Destination: Canada
LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION
Itinerary: Trans-Canada Highway
THREE WEEKS TO TWO MONTHS/NEWFOUNDLAND TO BRITISH COLUMBIA
The world's longest highway is technically a patchwork of several provincial roads. Scenic stretches alternate with mundane ones; many of the fine sights require detours off the highway. For the full low-down, see www.transcanadahighway.com .
From St John's, Canada's oldest city, the Trans-Canada Hwy traverses Newfoundland, then resumes after a ferry ride in Sydney on beautiful Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Continue to New Brunswick (or detour via Prince Edward Island), then follow the Saint John River via Fredericton to Quebec's Gaspe Peninsula. Following the mighty St Lawrence River, the highway reaches romantic Quebec City and metropolitan Montreal before plunging into Ontario near Ottawa. From there, follow in the footsteps of fur traders to Sudbury and Sault Ste Marie, the gateway to the Algoma wilderness that inspired the Group of Seven painters. Savor the superb stretch of road skirting Lake Superior to Thunder Bay. The highway then enters the prairie flatlands of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, only briefly enlivened by Winnipeg and quirky Moose Jaw with its Prohibition-era smuggling tunnels. The Rockies offer a dramatic change of scenery as the highway meanders through Calgary and Banff in Alberta before entering British Columbia at Yoho National Park and reaching its highest point (1643m) at Kicking Horse Pass. The mountains eventually give way to river country. The most memorable section leads through the Fraser River Canyon from where it's only a quick jaunt to Vancouver and the ferry to Victoria.
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