Exploring Canada: A 6-Week Itinerary Across the Great White North

Planning Our Epic Journey

As we are having a less rushed time in Mexico, we haven’t got too much to blog about so I thought worth sharing a summary of our Canada trip.

We didn't take the most direct route, partly as we booked bits and still had time to fill but mainly as we knew we were going to finish in Churchill so some doubling back on ourselves had to happen.

Despite that I think our itinerary was successful. We loved our time in Canada and hope some of it may help others when planning a trip. I think our only minor regret was just having an afternoon in Calgary, as that shot time the city really caught our imagination.

Our Route

We completed this trip from the end of September through to the start of November. I have included how many full days in each city and other than Calgary not included travelling days when we may have had a few hours.

Toronto 5 days

Our first point of call. We spent 5 days here and were slightly worried this would be too long. This wasn’t the case and we had a great time. The following are some of the activities we completed;

Hop on/Hop off bus with a boat tour of the city. Worth doing - our tip would be if you have a terrible guide then get off and join the next bus. Our first guide was terrible the second brilliant.

Day trip to Niagara Falls, including a wine tasting. Great day

Art Gallery of Ontario definitely worth a visit. Tip here - plan your time as so much art to see.

Cycling round Toronto Islands. No public traffic so an easy way to travel. We were told the ferry only sells return tickets and never checks tickets on the way back. We therefore took the water taxi across to the Islands for speed and then the ferry back and no one was checking tickets!

Walked the Philosopher's path, watch out for dodgy paths if you're as clumsy as me.

Lots of walking round the city

Halifax 2 days

We flew from Toronto and had 2 days here. These two days were spent;

We rented a hire car on the first day, at the suggestion of the airport taxi driver and drove to Lunenberg and back along the coast via Peggy’s Cove. Amazing scenery and a top drive.

The second day we spent walking along front and then to Mount Pleasant Park. Interesting walk with lots of history especially relating to World War 2.

Quebec 2 days

We took the Via Rail across to Quebec;

We spent a morning in the Citadel. The guided tour is definitely worthwhile. And again plenty of browsing round the city.

Montmorency Fall a good half visit which is easy to reach using the 800 bus service.

Ottawa 2 days

Again arrived on the train. We enjoyed a Guru Walk with Ed. He gave a good insight into the city and its history. We also had a look round the city ourselves.

We then caught the train back to Toronto.

The Canadian 4 days

We did the 4 day trip from Toronto to Vancouver. An excellent way to see the country.

Vancouver 3 days

In Vancouver our friend Liz joined us and she brought the rain with her. Despite this we had a few walks on Harbour front and in Stanley park. Luckily the rain cleared on our last morning and we took the scenic flight on the seaplane. A bit expensive but good fun and great views.

The Bill Reid Art Gallery is good place to visit for some amazing contemporary indigenous art.

Jasper 2 days

We took Via Rail and the Canadian to get to Jasper.

The hotel recommended a Sundog tour which covered the wildlife and impact of the fire. This was excellent and covered both aspects brilliantly.

We also did the loop walk which skirts around the outside of the town. Still no idea if we should have taken the bear spray but we survived.

Lake Louise 2 days

We used the Sundog transfer between Jasper and Lake Louise.

In Lake Louise the hotel had buses going to the lake which we then took a great walk to the other end of the Lake. This was a gentle walk but there are lots of signposts giving different options if you want to extend the walk. Definitely worth at least doing this easy walk to get away from the crowds of people who stay at the near end of the lake for their photographs.

We also walked part of the Bow River Loop.

Banff 2 days

Again used the Sundog bus to get to Banff.

We completed the Ghost Walk tour on the first evening, a fun activity, not to be taken too seriously

On the second day we went on the Gondola, easy to get to by a $2 bus ride. Incredibly views if you get a clear day.

We decided against the hot springs as just didn’t look that impressive.

Calgary

Only here for half a day but did enjoy walking round Princes Island and the view of the city from there.

We flew to Winnipeg and the following day to Churchill.

Churchill 5 days

We were on the Lords of the Arctic learning vacation with Churchill Northern Studies Centre. A brilliant trip with everything included and in comparison to the other packages we saw very good value.