Language · 11 published
Country guide
Canada is the second-largest country in the world by area and has the longest coastline of any, running from the Atlantic to the Pacific and north into the Arctic across ten provinces and three territories. Just over 41 million people live in it, and not evenly: the great majority are in urban areas while very large stretches hold almost nobody. Ottawa is the capital, and Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are the three largest metropolitan areas and the three realistic starting points. The federal government is officially bilingual in English and French, and which of the two a street is lived in changes as you cross the country.
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
Photograph · Jchmrt · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · https://www.pxfuel.com/ · CC0
Photograph · Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0
Photograph · Wilfredor · CC0
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
224 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
Interests
Vieux-Montreal
Old Montreal, locally Vieux-Montreal, is the historic waterfront quarter of Montreal, Quebec. It sits on the St. Lawrence River and preserves the city's earliest urban fabric from its 1642 French colonial founding through successive British and modern Canadian periods.
Vieux-Québec
Old Quebec, known locally as Vieux-Québec, is the fortified historic core of Quebec City.
château Frontenac
Château Frontenac is a landmark hotel in Quebec City’s Upper Town, beside Dufferin Terrace and above the St. Lawrence River. Its steep roofs, turrets, and ornate gables give the building a château-like silhouette that dominates the Old Quebec skyline.
Granville Island is a peninsula and shopping district in Vancouver, British Columbia, located across False Creek from downtown. Despite its name, it is not a true island but a sandspit.
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park is a paid-entry outdoor attraction on Vancouver's North Shore, centered on a long suspension bridge spanning a forested canyon. The park occupies a steep rainforest setting above the Capilano River.
Grouse Mountain is a prominent peak on Vancouver's North Shore, rising above the city with a summit accessible by aerial tramway.
The Toronto Islands are a chain of small islands in Lake Ontario, located just offshore from the city's downtown core.
The Museum of Anthropology at UBC is a museum of world arts and cultures with a particular focus on the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest.
Petit Champlain is a historic quarter in Québec City's Lower Town, situated at the foot of Cap Diamant beneath the Château Frontenac escarpment. The area comprises narrow cobblestone streets and heritage buildings dating to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Gastown is Vancouver's oldest neighbourhood, established in 1867 and designated a National Historic Site of Canada. The district centres on Water Street and retains Victorian-era architecture alongside commercial development.
île d'Orléans
Île d’Orléans is a large agricultural island in the Saint Lawrence River downstream from Québec City. It is about 34 kilometres long and up to 8 kilometres wide, connected to the mainland by the Pont de l’Île bridge.
basilique Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré
The Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré is a major Catholic pilgrimage basilica on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River, northeast of Québec City. Dedicated to Saint Anne, it has attracted pilgrims for centuries.
fortifications de Québec
The Fortifications of Quebec are the defensive walls, gates, and ramparts that encircle Old Quebec, forming the only remaining fortified city walls in North America north of Mexico.
terrasse Dufferin
Dufferin Terrace is a historic boardwalk in Québec City's Upper Town, running alongside the Château Frontenac. This elevated promenade overlooks the St.
Place Royale is a historic public square in Quebec City's Lower Town, widely recognized as the restored birthplace precinct of French North America.
Vancouver Chinatown is one of North America's largest historic Chinatowns, established in the late nineteenth century. It sits east of downtown Vancouver, centred around Pender Street and Main Street.
The Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal is Quebec's principal public museum devoted to contemporary art and digital-media practice. Located in Montreal, it serves as a major cultural institution dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and promoting contemporary artistic creation.
Kensington Market is a dense heritage market neighbourhood in downtown Toronto. It occupies several city blocks northwest of the central business district, centered around Augusta Avenue and Kensington Avenue.
Observatoire de la Capitale
Observatoire de la Capitale is an indoor panoramic viewpoint in the Marie-Guyart Building. Its appeal is the elevated view over Québec City and the chance to understand the city’s geography from above.
