1180 Best Sights in Canada

It's all about the Pinot Noir at this estate winery. Even the rosé is 100% Pinot Noir. In the tasting room, take the Pinot glass test to learn why the shape of the glass makes a difference to where you taste the wine on your palate (mid-palate being ideal for the delicate nature of Pinot). Try the Charme de L'Ile and Prevost Foch Cab before heading out to the patio overlooking the ocean with your favorite bottle and something off their snack menu or your own picnic. This is the perfect place to start or end a trip through the Cowichan Valley.

Just minutes from Old Québec, Baie de Beauport offers a vibrant escape on the St. Lawrence River, also easily accessible by car via the Corridor du Littoral waterfront bike path. Its expansive sandy beach is perfect for sunbathing, enjoying stunning city views, and a variety of water sports, including kayak, canoe, and stand-up paddle. On land, visitors can enjoy volleyball and an outdoor climbing wall. Food is readily available on site, including a lively beach bar. The summer buzz peaks with La Cigale festival in early August. This multi-day, California-vibe beach festival hosts not only the best of Québec musicians but also a slew of indie international acts like Half Moon Run and Foster the People, making it especially appealing to English speakers.

Built in 1874, this is one of the few water-powered mills still operating in Nova Scotia, now serving as the centerpiece of a small museum. You can observe milling demonstrations and walk the site's 1-km (½-mile) trail.

Located along the Bow River inside the town of Banff, this scenic park has picnic tables, a gazebo, restrooms, and a natural playground for children. A paved footpath winds alongside the river.

Views during the steep eight-minute ride to and from the 7,500-foot summit of Sulphur Mountain are spectacular in the enclosed four-person gondolas. From the upper terminal, you can hike the short distance to the mountain's true summit on the South East Ridge Trail, perhaps catching sight of grazing bighorn sheep. You can also visit the gift shop, enjoy a quick bite at the café, or indulge in a gourmet lunch or dinner at the Sky Bistro. Be sure to walk the easy 1-km (0.6-mile) boardwalk to the Sulphur Mountain Weather Observatory on Sanson's Peak for excellent views and to break away from the crowds. The gondola is south of the center of Banff; you can catch a Roam public transit bus to get here. Riding the gondola is a very popular activity—go early or late to avoid crowds.

A remarkable 1903 building made chiefly of Douglas-fir logs houses one of western Canada’s oldest natural history museums. From bees to bears, the collection, whose origins date to Chicago's fabled World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, encompasses more than 5,000 historical botanical and zoological specimens, many of them quite striking. In addition to providing the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of Banff's largest mammals—a grizzly bear, bison, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep among them—this unique museum offers a window into past generations' priorities regarding the natural world.

Discovered in 1884, Banff's hot, natural mineral springs were the impetus for the development of Canada's first national park. Early Banff visitors came primarily to experience the "healing waters"—something you can still do today at the popular Banff Upper Hot Springs pools. The waters at the facility, which is child-friendly during the day (think family swimming pool rather than couples' hot-tub vibe), are especially inviting on a dull, cold day or when it's snowing, and the views of the mountains are spectacular. You can rent lockers, bathing suits (circa 1920s or modern), and towels. Although the recommended limit for a soak is 20 minutes, you'll likely want to stay an hour or two. It's a short uphill walk from the parking lot to the springs.

Parks Canada and Banff & Lake Louise Tourism run this center jointly. On one side of the building, Parks Canada staffers dispense excellent advice about camping, hiking, interpretive programs, and sightseeing. On the other side, BLLT counselors ( www.banfflakelouise.com) provide information about restaurants, tour operators, and accommodations. In spring, stop by to find out which hiking trails are open—many remain closed into May due to avalanche risk.

The ancestors of the credit card are all here: bracelets made from elephant hair, cowrie shells, whales' teeth, and what is believed to be the world's largest coin (measuring 6½ feet tall and weighing 3 tons). Here, too, is the country's most complete collection of Canadian notes and coins.

This pocket-size park is pleasant enough during the day, but at night it comes alive with strings of rainbow-color lights that symbolize the LGBTQIA+ community. There's a mural of gay history on an adjacent building, and tucked away in one corner is the Toronto AIDS Memorial.

Fourteen massive buttresses and 13 gigantic arches line the 702-foot-tall, 4,311-foot-long dam on Manicouagan River. Built between 1959 and 1970, this multiple arch-and-buttress dam is the largest in the world has been a tourist attraction since shortly after construction began. Previously named Manic-5, it contains enough concrete to build a sidewalk from the North Pole to the South Pole. Stand at the foot of the dam or walk the crest. A two-hour guided tour, for ages 18 and older (photo ID required), journeys deep into the belly of operations; email for a reservation.

Picnic tables, indoor toilets, a boat launch, a visitor center, free Wi-Fi access, and lovely views are the draws at this day-use area in Kananaskis Country.

François de Laval, the first bishop of New France and founder of Canada's Catholic Church, once ruled a diocese that stretched to the Gulf of Mexico. Videos and pictures astutely illustrate his life throughout the visit.

Laval's original cathedral burned down and has been rebuilt several times, but the current basilica still has a chancel lamp that was a gift from Louis XIV, the Sun King. The church's interior includes a canopy dais over the Episcopal throne, a ceiling of painted clouds decorated with gold leaf, and richly colored stained-glass windows. A "holy door" was added to the church in 2014. The large crypt was Québec City's first cemetery; more than 900 bodies are interred here, including, perhaps, Samuel de Champlain's; archaeologists have been searching for his tomb since 1950. Guided tours of the cathedral and crypt are available (by appointment only).

