What are your topmost things to do in Canada? If you’ve not made a list, then there is a lot to think about. The New York Times has named Canada its top travel destination for 2017 and not without reason. The newspaper called it:
“A world unto itself, with cosmopolitan cities, barely explored natural wonders and everything in between”.
It’s common knowledge that Canada shares America’s longest land border and is famous for tourist spots like the Niagara Falls, the Rocky Mountains and the CN Tower, among others. If you look at the Great White North from a traveller’s perspective, you are bound to find many hidden gems. There’s more to Canada than its incredible scenery, bears, ice hockey and maple syrup. Here’s a list of things to do in Canada:
1. Walk on the ocean floor
The Bay of Fundy is home to the world’s highest tides. From age-old fossils to water-carved rock formations with names like “mother-in-law” and “the bear,” you’ll find plenty to marvel at.
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2. Uncover a dinosaur
There’s only one city in the world, Drumheller, affectionately known as Dinosaur Valley, where you’ll find an 86-foot-tall, 151-foot-long dinosaur standing at its centre. The first dinosaurs were unearthed here in the 1800s, and they’ve been finding them ever since. A visit to the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology is a must.
3. Live the book collector’s dream
The Monkey’s Paw in Toronto has the world’s first “Biblio-Mat”, a vending machine that will dispense a randomly selected vintage volume for $2. The categories of books featured here are- the beautiful, the arcane, the macabre and the absurd.
4. Experience the ultimate treehouse
In the middle of the forest on Vancouver Island, you’ll find large wooden orbs, called Free Spirits Spheres, suspended from trees. Touted as “the ultimate treehouse experience,” these free spirit spheres can be rented overnight.
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5. Visit the most-filmed location
Dating back to the early 1900s, Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, British Columbia, has treated psychiatric survivors until 2010. It is also home to a thriving arboretum of over 1,900 trees and a diverse wildlife population that includes black bears, bobcats, coyotes, black-tailed deer, and over 80 bird species. Its eerie interiors and serene landscape, Riverview makes for Canada’s most filmed location. It has been featured in productions such as Saw, Watchmen, Smallville, Fringe, Dark Angel, The X Files, Supernatural, Romeo Must Die, and Along Came A Spider.
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6. Go whale spotting
The frozen north of Canada is the place to go for three Arctic whale species. Churchill is good for spotting belugas, and Baffin Island has belugas, narwhals and bowheads. You can camp on the ice, near their feeding grounds, or search from an expedition cruise ship.
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7. Birdwatch the largest gathering of bald eagles
Bald Eagles may be the symbol of American pride, but when they want a family reunion, they head to Canada. Owing to the abundance of food, the largest annual gathering of bald eagles in North America can be spotted at Sunwolf.
8. Howl with the wolves
Each year, guests to the Algonquin park watch park rangers call out to the area’s wolves with their best howls. The packs answer back, and then everyone heads out in their car caravans to try to catch a glimpse of the creatures up close. As many as 1,000 people head out every week to experience the phenomenon first hand.
9. Visit a Viking village
Situated at the northernmost tip of Newfoundland in Canada is a village of Vikings. It is thought to have been established around AD 1000, or 500 years before Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. Representing the farthest known exploration on the part of the Vikings, L’Anse aux Meadows is a made up of eight simple buildings made of sod over a wooden frame.
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10. Wonder at the perfectly circular freshwater lake
Lake Manicouagan in the middle of the tundra of Quebec is said to be one of the purest freshwater lakes on earth. The almost perfectly circular lake was formed by a meteorite plummeting from space almost 1.4 million years ago. It is surrounded by a near-lunar landscape and filled with pristine water that is covered with ice for nine months.
