Where to go and what to do in Canada

Canada is huge and remarkable country with beautiful nature, rich culture and interesting history. The right Canadian tour should include places that demonstrate this.

If you want to feel the spirit of Canada, you should go to Calgary Stampede. This is an annual rodeo held in Calgary, Alberta, that lasts ten days. The event is advertised as the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth. More than a million visitors come to see it every year. Rodeo includes multiple shows, concerts, a parade, agricultural competitions and so on. Chuckwagon racing has been conducted in Canada since 1923 and is still popular.

You will love to relax in hot spring pools in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Radium Hot Spring can offer its healing power to the visitors. You can get rid of tension, or just refresh in the cool pool.

The Sea to Sky Gondola is a relatively new tourist attraction. This 22-million project was completed just a couple of years ago in Squamish. It became one of the most popular tourist destinations for Canadians. The trip to the top of Gondola is the most spectacular experience you will love. You can enjoy breathtaking views of the mountains, sea and forests. It is an awesome place with a lot of trails for hiking.

You can also get quality travel experience in Old Quebec – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many buildings there were built in the 19th century, and some of them – even earlier: in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is frequently called “a big of Old Europe on American soil”. It includes Lower Town and Upper Town with many narrow, winding streets and nice opportunities for walks.

Notre-Dame Basilica is located in Montreal. The architecture of the building is made in Gothic Revival style. Its grand and colorful interior is beautifully decorated. Its stained glass windows are unique. You will love its splendor and grandeur.

Those who want to know more about the first settlement of Vikings in North America, should visit L’Anse aux Meadows. This is the national historic site, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. More than a thousand years ago a Norse expedition came there from Greenland. People built timber-and-sod houses and arranged a small encampment. You will see the remains of Viking settlement against fantastic background of a coastline, bog and rugged cliffs. Costumed Viking interpreters will show the camp and original artifacts to you.

The Butchart Gardens is one of the main tourist attractions of Victoria BC that can’t be missed. It is very exciting at any season. The gardens were created in 1904. More than a million bedding plants are used at the Butchart Gardens every year to make this place one of the most fabulous gardens in the world.

The history of its creation is rather interesting. The Butcharts were cement manufacturers. There was a limestone quarry near their house, which was exhausted. Jenny Butchart invited a garden designer from Japan and turned this place into a garden. Cement business was closed in 1916 and the garden had been finished by 1921. Apart from Japanese Garden, an Italian Garden, Sunken Garden, and Rose Garden were created. Visitors started to arrive to the endeavor and Jenny served tea for them. But the popularity continued to grow and when the annual number of visitors reached 50,000 she could no longer arrange tea personally for guests. Now there are restaurants in the Butchart Gardens and a big team of gardeners. It is a National Historic Site of Canada. You can still visit afternoon high tea there.

If you go to Vancouver Aquarium, you can see some of seventy thousand amazing creatures that live in the oceans, rivers and seas. The variety of species is impressive! This place attracts over a million visitors from Canada and other countries. Vancouver Aquarium is not just the place where people can see marine wildlife. There is an Animals Encounters program, which allows visitors to touch, feed, play and train dolphins, beluga whales, see otters, sea lions and etc. There is much educational information visitors can get just from a walk, lessons at a local elementary school, students sleepovers, entertaining and educational shows and other options offered there. It also has an IMAX theatre where you can get 4D experience as you watch best nature documentaries and films. Vancouver Aquarium opened in 1956 and since that time it has tripled in size.

Wild Pacific Trail in Ucluelet is in fact a set of three trails connected together to make a 8,4 kilometer route. There are a lot of fantastic ocean viewpoints there with picnic areas. There are three beach access points. You will see shipwrecks, whales and vistas. Vancouver Island’s dramatic beauty will capture you!

Take a whale watching tour from Vancouver. Orcas migrate to British Columbia in the period May-October. You will go on 3-5-hour expedition by a modern ship to see the sighting.