CANADA
ARCTIC OCEAN
BAFFIN BAY
ALASKA USA
ATLANTIC OCEAN
YUKON WHITEHORSE
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
YELLOWKNIFE
PACIFIC OCEAN
HUDSON BAY BRITISH COLUMBIA ALBERTA MANITOBA EDMONTON SASKATCHEWAN VANCOUVER CALGARY VICTORIA SASKATOON ONTARIO REGINA WINNIPEG QUEBEC CITY FREDERICTON NEW BRUNSWICK
GREAT LAKES
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
OTTAWA MONTREAL
ATLANTIC OCEAN
TORONTO
NOVA SCOTIA
JAMES BAY
QUEBEC
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
CHARLOTTETOWN HALIFAX GULF OF ST LAWRENCE
NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
ST JOHN’S NUNAVUT
FOXE BASIN
IQALUIT
UNGAVA BAY
GETTING THERE Air Canada flies daily from Heathrow to all major Canadian cities, while you can fly from Manchester to Toronto and Calgary, and from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Toronto. British Airways flies to Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. Air Transat flies from Gatwick to Montreal, and from Manchester and Glasgow to Toronto. WestJet flies from Edinburgh to Calgary.
aircanada.com
ba.com
airtransat.com
westjet.com Average flight time: 7 to 9.5hrs. If overlanding from the USA, Amtrak/VIA Rail run the Adirondack route from New York to Montreal (11hr), the Maple Leaf route from New York to Toronto (12hr) and the Amtrak Cascades from Seattle to Vancouver (4hr).
amtrak.com Canada has removed all Covid-19 restrictions, but all UK citizens arriving by air require an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) prior to travel, which costs C$7 (£4).
canada.ca
GETTING AROUND When it comes to navigating the world’s second-biggest country, fly or drive is the motto. Journey times can be vast: a flight between the distant
98
cities of Halifax and Vancouver takes around six hours, and a coast-to-coast journey by road or rail is five-six days. Virtually every nook is serviced by
a comprehensive network of domestic flights headed by Air Canada and the slightly cheaper WestJet and their budget subsidiaries Air Canada Rouge and Swoop airlines, with one-way tickets averaging C$100 (£60). Be sure to book a window seat on the epic Vancouver to Whitehorse route, which traces the snow-dusted Rocky Mountains.
flyrouge.com
flyswoop.com Greyhound Canada now only run
bus routes into the USA, and Megabus has a limited network around Montreal and Toronto. Other provincial services are available but a bit long-winded.
greyhound.com
ca.megabus.com Meanwhile, Canada’s rail network
operated by VIA Rail is fairly prevalent on the east coast, but a little sparse on the west. The Western Canada route runs from Toronto to Vancouver and the Atlantic Canada line from Montreal to Halifax, while the Scenic Adventure routes branch off to wilderness towns such as Churchill and Prince Rupert. Book well ahead for the best deals.
viarail.ca
NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM/TRAVEL
Car (or RV) is king in Canada. All
the major car rental companies have offices in the main and middling cities. In remote areas, be sure to fill up when you can as petrol stations can be rare and watch out for wildlife on the road. Very remote routes may require a 4x4 or snow tyres.
WHEN TO GO Canada is vast, so temperatures and weather can vary wildly. As a general rule, the west coast is warmer than the east. If you’re travelling there in winter (December to March), pack your thermals, as the mercury is in the minus almost everywhere, from 5C in Vancouver to -21C in Churchill and -40 in The Yukon. Winter brings high chances of seeing Northern Lights in northerly latitudes. By spring (April to May), the wildlife
is waking up. Hotels are still cheap, but the blackflies start to hatch mid- May, so cover up. Visit in April for Vancouver’s Cherry Blossom Festival. Come summer (June to August)
days are long and sunny with the mercury tipping 27C in Montreal and Toronto in July. Bears are in full berry- gorging mode, humpback whales arrive off the coast of Newfoundland
and its peak season for hiking in the Rockies. Don’t miss the Calgary Stampede or Bluesfest Ottawa in July. Autumn (September to November) is possibly the best season to travel. It’s the peak of the salmon run and bear activity, there are fewer crowds, and the east coast forests, particularly in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes, are a blaze of yellows and reds.
MORE INFO
destinationcanada.com
destinationindigenous.ca
HOW TO DO IT G Adventures offers a 19-day Canadian Rockies Encompassed tour that includes visits to Vancouver and Whistler, as well as Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper national parks. From £3,559 per person on a B&B basis, based on two sharing, excluding international flights.
gadventures.com Discover the World offers
an 11-night Best of the East self-drive tour that takes in Toronto, Niagara Falls, Ottawa, Tremblant, Quebec and Montreal and runs from May to October. From £2,080 per person based on two sharing, excluding flights.
discover-the-world.com
CANADIAN ROCKY MOUNTAINS
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