What is worth seeing in Canada?

[ArdraF]

It has quite a few national parks, provincial parks, and natural wonders.  Not to mention historical parks.  The city of Saint John's in Newfoundland celebrated its 500th anniversary several years back.

ArdraF

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

    OK folks, please , please try and be just a bit more careful when posting.  It is extremely difficult to not take offense to a posting asking if there are touristy things in Canada.  Canada and most provinces spend millions advertising tourist destinations, google does an excellent job providing information on tourist locations, and virtually every province has on line tourist brochures.  The forum contains a lot of strings and trip reports about RVing in Canada.  We don't all live in igloos, we do have paved roads, and even have electricity, and the phone was actually invented by a Scotsman while in Canada.

Ed 

 

[LarsMac]

OK folks, please , please try and be just a bit more careful when posting.  It is extremely difficult to not take offense to a posting asking if there are touristy things in Canada.  Canada and most provinces spend millions advertising tourist destinations, google does an excellent job providing information on tourist locations, and virtually every province has on line tourist brochures.  The forum contains a lot of strings and trip reports about RVing in Canada.  We don't all live in igloos, we do have paved roads, and even have electricity, and the phone was actually invented by a Scotsman while in Canada.

Ed

Good point. I love Canada. I've not yet done any RV trips there, but We have made several trips by car over the years. Toronto is among the most friendly and modern Metropolitan areas in North America.
I have been in many of the Toronto region cities for my job. I always enjoyed being there.

We plan to visit friends in St Johns next Summer, and work our way down to the Falls for an Anniversary celebration in September.

 

[muskoka guy]

I suppose it depends on what you like to look at.

Does Canada have touristy things like the US?  Theme parks, natural wonders?  I've only been to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

Toronto has Canadas Wonderland Theme Park. I have been to Disney World in Florida, as well as Busch Gardens, and Wonderland has far more awesome rides than either of those. It is a huge park. The roller coasters are world class. I have never been to Six Flags, so cant compare it to those. Niagara Falls definitely classifies as a world wonder. I would have to rank the tides in the Bay of Fundy right up there as well. We were at Burntcoat Head last summer in Nova Scotia, and the tide that day was 48 ft. The record there is 73 ft. You cant see this anywhere else in the world. Seeing all the icebergs and whales in Newfoundland is pretty awesome too, I must say.

 

[msw3113]

It's only been briefly touched upon so far but deserves emphasizing that the Canadian people are consistently among the nicest, most polite, most accommodating folks we've met anywhere in our travels. 

They are "worth seeing in Canada" and make any trip that much more enjoyable.

 

[BinaryBob]

    OK folks, please , please try and be just a bit more careful when posting.  It is extremely difficult to not take offense to a posting asking if there are touristy things in Canada.  Canada and most provinces spend millions advertising tourist destinations, google does an excellent job providing information on tourist locations, and virtually every province has on line tourist brochures.  The forum contains a lot of strings and trip reports about RVing in Canada.  We don't all live in igloos, we do have paved roads, and even have electricity, and the phone was actually invented by a Scotsman while in Canada.

Ed

I heard a rumor there's indoor plumbing too !

We had a wonderful time on the Canada side of Niagara Falls in September. Niagara-on-the-Lake was a particularly charming little village. Then up to Quebec City where the nicest people accommodated my lack of French. So much to see!

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

    Bob, only in the RV, but then you have to dump once in a while. 

Ed

 

[Pugapooh]

Oh,I hope my post wasn't offensive.  I have never looked in to Canada as a destination but the scenery certainly looks beautiful.  i have no interest in hurtling around on a steel megastructure,for sure.i suppose it was stupid of me to wonder if other people like them.  Again,no insult intended.  I feel like an ugly American now.

 

[docj]

Oh,I hope my post wasn't offensive.  I have never looked in to Canada as a destination but the scenery certainly looks beautiful.

As an American who has spent quite a few summers enjoying Canada, I suggest you try exploring a region of the country on your first trip rather than trying to "do it all" in one summer.  The terrain and culture of Canada varies dramatically as you go from one coast to the other, so pick something that appeals to you and spend enough time there to get a sense for the people and their culture.  We're personally fond of Atlantic Canada (also sometimes called The Maritime Provinces) and have been there multiple times yet we find something new to see each time. 

Joel (AKA docj)

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

    Joel, the official difference is that the Maritime Provinces referred to NB, NS and PEI prior to NL joining Canada in 1949.  So, the 4 eastern provinces became known as the Atlantic Provinces, and we continue to use Maritime Provinces for the remaining 3.  Hope that makes sense to you.

Ed

 

[docj]

    Joel, the official difference is that the Maritime Provinces referred to NB, NS and PEI prior to NL joining Canada in 1949.  So, the 4 eastern provinces became known as the Atlantic Provinces, and we continue to use Maritime Provinces for the remaining 3.  Hope that makes sense to you.

Ed

Thanks, Ed.  It wasn't until we were in NL this summer that we appreciated how recently it was that NL had become part of Canada. Your explanation makes a lot of sense.

Joel

 

[steveblonde]

everything is a must see - the East Nova Scotia etc and West British Columbia  coasts are as different as Florida and California, - Alberta and Quebec are as Different as Idaho and Louisiana we are bigger than the USA with a fraction of the population and super friendly (especially my east coast friends) - no guns needed or allowed -biggest difference is though - i think we are less commercialized in that we dont have as many theme parks etc but more cultural and educational stuff - as we both canada and the USA have similar time lines in History.

 

[docj]

- as we both canada and the USA have similar time lines in History.

