Canada's top day trips from its best-loved cities

Cana-day trips

Few travellers head to Canada with city tours in mind. The concrete streets of Toronto and Vancouver are a blip on nature lovers’ radars: the country’s sprawling national parks, wildlife-rich coastlines and thundering falls all command far more attention. Alongside its rolling vineyards and quaint rural towns, Canada’s best attractions lie beyond its cities’ bounds.

Scroll on to see the best day trips from the Great White North's urban bases...

From Toronto: Visit the staggering Niagara Falls

Cleaving apart Canada and the United States, the crashing cascades of Niagara Falls sit just under two hours away from Toronto. Pick a sky-high vantage point over the falls, perching atop Table Rock or joining the sightseers on the Skylon Tower observation deck. Get an up-close angle by donning a luminescent poncho and boarding a mist-dampened cruise to Horseshoe Falls.

From Toronto: Taste Canadian wines in Niagara-on-the-Lake

Touring rolling hills of meticulously manicured vines isn’t often on the top of the to-do list for most Canada-bound travellers, but it should be. There are excellent wine regions found all over the country, but one of the best is just an hour and a half outside of Toronto. Oriented around the small town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, an array of world-class wineries host tour groups and independent travellers planning a tasting.

From Toronto: Catch a show in Stratford

Emulating its English namesake, the small city of Stratford, Ontario is home to a thriving arts scene. It plays host to live Shakespeare renditions at the Avon Theatre, captivating musical performances and art exhibitions, as well as the annual Stratford Festival, which is dedicated to theatre. Round out a day of activities inspired by the British bard by sipping an ale or a local stout at the Shakespeare Brewing Company.

From Vancouver: Look out for whales on a coastal cruise

Lashed by Pacific winds and wild waters to the west, Vancouver is a common starting spot for travellers interested in the myriad marine life that lives just off the Canadian coast. Spend half a day out on the water with a local cruise company, leaving the city skyscrapers on the horizon behind. The boats carry passengers out among the forest-fringed cliffs of the wild western islands, traversing tracks typically frequented by orcas and humpback whales.

From Vancouver: Tackle the mountaintops in Whistler

Separated from Vancouver by two glorious hours of the Sea to Sky Highway, Whistler is one of the best-known ski resorts in all of Canada. Head out on the snow-dusted slopes among the skiers and snowboarders and partake in the raucous apres-ski scene. Not solely a cold-weather destination, summertime travellers can catch the gondola for peak-top views over the BC backcountry or laze by one of the town’s clear lakes.

From Vancouver: Hike quiet trails on Bowen Island

Crisscrossed by wooden walkways, overarched by soaring eagles and interspersed with ancient forests of Douglas firs, this windswept western isle feels a world away from Vancouver’s city centre rush. Despite that, you’ll actually only need to take a quick ferry ride to reach Bowen Island. Spend a day exploring its woodland trails, walking its craggy coastline or sea kayaking alongside the dolphins that live just offshore.

From Montreal: Try Québécois cuisine in the Eastern Townships

Marrying classic French techniques with the new world flavours farmed, foraged and fished in eastern Canada, Québécois cuisine is distinct. Much of the province’s sumptuous artisanal produce is handcrafted in the Eastern Townships, just an hour outside of the metropolis of Montreal. Tour the charming villages that comprise the region, stopping in to taste microbrews in Durham, to visit chocolatiers in Bromont or to meet the monks behind Saint-Benoît-du-Lac’s monastery-turned-gourmet fromagerie.

From Montreal: Go on a maple syrup crawl

Nothing is more quintessentially Canadian than the sweet golden syrup that drips from their emblematic maple trees. As soon as the first signs of life start to spring through the winter snows, the syrup is gathered and the crowds follow in quick succession. From Montreal, syrup season travellers (February-April) tour the sugar shacks found in multiple locations just outside of the city.

Pull up to try maple-drenched crêpes, maple-glazed hams or maple-infused bread loaves.  

From Montreal: Meet iconic Canadian critters in Parc Oméga

Growling bears, colossal moose, wailing elks and stalking wolves – Canada’s best-known characters live out in its wild hinterlands. For those who don’t have quite enough time to strap on a survival kit and set out into the wilderness, it’s still possible to see the country’s emblematic animals up close. Parc Oméga, a family-friendly wildlife reserve less than two hours away from Montreal, introduces visitors to those iconic mammals.

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From Calgary: Step back in time in Dinosaur Provincial Park

Alberta is best known for its bright blue alpine lakes, its sweeping Rocky Mountain vistas and its expansive forests. While all of these world-famous scenes are prized, only in-the-know travellers know that the arid Canadian Badlands are also close by. Head just two hours out of the city to visit Dinosaur Provincial Park, home to some of the richest fossil deposits on Earth.

