1180 Best Sights in Canada

This sandy beach, with its calm waters, playground, and shady picnic spots, is a summertime favorite among Victorian families. It’s just a few miles from Downtown in the very British Oak Bay neighborhood. Amenities: food and drink (summer kiosk); parking; toilets. Best for: swimming.

Besides the colonies of seabirds and pods of whales in late spring and early summer, this is an excellent place to see icebergs, which can remain in Newfoundland's waters into June and sometimes July. The loud crack as an iceberg breaks apart can be heard from shore, but a boat gets you a closer look at these natural ice sculptures. Icebergs have spawned a lucrative business in Newfoundland beyond tourism. Iceberg water and iceberg vodka are now on the market, made from ice chipped from the 10,000-year-old bergs as they float by.

The best views of birds and icebergs are from the tour boats that operate here and are the only way to visit the reserve. There is no public access to the islands themselves—only management staff and scientific researchers (with a permit) are allowed to land. If you're driving down from St. John's, allow about four hours: between 30 and 45 minutes each way for the drive, about 90 minutes for the boat trip, and a bit of time to spare.

About 30 minutes west of Downtown Victoria, this park has a sandy beach, forest trails, marshlands, and a large lagoon—and it's home to 160 species of birds. There's also a nature house that presents interpretive programs. Amenities: parking; toilets. Best for: solitude; walking.

Surrounded by a leafy, small park right next to the Château Frontenac, this 50-foot-tall obelisk pays tribute to both a winning (English) and a losing (French) general. More specifically, it marks the place where the British general James Wolfe and French marquis Louis-Joseph Montcalm died during the Battle of Québec in September 1759. Wolfe landed his troops about 3 km (2 miles) from the city's walls; 4,500 English soldiers scaled the cliff and began fighting on the Plains of Abraham. Wolfe was mortally wounded in battle and was carried behind the lines to this spot. Montcalm, who had been famous for winning four major battles in North America, was also fatally injured; he was carried into the walled city, where he died the next morning, essentially marking the end of the French regime in Québec City.

On the south side of the park is avenue Ste-Geneviève, lined with well-preserved Victorian houses dating from 1850 to 1900. Many have been converted to inns, B&Bs, and hotels.

This 3.1-km (2-mile) trail leads to Wonder Pass and the spectacular views that inspired the name. The trail begins at Assiniboine Lodge and goes past the Naiset Huts to Gog Lake. From there it climbs past a lovely waterfall to reach Wonder Pass, which lies between Wonder Peak and the Towers. Moderate.

This lighthouse by the ferry terminal contains exhibits on local history and marine lore—like the Burning Phantom Ship of Northumberland Strait and stories of the rumrunners—along with period room settings, a craft shop showcasing island artisans, and an interpretive center. There is, of course, a great view from the top of the tower.

The largest, and probably best-known, of all the area beaches spans 37½ acres along the coast of Lake Ontario. You'll find beachgoers of all ages swimming, sunbathing, picnicking, strolling the boardwalk, and playing volleyball on outdoor courts. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); showers; toilets. Best for: partiers; sunrise; swimming; walking.

With 20 slides, including one called the Sky Screamer, where sliders approach 37 mph, this is the world’s largest indoor water park and about as fun a way to spend an afternoon there is. There’s also a wave pool and a zipline, and plenty of milder slides and pools and fountains for the tykes, too. Admission includes free use of life jackets and swim diapers.

Clothing-optional Wreck Beach is in Pacific Spirit Regional Park, accessible via Trail 6—a winding staircase of 483 steps that's near the University of British Columbia campus. On sunny days, the beach is busy with locals and visitors, most of whom strip down to their birthday suits and enjoy the clean swimming waters. The welcoming sands also stretch around Point Grey to the north, where beach logs, wildlife, and WWII searchlight towers are some of the many reasons to explore further. Amenities: parking (for a fee) and toilets. Best for: its atmosphere, nudists, sunsets, and swimming.

Among rock cliffs and hoodoos alongside the Milk River, this park contains the largest concentration of native petroglyphs on the North American plains. Today a campground and restored Mountie outpost are here. You can explore the coulées (gullies) that provided cover for outlaws and illegal whiskey traders. Guided walks explore some of this history. The park is about 100 km (62 mi) southeast of Lethbridge.

