From the spray of Niagara Falls to the turquoise of Moraine Lake to the gardens of Victoria — thirteen days, six provinces of feeling, one bucket-list trip across Canada.
Thirteen days, coast to coast, on the classic transcontinental tour that built Canadian tourism. You'll stand under the thunder of Niagara Falls in the morning and pose with the Mounties on Parliament Hill the next; cruise the Thousand Islands by mid-week, walk the cobbles of Old Québec by Friday, and by the weekend you're west of the Rockies, snow coach on glacier ice and a Fairmont château in the trees.
Built for first-time visitors to Canada who want to see everything — for multi-generational families, friends travelling together, and small group departures who don't want to choose between East and West. Internal flights stitch the country together so you spend your days at the sights, not on the highway. From Toronto's CN Tower to Victoria's Butchart Gardens, this is the full Canada in one trip.
The thundering Horseshoe Falls from the boat tour deck, Skylon Tower revolving lunch above the spray, and an afternoon in the wine country village of Niagara-on-the-Lake.
553 metres above downtown Toronto, the glass floor and the SkyPod views — clear days reach all the way back to Niagara.
An hour weaving between the granite islets of the St. Lawrence — some carrying nothing but a single summer cottage, one carrying a castle.
The only walled city north of Mexico. Cobblestone alleys of Quartier Petit Champlain, the Château Frontenac on the bluff, the cannon overlooking the river.
One of the world's great drives — and a six-wheeled snow coach that delivers you onto the Athabasca Glacier itself.
Two nights at the foot of the most photographed peaks in Canada, plus the Valley of the Ten Peaks from the rockpile viewpoint.
A night at the 1908 grande dame on Victoria's Inner Harbour, plus the floral spectacle of Butchart Gardens.
A scenic day trip up one of North America's most beautiful coastal highways — Howe Sound on your left, Shannon Falls plunging on your right.
Your Maple Fun representative meets you at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and transfers the group to the Delta Markham Hotel, a comfortable suburban base on Toronto's northeast side — close enough for an evening stroll, far enough that you'll sleep through traffic. After the long-haul flight, the rest of the day is yours. Most travellers rest, swim, or take an easy walk to dinner nearby. Tomorrow we begin in earnest.
Morning city tour of Toronto: the University of Toronto's gothic quadrangles, the curved new and grand old City Halls at Nathan Phillips Square, and an ascent of the CN Tower — 553 metres above downtown, with the glass-floor section for those with steady knees. Then we drive ninety minutes south through wine country to Niagara Falls. Lunch at the revolving Skylon Tower buffet, with the Horseshoe Falls turning slowly outside your window. Afternoon at the falls themselves — the Niagara Falls boat tour will take you straight into the spray (poncho provided, you will get wet). Late afternoon in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the most photogenic small town in Ontario — Victorian storefronts, flower baskets and ice-cream shops. Back to the hotel by early evening.
East along Lake Ontario for a brief stop in Kingston, Canada's first capital — limestone buildings, military college, the city where Sir John A. Macdonald began his career. Onward to the village of Rockport for the Thousand Islands cruise, an hour-long glide between the granite islets of the St. Lawrence River. There are actually 1,864 of them, ranging from cottage-sized boulders to estates carrying full châteaux (watch for Boldt Castle on Heart Island, an American Gilded Age love story built and abandoned in the same decade). Continue to Ottawa, the national capital, for the evening at the Hilton Lac-Leamy across the river in Gatineau — close to the casino, easy access to Parliament Hill in the morning.
Morning on Parliament Hill — the Centre Block towers, the eternal flame, and (in summer) the changing of the guard on the front lawn. A walk along the Rideau Canal, the UNESCO-listed waterway that becomes the world's longest skating rink in winter. Then east along the Ottawa River into Quebec for lunch — a Montreal-style smoked-meat brisket sandwich is the order of the day. Afternoon climbing Mount Royal, the small mountain at the city's heart, for the lookout over downtown. Stops at Saint Joseph's Oratory (Canada's largest church, with a copper dome second only to Rome's Saint Peter's) and the Basilique Notre-Dame in Old Montréal, all stained glass and blue-and-gold vaulting.
A day trip east along the St. Lawrence to Québec City — the only walled city north of Mexico and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We stop first at the Sucrerie de la Montagne, a working sugar shack in the Rigaud forest, for a traditional Quebecois lunch of pea soup, baked beans, smoked ham and maple-syrup-on-snow taffy (yes, even in summer). On to Québec City for the afternoon. The Château Frontenac stands above the river like a fairy-tale fortress; underneath it, the Quartier Petit Champlain is the oldest commercial district in North America, all cobblestones, painted shutters and slate roofs. Time to walk the ramparts, visit Place Royale, and watch the cannon at the Citadelle. Return to Montréal in the evening.
The big crossing day. Early transfer to Montréal-Trudeau (YUL) for the morning flight west to Edmonton (YEG), Alberta's capital and the gateway to the Rockies. With the four-hour time-zone gain, you arrive in time for lunch and a stop at the West Edmonton Mall — the largest shopping mall in North America, complete with an indoor water park, a skating rink, a sea-lion show and over 800 stores. From Edmonton it's a four-hour drive southwest into Jasper National Park, with the Rocky Mountains rising on the horizon for the last hour. Check in to Chateau Jasper in the small mountain town.
Today is the headline day of the West. Morning in Jasper National Park: Maligne Canyon, a slot-gorge carved fifty metres deep into the limestone, walked over a series of steel bridges; then a stop at Maligne Lake, the longest lake in the Rockies, for photographs from the boathouse jetty. From here, south on the Icefields Parkway — 230 kilometres of glacier-fed lakes, hanging icefields and roadside wildlife. The centrepiece is the Columbia Icefield: board a six-wheeled snow coach for the drive directly onto the Athabasca Glacier, where you step out onto a sheet of compacted ice that's been there for centuries. Continue south to check in at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, the storied railway hotel above the famous turquoise lake.
