Smart Self-Managed Tours

Country guide

Canada

A photograph of Canada
Photograph · Chensiyuan · CC BY-SA 4.0

Canada is the second-largest country in the world by area and has the longest coastline of any, running from the Atlantic to the Pacific and north into the Arctic across ten provinces and three territories. Just over 41 million people live in it, and not evenly: the great majority are in urban areas while very large stretches hold almost nobody. Ottawa is the capital, and Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are the three largest metropolitan areas and the three realistic starting points. The federal government is officially bilingual in English and French, and which of the two a street is lived in changes as you cross the country.

Cities

Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.

Practical information

Language spoken
English and French
National practical orientation; regional and minority languages may also be used
Dialling code
+1
International calling code; local area and mobile prefixes still apply
Currency
Canadian dollar (CAD)
Use the official local currency; card acceptance varies by place
Emergency number
911
Use only for an emergency; tourist assistance may use a separate number
Plug type
Type A and B · 120 V
Check that chargers support the recorded voltage before using an adapter
Tap water
Not recorded
Water systems and advisories are managed by multiple jurisdictions

Planning a visit

  1. January: seasonal closure recorded
  2. February: seasonal closure recorded
  3. March: seasonal closure recorded
  4. April: seasonal closure recorded
  5. May: seasonal closure recorded
  6. June: seasonal closure recorded
  7. July: seasonal closure recorded
  8. August: seasonal closure recorded
  9. September: seasonal closure recorded — this month
  10. October: seasonal closure recorded
  11. November: seasonal closure recorded
  12. December: seasonal closure recorded

Top things to see

Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.

  1. Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal
    02 2 hours

    Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal

    The Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal is Quebec's principal public museum devoted to contemporary art and digital-media practice. Located in Montreal, it serves as a major cultural institution dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and promoting contemporary artistic creation.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Montreal
  2. Musée de l'Amérique francophone Musée de l'Amérique francophone
    03 2 hours

    Musée de l'Amérique francophone

    The Musée de l’Amérique francophone is a history museum in the Séminaire de Québec complex in Québec City. It explores French-speaking communities across North America, linking regional history with wider stories of settlement, migration, religion, education, and cultural continuity.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Quebec City
  3. H. R. MacMillan Space Centre H. R. MacMillan Space Centre
    04 1 hr 30 min

    H. R. MacMillan Space Centre

    The H.R. MacMillan Space Centre is a planetarium and astronomy museum located in Vanier Park, Vancouver. It occupies a distinctive building with a domed roof that has become a recognizable landmark on the city's skyline.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Vancouver
  4. Royal Ontario Museum Royal Ontario Museum
    05 1 hr 30 min

    Royal Ontario Museum

    Royal Ontario Museum is a major Toronto museum where world cultures and natural history meet under one roof.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Toronto
  5. Redpath Museum Redpath Museum
    06 1 hr 30 min

    Redpath Museum

    The Redpath Museum is McGill University's public natural-history museum, housed in a purpose-built Victorian structure. Opened in 1882, it stands as Canada's oldest building constructed specifically as a museum.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Montreal
  6. Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
    07 1 hr 30 min

    Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec

    Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec is Québec City’s national art museum beside the Plains of Abraham.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Quebec City
  7. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
    08 1 hr 30 min

    Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

    Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal

    Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is Montreal’s leading art museum, with Quebec, Canadian, international, design, and decorative-art collections. Its value lies in the specific collection, landscape, architecture, or public setting represented by that record.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Montreal
  8. château Ramezay château Ramezay
    09 1 hr 30 min

    château Ramezay

    Château Ramezay

    Chateau Ramezay is an eighteenth-century governor's residence and city-history museum located in Old Montreal, facing Place Jacques-Cartier. Built in the early 1700s, it served as the residence of the governors of Montreal.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Montreal
  9. Hockey Hall of Fame Hockey Hall of Fame
    10 1 hr 30 min

    Hockey Hall of Fame

    Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame is a focused museum devoted to ice hockey’s history, achievements and cultural reach.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Toronto
  10. Musée de la civilisation Musée de la civilisation
    11 1 hr 30 min

    Musée de la civilisation

    Musée de la Civilisation de Québec

    Musée de la civilisation is one of Québec City’s most engaging indoor introductions to the province’s stories, identities, and cultural life.

