کانادا

Get around

Canada is huge – the second largest country in the world by area after Russia; this means that you will need several days to appreciate even a part of the country. The distances involved will boggle many travellers, though perhaps not those from other large countries.

For comparison, the distance from St. John's, Newfoundland to Vancouver (over 5,000 km or 3,000 miles as the crow flies) is considerably more than that from London to Moscow, or from Delhi to Shanghai or Istanbul.

The span of Canada's population is actually very small, however: 90% of Canada's population resides within 160 km of the southern border with the United States, and 57% of Canadians reside south of the parallel on which Seattle resides. As such, getting around in Canada is almost completely restricted to the southern "Canadian corridor", and travelling to or getting around northern Canada often requires flying.

See

thumb|[[Victoria (British Columbia)|Victoria]] Canada is a nation with many places of interest all across the country. Each province and territory is unique with each one containing its own special attractions. North American wildlife can be found all across the country.

British Columbia has much to offer ranging from Vancouver, one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities, to Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), an ecologist's paradise of pristine wilderness, and Vancouver Island. In the interior of the province, the towering Western Cordillera and Western Rocky Mountains provide stunning scenery and two of the famous Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks , Yoho National Park and Kootenay National Park. South-Central British Columbia is famous for the Okanagan, nationally renowned for its year-round mild climate and fine wineries. Some of the best skiing and snowboarding in Canada is to be found all across British Columbia, both at established resorts or backcountry, with Whistler being the most famous. BC has the greatest number of provincial parks in the country, and many are visited by fewer than 1,000 a year. thumb|[[Kootenay National Park]] The Canadian territories, though often expensive to reach, provide the natural tourist the least touched natural areas in the country. In Yukon, you have the majestic Northern Mountains, such as in Kluane National Park, and the relatively unknown Tombstone Territorial Park. While the Northwest Territories are relatively unknown to many adv…

Do

Canada is a country with a rich cultural heritage. In Canada, festivals and events are held annually to celebrate the multicultural landscape of this great nation. Each festival represents a single cultural facet belonging to the diverse population of Canada. These festivals are easily identified by season.

Buy

Popular souvenirs from Canada include smoked salmon and maple syrup products.

Eat

Generally speaking, table manners in Canada are in line with standard European norms.thumb|240px|Beavertail with sugar and cinnamon, [[Ottawa]]English Canadians may be mystified if you ask where you can get Canadian food. English Canadian cuisine varies radically from region to region. Some specialties include maple syrup, Nanaimo bars (chocolate-topped no-bake squares with custard or vanilla butter filling and crumb base), butter tarts (tarts made with butter, sugar, and eggs), beaver tails (fried dough topped with icing sugar), fiddleheads (curled heads of young ferns), peameal bacon (a type of back bacon made from lean boneless pork loin, trimmed fine, wet cured, and rolled in cornmeal; eaten at breakfast with eggs or for lunch as a sandwich), and Halifax donairs (sliced beef meatloaf wrapped in pitas and garnished with onions, tomatoes, and a sweet condensed milk sauce). They are an important, if somewhat humble, part of the Canadian culinary landscape. In other respects, English Canadian cuisine is similar to that of the northern United States.

Canadians may be unaware that they even have national dishes, especially in the more urbanized areas; that said, there is a rising trend among Canadian chefs and restaurateurs to offer locally produced ingredients, and most major cities have bistros that specialize in local and national cuisine. These specialties may even include game meat dishes, such as caribou, grouse, moose, venison, or wild turkey prepared in a variety of E…

Drink

The drinking age in Canada varies from province to province. In Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec the age is 18, while in the rest of the provinces and territories it is 19. Acceptable forms of ID include a Canadian driver's licence, a passport or a non-driver provincial identification card. Foreign driver's licences may not be accepted, the main exceptions being U.S. licences, so bring your passport with you if you want to drink. A peculiarity of many Canadian provinces is that liquor and beer can only be sold in licensed stores. In some provinces, supermarkets may sell only beer and wine, and many will not sell alcohol at all. Supermarkets in some provinces may have their own liquor store nearby. Prices may seem high to Americans from certain states; bringing alcohol into Canada (up to 1L of hard liquor, 1.5L of wine, or a 24 pack of beer), is advisable. American cigarettes are also quite popular to bring in as they are not sold in Canada.

Sleep

thumb|Night view of [[Toronto|Toronto's skyline]] Accommodations in Canada vary substantially in price depending on time and place. In most cities and many tourist areas, expect to pay upwards of $100 or more for a good hotel room. If inquiring always ask if taxes are included; they most often are not, and can often add 15% to the cost once local, provincial and federal levies are taken into account.

Hotels play an integral part in Canadian history, with some of the country's most well-known landmarks being hotels. The Canadian Railway Hotels are a series of grand hotels that were constructed in major cities and some resort areas in the early 1900s. See Grand_old_hotels#Canada. Most of these are still standing and owned by corporations such as Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. Prices range from $150–400 a night depending on the city and the size of the room. These hotels are architecturally stunning and sumptuously decorated, and in addition to being exceptional places to stay, are tourist attractions in their own right. Even if you are not staying in a Grand Railway hotel, it would be more than worthwhile to explore the main lobby or dine at the hotel restaurant.

In rural areas, motels (short for "motor hotel") are small, simple hotels where you might pay as little as $40–60 for a night's accommodation (especially in the offseason). These are diminishing in number as international chains have largely saturated the low-end of the market with economy, limited service hotels along m…

Stay safe

thumb|Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers in their standard uniforms Safety in Canada is not usually a problem, and some basic common sense will go a long way. Even in the largest cities, violent crime is not a serious problem, and very few people are ever armed. Violent crime needn't worry the average traveller, as it is generally confined to particular neighbourhoods and is rarely a random crime. Overall crime rates in Canadian cities remain low compared to most similar sized urban areas in the United States and much of the rest of the world (though violent crime rates are higher than most western European cities). Crime is higher overall in western provinces than in Eastern Canada, but is even higher in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. There have been several high-profile shootings in public/tourist areas; the fact these incidents are so heavily covered by the media is related to the fact that they are considered very rare events.

If you travel near the Canadian-U.S. border, make sure that you do not accidentally enter the United States in a place where the border is not clearly marked. If you do, you could be subject to lengthy interrogation and possible jail time.