One of the largest collections of ship paintings in Canada resides here, along with exhibits of household items, musical instruments (including rare mechanical pianos and music boxes), and other items that richly evoke centuries past. There's even a Norse runic stone dating back to Viking transatlantic explorations around AD 1000. The museum has a preservation wing and an archival research area, where local history and genealogy are documented. Next door is the Pelton-Fuller House, summer home of the original Fuller Brush Man, which is maintained and furnished much as the family left it. The museum offers guided tours of a third building in high season: the Killam Brothers Shipping Office. Located at 90 Water Street, it recalls a long-standing family business that was established here in 1788.

This long narrow lake was named for the nearby pass. It's 5.6 km (3.5 miles) long and sits at the foot of Yellowhead Mountain, a stunning 2,458-meter (8,060-foot) peak. The mountain has four officially named summits: Bingley Peak, Leather Peak, Lucerne Peak, and Tête Roche.

This trail leads to the base of Yellowhead Mountain and up to flower-filled meadows and views of the continental divide. You'll reach the first viewpoint at about the 1-km (0.6-mile) mark on the trail. You can return at that point or continue another 3 km (2 miles) up a steep trail on the side of the mountain to reach a meadow and more panoramic views. The elevation gain to the second viewpoint is 720 meters (2,060 feet). Moderate.

Yellowhead Pass is the lowest pass over the Continental Divide at 1,066 meters (3,500 feet). The low elevation made the pass the preferred route of travel for Indigenous people, fur traders, explorers, and railways. As you drive west from Jasper on the Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16), you'll see a roadside pullout 9 km (5½ miles) west of Jasper with a small plaque commemorating this historic travel corridor. The name "Yellowhead" was the nickname of a fair-haired Métis-Iroquois-freeman named Pierre Bostonais or "Tête Jaune" who was active in this area in the early 1800s.

The park's only visitor center is located in Field and is only available seasonally (May until mid-October). At the center, you can obtain information brochures, permits, and backcountry reservations, and get updates on weather, trail, and road conditions. The visitor center shares a building with the Friends of Yoho National Park Society (an organization that promotes appreciation, understanding, and stewardship of the ecology and culture of Yoho National Park) and there is also a small-scale exhibit of a train passing through the Spiral Tunnels and Burgess Shale fossil interpretive panels.

Hands down, this is the most scenic route in the whole park. After initially passing the Monarch and Kicking Horse campgrounds and the Meeting of the Waters viewpoint (where the Kicking Horse and Yoho Rivers meet), the 13.7-km (8.5-mile) road climbs up through a deep valley with impressive views of snow-covered mountain peaks, glaciers, waterfalls, and rivers. The road ends at the parking lot of the spectacular Takakkaw Falls, the second-highest waterfall in Canada. Note that the winding road has a couple of sharp, hairpin switchbacks that can be very difficult for larger RVs to navigate, and the road is open seasonally from late June to mid-October, weather permitting.

The story of the Yukon during the last ice age comes alive at this center near the Whitehorse Airport. Beringia is the name given to the large subcontinental landmasses of eastern Siberia and Interior Alaska and the Yukon, which stayed ice-free and were linked by the Bering Land Bridge during the latest ice age. The area that is now Whitehorse wasn't actually part of this—it was glaciated—but lands farther north, among them what is present-day Dawson City, were in the thick of it, and miners are still turning up mammoth bones. Large dioramas depict the lives of animals in Ice Age Beringia, and there are skeleton replicas and genuine artifacts. A 26,000-year-old horsehide reveals that horses weren't as big back then as they are now.

The lobby of the Government of Yukon Main Administration Building displays selections from the Yukon Permanent Art Collection, featuring traditional and contemporary works by Yukon artists. The space also includes a 24-panel stained-glass mural by artist David MacLagan depicting the historical evolution of the Yukon. In addition to the collection on the premises, the brochure Art Adventures on Yukon Time, available at visitor centers throughout the Yukon, guides you to artists' studios as well as galleries, festivals, and public art locations.

This museum takes a fascinating look at the planes, trains, trucks, and snowmachines that opened up the north. Even if big machines don't interest you, this is a cool place to learn about the innovations and adaptations that transport in the north has inspired. A mounted DC-3 cargo plane, said to be the world's largest weathervane, greets visitors in front of the museum.

