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The time and
expense involved in covering Canada's immense distances means that
most visitors confine their explorations to the area around one of
the main cities - usually Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver or Calgary
for arrivals by air. The attractions of these centers vary widely,
but they have one thing in common with each other and all other
Canadian towns - they are within easy reach of the great outdoors.
Canada's most southerly region, south Ontario, contains not only
the manufacturing heart of the country and its largest city, Toronto, but also Niagara Falls, Canada's premier tourist sight. North of
Toronto there's the far less packaged scenic attraction of Georgian
Bay, a beautiful waterscape of pine-studded islets set against
crystal-blue waters. Like the forested Algonquin park, the bay is
also accessible from the capital city of Ottawa, not as dynamic a
place as Toronto, but still well worth a stay for its art galleries
and museums.
Québec, set apart from the rest of the continent by the profundity
of its French tradition, focuses on its biggest city, Montréal,
which is for many people the most vibrant place in the country, a
fascinating mix of old-world style and commercial dynamism. The pace
of life is more relaxed in the historic provincial capital, Québec
City, and more easy-going still in the villages dotted along the St
Lawrence lowlands, where glittering spires attest to the enduring
influence of the Catholic Church. For something more bracing, you
could continue north to Tadoussac, where whales can be seven near
the mouth of the splendid Saguenay fjord - and if you're really
prepared for the wilds, forge on through to Labrador, as
inhospitable a zone as you'll find in the east.
Across the mouth of
the St Lawrence, the pastoral Gaspé peninsula - the easternmost part
of Québec - borders New Brunswick, a mild-mannered introduction to
the three Maritime Provinces, whose people have long been dependent
on timber and the sea for their livelihood. Here, the tapering Bay
of Fundy boasts amazing tides - rising and falling by nine meters,
sometimes more - whilst the tiny fishing villages characteristic of
the region are at their most beguiling near Halifax, the bustling
capital of Nova Scotia . Perhaps even prettier, and certainly more
austere, are the land and seascapes of Cape Breton Island, whose
rugged topography anticipates that of the island of Newfoundland to
the north. Newfoundland's isolation has spawned a distinctive
culture that's at its most lively in the capital, St John's, where
the local folk-music scene is the country's best. The island also
boasts some of the Atlantic seaboard's finest landscapes,
particularly the flat-topped peaks and glacier-gouged lakes of Gros
Morne National Park .
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Back on the
mainland, separating Ontario from Alberta and the Rockies,
the so-called prairie provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan
have a reputation for dullness that's somewhat unfair: even
in the flat southern parts there's the diversion of Winnipeg, whose traces of its early days make it a good place to
break a trans-Canadian journey. To the north, the myriad
lakes and gigantic forests of the provinces' wilderness
regions offer magnificent canoeing and hiking, especially
within Prince Albert National Park . Up in the far north,
beside Hudson Bay, the settlement of Churchill - remote but
accessible by train - is famous for its polar bears, who
gather near town from the end of June waiting to move out
over the ice as soon as the bay freezes.
moving west, Alberta's wheat fields ripple into ranching
country on the approach to the Canadian Rockies, whose
international reputation is more than borne out by the
reality. The provincial capital, Edmonton, is overshadowed
by Calgary, a brash place grown fat on the region's oil and
gas fields, and the most useful springboard for a venture
into the mountains. British Columbia embodies the popular
picture of Canada to perfection: a land of snowcapped
summits, rivers and forests, pioneer villages, gold-rush
ghost towns, and some of the greatest hiking, skiing,
fishing and canoeing opportunities in the world. Its urban
focus, Vancouver, is the country's third city, known for
its spectacular natural setting and a laid-back West Coast
hedonism. Off the coast lies Vancouver Island, a microcosm
of the province's immense natural riches, and home to
Victoria, a devotedly anglophile little city.
North of British Columbia, wedged alongside Alaska, is the
Yukon Territory, half grandiose mountains, half sub arctic
tundra, and full of evocative echoes of the Klondike gold
rush. Whitehorse, its capital, and Dawson City, a
gold-rush relic, are virtually the only towns here, each
accessed by dramatic frontier highways. The Northwest
Territories and Nunavut, arching over the provinces of
Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, are an immensity of
stunted forest, lakes, tundra and ice, the realm of Dene and
Inuit native bands whose traditional way of life is being
threatened as oil and gas exploration reaches up into the
Arctic. Roads are virtually non-existent in the deep north,
and only Yellowknife, a bizarre frontier city, plus a
handful of ramshackle villages, offer the air links and
resources necessary to explore this wilderness. |
Canada
Canada brief history
Topography
Climate
Forestry
Mining
Economy
Nunavut
Territory
Ethnic
Groups
Languages
Canada - US
Border
Fishing
Canada Transportation
Tourism and Recreation
Alberta
Edmonton City
Fort
Ile-aux-Noix
Calgary
Vancouver Island
British
Columbia
Victoria
Nootka Sound
Yukon river
Manitoba
Auyuittuq National Park
Akshayuk Pass
Where to go
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