Amateur palaeontologists should join an educational tour or visit the on-site museum for a deeper look. 

From Calgary: Explore the caves beneath Canmore

Buried beneath the scenic mountain town of Canmore, just an hour outside of Calgary, there’s a subterranean sprawl of prehistoric caves. Joining a cave tour, travellers can strap on a helmet and a headlamp and drop into the Rat’s Nest Cave. These tours traverse the tunnels that underlay the town, treating daring visitors to dramatic cave views and sightings of ancient pictographs as well as a pit of 7,000-year-old animal bones.

From Calgary: Refresh at Kananaskis Nordic Spa

Weary hikers looking for well-earned relaxation, frozen winter travellers seeking a warm reprieve and wellness enthusiasts with an eye for rejuvenation experiences will all find solace in the steaming pools of Kananaskis Nordic Spa. Situated a little over an hour away from Calgary, the spa is made up of a series of thermal baths, saunas and steam roams, all surrounded by the dense snow banks that stay all through the winter.

From Calgary: See Canada’s most famous scenes in Banff

Plenty of the travellers that pull into Calgary Airport are really only there to catch the bus to Banff. However, there’s still plenty you can see on just a one-day trip – the world-renowned national park is less than two hours away. Speed run your mountain ascent by catching a lift on the Banff Gondola, book a tour to see the mirror surfaces of Lake Louise or Lake Moraine, or skip the crowds and take a kayak out over Bow Lake.

From Québec City: Explore the arts scene of Baie-Saint-Paul

Quaint Québécois towns emerge through the forests that span out from the sides of the provincial capital, each with its own distinct character. Baie-Saint-Paul, just over an hour away from Québec City, is distinguished by commitment to the arts. Spend a day strolling streets lined with wooden cottages and dipping in and out of the town’s many galleries, watching artists at their work or perusing contemporary pieces from across Canada and beyond.

From Québec City: See North America’s only navigable fjord

Hewn into the earth in the time of the Ice Age, the colossal Saguenay fjord was wrought into a waterway that survives until today. Unique among all other fjords on the continent, you can take a boat tour out over its 62-mile-long (100km) surface. Cruise under the crag that soars above the forested banks and keep an eye out for beluga whales or drive the scenic route that circumvents the fjord.

From Québec City: Take to the trails in Jacques-Cartier National Park

At the confluence of two mighty rivers, verdant mountains jut over the scenic waters of Jacques-Cartier National Park. Less than an hour away from Québec City, a vast expanse of wilderness is encompassed within the park. Traverse its leafy trails on foot, take a gentle paddle past the lofty treetops or embark on a more serious hike to one of its vertiginous viewpoints for a panoramic vista.

From Halifax: Spy scenic lighthouses along Peggy’s Cove

An astonishing 160 lighthouses stand imperiously over Canada’s lashing Atlantic shore. Though the beacons are studded all along the coastline, the most picturesque among them is Peggy's Point Lighthouse, above the active fishing village of Peggy’s Cove.

Less than an hour away from Halifax, the quaint town is filled with eateries serving up freshly caught seafood. Pick any of them, fuel up, climb to the stark white lighthouse or take a peaceful shoreside stroll.

From Halifax: Learn about Canadian heritage in Lunenburg

With wooden stilts strong enough to withstand the pounding Atlantic swell and red wooden walls reminiscent of the Scandinavian shores, the little homes of Lunenburg give the village a traditional air. One of only two urban areas in all of North America to earn a UNESCO designation, some 70% of the old town’s colourful façades have stood for more than a century. Take a historic walking tour to learn about Canada’s rich fishing heritage or kayak along the scenic shoreline.

From Victoria: Walk above the canopy on the Malahat Skywalk

Soaring over the dense rainforests that coast almost every inch of Canada’s westerly isles, this Vancouver Island attraction is just half an hour north of the British Columbian capital. Surrounded by the wild Pacific seas and remote isles that stretch out to the horizon, the Malahat Skywalk offers panoramic views unobstructed by the pristine forests below. Easily accessible, the tower provides readers with the best of Vancouver Island’s nature without the usual lengthy hike.  

From Victoria: Take to the skies for a once-in-a-lifetime heli-adventure

There are already few places on Earth that feel more untouched and more remote than Canada’s western rainforests, but on a quick trip above the clouds visitors can reach even further into the wild. Heli-hiking and heli-paddle boarding are both available as day trips from Victoria. The former takes trekkers amid the rarely visited peaks of Bugaboo Provincial Park, while the latter flies travellers up to the alpine lakes of the Great Bear Rainforest for uninterrupted paddling on silent waters.

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