The preserve provides a fail-safe way to photograph sometimes hard-to-spot animals in a natural setting. Animals roaming freely here include moose, elk, caribou, mountain goats, musk oxen, bison, mule deer, and Dall and Stone sheep. Bus tours take place throughout the day, and self-guided walking maps are available.

A local favorite is Zanatta Winery (formerly Vigneti Zanatta), Vancouver Island's first estate winery which produces lovely Ortega, Pinot Grigio, and Damasco entirely from grapes grown on its own 25 acres. If you can, time your visit for an Italian-style lunch on the veranda at Vinoteca, a restaurant and wine bar in the winery's 1903 farmhouse.

Ancient Indigenous pictographs are a highlight of this 9.4-km (5.8-mile) round-trip hike. The trail follows Painted Creek to the narrows where you can see pictographs left by the Kootenai People some 400 years ago. It's a fairly easy hike with a 195-meter (640-foot) elevation gain, but you do have to wade across the Highwood River. After you cross the river, turn right on an old logging road. The trail will cross Zephyr Creek twice before you reach the pictographs. NOTE: This trail starts with a river crossing; waterproof shoes and poles are suggested. Moderate.

Antiques shops cluster around rues St-Pierre and St-Paul, the latter once part of a business district packed with warehouses, stores, and businesses. After World War I, shipping and commercial activities plummeted, and the low rents attracted antiques dealers. Today their shops, together with numerous cafés, restaurants, boutique hotels, and art galleries, have made this one of the town's more popular areas.

This boutique, run by the Conseil des métiers d'art, a coordinating body that oversees all kinds of arts and crafts disciplines and organizes annual fairs, features the best from Québec in glass art, porcelain, jewelry, woodworking, and much more, most with a stylish, contemporary feel.

You may wish to stop at Bow Lake for the regional Canadian cuisine at Simpson's Num-Ti-Jah Lodge at Bow Lake, but you don't have to dine or stay here to enjoy the trails and views of the lake and Crowfoot Glacier. A trail leads from the bottom of the parking lot to the base of Bow Glacier Falls, where you can feel the spray, hear the roar of the falls, and witness the birth of a river. The Bow River is part of western Canada's largest watershed. The hike is about 4 km (2½ miles) one-way and takes from 1½ to 3 hours to complete depending on how many photos you take.

About 25 km (15 miles) southeast of Banff, Canmore became a modest boomtown with the 1988 Olympic Games. Many of its residents feel that the commute to Calgary for work is a fair trade-off for living in the mountains. For tourists, Canmore makes a good base for exploring Kananaskis Country and Banff National Park.

Just 45 km (28 miles) east of Waterton, Cardston is home to the Alberta Temple, built by the Mormon pioneers who established the town. The Remington Carriage Museum contains North America's largest collection of horse-drawn vehicles. The Carriage House Theatre (www.carriagehousetheatre.com) presents entertaining live theatrical performances on most summer evenings.

In early June you can join the glitterati of Europe and America in the grandstand to watch million-dollar Formula 1 cars shriek around the 4.3-km (2.7-mile) track—if you're lucky enough and rich enough to get a ticket, that is. This is the kind of crowd that uses Perrier to mop up caviar stains from the refreshment tables. During the off season, the track is accessible to everyone. Locals spend sunny summer weekends cycling, rollerblading, and taking walks around this world-famous circuit.

The 3-million-square-foot Eaton Centre shopping mall has been both praised and vilified since it was built in the 1970s, but it remains incredibly popular. From the graceful glass roof, arching 127 feet above the lowest of the mall levels, to artist Michael Snow's exquisite flock of fiberglass Canada geese floating poetically in open space, there's plenty to appreciate.

Such a wide selection of shops and eateries can be confusing, so here's a simple guide: Galleria Level 1 contains two food courts; popularly priced fashions; photo, electronics, and music stores; and much "convenience" merchandise. Level 2 is directed to the middle-income shopper; Level 3, suitably, has the highest fashion and prices. Named for the store (Eaton's) that once anchored it, its biggest tenants are now Sears and H&M. The southern end of Level 3 has a skywalk that connects the Centre to the seven floors of the Bay (formerly Simpsons) department store, across Queen Street.

Safe parking garages with spaces for some 1,800 cars are sprinkled around Eaton Centre. The building extends along the west side of Yonge Street all the way from Queen Street up to Dundas Street (with a subway stop at each end).