CANADA
Canada! a dream place for many tourists who have knowledge of Canada’s inner and outer beauty with no time to spare for boredom. The world’s second largest country has abundance with 10 provinces and three territories, a country that moves a couch potato for sure. Exploring Canada needs investment of time, money and ample of stamina. All the words put together fall short to describe Canada, and this is true because this country has active adventure, cultural hangouts, luxury plus leisure escapes, bounty of wildlife and picturesque landscapes filled with rugged mountains. In short you can attain what is called the best of both worlds here with the combination of great outdoors and luxurious indoors. No doubt that the United Nations Human Development Program (UNHDP) considers this country as the most desirable place to be or live in. Anybody a visitor or a citizen is true to find more than one experience in lifetime with rugged mountains, vast wilderness of the islands, rain forests, and fierce streams, handful of desert, pristine coastlines and cerulean sky. The urban retreat in Quebec, Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Ontario, Ottawa and Montreal is way to escape from your everyday hustle and bustle. All the cities are definitely treasure troves of experiences, thanks to its history, culture and ingenious people. Canada is about Klondike gold-rush era in the Dawson City, western spirit at the popular Calgary Stampede, Prince Edward Island for colonialism, and Quebec City for historicism and Newfoundland for the East Coast Trail. With all these cities and sight seeing in mind Canada’s tourism infrastructure has something in store for everybody that means it’s meant for all kind of tourists – backpackers, jet setters, luxury lovers, cultural tourists and weekenders. All your expectations will be fulfilled leaving you with one feeling ‘its worth investing in travelling to Canada’. And why not where else you can experience charismatic Vancouver where east meets west, Niagara’s royal welcome, Victoria’s beautiful picturesque charm, and the exceptional Gulf Islands. And if you are among the adventure lovers then you are in the right place, Georgia Strait that is world’s second best destination for scuba diving invites you with abundant of marine life and crystal clear waters in its laps. Para gliding, caving, bungee- jumping, kayaking, canoeing, and white water rafting are all part of Canada’s travel and tourism making it an adventurous one.
CULTURE
Canada in its early days being colonized by the Europeans has a large number of European immigrants and population of Canada comprises of these immigrants, the first people (original inhabitants) and the United Empire loyalists. Even the people from neighboring countries-French, German, Scottish and Swiss immigrants selected to settle in Canada. The national psyche of Canadians stands on peace, order and good government which is also the country’s mission statement. The first country to have the multicultural act which means it’s truly multicultural in nature with Chinese-Canadian, Italian-Canadian, and African-Canadian origins. A country that is built on cultural, historical and lingual factors is rich with an open society. Life in the mosaic country is very exciting because of the entertainment in the urban living. One more advantage to Canada for tourist is the drop in crime rate.
GEOGRAPHY
Area wise Canada is second largest country after Russia measuring, around 10 million sq. kms; it’s locked by sea on three sides and has the longest coastline in the world. Canada is home Vancouver, Newfoundland and Baffin that are among the larger islands in Europe. Its land is also rich with infinite lakes and rivers, having said that Canada is the repository of 20 percent of the world’s fresh water. Politically divided into ten provinces and three territories geographically it can be divided into six regions, namely the Appalachian region, the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence lowlands, the interior plains and prairies, the western Cordillera, the Yukon Territory and terribly cold North region. For those tourists who wonder what would Canada mean? Canada comes from Native American word Kanata which means community. Each city in Canada has its own parks and reserves meant for recreation, protecting wildlife and archeological historic sites. Being as big as any national parks these center charge nominal charge as an entry fee.
WHEN TO VISIT
Any time of year is advisable for visiting Canada but keeping all the factors in mind most of the tourists prefer summer for its pleasant and adventurous climate. Though occurring period of summer varies from region to region in Canada, it’s mid and end June in the northern part and southern part during the late May or early September. The best time of travel is during the fall when forests present a spectacular mantle of color. If choose winter to travel, then think again as Canadian winters are cold, dark and long with most attractions closed but cities like Toronto, Quebec City and Winnipeg host big winter carnivals.
