons. The area, now a bird sanctuary and interpretive center, is near Riverside-Albert.

Most visitors come to Sherbrooke to see this living-history museum, set within the contemporary town. It contains more than two dozen restored buildings (including an operating water-powered sawmill) that re-create life during the town's heyday. Between 1860 and 1914, this was a prime shipbuilding, lumbering, and gold-rush center. These days, costumed interpreters and artisans recapture the bustle by demonstrating blacksmithing, weaving, wood turning, soap making, and similar skills. Special events, such as old-fashioned Christmas and courthouse concerts, are held throughout the year.

Topping the list of irresistibly cheesy amusements operating seasonally along the Route 6 tourist corridor, Shining Waters Family Fun Park is aimed at younger children, with a waterpark with pools and slides, a kiddy splash pool, pirate pedal boats, petting zoo, and small-scale rides. Weekly and season passes, and multiattraction passes, are available.

North Vancouver's historic dry docks have been reimagined as a vibrant waterfront public space, including restaurants, cafés, a hip pub, a boutique hotel, and even a kids' water park reconfigured as an ice rink in winter. Just steps from Lonsdale Quay on the North Vancouver waterfront, the Shipyards are easy to reach by SeaBus. On Friday nights from May through September, more than 120 vendors, a wealth of food trucks, and a beer garden set up shop outdoors for the Shipyards Night Market. The Shipyards are also home to the photo-centric Polygon Gallery.

In summer, a passenger ferry makes the half-hour trip several times a day to this long stretch of beach on Sidney Island, part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. Hiking trails and picnic sites make for a pleasant day on the island.

Siffleur Falls is one of the most popular trails in Bighorn Country. The relatively easy 8-km (5-mile) round-trip hike will take you across a suspension bridge, a boardwalk, and along a deep gorge with several viewing points before you reach beautiful Siffleur Falls. The trail is wide and relatively easy with only about 100 meters (328 feet) of elevation gain. It's a good hike for families, but it cannot accommodate strollers or wheelchairs. Ambitious hikers can continue on past the first falls to see two more waterfalls at 6.2 km (3.9 miles) and 6.9 km (4.3 miles) one-way. This trail can be busy in summer. Easy.

The memorial marks the spot where, on December 12, 1985, an Arrow Air DC-8 carrying the 101st Airborne Division home for Christmas crashed, killing 256 American soldiers and civilian flight crew. The site lies just off the highway on a rough gravel road, but it's a must-see. The setting, a clearing in the woods overlooking the grandeur of Gander Lake, is peaceful and moving, and the memorial sculpture, of a boy and girl holding the hands of a peacekeeper, is poignantly rendered.

This 17.6-km (11-mile) return trail has an elevation gain of only 135 meters (443 feet), but it's still rated as difficult, with many up and down sections. There are interpretive panels along the first part of the trail educating you about the regeneration of this forest via lightning and wildfire, which is very evident in the burned forest around you for most of the trail. Ultimately you will arrive at a three-valley river confluence. Difficult.

This lovely trail system follows a 2-km (1-mile) loop, crossing Sinclair Creek with two footbridges. Interpretive signs educate users on the environment and history of the area. There are picnic tables by the lower parking lot, and benches along the trail provide good rest stops to enjoy the scenery.

Vancouver architect Richard Henriquez knitted four buildings together into Sinclair Centre, an office-retail complex that takes up an entire city block between Cordova and Hastings, and Howe and Granville Streets. Inside are a handful of specialty retailers, federal government offices, and services including UPS and a multilingual travel agency. The two Hastings Street buildings—the 1910 Post Office, which has an elegant clock tower, and the 1911 Winch Building—are linked with the 1937 Post Office Extension and the 1913 Customs Examining Warehouse to the north. As part of a meticulous restoration in the mid-1980s, the post office facade was moved to the Granville Street side of the complex. The original clockwork from the old clock tower is on display inside (on the upper level of the arcade).

The Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home is where the writer lived with her maternal grandparents after the untimely death of her mother. Though the foundation of the house where Montgomery wrote Anne of Green Gables is all that remains, the homestead's fields and old apple-tree gardens are lovely. A bookstore and small museum are also on the property, which is operated by descendants of the family and, together with neighbouring Green Gables, is a National Historic Site of Canada.

According to a local First Nations legend, this 50-foot-high offshore promontory is a monument to a man who was turned into stone as a reward for his unselfishness. The rock is visible from the seawall. If you're driving, you need to park, and take a short path through the woods.

