Canada holidays 2024 & 2025

Canada is best known for outdoor adventure, and your trip might focus on exploring the wild, varied landscapes of lakes, mountains, forests, and sweeping prairies. You could follow hiking or biking trails, paddle a canoe or kayak, or spend time spotting wildlife like bears, whales, moose, wolves, bison, and bald eagles. In winter, you could go dog-sledding, snowshoeing, or snowmobiling, see polar bears gather around Hudson Bay, and spot the northern lights.

In Canada’s cities, you can visit museums that explore the country’s heritage, culture, and art. Guided walking tours tell you more about its history or food, and you can take advantage of the many bars, restaurants, shops, and galleries.

Scenic road trips are also a highlight, whether you’re following Nova Scotia’s Cabot Trail for views over the ocean or driving among the soaring, glacier-clad mountains of the Canadian Rockies, pausing to admire waterfalls and turquoise lakes.

Where you should visit in Canada depends on what you want to experience, because it’s such a large country. British Columbia — including Vancouver Island — is best for wildlife, whether it’s whale-watching trips or spotting black and grizzly bears from a remote lodge. You might also encounter First Nations culture here, especially if you visit Haida Gwaii. Further inland in Alberta, you can stay in historic mountain towns like Jasper and Banff and explore the Canadian Rockies’ epic landscapes, perhaps taking a scenic helicopter flight.

In eastern Canada, you can hop between cities like Toronto, Montréal, and Québec City by train to explore their history, culture, and food scenes. Alternatively, visit the Atlantic provinces — Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland & Labrador — which are ideal for a coastal road trip that explores Canada’s maritime heritage.

Visit Churchill, Manitoba to spot polar bears, or the Yukon to see former gold-mining towns and, in winter, the northern lights.

You’ll need to purchase a pass to visit Canada’s national parks. You can buy these on the Parks Canada website or on entry to the national park you’re visiting, though you may need to wait in line if it’s busy. You can choose to buy a single-location pass, or if you’re visiting several national parks on your trip it may be better value to buy an annual Parks Canada Discovery Pass, which grants you access to more than 80 destinations for 12 months. Your specialist will help advise on which pass would be best for you and how to purchase it.

It’s best to book a trip to Canada 6 to 12 months in advance, especially if you’re planning to visit during the busiest period of June to September. The best hotels in Canada fill up early, particularly bear-watching lodges and other wilderness retreats.

We tend to handpick stays that have fewer rooms and give you a more intimate experience, so we recommend planning ahead to secure your top choices. We’ll also help you avoid the busiest areas by suggesting lesser-known routes and alternative experiences that take you away from the crowds while still enjoying Canada’s highlights.

Canada has a wide choice of places to stay, whether you’re looking for a luxurious hotel, intimate B&B, remote wilderness lodge, or something completely different like a traditional ranch, log cabin, or even a lighthouse. You can browse our collection of places to stay for ideas.

The flight time from the UK to Canada is between 5 hours 30 minutes to reach the east coast and 11 hours to reach the west coast.

The time zone in Canada varies from UTC -3:30 in Newfoundland & Labrador on the east coast to UTC -8 in British Columbia on the west coast. Canada spans six of the world’s 24 time zones.

For most of Canada, self-driving is the best way to get around. You might need to use a ferry or travel by seaplane or water taxi depending on where you’re visiting. Alternatively, you could have a private driver or use public transport like trains, buses, and taxis.

British citizens (and most European passport holders) don’t require a visa to enter Canada if staying for up to six months. However, if you’re arriving by air you’ll need to apply for an eTA (Electronic Travel Authorization) prior to travel. British citizens entering Canada by land or sea are not required to arrange an eTA, although a valid passport must be presented at the border.

If you hold another type of British passport, such as a ‘British subject’ passport, you may require a visa to visit Canada. You can visit the Government of Canada website to check the latest visa entry requirements.

Your doctor can provide you with vaccine advice for Canada, but you should also make sure you’re up to date with the recommended vaccinations for your home country. You can also check the suggested vaccinations for visiting Canada on the Travel Health Pro website.

Your passport must be valid for the duration of your stay in Canada.