    • Must see
    • Museum
    • Quebec City
  11. Spadina House Spadina House
    12 1 hr 30 min

    Spadina House

    Spadina Museum

    Spadina Museum is a historic house museum in Toronto, preserving an upper-class residence and the domestic world of wealthy families across changing eras.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Toronto
  12. Maison Saint-Gabriel Maison Saint-Gabriel
    13 1 hr 30 min

    Maison Saint-Gabriel

    Maison Saint-Gabriel is a seventeenth-century farmhouse museum in Montreal, Quebec, devoted to the history of early French settlement.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Montreal
  13. Bata Shoe Museum Bata Shoe Museum
    14 1 hr 30 min

    Bata Shoe Museum

    Bata Shoe Museum is a Toronto institution devoted to footwear as cultural evidence. Its subject is unusually focused: shoes are examined not simply as accessories, but as objects that reveal design, materials, construction, work, movement, status, and identity.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Toronto
  14. Montreal Biosphère Montreal Biosphère
    15 1 hr 30 min

    Montreal Biosphère

    Biosphère

    The Montreal Biosphere is an environment museum housed in a striking geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller for Expo 67. The structure stands on Saint Helen's Island in the Saint Lawrence River as a landmark of architectural innovation.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Montreal
  15. The Aga Khan Museum The Aga Khan Museum
    16 1 hr 30 min

    The Aga Khan Museum

    Aga Khan Museum

    Aga Khan Museum is a purpose-built Toronto museum devoted to art, ideas, and cultural histories connected with Muslim civilisations.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Toronto
  16. Montreal Science Centre Montreal Science Centre
    17 1 hr 30 min

    Montreal Science Centre

    Centre des sciences de Montréal

    Montreal Science Centre is a hands-on science museum and IMAX venue on the Old Port waterfront. Its value lies in the specific collection, landscape, architecture, or public setting represented by that record.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Montreal
  17. McCord Stewart Museum McCord Stewart Museum
    18 1 hr 30 min

    McCord Stewart Museum

    Musée McCord Stewart

    McCord Stewart Museum is a museum of Montreal history, photography, fashion, and material culture beside McGill University. Its value lies in the specific collection, landscape, architecture, or public setting represented by that record.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Montreal
  18. Montreal Holocaust Museum Montreal Holocaust Museum
    19 1 hr 30 min

    Montreal Holocaust Museum

    Musée de l'Holocauste

    The Montreal Holocaust Museum is Canada's largest Holocaust education museum. Its local name is Musee de l'Holocauste Montreal. The institution focuses on preserving and sharing the history of the Holocaust through survivor testimony, historical artifacts, and educational exhibitions.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Montreal
  19. Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site
    20 1 hr 30 min

    Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site

    Lieu historique national Cartier-Brébeuf

    Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site is a riverside historic place beside the Saint-Charles River in Québec City. It commemorates Jacques Cartier’s wintering at Stadacona in 1535–1536 and the later mission associated with Jean de Brébeuf and other missionaries.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Quebec City
  20. Vancouver Maritime Museum Vancouver Maritime Museum
    21 1 hr 30 min

    Vancouver Maritime Museum

    Vancouver Maritime Museum is a heritage museum in Vanier Park beside English Bay. Its subject is the maritime history of the Pacific Northwest and Arctic regions, bringing together stories of seafaring, exploration, shipping, naval activity, and northern waters.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Vancouver
  21. Science World Science World
    22 1 hr 30 min

    Science World

    Science World is Vancouver’s hands-on science centre beneath a geodesic dome at the eastern end of False Creek.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Vancouver
  22. Plains of Abraham Museum Plains of Abraham Museum
    23 1 hr 30 min

