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— Julien & Noal · coast to coast to coast —
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Twenty places worth the trip at home
☼ Where this list comes from
A listener shortlist from CBC Radio's The Current in spring 2025: twenty places, chosen from more than 2,000 suggestions. ★ Top 10 marks the ten that won the listeners' vote. Each one is written up here in our own words, so the list stays useful even if CBC's pages don't.
Grouped west to east, then north. “From YVR” is a rough first idea of how you'd get there, not a booking plan.
British Columbia
The end of the road on Vancouver Island's wild west coast: long surf beaches, old-growth rainforest in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, and Canada's surf capital. Chesterman Beach and Long Beach are the classics.
WhenSummer for beaches; November–February for storm watching
From YVRFerry to Nanaimo and about 3 hours' drive, or a short flight
British Columbia
B.C.'s ranch country: open plateau, cattle ranges and wild horses, with the Coast Mountains on the horizon. Drive the Chilcotin Highway west towards Bella Coola, raft the Chilcotin River, or stay at a guest ranch.
WhenJune–September
From YVRA long day's drive north to Williams Lake, or a short flight
Alberta
The glacier-green river that rises at Bow Lake on the Icefields Parkway and runs past Lake Louise, Banff and Calgary. Paddle a canoe below Banff's mountain walls, or float the gentle stretches on a hot summer day.
WhenJuly–August
From YVRFly to Calgary (about 1½ hours), or drive about 9 hours through the Rockies
Alberta
Where the prairie runs straight into the Rockies with almost no foothills in between. Quieter than Banff, with a chain of lakes, the gabled Prince of Wales Hotel on its bluff, and a lake cruise that crosses into Montana.
WhenJune–September
From YVRFly to Calgary, then about 3 hours south
Saskatchewan
Mixed-grass prairie as it used to be: bison, black-tailed prairie dogs (found nowhere else in Canada), the Badlands Parkway along the escarpment, and one of the darkest night skies in the country.
WhenMay–September; late summer for stars
From YVRFly to Regina, then about 4 hours' drive
Manitoba
The polar bear capital of the world, on the shore of Hudson Bay. The bears gather in autumn waiting for the sea ice, belugas fill the river mouth in summer, and the northern lights take the winter. No road in: you fly, or take the train across the north.
WhenPolar bears October–November · belugas July–August · aurora in winter
From YVRFly via Winnipeg, or take the VIA Rail train from Winnipeg (about two days)
Ontario
The largest island in any freshwater lake in the world, in Lake Huron, with more than a hundred lakes of its own. Anishinaabe country — summer powwows are a highlight — with limestone shoreline, small towns and long sunsets.
WhenJuly–August
From YVRFly to Toronto, then about 5 hours north — or the summer ferry from Tobermory
Ontario
A small town with one of North America's great repertory theatres. The Stratford Festival plays Shakespeare and much more on four stages from spring to autumn, and the town around it is parks, swans on the Avon and good restaurants.
WhenFestival season, roughly April–October
From YVRFly to Toronto, then about 2 hours by car or train
Québec
The only city in Canada whose walls still stand, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Old Québec's lanes, the Château Frontenac above the St. Lawrence, and a food scene that rewards a long weekend in any season.
WhenSummer, or February for the Winter Carnival
From YVRFly in, usually with one connection
Québec
A glacier-carved fjord running down to the St. Lawrence, with cliffs dropping straight into dark water. Kayak among belugas, which live here year-round, and whale-watch from Tadoussac, where the fjord meets the river.
WhenJune–October; the big whales peak in late summer
From YVRFly to Québec City, then about 3 hours' drive
New Brunswick
A gracious seaside town on the Bay of Fundy, with whale-watching boats in the harbour. At low tide you can drive across the sea floor to Minister's Island and its old summer estate — then get back before the tide does.
WhenJuly–September
From YVRFly to Saint John or Fredericton, then 1–1½ hours
New Brunswick
Warm lagoons, barrier dunes and long boardwalks on New Brunswick's Acadian coast, with Mi'kmaw and Acadian culture woven through the park. It's a Dark Sky Preserve, so stay for the stars.
WhenJuly–September
From YVRFly to Moncton, then about an hour
Prince Edward Island
P.E.I.'s “singing sands”: the beach squeaks underfoot because of the silica in the sand. White sand, red cliffs along the coast, a channel and footbridge people jump from, and some of the warmest swimming water in Canada.
WhenJuly–August
From YVRFly to Charlottetown, then about 1¼ hours east
Nova Scotia
Not a place but a road: the slow coastal way across northern Nova Scotia, along the Bay of Fundy's Minas Basin, where the world's highest tides drain the bay to red mud and fill it again twice a day. Stop for birds, tidal wetlands, canteens and antique shops.
WhenSummer and autumn
From YVRFly to Halifax — Masstown is about an hour away
Nova Scotia
The Cabot Trail loops around the island's northern tip between highland plateau and open ocean — one of the great coastal drives anywhere. Add Gaelic and Acadian music, and in October the Celtic Colours festival as the hills turn.
WhenLate September to mid-October for the colours; summer for beaches
From YVRFly to Sydney, or to Halifax and drive about 4 hours
Newfoundland and Labrador
A UNESCO site where you can walk on the Earth's mantle: the barren, rust-coloured Tablelands were pushed up from below the crust. Next door, Western Brook Pond is a landlocked fjord between cliffs about 600 metres high.
WhenJune–September
From YVRFly to Deer Lake, usually with one connection, then about 30 minutes
Newfoundland and Labrador
A historic fishing town at the tip of the Bonavista Peninsula, with puffins nesting at nearby Elliston, whales offshore and icebergs drifting past in early summer. Painted houses, working harbours and some excellent small restaurants.
WhenIcebergs May–June · whales and puffins June–August
From YVRFly to St. John's, then about 3½ hours' drive
Yukon
The lake from Robert Service's poem “The Cremation of Sam McGee”, a widening of the Yukon River north of Whitehorse. Paddle it in summer, or cross it by dog team in winter under the northern lights.
WhenFebruary–March for dog sledding and aurora; summer for paddling
From YVRFly to Whitehorse (about 2½ hours), then under an hour north
Northwest Territories
A multi-day wilderness river through some of Canada's deepest canyons, in Nahanni National Park Reserve — among the very first places named a UNESCO World Heritage site. The centrepiece is Náįlįcho, Virginia Falls, about twice the height of Niagara.
WhenLate June–August
From YVRFly-in only, usually via Fort Simpson; most people go with an outfitter for one to three weeks
Nunavut
The top of Canada, on northern Ellesmere Island: glaciers, ice fields, midnight sun and Arctic wildlife, with almost no one else there. One of the most remote national parks on Earth — a once-in-a-lifetime trip, priced like one.
WhenJuly, in the short summer
From YVRCharter flight from Resolute; plan about a year ahead
Source: the shortlist and the Top 10 are from CBC Radio's The Current — the 20-place shortlist (31 March 2025) and the Top 10 results (1 May 2025). Those pages may not stay online; everything you need is on this page. Descriptions, travel notes and illustrations are our own.