Best Road Trips in Canada

Discover Canada’s Best Scenery on These 5 Beat Road Trips

Canada’s gorgeous scenery is known to inspire wanderlust.  One of the best ways to experience the beauty of Canada is to take a road trip.  From the Icefields Parkway, Nova Scotia’s Cabot Trail, to the Pacific Marine Circle, the Viking Trail, and the granddaddy of them all, the Trans-Canadian Highway that spans Canada from the Pacific to the Atlantic, there is something for everyone. 

Whatever road trip you choose to take, expect show-stopping scenery, iconic landmarks, and friendly people at places you stop to visit along the way. Each of these road trips offers a little something different and varies in time and distance to make choosing and planning your road trip easy.

1) The Cabot Trail, Cape Brenton, Nova Scotia

This 186-mile drive recently ranked #1 as the most scenic drive in the world by readers of Travel and Leisure Magazine. The Cabot Trail drive wends its way through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park and rewards drivers with splendid coastal and valley views. There are plenty of spots to pull over and enjoy a hike to numerous lookouts. A favorite is the lookout at Pleasant Bay. Other highlights include Black Brook Beach near Ingonish, a gondola ride at Cape Smokey,  Meat Cove at the very tip of Cape Breton, and a walk along the Skyline Trail. If you have worked up an appetite, try butter tarts and cinnamon buns in Cheticamp and locally-made beer at Big Spruce Brewing.  If you like getting off the beaten path, head to the idyllic fishing village of Neil’s Harbor whose lighthouse has an ice cream shop in it!  

2) The Icefields Parkway from Jasper to  Banff National Park

This 144-mile route is renowned for showcasing the best of Alberta’s Canadian Rockies highlighted by the largest mass of glacial ice located at Columbia’s Icefield. This glacier provides water for millions of people and is critical to the area’s agriculture and ecosystems. Favorite stops along the way include the quiet water of Herbert Lake that reflects the Main Range Peaks including Mount Temple, and Bow Summit, the highest elevation reached on this route that affords spectacular views.  Crowfoot Glacier and Athabasca Glacier, North America’s most visited glacier, are also magical spots, especially for photos. If you are up for a hike, take the path to Peyto Lake which has a deck at the end of the trail with a wide-open view of this magical turquoise-blue lake. Another popular attraction is the Glacier Skywalk which is a cliff edge walkway with a glass floor that overlooks Sunwapta Valley and the Columbia Icefield. As you drive along this route, keep your eyes peeled for bears, sheep, wolves, and even the ever-elusive caribou. One of the best things about this drive is that it is easy to accomplish in just one day making it the perfect choice for people with time limitations. As a note aside, cell phone service on the Icefields Parkway can be spotty.

3) The Viking Trail in Newfoundland

Stretching from the mountains to the sea, this magnificent trail located in Newfoundland and Labrador takes visitors through many quaint villages and Gros Morne National Park, one of two World UNESCO World Heritage Sites on the Viking Trail. Along the way stop for a hike on the Tablelands, a unique rock formation that is usually found only deep in the earth but has been pushed to the surface by tectonic forces, and take in the views as you drive along Western Brook Pond, a gigantic glacier-carved fjord. At a stop at Point Riche Lighthouse, you may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of caribou that graze here while watching whales frolic in the distance. A highlight of this drive is the stop at L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site. It was here that Vikings from Greenland, led by Leif Erickson, founded the first European settlement in North America. Meet costumed re-enactors as you walk in the footsteps of the Vikings and explore a replica of their settlement that includes a full-scale replica of a Viking Ship and four-period buildings. Other stops along the way include the Great Northern Peninsula, known for its icebergs, and the village of St. Anthony with its interesting medical history.

4) The Pacific Marine Circle

This 179-mile route is a scenic drive around southern Vancouver that is perfect for nature lovers. Old-growth rainforests, beautiful beaches, snow-capped mountain peaks, and iconic landmarks are highlights of this drive. Stops along the way include the city of Sooke where you can explore a geological formation known as the Sooke Potholes before traveling along the tree-lined road to Port Renfrew which is punctuated with waterfalls. For a peek at the island’s oldest-growth forest of giant Western Red Cedars and Douglas Firs take a detour to Avatar Grove before continuing on to Harries Creek to see an 80-foot-tall spruce tree. Another highlight of this drive is the city of Duncan, known for its fantastically carved totem poles that depict the stories of their Indigenous carvers. Three final points of interest include the scenic maritime village of Cowichan Bay, Sidney’s Kinsol Trestle, one of the tallest in the world, and Malahat Summit which offers stunning views of Saanich Inlet and Cowichan Valley.

5) Trans-Canadian Highway

This is Canada’s longest national road and North America’s longest highway which is often compared to America’s Rte. 66. It spans 5,000 miles and connects cities and the ten major provinces from east to west. Travelers who take this route are rewarded with beautiful scenery, one-of-a-kind attractions, and a multitude of small towns and large cities. Large cities to visit along the way include Quebec, Halifax, Ottawa, and Montreal, the flatlands of Manitoba including Winnipeg, and the city of Moosomin, Saskatchewan, the first town established along the Pacific Railway. Alberta with its Canadian “Wild West” vibe, the rolling prairie lands surrounding Calgary, the scenic Rocky Mountains, and the beauty of Lake Louise, Banff National Forest, and the Icefield Parkway are highlights of this drive. These are just snippets of this drive that is the ultimate Canadian road trip for those who have the time to travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans.

Whatever road trip you decide to take in Canada, you will find stunning scenery, iconic landmarks, interesting attractions, wildlife, and friendly people that make this trip rewarding and memorable.