--- title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Canada (City Guides) | Wimup" description: "Browse Wimup's Top 10 guides across Canada, city by city, mapped and filmed. When to go, how to get around, and which region to pick first." url: https://wimup.com/country/canada type: Country guide updated: 2026-10-22 publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com) --- # Top 10s across Canada The **second largest country** on Earth, with most of its people living within a couple of hours of the American border and almost everything else left to forest, tundra and water. **Canada** is a country you visit one region at a time. ## Quick answer Pick one region and do it properly. **Banff and the Rockies** out of Calgary is the scenery trip, **Québec City and Montréal** the one that feels furthest from home, and the **Atlantic coast** the one people come back raving about. **Vancouver** is the easiest first landing, with Victoria and the Okanagan within a day of it. Summer runs **June to September**, and the mountains have a second season on snow. ## Quick facts - **Best months:** Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep - **Ideal length:** 10–14 days - **Budget per day:** C$140–300 - **Language:** English and French - **Getting around:** Domestic flights & road trips - **7** City guides - **36,991,981** People - **4** Video guides - **13** Provinces & territories Canada travels as five or six trips that happen to share a passport. The Atlantic provinces are the oldest and the smallest, built around fishing ports and the Cabot Trail. Quebec and Ontario carry the population, the two big cities and the Laurentians. The Prairies run flat and fast through Winnipeg and Saskatoon into Alberta, where the Rockies start and Banff and Jasper take over the itinerary. British Columbia holds the Pacific coast, Vancouver Island and the Okanagan wine valley on the dry side of the mountains. North of all of it, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are a separate kind of trip entirely, reached by air and measured in daylight rather than distance. Domestic flights link the regions in hours, VIA Rail takes days, and the drive is a summer in itself. ## 7 Canada city guides 1. [Kelowna](https://wimup.com/city/kelowna.md): North America · 10 picks 2. [St. John's](https://wimup.com/city/st-johns.md): North America · 10 picks 3. [Charlottetown](https://wimup.com/city/charlottetown.md): North America · 10 picks 4. [Toronto](https://wimup.com/city/toronto.md): North America · 10 picks 5. [Vancouver](https://wimup.com/city/vancouver.md): North America · 10 picks 6. [Montréal](https://wimup.com/city/montreal.md): North America · 10 picks 7. [Whistler](https://wimup.com/city/whistler.md): North America · 10 picks ## Know before you go - **Population:** 36,991,981 - **Area:** 8,788,703 km² - **Density:** 4.2 / km² - **Capital:** Ottawa - **Major cities:** Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton - **Tourism board:** Official site - **Currency:** Canadian dollar (C$) - **Language:** English and French Both are official federally. English carries most of the country, French carries Québec, and New Brunswick is bilingual. Dozens of Indigenous languages survive, and the country's name comes from one. - **Calling code:** +1 - **Power:** 120V · Type A/B - **Emergency:** 911 - **Visa:** eTA for visa-exempt fliers Visa-exempt travellers flying in need an Electronic Travel Authorization, linked to the passport and valid up to five years. US citizens and arrivals by land or sea are exempt. Confirm with IRCC. - **Getting around:** Domestic flights & road trips Distance is the constraint. Toronto to Vancouver is over four hours in the air and four days on the train, so pick one region and drive it. VIA Rail is a journey in itself and saves no time. - **Driving:** On the right Right-hand traffic and long empty stretches. Québec requires winter tyres on its registered vehicles, rentals included, from 1 December to 15 March. BC and Alberta mountain roads set their own rules. - **National parks:** Discovery Pass Parks Canada charges admission at most of its parks and historic sites. The annual Discovery Pass covers more than 80 of them for a calendar year, which pays for itself quickly on a Rockies trip. - **Time zones:** Six Newfoundland, Atlantic, Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific. Newfoundland runs half an hour off the rest, which catches out anyone booking a connection through St. John's. - **Tipping:** 15–20% expected Table service, bars and taxis all expect a tip, and card terminals will suggest one. Sales tax is added at the till and missing from the shelf price, so the tag is not what you pay. ## When to visit - **Jan** (good) - **Feb** (good) - **Mar** (good) - **Apr** - **May** (good) - **Jun** (best) - **Jul** (peak) - **Aug** (peak) - **Sep** (best) - **Oct** (good) - **Nov** - **Dec** (good) ## Fun fact Canada has the longest coastline of any country, about 243,000 kilometres of it once the Arctic islands are counted, which is roughly a sixth of the world total. ## Stereotypes, sorted out - **Myth:** It is cold all year **Reality:** Toronto and Montréal run hot and humid in July, the Okanagan is desert country, and southern Ontario grows wine. The cold is real, seasonal and concentrated in the months most visitors skip. - **Myth:** It is basically the United States with better manners **Reality:** Two official languages, a different founding story, publicly funded health care and a legal system