Canada is enormous. Book the right days.
Which Moraine Lake trip still runs now that private cars are shut out. Whether the boat or the tunnel gets you closest at Niagara. Where the whales actually are in August. Every tour in Canada, reviewed.
Banff and Lake Louise, in the order that works.
All Rockies tours →
Three lakes, one gondola and a glacier road, and only so many daylight hours. Most visitors get four days in the mountains and spend the first one queueing. These three shapes of day cover the ground in a sensible order.
- 1Banff Gondola Admission Ticketfrom $53
- 2Banff Gondola Ride Admissionfrom $55
- 3Columbia Icefield Tour with Glacier Skywalkfrom $99
Moraine, Louise and Johnston Canyon
Moraine at first light while the water still holds the colour, Louise for the shoreline walk, then the canyon catwalks on the way back down the Bow Valley.
The Icefields Parkway to Athabasca
Two hundred kilometres of ice-fed lakes and hanging glaciers, an Ice Explorer out onto the Athabasca, and the Skywalk cantilevered over the Sunwapta valley.
Sulphur Mountain and Banff town
Eight minutes up the ridge, then the boardwalk along the summit to Sanson’s Peak with the Bow Valley opening out on both sides. Back in town for dinner.
The days Canada gets remembered for.
The Falls, the turquoise lakes, the whale boats, the two French cities and the green light over the north. Most Canadian itineraries are built around a handful of these, and each one books differently.
Niagara after dark is the shift most people miss.
Two million litres a second, and everyone stands at the same rail between eleven and four. The tunnels behind the Horseshoe, the boat into the spray and the fireworks cruise all run on their own clocks, and the late ones are quieter and better lit.
Canada’s most popular tours.
Every review →More travellers take these than anything else in the country — and what each one gets right.
1
Vancouver Half-Day Whale Watching Adventure with Free Photos
Vancouver half-day whale watching from Granville Island on a heated catamaran, with free wildlife photos and expert naturalists.
From · $193
Read our review →
2
Quebec City Walking Tour
from $30
3
Premium Tour, Boat & Journey Behind the Falls
from $152
4
Banff Gondola Admission Ticket
from $53
5
Niagara Falls Day Tour with Optional Boat Cruise
from $53
6
Best of Niagara Falls Canada Premium Tour: Behind Falls and Boat
from $147
7
Guided Bus Tour
from $26
8
Big Bus Vancouver Hop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Tour
from $48
What a Canadian day out costs.
Every tour on the site, sorted by what you actually pay. A great day in Canada can start at the price of breakfast on the Danforth.
Entry tickets, harbour cruises, walking tours and the funicular-and-lunch kind of morning.
- 1Quebec City Walking Tourfrom $30
- 2Banff Gondola Admission Ticketfrom $53
- 3Niagara Falls Day Tour with Optional Boat Cruisefrom $53
The full day tours: Niagara with the boat, the Rockies lakes run, whale boats, wine country with a driver.
Float planes, helicopters, private guides and the long glacier days that need a coach and a permit.
Quebec City and Montreal are walked, not driven.
Two cities built before the car: a walled upper town above the St Lawrence, and a stone port district that turns into a terrace the moment the ice goes. Both reward a guide who can read the doorways, and both eat late.
- 1Quebec City Walking Tourfrom $30
- 2Guided Tour of Fairmont Le Château Frontenacfrom $19
- 3Guided Sightseeing River Cruisefrom $47
Only in Canada.
Lakes and mountains exist everywhere. The road that bans your car, the beluga estuary and the aurora season that runs eight months belong to this country.
Moraine Lake
Parks Canada closed Moraine Lake Road to private vehicles in 2023. There is no car park to arrive at any more and no gate to talk your way through: the only ways to the shoreline are a booked shuttle seat or a tour coach. The lake is at its most saturated in late June once the melt has settled, and the rockpile above the outlet is the view on the old twenty-dollar note.
- 1Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Banff Tour from Calgary/Canmore/Banff★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,792 reviews
- 2Louise & Moraine Lake or Johnston Canyon 1/2 Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 861 reviews
- 3Lake Louise, Moraine Lake and the Icefields Parkway Full-Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 836 reviews
The Whale Coasts
Southern Vancouver Island runs orca, humpback and minke boats out of Victoria and Steveston from spring to autumn. On the other side of the country the St Lawrence widens at Tadoussac into cold, food-rich water where belugas live year round and blue whales come up to feed. Zodiacs get you low and close; covered boats keep you warm enough to stay out.
- 1Vancouver Half-Day Whale Watching Adventure with Free Photos★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 5,000 reviews
- 2Tadoussac/Charlevoix: Whale Watching Zodiac Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 2,716 reviews
- 3Covered Whale Watching Adventure with Free Photos★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 2,260 reviews
The Aurora North
Yellowknife sits under the auroral oval, which is why its season runs from late August to April rather than a few winter weeks. Tours drive out past the city glow to heated cabins and teepees and wait; three consecutive nights is the standard advice, because one clouded night is normal and two in a row is bad luck.
- 1Aurora Hunting Tours★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 374 reviews
- 2Northern Lights Tour Yellowknife★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 370 reviews
- 3Northern Lights Tours★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 326 reviews
The animals are the reason half these boats and buses exist.
Every wildlife trip →
Great Bears of Bute: Grizzly Bear Viewing & Indigenous Cultural Tour
Read our review →
Wildlife and Sightseeing Tour with Lakeshore Hike
Read our review →Book these before you fly to Canada.
Most of Canada can be arranged from the hotel the night before. These four cannot: they run on shuttle permits, timed tickets and a sky that only performs for part of the year.
- 01Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Banff Tour from Calgary/Canmore/BanffPrivate cars have been shut out of Moraine Lake Road since 2023 — a tour seat or a booked shuttle is the only way to the shoreline.
- 02Premium Tour, Boat & Journey Behind the FallsEntry to the tunnels behind the Horseshoe is timed, and the summer slots are gone days ahead.
- 03Banff Gondola Admission TicketThe Banff Gondola sells timed tickets and the clear midsummer mornings go first.
- 04Aurora Hunting ToursThe cabin tours run on clear nights from late August to April, and the good weeks fill months out.
Canada is four different countries by season.
The whale boats run May to October. The aurora season starts in late August. The Rockies lake roads open with the melt and close with the first heavy snow, and the wineries are at their best the week the leaves turn. Pick the season first and the itinerary mostly writes itself.
By region — where you land
Vancouver165 tours
Banff & Lake Louise346 tours
Toronto185 tours
Montreal178 tours
Quebec City108 tours
Victoria46 tours
Halifax54 tours- Every Canadian tour →
Pacific to St Lawrence, reviewed end to end.
Sea-to-Sky
NiagaraLatest Canadian tour reviews.
All 743 Canadian reviews →
Half-Day Guided Via Ferrata Climbing Tour in Banff
Read our review →
Private Airport Transfer: Banff, Canmore, Lake Louise to Calgary
Read our review →
Private Forest Bathing Experience Connect with Nature
Read our review →
Calgary to Banff, Canmore, Lake Louise, Luxury Lexus TX
Read our review →
Banff |Canmore| Kananaskis to Calgary YYC Airport–Private Shuttle
Read our review →
Elevated Private Experience: Adventure & Wellness in Banff
Read our review →
Moraine Lake & Lake Louise day Tour – from Canmore/Banff
Read our review →
Moraine and Lake Louise with Yoho National Park Private Tour
Read our review →
Moraine Lake and Lake Louise Private Premium Day Tour
Read our review →
Moraine Lake and Lake Louise Shuttle | End of Summer Seat Sale!
Read our review →