TOP ATTRACTIONS
Being a vast country it becomes necessary for any traveler to sketch a rough plan before the trip. Study any travel literature and you will find that Vancouver is the best place to start the travel regardless of any season. And if you want to visit the Rockies the destination place should be Calgary that comes as a package of Lake Louise, Banff and Yoho. Vancouver and Victoria are however superb sights with Islands, Parks and Bays. The tantalizing Toronto is also attractive with spectacular architecture, museums, nightlife and parks. Although the unforgettable gush of Niagara Falls leaves one spellbound the abundant of water activities leave a blissful experience. Most visited cities are Ottawa, Toronto, Quebec, Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Banff, Halifax, Kingston, Montreal, Ottawa, Saskatoon, Victoria, Winnipeg and Whistler.
VANCOUVER
It’s the heart of the country with maximum of population and popular sights. All the attention is given to the architectural neighborhoods, Art Gallery and Science World, Chinatown, Yaletown and Gastown. Sandwiched between ocean and snowcapped mountains, it’s covered by English Bay, Frazer River, False Creek and Burrad Inlet. All these contribute to Vancouver’s beauty with dynamic beaches and parklands. Notable is the 26 storey Marine Building considered to be the tallest building in the ancient times of British Empire. It is known for the best art deco office building in the world. The sights of interest are the Vancouver Mineral Museum, Stanley Park, Science World, Vancouver Museum, Granville Island and Lions Gate Bridge. The crafts and arts of Granville Island are of major attraction and so are the museum complex of Vanier Park, UBC Museum of Anthropology, beaches of Kitsilano and West Broadway. The most appealing to the visitors is the North Shore providing an array of outdoor activities along the picturesque mountains. First time visitors can explore the breathtaking vistas and forests, leave some of your time to mingle with local metropolis nightlife.
ONTARIO
Ontario is best of Canada with sophisticated urban culture and cuisine. It here where one finds a Cavalcade of festivals- like the Shaw festival in Niagara on the lake, Stratford’s Shakespeare festival, Kitchener’s Oktoberfest and the London Beer Festival. Highlights of Ontario are the quiet evenings along the picturesque islands, strongly gushing Niagara Falls, sailing over the Pelee Island, Manitoulin Island known for aborigines, Lake Superior Provincial Park, Pukaskwa National Park and the sunsets along the Great Lakes. Start from Toronto catching the CN tower, museums and best cuisine of the world in eateries. Then head to Niagara Falls followed by Niagara Parkway to Niagara-on –the-lake. Then don’t miss the city of Ottawa, Kingston and Thousand Islands offering all the pleasure and cultural definition of Canada. The view at Niagara Falls would be the most everlasting moment in your life, located on the international line of New York and Ontario these falls date back to ten thousand years. Not only popular for the spectacular view it is also known for being the major source of hydroelectric power.
QUEBEC
Unlike other cities of Canada, this city is more like a European province which is seen in its captivating historic ramparts, narrow lanes, battlefields, museums, restaurants and churches. Other small towns and villages equally catch the visitor’s attention as the city of Montreal. Tourists get attracted to Quebec City because of its Joie de vivre image. Places of attraction include the popular sociable Montreal, Whales along the Saguenay River at Tadoussac, Parc de la Gaspesie, Mont- Tremblant, and the Mingan Archipelago National Park. Starting from Montreal and heading to Mont Tremblant will make most of your journey then by opting for boat trip you can cover Gross lle, if you have enough stamina and love for hiking Parc de la Gaspesie is the best place.
NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
Located by a dramatic coastline, Newfoundland is the place for marine beauty. The city is home to one of the best seabird population and mountains ice down the iceberg alley. Highlights of the city are Iceberg alley, Brimstone Head, Gros Morne National Park, L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic site and oldest American city St. Johns. It is land of glaciers which formed the razor sided fjords joining hands with the rocks of Northern peninsula are similar to those Fjords found in Scandinavia.
GETTING HERE
US travelers are known for travelling Canada on weekends, geographical location of Canada makes it easy for the Americans to drive on the long weekends. However there are international airports at many of Canadian cities like Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Ontario. If you are travelling to US, you can try buses or train schedules to reach Canada which is suitable than flying from the American states. Lookout for seasonal offers and peak seasons of travel remain in the mid June and Early September.
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