that carries Indigenous title. Québec alone reads as a separate country to most first-time visitors. - **Myth:** You can see it in two weeks **Reality:** Canada is wider than the Atlantic is across. Two weeks buys one region done well. Vancouver to Halifax is a longer flight than London to New York. - **Myth:** Everyone is unfailingly polite **Reality:** Canadians are direct about queues, hockey and their own politics. The apology reflex is real, and it is often a way of getting past you, with no apology in it. - A land acknowledgement opens many public events. It is a courtesy with a legal history behind it, not a formality to sit out. - Open in French in Québec, even badly. The switch to English usually comes from the other side, and it comes faster once you have tried. - Prices on shelves exclude sales tax and tips are expected on top, so the final number is always higher than the label. - Queue discipline is taken seriously, at the bus stop and at the bar alike. - Take your shoes off inside a house. In winter this is not politeness, it is drainage. - Do not treat Indigenous communities and their art as scenery. Ask before photographing people, and buy direct from the artists. ## Famous Canadian faces - **Terry Fox**: Ran the Marathon of Hope across Canada on one leg to fund cancer research - **Wayne Gretzky**: Hockey's all-time leading scorer, and still the record by a distance - **Margaret Atwood**: Novelist of The Handmaid's Tale and twice a Booker Prize winner - **Leonard Cohen**: Montréal poet and songwriter behind Hallelujah and Suzanne - **Céline Dion**: The best-selling French-language recording artist in history, from Charlemagne, Québec - **Frederick Banting**: Shared the 1923 Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin - **Chris Hadfield**: Astronaut who commanded the International Space Station and sang from it - **Viola Desmond**: Challenged cinema segregation in Nova Scotia in 1946, and now fronts the ten dollar note - **Sidney Crosby**: Captain, Stanley Cups, and the golden goal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics - **Hayley Wickenheiser**: The most decorated player in women's hockey, with four Olympic golds - **Donovan Bailey**: Olympic 100m champion and world record holder in 1996 - **Steve Nash**: Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, raised in Victoria - **Maurice Richard**: The Rocket, first to score 50 goals in 50 games for the Canadiens - **Bianca Andreescu**: First Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title, at the 2019 US Open - **Denis Villeneuve**: Québec director of Arrival, Blade Runner 2049 and Dune - **James Cameron**: Director of Titanic and Avatar, from Kapuskasing, Ontario - **Sandra Oh**: Actor of Killing Eve and Grey's Anatomy, from Nepean - **Ryan Gosling**: Actor and producer, out of London, Ontario - **Mary Pickford**: Silent film star from Toronto who co-founded United Artists - **Xavier Dolan**: Montréal writer-director who was making features before he was 21 - **Joni Mitchell**: Songwriter of Blue, and one of the most covered writers alive - **Neil Young**: Songwriter and guitarist, from Toronto by way of Winnipeg - **Glenn Gould**: Pianist whose Goldberg Variations changed how Bach is played - **Oscar Peterson**: Montréal jazz pianist, and one of the great technicians of the instrument - **Shania Twain**: Northern Ontario singer behind the best-selling country album by a woman - **Drake**: Toronto rapper who made his city's name a global shorthand - **Roberta Bondar**: Neurologist and the first Canadian woman in space - **Charles Best**: Co-discovered insulin with Banting, as a 22 year old student - **Donna Strickland**: Shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics for chirped pulse amplification - **John Polanyi**: Shared the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for reaction dynamics - **Ursula Franklin**: Metallurgist and pacifist whose work on fallout helped end atmospheric nuclear testing - **Emily Carr**: Painter of the British Columbia forest and the coastal villages within it - **Tom Thomson**: Painter of Algonquin Park, and the reason the Group of Seven exists - **Kenojuak Ashevak**: Inuit graphic artist from Kinngait, and the country's best known printmaker - **Bill Reid**: Haida sculptor whose Spirit of Haida Gwaii sits in two national collections - **Michael Ondaatje**: Novelist of The English Patient, and a poet first - **Lester B. Pearson**: Won the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize for inventing modern peacekeeping, then led the country. - **Tommy Douglas**: Saskatchewan premier who built the country's first public health insurance - **Pierre Trudeau**: Prime minister who patriated the constitution and wrote the Charter into it - **Nellie McClung**: Suffragist of the Famous Five, who won women legal recognition as persons - **Elijah Harper**: Cree MLA whose single vote stopped the Meech Lake Accord in 1990 - **Susur Lee**: Toronto chef who put Chinese technique on fine dining menus here first - **Vikram Vij**: Vancouver chef whose kitchen changed how the country eats Indian food - **Normand Laprise**: Montréal chef of Toqué!, and the case for Québec produce - **Anita Stewart**: Food writer who founded Food Day Canada and argued Canadian cuisine into existence ## Must-try Canadian food - **Poutine**: Fries, cheese curds and gravy. The curds have to squeak. - **Montréal smoked meat**: Brisket cured for days, steamed, piled on rye with mustard. - **Peameal bacon sandwich**: