Canada is what happens when nature shows off. Lakes the colour of peacock feathers, bears fishing for salmon, trains gliding through mountain passes with glass ceilings overhead. Tours of Canada consistently produce the happiest post-holiday phone calls I receive, and here is how I build them.
The Rockies: Canada's main event
Canada tours of the Rockies deliver scenery that photographs cannot quite hold: Lake Louise and Moraine Lake's impossible blues, the Icefields Parkway (surely the world's most beautiful drive), glaciers you can walk on, and elk wandering through Banff town like they pay rates. Most Canadian Rockies itineraries run between Calgary and Vancouver, and whether escorted or self-drive, a week in these mountains recalibrates your definition of "view".
Escorted or independent?
Canada escorted tours are enormously popular for good reason: the distances are large, and a good tour director turns long scenic days into effortless ones, with hotels, luggage and highlights all handled. Canadian Rockies escorted tours suit first-time visitors and anyone who wants to gaze rather than navigate.
That said, Canada is also one of the easiest self-drive countries on earth: friendly, signposted and safe. A tailor made fly-drive with hand-picked lodges gives you sunrise at Moraine Lake before the coaches arrive, a trade many travellers happily make. And the two approaches combine well: an escorted Rockies core with independent city days either side.
Rocky Mountaineer seats and the famous lakeside lodges sell out many months ahead for summer. If Canada is on next year's list, this year is the time to talk.
Plan my Canada tripThe train everyone asks about
Yes, the Rocky Mountaineer deserves the fuss. Two days of glass-domed carriages, white-glove service and commentary through scenery that has the whole carriage gasping on cue. It is not a budget item, but as the centrepiece of a Canada tour holiday it earns every penny, and I can often weave it into packages at better rates than standalone bookings.
Wildlife: the other headline
Canada wildlife tours are world class. Grizzlies fishing in British Columbia, whales off Vancouver Island and Quebec, moose in the marshes, and in the far north, polar bears at Churchill in October and November. Wildlife sightings are seasonal and best woven into the route by someone tracking the calendar, which is where I come in.
Beyond the mountains
East of the Rockies, Canada holds a second holiday entirely: Toronto and Niagara's thunder, Quebec City's walled French charm, and the maple-red road trips of autumn. Canada tours packages increasingly pair the two coasts, and with Canada's air network it is easier than it looks on a map. Luxury Canada tours add remote fly-in lodges where the wilderness is entirely, gloriously yours.
When to go and what it costs
June to September is prime for the Rockies, with July and August the peak of the peak. September brings golden light and thinner crowds; my quiet recommendation. Autumn colours peak out east in late September and October, and winter turns Banff and Whistler into ski heaven. Canada tour packages range from very fair escorted pricing to luxury lodge splendour, all fully ATOL protected, and all built around the pace that suits you. Canada does not rush; neither should its visitors.
