Canada is home to some of the world's most pristine wilderness — the Canadian Rockies are every bit as dramatic as the Alps, the Northern Lights are visible across the prairies, and BC's coast has bears, orcas, and old-growth forest that takes your breath away.
📅 Day-by-Day Itinerary
📅 Banff & the Icefields Parkway
Banff National Park — Lake Louise (turquoise beyond belief), Moraine Lake (even better), and the Fairmont Banff Springs castle hotel. Drive the Icefields Parkway — 232km of the most scenic highway in North America, past the Columbia Icefield and Peyto Lake.
📅 Jasper National Park
Less visited than Banff with equal scenery. Maligne Lake boat tour to Spirit Island — the most photographed scene in the Rockies. Athabasca Falls. Watch for grizzly bears, elk, and black bears from the road.
📅 Vancouver
Stanley Park sea-wall cycle (10km around a temperate rainforest peninsula). Granville Island market. Kayak Indian Arm fjord. North Shore mountains — ski in winter, hike in summer. Eat the world's best sushi outside Japan in Kitsilano.
📅 Vancouver Island & Tofino
Drive to Tofino — the surf capital of Canada. Watch grey whales breach from the beach in spring. Old-growth temperate rainforest — Douglas firs 800 years old. Sea kayak the Broken Group Islands. Hot springs Cove accessible only by water taxi.
📅 Yukon — Northern Lights
Fly to Whitehorse in winter (Oct–Mar) for the Northern Lights. Dog sled through boreal forest at -20°C. Ice fish on a frozen lake. Stay in a glass-roofed Aurora cabin. This is the frontier Canada that most people never reach — wild, vast, and unforgettable.
🏨 Where to Stay
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
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Castle hotel on the turquoise lake — the most iconic hotel in the Rockies
💡 Key tips: Moraine Lake road opens mid-June — arrive at 5am or take the Parks Canada shuttle (book months ahead). Bears are everywhere in the Rockies — carry bear spray and make noise on trails. Driving in Canada is essential — public transport outside cities is limited. Tipping 18–20% is standard. The Trans-Canada Highway is beautiful but slow — allow more time than Google Maps suggests.