Toronto's market breakfast: cornmeal-crusted loin on a soft bun. - **Donair**: Halifax's late-night export, spiced beef under a sweet garlic sauce. - **Bannock**: Indigenous fry bread, eaten with everything from stew to jam. - **Montréal bagel**: Hand-rolled, honey-boiled, wood-fired, and thinner than the New York kind. - **Tourtière**: Spiced meat pie from Québec, on the table every Christmas Eve. - **Pouding chômeur**: Depression-era cake baked under maple syrup until it makes its own sauce. - **Soupe aux pois**: Yellow split pea soup with salt pork, the Québec winter staple. - **Cretons**: Cold pork spread on toast, the breakfast Québec never explains to visitors. - **Tire d'érable**: Hot maple syrup poured on snow and rolled onto a stick at the sugar shack. - **Lobster roll**: Atlantic lobster, minimal mayonnaise, a toasted bun and nothing clever. - **Malpeque oysters**: Prince Edward Island's cold-water oyster, briny and worth eating at the source. - **Digby scallops**: Sweet and thick from the Bay of Fundy, seared hard and left alone. - **Arctic char**: Northern fish between salmon and trout, best cooked simply. - **Spot prawns**: British Columbia's short spring season, and the coast plans around it. - **Fish and brewis**: Newfoundland salt cod and hard bread, with scrunchions on top. - **Alberta beef**: Grain-finished and cut thick. The province built its reputation on it. - **Perogies with kielbasa**: Prairie Ukrainian cooking, onions and sour cream compulsory. - **Saskatoon berry pie**: A prairie berry somewhere between blueberry and almond. - **Flapper pie**: Custard under meringue on a graham crust, the prairie diner classic. - **Bison**: Leaner than beef and back on menus across the plains. - **Butter tart**: Pastry, butter, sugar, egg. The runny-versus-firm argument is national. - **Nanaimo bar**: Three no-bake layers from Vancouver Island, and no oven involved. - **BeaverTails**: Fried dough stretched flat, eaten hot on the Rideau Canal in winter. - **Maple syrup**: Québec makes most of the world's supply. Grade it by colour, not by price. - **Tarte au sucre**: Québec sugar pie, cream and brown sugar, served in small slices for a reason. - **Persian**: A Thunder Bay cinnamon roll under pink berry icing, sold nowhere else. - **Caesar**: Vodka, clamato, hot sauce and a celery salt rim. Invented in Calgary. - **Icewine**: Grapes pressed frozen on the vine in Niagara and the Okanagan. - **Canadian rye whisky**: Lighter and grain-forward, and the base of most bars here. - **Double-double**: Coffee, two creams, two sugars. The national order, ordered by name. ## By theme - [Honeymoon escapes](https://wimup.com/honeymoon.md) - [Wildlife & safari](https://wimup.com/wildlife.md) - [Skiing & snowboard](https://wimup.com/skiing.md) - [Northern lights](https://wimup.com/northern-lights.md) - [Hidden gems of North America](https://wimup.com/hidden-gems-north-america.md) ## Films - [Vancouver Travel Guide](https://wimup.com/watch/vancouver.md), 8:42 - [Montréal Travel Guide](https://wimup.com/watch/montreal.md), 5:36 - [Toronto Travel Guide](https://wimup.com/watch/toronto.md), 11:33 - [St. John's Travel Guide](https://wimup.com/watch/st-johns.md), 5:42 ## FAQs ### How many days do you need in Canada? Plan 10 to 14 days and spend them in one region. That is enough for Vancouver and the Rockies, or Montréal, Québec City and the Atlantic coast, without living in airports. Crossing the country properly takes a month. ### When is the best time to visit Canada? June to September for almost everything: long days, open roads and every park and coastal town running. September is the sweet spot, with fall colour in the east and the summer crowds gone. December to March is a separate trip built around snow. ### Do you need a visa for Canada? Visa-exempt travellers flying in need an Electronic Travel Authorization, applied for online and linked to the passport they travel on. It lasts up to five years or until that passport expires. United States citizens do not need one, and neither does anyone arriving by land or sea. Check your own nationality with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. ### Is Canada expensive to visit? It sits in the middle. Our Canadian city guides work out around C$140 to C$300 per person per day mid-range, with domestic flights and national park fees the line items people forget. Sales tax is added at the till and tips run 15 to 20 percent, so budget above the menu price. ### Do you need to speak French in Canada? No, but it helps in Québec. Montréal works in English without friction, Québec City is more French in daily life, and rural Québec and northern New Brunswick are French first. Opening in French and switching is the courtesy that changes the reception. ## Related countries - [United States](https://wimup.com/country/united-states.md) - [Mexico](https://wimup.com/country/mexico.md) - [All of North America](https://wimup.com/north-america) Part of [North America](https://wimup.com/north-america.md) ## Sources - [Tourism board](https://travel.destinationcanada.com/en-us?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Visa](https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-canada/eta.html?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Driving](https://www.quebec.ca/en/transports/traffic-road-safety/winter-road-safety/requirements-for-winter-tires?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [National parks](https://parks.canada.ca/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.