Canada

Canada is the second-largest country on earth by total area, and that scale translates into a diversity of landscapes and experiences that is genuinely difficult to match anywhere. The Canadian Rockies in Alberta and British Columbia are among the world’s finest mountain landscapes: Banff and Jasper National Parks deliver turquoise glacial lakes — Moraine Lake and Lake Louise are icons for good reason — towering peaks, hot springs and wildlife including grizzly bears, elk and bighorn sheep. The Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper is widely considered one of the world’s great scenic drives.

Vancouver on the Pacific coast combines outdoor adventure with cosmopolitan city life in a unique way — skiing at Whistler in the morning, whale watching in the afternoon and dining in one of North America’s finest restaurant scenes in the evening. The city’s proximity to Vancouver Island, with its dramatic fjords and excellent orca watching in Johnstone Strait, adds another dimension.

Eastern Canada offers a completely different experience. Toronto is Canada’s largest city — multicultural, dynamic and home to a world-class arts scene, the CN Tower and excellent dining from every culinary tradition imaginable. Montreal is a bilingual, bohemian city of extraordinary character — European in atmosphere, with excellent cuisine, a vibrant festival calendar and a passion for life that is immediately infectious. Quebec City, the only walled city north of Mexico, feels transplanted from 18th-century France.

Beyond the cities, Canada offers whale watching in the St Lawrence, the Aurora Borealis in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, autumn foliage in Ontario and Quebec that rivals New England, and PEI’s pastoral beauty. Canada is a year-round destination with each season offering its own distinct appeal.