North America

Canada

Mountains, ocean and wilderness, wrapped around laid-back cities.

expensiveCanadian dollar ($)

Canada is a country of jaw-dropping wilderness on a continental scale — the Rockies, endless forests and lakes, polar bears and whales — with a handful of relaxed, multicultural, supremely liveable cities. Vancouver is the west-coast gem: a glass-towered city cradled between the Pacific and the Coast Mountains, where you can ski and sail in the same day, cycle a seawall past totem poles, and eat some of the best Asian food outside Asia. Outdoorsy, easygoing and ringed by staggering nature.

What things cost: Canada is expensive — Vancouver especially, with high accommodation costs, plus taxes and tipping (15–20%) added on top. Nature is the payoff, and much of it is free or cheap; the seawall, the beaches and the parks cost nothing. When a zone below says 'low', that means low for Vancouver, which is dear.

The cities

Montreal — Canada's romantic, French-flavoured cultural capital

Montreal

Canada's romantic, French-flavoured cultural capital20 must-dos · 5 areas to stay
Toronto — Canada's diverse, dynamic lakeside metropolis

Toronto

Canada's diverse, dynamic lakeside metropolis20 must-dos · 5 areas to stay
Vancouver — Canada's Pacific city — mountains, sea and forest at the city's edge

Vancouver

Canada's Pacific city — mountains, sea and forest at the city's edge20 must-dos · 5 areas to stay

What’s on in Canada

Sometimes the event picks the city for you.

14 Jan – 6 Feb

Igloofest

Only in Montreal — Igloofest, the world's coldest outdoor electronic-music festival, when thousands of bundled-up ravers in outrageous ski suits dance to top DJs in the Old Port under the freezing winter sky, amid ice sculptures and light shows. A wild, joyous and uniquely Montreal way to embrace the deep-winter cold; the atmosphere is electric and the onesie fashion legendary. Go for a surreal, only-here winter night out. A brilliant, if bracing, cold-season highlight. Dress very, very warmly.

Montreal · The Old Port

24 Jun – 4 Jul

Montreal International Jazz Festival

The largest jazz festival in the world — a dazzling ten-day celebration that takes over the downtown Quartier des Spectacles with hundreds of concerts (many free and outdoors) spanning jazz, blues, funk and world music, drawing around two million people. The whole city centre becomes a joyous, music-filled party in the summer warmth. A brilliant, quintessentially Montreal experience; much of it is free, so just wander into the crowds and the music. A high point of the city's packed festival summer. Utterly joyful.

Montreal · Quartier des Spectacles

Jul14–25

Just for Laughs

The world's biggest comedy festival — Just for Laughs, when the world's top comedians descend on Montreal for weeks of stand-up shows, galas, street performances and free outdoor events across the festival district. A hilarious, buzzing addition to the city's festival summer, with big-name headliners and plenty of free entertainment in the streets. Go for the shows and the party atmosphere; catch a gala or just enjoy the free street acts. A fun, laughter-filled highlight of the Montreal summer. Great fun for all.

Montreal · Quartier des Spectacles & venues

Jul16–18

Vancouver Folk Music Festival

A beloved, long-running festival of folk and world music on the grass at Jericho Beach Park, with the mountains and sea as a backdrop — a mellow, family-friendly weekend of music, crafts and food in a glorious summer setting. A quintessentially laid-back Vancouver event.

Vancouver · Jericho Beach Park

Jul24–31

Celebration of Light

The world's largest offshore fireworks competition — over three summer nights, countries put on dazzling fireworks displays choreographed to music over English Bay, watched by hundreds of thousands from the beaches and seawall. A spectacular, free highlight of the Vancouver summer; stake out a beach spot early.

Vancouver · English Bay

31 Jul – 2 Aug

Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana)

North America's largest Caribbean festival — a huge, joyous carnival of dazzling feathered costumes, steel-pan and soca music, and a spectacular Grand Parade of a million revellers along the lakeshore. A riot of colour, rhythm and Caribbean food that takes over the city for a weekend; one of the great summer celebrations of Toronto's multicultural soul.

Toronto · Exhibition Place & the lakeshore