The Morrin Centre is a cultural institution occupying a landmark building in Quebec City's Old Town. The structure served as a prison from 1812 to 1868 before conversion to an educational facility.
The Musée de l’Amérique francophone is a history museum in the Séminaire de Québec complex in Québec City. It explores French-speaking communities across North America, linking regional history with wider stories of settlement, migration, religion, education, and cultural continuity.
Yaletown is a converted warehouse district on the southern edge of downtown Vancouver. Formerly an industrial rail yard and warehousing area, the neighbourhood has been redeveloped into a dining, design, and waterfront destination.
Robson Street is Vancouver's principal central shopping and visitor thoroughfare, stretching through the downtown core.
Artillery Park is a staffed national historic site within the Fortifications of Quebec National Historic Site. It preserves military heritage buildings and grounds that served defensive functions from the 18th to 19th centuries.
Place des Arts is Montreal's leading performing-arts complex, serving as the cultural anchor of the Quartier des Spectacles district. Opened in 1963, it encompasses multiple concert halls and theatres on a single downtown site.
Governors’ Promenade is a cliffside pedestrian boardwalk in Québec City, linking Dufferin Terrace with the Plains of Abraham.
Quartier des spectacles
Quartier des Spectacles is a designated cultural district in downtown Montreal, Quebec. Established as an official zone, it concentrates the city's major performing arts venues, festivals, and public cultural spaces within a compact area.
Old City Hall is Toronto’s former civic headquarters, a Richardsonian Romanesque landmark completed in 1899 at Queen Street West and Bay Street. Its clock tower and richly carved sandstone exterior make it one of downtown’s most recognisable historic buildings.
The H.R. MacMillan Space Centre is a planetarium and astronomy museum located in Vanier Park, Vancouver. It occupies a distinctive building with a domed roof that has become a recognizable landmark on the city's skyline.
Canal de Lachine
The Lachine Canal is a National Historic Site of Canada and a defining linear park that runs through southwestern Montreal.
The CN Tower is Toronto's 553.33-metre communications and observation tower, built as a national engineering landmark and now operated as a ticketed visitor attraction.
Stanley Park is a 405-hectare forested peninsula beside downtown Vancouver, where towering coastal trees meet the waters of Burrard Inlet, English Bay, and the First Narrows.
Casa Loma is a Gothic Revival style mansion and museum in Toronto, Ontario. Built in the early twentieth century, it stands as Toronto's singular castle museum and a major architecture destination.
Habitat '67
Habitat 67 is a residential complex designed by architect Moshe Safdie for Expo 67, the 1967 World Fair held in Montreal. It stands as one of the most recognizable examples of Brutalist architecture in North America.
Jardin botanique de Montréal
Montreal Botanical Garden is a major botanical garden and the horticultural anchor of Space for Life in the Olympic District. Its value lies in the specific collection, landscape, architecture, or public setting represented by that record.
Lions Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the First Narrows of Burrard Inlet, connecting Stanley Park in downtown Vancouver to the North Shore municipalities.
Royal Ontario Museum is a major Toronto museum where world cultures and natural history meet under one roof.
Marché Bonsecours
Bonsecours Market, known locally as Marché Bonsecours, stands as a landmark domed market building on the eastern edge of Old Montreal. The structure features a prominent silver dome visible from various points in the historic district.
La Citadelle de Québec
La Citadelle de Québec is an active military fortress on Québec City’s Cap Diamant, not a conventional museum built solely for display. Its star-shaped defensive form, stone ramparts and elevated position above the St.
The Redpath Museum is McGill University's public natural-history museum, housed in a purpose-built Victorian structure. Opened in 1882, it stands as Canada's oldest building constructed specifically as a museum.
Stade olympique
Montreal Olympic Stadium is the landmark built for the 1976 Olympic Games and the visual centre of Montreal’s Olympic District. Its value lies in the specific collection, landscape, architecture, or public setting represented by that record.