    Plains of Abraham Museum

    Musée des plaines d'Abraham

    The Plains of Abraham Museum provides an indoor historical introduction to Québec City’s famous battlefield landscape. It explains the events and context that give the surrounding park its significance.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Quebec City
  23. Gardiner Museum Gardiner Museum
    24 1 hr 30 min

    Gardiner Museum

    Gardiner Museum is Toronto’s specialist museum devoted to ceramics, where vessels and ceramic objects are the central subject rather than one category within a general collection.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Toronto
  24. Black Creek Pioneer Village Black Creek Pioneer Village
    25 1 hr 30 min

    Black Creek Pioneer Village

    The Village at Black Creek

    Black Creek Pioneer Village is an open-air heritage museum in Toronto that interprets 19th-century rural Ontario life. The site preserves and presents historical buildings, landscapes, and traditions from the Victorian era in what was formerly the Township of York.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Toronto
  25. Canadian Centre for Architecture Canadian Centre for Architecture
    26 1 hr 30 min

    Canadian Centre for Architecture

    Centre Canadien d'Architecture

    Canadian Centre for Architecture is an international architecture museum, research centre, and archive in Shaughnessy Village. Its value lies in the specific collection, landscape, architecture, or public setting represented by that record.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Montreal
  26. Museum of Vancouver Museum of Vancouver
    27 1 hr 30 min

    Museum of Vancouver

    The Museum of Vancouver is a civic history museum dedicated to the social, cultural, and built development of Vancouver. It occupies a distinctive modernist building in Vanier Park, with views across False Creek toward downtown.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Vancouver
  27. Vancouver Police Museum Vancouver Police Museum
    28 1 hr 30 min

    Vancouver Police Museum

    The Vancouver Police Museum occupies a heritage building that formerly served as the city's coroner's court and morgue. Operated independently of the Vancouver Police Department, it preserves and presents materials related to law enforcement history in Vancouver.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Vancouver
  28. McMichael Canadian Art Collection McMichael Canadian Art Collection
    29 1 hr 30 min

    McMichael Canadian Art Collection

    McMichael Canadian Art Collection is an art museum in Kleinburg, Ontario, northwest of Toronto. Its galleries focus on Canadian art, especially the landscapes associated with the Group of Seven, while also presenting Indigenous Canadian art.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Toronto
  29. Pointe-à-Callière Museum Pointe-à-Callière Museum
    30 1 hr 30 min

    Pointe-à-Callière Museum

    Pointe-à-Callière

    Pointe-à-Callière is an archaeology and history museum located at the site recognized as Montreal's birthplace. The institution occupies a historically significant location where the city was founded, incorporating actual archaeological excavations into its presentation.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Montreal
  30. Textile Museum of Canada Textile Museum of Canada
    31 1 hr 30 min

    Textile Museum of Canada

    Textile Museum Of Canada

    The Textile Museum of Canada is a specialist museum in downtown Toronto devoted to textile arts and material culture from around the world.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Toronto
  31. Maison Alphonse-Desjardins Maison Alphonse-Desjardins
    32 1 hr 30 min

    Maison Alphonse-Desjardins

    Maison Alphonse-Desjardins is a heritage house in Lévis, Quebec, preserved as a monument to Alphonse Desjardins, founder of the caisse populaire cooperative credit union movement.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Quebec City
  32. Roedde House Museum Roedde House Museum
    33 1 hr 30 min

    Roedde House Museum

    Roedde House Museum is a restored Victorian-era residence in Vancouver's West End. It preserves the domestic history of the Roedde family, early Vancouver residents. The house represents late-19th-century middle-class family life through its architecture and surviving furnishings.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Vancouver
  33. Toronto Railway Museum Toronto Railway Museum
    34 1 hr 30 min

    Toronto Railway Museum

    Toronto Railway Museum is a compact heritage attraction in the historic John Street Roundhouse, a former locomotive maintenance facility in downtown Toronto.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Toronto
  34. Musée de la place Royale Musée de la place Royale
    35 1 hr 30 min

    Musée de la place Royale

    Musée de la Place-Royale is a place-based museum in Québec City’s Lower Town, centred on the history and urban character of Place Royale.