Overlooking the Northumberland Strait, this small museum depicts the ever-changing nature of PEI's inshore and offshore fishing industry through artifacts, exhibits, and dioramas. Exploring alongside one of the local guides is highly recommended as their stories bring the history of this region to life. 

This park, 13 km (8 miles) east of Souris, is noted for an expanse of exquisite silvery sand that's backed by grassy dunes. The beach (accessible via a boardwalk and supervised in peak months) is well worth visiting, and not only because it's one of the Island's most beautiful. If you scuff your feet in the sand here, you can hear it squeak and squawk. The so-called singing sand is a rare phenomenon produced by the sand's high silica content. For visitors with mobility issues a floating wheelchair is available when conditions are safe.

Created by Sonja Bata, wife of the founder of the Bata Shoe Company, this museum holds a permanent collection of more than 15,000 foot coverings and, through the changing fashions, highlights the craft and sociology of making shoes. Some items date back more than 4,500 years. Among the items that may pop up in the rotating exhibits are delicate 16th-century velvet platforms, iron-spiked clogs used for crushing chestnuts, 8-inch lime green Vivienne Westwood heels, Elton John's platform boots, and Elvis Presley's blue (patent leather, not suede) shoes.

This tiny fishing village perches precariously at the base of steep cliffs between Signal Hill and St. John's Harbour. Narrow lanes snake around the houses, so it's a good place to get out of the car and walk. A public access to the North Head walking trail that winds around Signal Hill crosses the doorstep of a private home in the Battery!

The region's only surviving example of a 19th-century tavern, this clapboard building originally opened to serve early visitors to the battleground of the War of 1812. There are displays of the lives of settlers during the war, native artifacts, and military attire.

During the school year, the Bauer is home to Theatre Antigonish, a nonprofit community company that presents classic and contemporary works. Its Green Room Lounge features improv comedy on certain Saturday nights, with admission by donation. Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre and Theatre Antigonish are both housed within the Bauer Theatre on the STFX campus. Throughout the summer, the stage comes alive with professional productions, and fall and winter feature community and students on stage in large-scale, professionally led plays and musicals.

Inside the BC Place Stadium complex, this museum celebrates the province's sports achievers in a series of historical displays. One gallery commemorates the 2010 Winter Olympics that were held in Vancouver; another honors the province's aboriginal athletes. You can test your sprinting, climbing, and throwing abilities in the high-tech participation gallery. As you leave the museum, the Terry Fox Memorial is to your left. Created by artist Douglas Coupland, this series of four statues, each larger than the next, was built in honor of Terry Fox (1958–81), a local student whose cross-Canada run—after he lost his leg to cancer—raised millions of dollars for cancer research. Although Fox succumbed to the disease before he could complete his "Marathon of Hope," a memorial fund-raising run is now held annually in cities across Canada and around the world.

Designed by W.C. "Willy" Harris in 1877 for shipbuilder James Peake Jr., this gracious mansion near the entrance to Victoria Park is one of the Island's finest historic homes. The 11 furnished rooms have rich architectural details and accents—little wonder the once-wealthy Peake went bankrupt soon after his house was completed. Having taken a tour of the first and second floors, pause to enjoy a view of Charlottetown Harbour from the veranda. An on-site bookstore has a variety of Island publications, and special events (such as musical performances and history-themed lectures) are held year-round. A carriage house on the grounds also hosts a Celtic music and dance show on Tuesday evening (for an additional charge).

This steep, 2.8-km (1.4-mile) trail climbs to an overlook with a great view of Upper Waterton Lake and the townsite. Moderate.

If you can imagine a vast underground library, but instead of books, the stacks are filled with bones, fossils, and preserved lizards, then you can begin to imagine this modern museum on the UBC campus that exhibits more than 2 million specimens from the university’s natural history collections. The most striking attraction hangs in the entrance atrium: a 25-meter-long (82-foot-long) skeleton of a blue whale—the largest on view in Canada (the blue whale in New York’s American Museum of Natural History is 94 feet long). On the lower level, you’ll find animal skulls, taxidermied birds, and other creatures displayed through glass windows (many of which are at kids’ eye level). In the interactive Discovery Lab, you can play scientist yourself. You might compare the claws of different birds or examine animal poop under a microscope. There’s also a family space stocked with books, art supplies, and kid-size furniture. To find the museum from the university bus loop, walk west to the Main Mall and turn left; the museum is just south of University Boulevard. If you’re planning to visit several attractions at UBC, an Attractions Pass will save you money.

Formerly a thriving shipbuilding center, this is one of Miramichi's most interesting outdoor spots. Start at the museum-style interpretive center, with interactive audiovisual displays. A short boat trip will then take you to the island to see two historic sites, staffed by characters who love to share their colorful island stories and adventures. 

This short and relatively easy hike features a narrow canyon with eight waterfalls---the largest of which is Stanley Falls. The trailhead is not well marked. Look for a highway pullout 2 km (1 mile) south of Beauty Creek Hostel where two large culverts divert water under the highway. The return hike is about 4 km (2½ miles) and has an elevation gain of about 140 meters (460 feet). The views are fantastic, but there are no safety barriers. Be careful to stay back from the canyon edge and keep a tight hold on children, so they do not fall in. Easy.

This unique wooden boardwalk winds through wetlands and a beaver pond and is said to be the longest freshwater boardwalk in the world. Along its 3-km (2-mile) length you'll find interpretive signage, benches, and two observation towers. The boardwalk is part of a longer trail system that winds through natural areas in the town.