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec is Québec City’s national art museum beside the Plains of Abraham.
Hôtel du Parlement
The Parliament Building of Quebec, known locally as Hôtel du Parlement du Québec, serves as the seat of the National Assembly of Quebec. Constructed in the Second Empire architectural style, this prominent structure anchors the capital district of Quebec City.
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is Montreal’s leading art museum, with Quebec, Canadian, international, design, and decorative-art collections. Its value lies in the specific collection, landscape, architecture, or public setting represented by that record.
High Park is Toronto's largest central public park, situated in the city's west end. The municipal park encompasses a significant natural area including oak savannah, woodlands, and waterfront along Grenadier Pond.
Toronto’s Distillery District is a pedestrian heritage precinct shaped by surviving nineteenth-century distillery buildings, brick lanes, and industrial façades. Its identity comes from historic structures now occupied by galleries, shops, restaurants, public spaces, and seasonal programming.
Château Ramezay
Chateau Ramezay is an eighteenth-century governor's residence and city-history museum located in Old Montreal, facing Place Jacques-Cartier. Built in the early 1700s, it served as the residence of the governors of Montreal.
Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours
Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel is a historic Catholic chapel in Old Montreal, Quebec. Known locally as Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, it stands as one of the city's oldest religious buildings.
The Art Gallery of Ontario is a major Toronto museum where Canadian art, international works, temporary exhibitions, and architecture come together in a substantial downtown experience.
Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame is a focused museum devoted to ice hockey’s history, achievements and cultural reach.
Fort York is Toronto’s surviving early-19th-century military site: a preserved garrison whose earthworks, buildings and waterfront setting make the city’s military beginnings tangible.
Tour de l'Horloge
The Clock Tower, known locally as Tour de l'Horloge, stands as a memorial tower and waterfront landmark in Montreal's Old Port. Erected between 1919 and 1922, it commemorates Canadian sailors who perished during the First World War.
Sankofa Square
Sankofa Square is a central public plaza in Toronto’s entertainment district, at the prominent meeting point of Yonge Street and Dundas Street.
Musée de la Civilisation de Québec
Musée de la civilisation is one of Québec City’s most engaging indoor introductions to the province’s stories, identities, and cultural life.
The Orpheum is a restored 1927 theatre on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver. It is a major concert hall and the home of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Spadina Museum
Spadina Museum is a historic house museum in Toronto, preserving an upper-class residence and the domestic world of wealthy families across changing eras.
Basilique Notre-Dame
The Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal stands as the city's principal Gothic Revival church and the defining interior of Old Montreal. Its twin towers rise above Place d'Armes, marking a historic focal point of the district.
Vancouver Art Gallery is a downtown museum whose programme places British Columbia and other regional perspectives in conversation with international art.
Roy Thomson Hall is a major concert venue in downtown Toronto, located on King Street West. It serves as the primary home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Waterfront Station
Waterfront Station is a heritage transit hub in Vancouver serving as a major interchange for rail, SeaBus, and SkyTrain services. The building preserves classical architectural elements while functioning as a practical arrival point for commuters and visitors.
False Creek is a short inlet in the heart of Vancouver, British Columbia, separating downtown from the rest of the city to the south.
Canada Place is Vancouver’s sail-roofed landmark on Burrard Inlet, recognised by five white roof sails that echo a ship in harbour.
Grand Théâtre de Québec is a major performing-arts complex in Québec City, presenting orchestral music, opera, dance, and theatre. It is associated with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and functions as one of the city’s principal destinations for professional performances.
Maison Saint-Gabriel is a seventeenth-century farmhouse museum in Montreal, Quebec, devoted to the history of early French settlement.
Bata Shoe Museum is a Toronto institution devoted to footwear as cultural evidence. Its subject is unusually focused: shoes are examined not simply as accessories, but as objects that reveal design, materials, construction, work, movement, status, and identity.