    • High
    • Museum
    • Quebec City
  35. Campbell House Museum Campbell House Museum
    36 1 hr 30 min

    Campbell House Museum

    Campbell House Museum is a historic house museum in Toronto, Ontario. Built in 1822 for Sir William Campbell, Chief Justice of Upper Canada, it is recognized as Toronto's oldest surviving building from its original era.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Toronto
  36. Chinese Canadian Museum Chinese Canadian Museum
    37 1 hr 30 min

    Chinese Canadian Museum

    The Chinese Canadian Museum is a history museum in Vancouver’s Chinatown, dedicated to Chinese Canadian heritage and lived experience. The museum places national stories inside a neighbourhood that has long been a centre of Chinese Canadian community life.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Vancouver
  37. Le musée du Monastère des Augustines Le musée du Monastère des Augustines
    38 1 hr 30 min

    Le musée du Monastère des Augustines

    Monastère des Augustines is a Québec City heritage complex rooted in the Augustinian Sisters’ medical and spiritual work. The sisters established the first hospital north of Mexico in 1645.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Quebec City
  38. Musée des Ursulines Musée des Ursulines
    39 1 hr 30 min

    Musée des Ursulines

    Musée des Ursulines de Québec is a historic convent museum in Québec City’s Upper Town, near the basilica. The Ursuline order founded the institution in 1639 and established an early school for girls in New France.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Quebec City
  39. Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art
    40 1 hr 30 min

    Museum of Contemporary Art

    The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada, commonly called MOCA Toronto, is a contemporary-art institution in Toronto’s Junction Triangle. It occupies a former industrial building, connecting the museum experience with the neighbourhood’s manufacturing heritage and changing urban character.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Toronto
  40. new Insectarium of Montreal new Insectarium of Montreal
    41 1 hr 30 min

    new Insectarium of Montreal

    Insectarium de Montréal

    Montreal Insectarium is an Espace pour la vie attraction in the Olympic Park area of eastern Montreal. It introduces visitors to arthropod biodiversity through live insects, entomological science and habitat-focused displays.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Montreal
  41. Scarborough Museum Scarborough Museum
    42 1 hr 30 min

    Scarborough Museum

    Scarborough Museum is a City of Toronto heritage museum set within Thomson Memorial Park. The four-building complex presents Scarborough’s local history and the communities that shaped the former municipality, now part of Toronto.

    • Notable
    • Museum
    • Toronto

Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·

Common questions

How long should a first trip to Canada be?

Ten to sixteen days is realistic for one Canadian region, not for crossing the country. An eastern cities route, a Rockies journey and a Pacific itinerary each work better as their own trip.

What entry documents are needed for Canada?

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada lists visitor visa and electronic travel authorisation rules. The required document depends on passport, travel method and status, so complete the official eligibility check for the actual journey.

What is the best way to travel around Canada?

Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal are the principal air gateways. VIA Rail is most useful in the Québec City–Windsor corridor and on selected long-distance services; outside major centres, a car or domestic flight may be necessary.

When is a practical time to visit Canada?

May to September suits many city and national-park itineraries, but northern access and mountain conditions have shorter operating seasons. Winter is a separate travel plan with different road, daylight and activity constraints.

What money and payment basics apply in Canada?

Prices are in Canadian dollars (CAD). Payment fees and acceptance are Not recorded at national level here, so verify rental deposits, remote-area fuel payment and card conversion terms directly with each provider.

What practical safety details should I save for Canada?

Call 911 for an emergency in Canada. Electrical supply is 120 V through Type A and B sockets; the source set does not record one nationwide tap-water statement, so local guidance applies.