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Experienced and first-time travelers alike rely on Fodor's Gold Guides for rich, reliable coverage the world over. Updated each year and containing a foldout Rand McNally map, a Fodor's Gold Guide is an essential tool for any kind of traveler. If only you had one guide, this is the guide for you.
Let the world's smartest guide enrich your tripVivid descriptions evoke what makes Canada unique - Local experts show you the special places - Thorough updating keeps you on track - Practical information gives you the tools to explore - Easy-to-use format puts it all at your fingertips
Choose among many hotels and restaurants in all price categoriesStay in city hotels with character, country inns and B&Bs, seaside resorts, and wilderness lodges - Dine in stylish urban hot spots, homey French bistros, seafood and steak houses, rustic taverns - Check out hundreds of detailed reviews and learn what's special about each place
Mix and match our itineraries and discover the unexpectedSavvy advice helps you decide where to go and when - Driving and walking tours guide you from Vancouver to Montréal, from the Rockies to Nova Scotia - Choose the best outdoor adventures -- whale-watching, hiking, kayaking, biking, skiing - Find great sources for crafts, fashions, antiques
Go straight to the facts you need and find all that's newUseful maps and background information - How to get there and get around - When to go - What to pack - Costs, hours, and tips by the thousands
Pleasures and PastimesDiningCanadian fine dining really began in Québec, where eating out in a good restaurant with a good bottle of wine has long been a traditional part of life. Eating out was slower to catch on elsewhere, however, and until the early 1970s, Toronto was notorious for its poor food and barbarous drinking laws. But immigrants from places like Italy, Greece, Portugal, Japan, China, and India changed all that. Soon, even the stuffiest Torontonians were learning how to pronounce things like velouté, forestière, tagliolini, manicotti, and tzatziki. In Vancouver there's plenty of West Coast flair and creative use of local specialties from salmon to Pacific halibut and Dungeness crab. The country, of course, is rich in the basic ingredients -- native cheeses from Québec and Ontario; lobster, mussels, salmon, and sole from both oceans; fine beef from Alberta; and lots of local delicacies like fiddlehead ferns, wild rice, and game meat.
The Great OutdoorsMost Canadians live in towns and cities within 325 km (200 mi) of the American border, but the country does have a splendid backyard to play in. Even major cities like Montréal and Vancouver are just a few hours' drive from a wilderness full of rivers, lakes, and mountains. A network of more than 30 national parks, from Kluane in Yukon to Cape Breton Highlands in Nova Scotia, is backed by dozens of provincial and regional parks. All this wilderness provides opportunities for bicycling, camping, canoeing, hiking, boating, horseback riding, mountain climbing, skiing, white-water rafting, and fishing. The coasts of British Columbia, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the Atlantic provinces are also ideal for whale-watching.
Nightlife and the ArtsCanadians rejoice in their cities, which are clean, safe, and lively. A night on the town still means just that. Dinner, a play or concert, drinks, and maybe even a late show can be squeezed into an evening. And you can walk or take public transport from one event to the next. If you prefer, you can just stroll the brightly lit, crowded streets and do some people-watching.
Musically, Canada has managed to hold its own against its giant neighbor to the south. Festivals celebrating everything from fiddles to fugues ornament summer schedules across the country and provide showcases for local talent. Names like Teresa Stratas, Anne Murray, k.d. lang, Joni Mitchell, Céline Dion, Alanis Morisette, and Bryan Adams are already familiar south of the border. Less well-known people to look for are the Tragically Hip, perhaps the country's most popular rock band; Cape Breton's Rankin Family, who blend modern rhythms with traditional Gaelic songs; and Ashley MacIsaac, who has made Scottish fiddle music popular among the urban young. In French there are the heartbreaking lyrics of traditional chansonniers like Gilles Vigneault and Felix Leclerc and the carefully crafted pop rock of Daniel Bélanger. On the classical scene, conductor Charles Dutoît has given the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal international luster, and Toronto's Canadian Opera Company is highly rated.
Toronto has emerged as the third most important center for English-language theater after London and New York. The city has more than four dozen venues staging original plays, musicals, classics, and touring big hits. Montréal is a center of French-language production, with 10 major companies. Shakespeare's classics are honored along with more-modern plays at the Stratford Festival in rural Ontario every summer, and the works of George Bernard Shaw anchor another major festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.
ShoppingDistinctively Canadian items include furs from Montréal, fashions from Montréal and Toronto, wood carvings from rural Québec, woven goods and hooked rugs from the Maritimes, quilts from the Mennonite communities of Ontario, Inuit carvings from the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, native art and prints from the West Coast, native handicrafts from the prairies, and antiques from Montréal, Toronto, and Victoria. Some of the most distinctive Canadian products, of course, come from the maple tree -- sugar, syrup, taffy, candy, and even liqueur. Québec, in fact, produces more than three-quarters of the world's
supplies of such products.
Sports to WatchOfficially, Canada's national sport is lacrosse, but the nation's dominant passion is hockey. There are only six Canadian teams in the NHL -- the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and Montréal Canadiens -- but American teams are well stocked with Canadian-born stars. Getting tickets to NHL games is only slightly less difficult than getting a royal audience, so try going to see a Junior A or college game instead. The play is fast, tough, and entertaining.
WinterIf asked, most Canadians would probably claim they hate winter. But the fact is, the country revels in winter. There are major carnivals celebrating the season in Québec City, Ottawa, Montréal, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Every town and village has at least a few skating rinks, and everyone has a favorite toboggan hill. In January and February anglers erect whole villages of little huts on frozen rivers and lakes, and dog teams yap through the forest as soon as the snow is deep enough. There are thousands of miles of cross-country ski
trails, and first-rate downhill ski resorts in Québec, Alberta, and British Columbia. One of the fastest-growing sports is snowmobiling. A network of 112,255 km (69,600 mi) of trails with its own restaurants, road signs, and maps crisscrosses much of the country, but purists head for the backcountry to roar through untracked powder.