Biosphère
The Montreal Biosphere is an environment museum housed in a striking geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller for Expo 67. The structure stands on Saint Helen's Island in the Saint Lawrence River as a landmark of architectural innovation.
Aga Khan Museum
Aga Khan Museum is a purpose-built Toronto museum devoted to art, ideas, and cultural histories connected with Muslim civilisations.
Oratoire St-Joseph
Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal is Canada's national shrine, a monumental Roman Catholic basilica perched on the northwestern slope of Mount Royal in Montreal.
Nathan Phillips Square is Toronto's primary civic square, serving as the city's central public gathering space and a signature landmark. Located directly in front of Toronto City Hall, it functions as the symbolic heart of municipal governance and community celebration.
Plaines d'Abraham
Plains of Abraham is a historic battlefield landscape and major urban park beside central Québec City.
Roundhouse Park
Roundhouse Park is a railway heritage park located in downtown Toronto, adjacent to the CN Tower. The park occupies a historically significant site that was once part of the Canadian Pacific Railway's John Street Roundhouse operations.
Parc du Mont-Royal
Mount Royal Park is Olmsted-designed urban park, Montreal skyline outlooks, wooded paths, and the city-defining mountain landscape. Its value lies in the specific collection, landscape, architecture, or public setting represented by that record.
Centre des sciences de Montréal
Montreal Science Centre is a hands-on science museum and IMAX venue on the Old Port waterfront. Its value lies in the specific collection, landscape, architecture, or public setting represented by that record.
English Bay Beach
English Bay Beach is a sandy urban shoreline on Vancouver’s West End, opening directly onto English Bay and the seawall.
Basilique cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Québec
Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral is a Roman Catholic basilica-cathedral located in Old Québec within the fortified city walls.
Musée McCord Stewart
McCord Stewart Museum is a museum of Montreal history, photography, fashion, and material culture beside McGill University. Its value lies in the specific collection, landscape, architecture, or public setting represented by that record.
Musée de l'Holocauste
The Montreal Holocaust Museum is Canada's largest Holocaust education museum. Its local name is Musee de l'Holocauste Montreal. The institution focuses on preserving and sharing the history of the Holocaust through survivor testimony, historical artifacts, and educational exhibitions.
Vieux-Port
Old Port of Montreal is the historic St. Lawrence waterfront, used for promenades, cruises, seasonal events, and the Clock Tower district. Its value lies in the specific collection, landscape, architecture, or public setting represented by that record.
Bloedel Floral Conservatory
Bloedel Conservatory is a domed indoor garden and bird sanctuary at the highest point of Queen Elizabeth Park. Its controlled tropical climate creates a warm green refuge within Vancouver's temperate landscape.
Parc du Bois-de-Coulonge
Bois-de-Coulonge Park, known locally as parc du Bois-de-Coulonge, comprises landscaped former vice-regal grounds situated along a riverside in Québec City. The property served as the residence of Quebec lieutenant-governors, reflecting its historical significance in provincial governance.
Lieu historique national Cartier-Brébeuf
Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site is a riverside historic place beside the Saint-Charles River in Québec City. It commemorates Jacques Cartier’s wintering at Stadacona in 1535–1536 and the later mission associated with Jean de Brébeuf and other missionaries.
Princess of Wales Theatre is a major commercial theatre in Toronto’s Entertainment District. Developed by the Mirvish family, it is one of the city’s principal venues for large touring productions, especially Broadway-style musicals that need a substantial stage and auditorium.
Queen Elizabeth Park occupies the summit of Vancouver’s highest point, but its character is shaped by what happened beneath that summit: a former basalt quarry was transformed into terraces, rock walls, winding paths, and intensely planted gardens.
Queen’s Park is a civic park in central Toronto, surrounding the Ontario Legislative Building. It combines landscaped grounds, open lawns, mature trees, pathways, monuments, and the visible exterior of the provincial legislature.