One timeline that we share is the sad story of the Acadian people who were exiled from the Maritime Provinces after the British were victorious in the conflict that American history calls the French and Indian War.  The French speaking, Catholic Acadian population was forcibly deported and were sent to the "lower 13" colonies is an act that that can be best described as genocide. 

The good news for us in the US is that those people became the ones we call Cajuns, so we are indebted to the barbarism of Britain for some of the best tasting food in the US IMO.

The story of the Acadians is told throughout the Maritimes but the most famous site is Grand Pre which is ~an hour or so north of Halifax.  FWIW the story of the Acadians is the story embodied in the Longfellow poem Evangeline and there is a statue of her at Grand Pre.  Grand Pre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (if you're familiar with that designation) and is definitely worth seeing IMO.

The Parks Canada visitor center at Grand Pre and the US Park Service visitor center in Lafayette LA share the Acadian story through videos that were developed on a cooperative basis.  It's a sad and very moving story, but it does explain how there came to be a pocket of French speaking folks in Louisiana.

 

[Roy M]

Present day Louisiana was part of a huge French territory until 1804, Napoleon needed money and lots of it. He was also too busy in Europe to look after his overseas holdings. Yoou are right, Cajun is wonderful food.
Canada is huge, travelers really need to break it down into manageable portions. I have lived in BC and Alberta all my life and have not seen all of either province. An acquaintance is a customs officer near Vancouver, she tells a story about tourists wanting to spend the afternoon at West Edmonton Mall. She smiles and wishes them a nice day. It's a 15 hour drive if they don't waste time and the roads are good.

 

[docj]

Present day Louisiana was part of a huge French territory until 1804, Napoleon needed money and lots of it. He was also too busy in Europe to look after his overseas holdings. Yoou are right, Cajun is wonderful food.

Actually, it's my understanding that at the time the Acadians were deported, in the mid 1700's, the area now occupied by Louisiana was owned by Spain.  Because Spain was a Catholic country its territory in North America was accepting of the Acadians who initially were dispersed throughout the North American colonies.

Spain acquired Louisiana from France as per the terms of the Treaty of Fontainebleau in 1762 at the end of the Seven Years War.  Transfer of control of the territory was slow and was opposed by many of the French residents. Spain then returned the territory to France under the terms of the  Third Treaty of San Ildefonso (1800) and the Treaty of Aranjuez (1801).  Then in 1803 France sold Louisiana (and a lot more) under the terms of the Louisiana Purchase.

 

[LarsMac]

One timeline that we share is the sad story of the Acadian people who were exiled from the Maritime Provinces after the British were victorious in the conflict that American history calls the French and Indian War.  The French speaking, Catholic Acadian population was forcibly deported and were sent to the "lower 13" colonies is an act that that can be best described as genocide. 

The good news for us in the US is that those people became the ones we call Cajuns, so we are indebted to the barbarism of Britain for some of the best tasting food in the US IMO.

The story of the Acadians is told throughout the Maritimes but the most famous site is Grand Pre which is ~an hour or so north of Halifax.  FWIW the story of the Acadians is the story embodied in the Longfellow poem Evangeline and there is a statue of her at Grand Pre.  Grand Pre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (if you're familiar with that designation) and is definitely worth seeing IMO.

The Parks Canada visitor center at Grand Pre and the US Park Service visitor center in Lafayette LA share the Acadian story through videos that were developed on a cooperative basis.  It's a sad and very moving story, but it does explain how there came to be a pocket of French speaking folks in Louisiana.

some of my family were descendants of those Acadians (root of the term Cajuns) who were removed by the British in what was called Le Grand Derangement.
They actually were loaded up on whatever ship was in port and sent off to the destination of that ship. Some to the southern colonies, (now the US, and to Caribbean islands, and back to France.

Some accepted the invitation of the Governor of Louisiana (Then Spanish) to relocate to the Mississippi region. My Uncle Patrice often told us tales of the trials the people faced there.

Grand Pre is on our list for our excursion, next year.




 

 

[ArdraF]

The little church at Grand Pre has a fabulous set of very large paintings that depict this sad part of Canadian history.

ArdraF

 

[RKins]

Campobello Island in New Brunswick, site of the only national park co-owned by two countries.  Summer home of the Roosevelts.

The island offers whale, dolphin, and bald eagle sightings along with some dandy hiking opportunities.

We flew into Bangor ME and drove east toward the eastern edge of America. They were building a new road at the time (pissing people off that was on the old road) and a few miles south of Calais we stayed at a place that had cabins and we had one right on a dead end river off the Passamaquoddy Bay.  When we checked in and got to the cabin there was a river right up to the cabin porch - sweet. We took a nap and when I got up, the river was gone and we're not talking about a 5 ft stream, we're talking about a 1/4 - 1/2 mile across river. 6 hours later the river was back.  We went to see a light house and had to time it right because we needed to wait for a low tide and then climb down a steel ladder attached to the boulders and then walk across the sea floor. Then go to the nearby ladder, climb up the ladder and cross the land ( huge boulder), climb down the next ladder and up the next to get to the light house. We had to make sure we paid attention to the time or we'd be isolated by the 20 ft tide. A positive experience.

 

[Ernie n Tara]

In my misspent youth I worked as a chef (and bootlegger -another story) In Bar Harbor. After work if the tide was right we used to cook shore dinners on the bar that extends from BarHarbor proper to an Island just off shore in the bay. If the tide was wrong that bar was under ten feet of water.

Ernie

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

    While in that area you can visit a unique International Park in Campobello, NB, just off the coast of Lubec, ME.  Here is a link:
https://www.fdr.net/about-the-park.php
    However, it is in Canada so you will need passports to get back into the US.

Ed