This picnic area sits beside the Maligne River near where it flows into the Athabasca River. There are no shelters, but it's a favorite with locals because of the scenic location. The Sixth Bridge is part of the Maligne Canyon hike; the hike from the Sixth Bridge to the First Bridge and the trailhead is 3.7 km (2.3 miles) one way.

About 9,000 people a year come to hike this historic footpath, a cliff walk with panoramic vistas of Trinity and the ocean. On the trail, you'll see sandy beaches, sea stacks (giant protruding rocks that have slowly eroded over time), seabirds, and, in season, whales, icebergs, and bald eagles. The 5.3-km (3¼-mile) loop trail, which begins in Port Rexton, is not for the faint of heart. It takes about two hours and can be steep in places. There are benches along the way.

The most popular backpacking route in Jasper meanders at or above the tree line for 44 km (27 miles) past some of the park's best scenery. Reservations are essential for backcountry campgrounds along the way and they book up quickly. It is the highest trail in Jasper National Park, and weather can be unpredictable at this elevation, so plan accordingly. During poor weather, the 15-km (9-mile) Wabasso Trail can be used as an escape route. Most hikers take 2–3 days to hike this trail. There are two main trailheads—Maligne Trailhead (south) and Signal Trailhead (north). The most popular direction to hike the Skyline Trail is from south to north, since you lose more elevation than you gain. Difficult.

Rising 775 feet above the falls, this is the best view of the great Niagara Gorge and the entire city. The indoor--outdoor observation deck has visibility up to 130 km (80 miles) on a clear day. Other reasons to visit include amusements for children, a buffet restaurant, a revolving dining room, and a 3D theater that lets you experience the falls up close.  Admission is free if you eat a meal in the dining room.

The Smith-Dorrien/Spray Trail (Highway 742) connects the Town of Canmore with Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and is the only road through Spray Valley Provincial Park. On the Canmore end, it is also known as Spray Lakes Road. Though this 60-km (37-mile) unpaved road is featured on a dangerous roads website, you don't need a special kind of vehicle to traverse it. The road is dusty in summer and there are potholes, but the views are lovely, especially those of Mount Assiniboine, which is the highest peak in the Southern Continental Ranges of the Canadian Rockies. The pyramidal-shaped mountain has sometimes been called the "Matterhorn of the Rockies." The road's highest point is the Smith-Dorrien Pass, at 1,905 meters (6,250 feet) above sea level.

One of the last authentic steam trains still in operation in North America plies its way through the scenic Gatineau Hills from the city of Gatineau (formerly Hull) to the town of Wakefield. As you're pulled along by a locomotive built in 1907, the conductor describes the sites and strolling musicians provide entertainment. Once in Wakefield you have two hours to visit the town, dine in one of the restaurants, and watch the train being turned around manually for the return trip. The Sunset Dinner Train serves a four- or five-course meal featuring French cuisine. During fall foliage season, you travel through a world of marvelous colors.

The part of Spadina Avenue (pronounced spa-dye-nah) that runs through Chinatown, from Dundas Street to Queen Street, has never been chic. For decades it has housed a collection of inexpensive stores, import-export wholesalers, ethnic food stores, and eateries, including some first-class, plastic-tablecloth Chinese restaurants. Each new wave of immigrants—Jewish, Chinese, Portuguese, East and West Indian, South American—has added its own flavor to the mix. While changes in the neighborhood are heralded by modern bubble-tea shops and traditional northern and southern Chinese cuisine expanding past Cantonese mainstays, the basic bill of fare is still bargains galore: yards of remnants piled high in bins, designer clothes minus the labels, and the occasional rock-and-roll nightspot or late-night greasy spoon. A streetcar line runs down the wide avenue to Front Street.

The Spanish Banks and Locarno Beaches form a sandy chain, and feature huge expanses of sunbathing sand backed by wide lawns full of picnic tables. There are also volleyball courts. The shallow water, warmed slightly by sun and sand, is good for swimming. Farther west along the coastline, toward the Spanish Banks Extension, the scene becomes less crowded. Spanish Banks West and Locarno Beaches are designated "quiet beaches," which means that amplified music is prohibited. Amenities: food and drink, lifeguards, parking (for a fee), toilets, and water sports. Best for: its atmosphere, sunsets, swimming, walking, and windsurfing.