A morning at Lake Louise itself, walking the shoreline path for the postcard view of the Victoria Glacier reflected in the turquoise water. West a short distance, across the Continental Divide into British Columbia, for Yoho National Park and Emerald Lake — its name says everything you need to know — with a stop at the natural-bridge formation on the Kicking Horse River. Back east for the short drive to Banff town. Stops at Bow Falls and at Surprise Corner, the classic postcard view of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel rising castle-like out of the pine forest. Check in at Banff Caribou Lodge and dinner tonight at Melissa's Missteak, a Banff institution since 1978 — known for its prime rib, the locals' favourite.
East out of the mountains, with a stop in Canmore — once a coal town, now an artists' colony in the shadow of the Three Sisters — and a quick photo at Saint Michael's Anglican Church, the small wooden mountain chapel. Past Calgary we stop at CrossIron Mills, Alberta's largest outlet shopping mall, for a few hours of duty-free retail before checkout. Afternoon flight from Calgary (YYC) to Victoria International (YYJ) on Vancouver Island — about ninety minutes in the air. Transfer downtown to Victoria, the most British city in Canada. Check in to the Fairmont Empress — the 1908 grande dame on the Inner Harbour, ivy-covered, copper-roofed, and unmissable.
Morning at Butchart Gardens, 22 hectares of themed gardens built into a former limestone quarry — the Sunken Garden is the showpiece, the Rose Garden the most photographed. Back into Victoria for Oak Bay (the city's most British neighbourhood), Mile 0 at the western terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway (a small marker that means a great deal), and a photo stop at the Parliament Buildings on the harbour. Afternoon transfer to Swartz Bay for the BC Ferries crossing to Tsawwassen — ninety minutes through the Gulf Islands, an evening buffet dinner served onboard, and one of the most scenic public ferry rides in the world. Arrival in Vancouver and check-in at The Hotel at River Rock in Richmond, near YVR.
North out of Vancouver across the Lions Gate Bridge for one of the most beautiful coastal drives in the world. The Sea-to-Sky Highway runs 120 kilometres along Howe Sound, the southernmost fjord in North America, with snow-capped mountains rising directly out of the saltwater on either side. Stop at Shannon Falls, BC's third-highest waterfall, a 335-metre plunge visible from the highway. Continue to Whistler Village, the 2010 Olympic resort — pedestrian-only, glacier-fed creeks running through it, time for a chairlift ride up Whistler or Blackcomb Mountain (optional), a walk around the village or lunch on a sunny terrace. Return to Vancouver in the late afternoon.
Your full day in Vancouver. Begin at Stanley Park, the 405-hectare urban rainforest that wraps the downtown peninsula — a coach drive past the totem poles, the lighthouse and Prospect Point. Stops at Canada Place (the white-sailed convention centre on the harbour, also the cruise terminal), Gastown (cobblestone streets, the famous steam clock), and Chinatown (the second-largest historic Chinatown in North America). Lunch independently on Granville Island, the public market under the bridge — choose your own from forty-odd food stalls. Afternoon shopping on Robson Street, then a tasting at the Lulu Island Winery in Richmond before farewell dinner at Kirin Seafood Restaurant — live-tank Cantonese, fresh BC prawns, the way Vancouver does Chinese.
Check out at the time set by your departure flight. Maple Fun transfers the group to Vancouver International (YVR), an easy fifteen-minute run from Richmond. Safe travels home — and remember, you've crossed Canada end to end. There is no longer a corner of this country that isn't in your photo roll.
The most famous afternoon tea in Canada, served since 1908 in the Empress's Lobby Lounge. ~CAD $90 per person, reservation required and best booked at time of booking.
The 4.4 km cable car between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains — record-holding span. ~CAD $80 per person on Day 11.
Eight-minute cable car to a 2,281-metre ridge above Banff for a 360° Rockies panorama. ~CAD $70 per person, add as a Day 8 evening activity.
Add a Royal Ontario Museum half-day, a Toronto Islands ferry, or a Casa Loma visit before the tour begins.
Add Tofino on the Pacific Rim for surf-coast beaches, storm watching (in shoulder season) or whale watching in summer.
It's a full pace but well-balanced. We have only one long flight day (Day 6, the cross-country leg) and several relaxed mornings. The internal flights mean you don't lose three days to driving the prairies. Most travellers tell us at the end that it felt shorter than it sounds.
Light to moderate. The walking is at the pace of the slowest in the group, and no day requires more than 1–2 km of walking. The glacier snow coach is wheelchair-inaccessible; everything else is. If a member of your party has mobility concerns, please tell us at booking.
Canadian dollars throughout. Major cards are accepted everywhere. The 1,000 Islands cruise stays in Canadian waters — no US passport stamp needed.
Yes, age 8 and up enjoy this tour. The variety — boat tour at Niagara, CN Tower, snow coach, ferries, Butchart Gardens — keeps younger travellers engaged. Under 8s may find the long flight day tiring.
All Maple Fun tour leaders speak English. We can guarantee Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese or Vietnamese-speaking leaders on scheduled departures — please confirm at booking.
Summer in eastern Canada (Days 1–5) is warm and often humid, 25–30°C. The Rockies (Days 6–8) are crisp at altitude, 18–24°C by day and cooler at night. Victoria and Vancouver (Days 9–13) are mild and dry in summer, 20–25°C. Layers are essential — you'll touch glacier ice and stroll Pacific beaches in the same week.
Yes — fully reversible at no extra cost on private departures, subject to flight availability. Scheduled departures are east-to-west only.
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