Vancouver Maritime Museum is a heritage museum in Vanier Park beside English Bay. Its subject is the maritime history of the Pacific Northwest and Arctic regions, bringing together stories of seafaring, exploration, shipping, naval activity, and northern waters.
Science World is Vancouver’s hands-on science centre beneath a geodesic dome at the eastern end of False Creek.
Holy Rosary Cathedral
Holy Rosary Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in central Vancouver. It serves as a landmark historic church within the city centre and functions as a place of worship for the Catholic community.
Musée des plaines d'Abraham
The Plains of Abraham Museum provides an indoor historical introduction to Québec City’s famous battlefield landscape. It explains the events and context that give the surrounding park its significance.
Église Notre-Dame-des-Victoires
Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church is a historic Roman Catholic church located on Place Royale in Quebec City's Lower Town.
Saint Patrick's Basilica
Saint Patrick's Basilica is a nineteenth-century Irish Catholic basilica in Montreal. Its local name is Basilique Saint-Patrick de Montreal. The building holds significance as a historic place of worship serving Montreal's Irish Catholic community.
Gardiner Museum is Toronto’s specialist museum devoted to ceramics, where vessels and ceramic objects are the central subject rather than one category within a general collection.
VanDusen Botanical Garden is a cultivated Vancouver landscape where living plant collections are experienced through movement.
Christ Church Anglican Cathedral
Christ Church Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in downtown Montreal and the seat of the Diocese of Montreal. The building remains an active place of worship, so its significance is both architectural and religious.
Croix du Mont-Royal
The Mount Royal Cross is an illuminated summit monument on Mount Royal, the mountain that gave Montreal its name. It is one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks and a religious symbol linked to Montreal’s early Catholic history.
The Village at Black Creek
Black Creek Pioneer Village is an open-air heritage museum in Toronto that interprets 19th-century rural Ontario life. The site preserves and presents historical buildings, landscapes, and traditions from the Victorian era in what was formerly the Township of York.
Centre Canadien d'Architecture
Canadian Centre for Architecture is an international architecture museum, research centre, and archive in Shaughnessy Village. Its value lies in the specific collection, landscape, architecture, or public setting represented by that record.
Doctor Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is a purpose-built classical Chinese scholar’s garden in Vancouver’s Chinatown, where carefully framed views connect architecture, rock, water, planting and movement.
Jericho Beach is a public waterfront area on Vancouver's west side, facing English Bay. The location combines sandy beachfront with a sailing centre and open views across the water toward the North Shore mountains.
The Museum of Vancouver is a civic history museum dedicated to the social, cultural, and built development of Vancouver. It occupies a distinctive modernist building in Vanier Park, with views across False Creek toward downtown.
Parc Jean-Drapeau is the Expo 67 park spread across two St. Lawrence islands, combining landscape, culture, beach, and major-event spaces. Its value lies in the specific collection, landscape, architecture, or public setting represented by that record.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·
Ten to sixteen days is realistic for one Canadian region, not for crossing the country. An eastern cities route, a Rockies journey and a Pacific itinerary each work better as their own trip.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada lists visitor visa and electronic travel authorisation rules. The required document depends on passport, travel method and status, so complete the official eligibility check for the actual journey.
Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal are the principal air gateways. VIA Rail is most useful in the Québec City–Windsor corridor and on selected long-distance services; outside major centres, a car or domestic flight may be necessary.
May to September suits many city and national-park itineraries, but northern access and mountain conditions have shorter operating seasons. Winter is a separate travel plan with different road, daylight and activity constraints.
Prices are in Canadian dollars (CAD). Payment fees and acceptance are Not recorded at national level here, so verify rental deposits, remote-area fuel payment and card conversion terms directly with each provider.
Call 911 for an emergency in Canada. Electrical supply is 120 V through Type A and B sockets; the source set does not record one nationwide tap-water statement, so local guidance applies.
.jpg){kind=link}