Winter wonderland
During the winter of 2018, we embarked upon one of the lengthiest and most ambitious trips we’ve ever undertaken driving from easternmost parts to the western coast of Canada
When it comes to road trips, we here at Auto Today have a very simple philosophy – “the bigger the better”. Staying true to that, in December 2018 we began our journey driving from one end of Canada to the other. We started the mammoth road trip at the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the American continent, crossing Canada and ending on its west coast, covering the country’s major cities and iconic locations.
Canada is the world’s second largest country in terms of area. It is spread over almost 10 million square kilometers divided into 10 provinces and 3 territories across a total of four time zones. And tying them all together is the Trans-Canada Highway stretching for 7,821km from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador in the east to Victoria, British Columbia in the west. Now that you have a fair idea of just how large Canada is, you will be able to appreciate the magnitude of the road trip we embarked upon. Starting from Quebec City, Ontario in the east we headed west on the TransCanada Highway covering all of Canada’s major cities, as well as picturesque towns and iconic locations before the culmination of our journey in Vancouver on the
THE FAIRMONT LE CHâTEAU FRONTENAC HOLDS THE RECORD OF BEING THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED HOTEL IN THE WORLD
west coast. And before you think to yourself that travelling across Canada in the middle of winter sounds a bit daft, well, to you I say flip the pages to see for yourself just how gorgeous the country is with snow covered landscapes and the warmth of the festive season radiating through every part of it.
Our journey started in Quebec City. Unlike Canada’s big metropolitans, this city charms you with its laid back nature, magnificent architecture and its decked up streets courtesy the ongoing festive season. Covered in snow, Quebec City is especially beautiful this time of the year. It’s easy to get lost admiring the streets of Quebec City but we had a schedule to stick too so by sundown we were on our way to Quebec province’s biggest city – Montreal, which is just two to three hours away. Driving from Quebec City to Montreal, we got our first taste of the Trans-Canada Highway. In stark contrast to the easy going life of Quebec City, Montreal is a bustling metropolitan but don’t let the fast paced life fool you for there is a lot to do here all year around. From Montreal we got back on to the Trans-Canada highway and set our GPS for Canada’s
THE TRANS-CANADA HIGHWAY CONNECTS ALL TEN PROVINCES OF THE COUNTRY FROM ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR IN THE EAST TO VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA IN THE WEST
capital – Ottawa.
With the sun setting painting the sky orange, we resumed our journey on the Trans-Canada highway with Toronto as our next destination. Downtown Toronto is home to an icon of Canada’s skyline – the CN Tower. Among the tallest structures in the world, CN Tower is 1,815.3 feet high equivalent to a 147 story building.
The North American continent houses the five Great Lakes and we encountered the first of these at the quiet little town of Niagara-on-the-Lake which sits on the shore of Lake Ontario. The charming town with its beautiful streets and inviting stores is also famous for its wineries in addition to the world famous Niagrara Falls. Among the best in the region is Chateau
OUR ROUTE TO WINNIPEG, MANITOBA TURNED OUT TO BE THE MOST PICTURESQUE WE’D ENCOUNTERED ON OUR TRIP SO FAR AND ALSO THE COLDEST
Des Charmes. The good folks at the winery gave us a tour of their facility guiding us through the wine making process followed by a sampling of some of their finest varieties of wines. With the snow picking up and light fading away we decided to call it a day and head back to Toronto and gear up for a seven hour drive to our next destination – Sault Ste. Marie.
This small town in Ontario with a population of just 75,000 sits on the banks of the St Marys River between Lake Huron and Lake Superior. The river basically acts as a border between Canada and USA. After spending a couple of hours roaming the streets of this small quaint city, we headed back to the bank of the river just in time to catch the sunset.
Our route to Winnipeg, Manitoba turned out to be the most picturesque we’d encountered on our trip so far. For much of the drive, we had Lake Superior for company. Lake aside, the road threw up more spectacular views too. So much so that we couldn’t help ourselves from pulling over to take pictures quite frequently. We would’ve have kept at it but the journey from Sault Saint Marie to Winnipeg was a 14 hour one covering over 1,400km so we had to get a move on. Our first stop in Winnipeg was the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden in Assiniboine Park. Mercifully, the sun was out providing some respite from the cold with temperatures dropping to -16 deg Celsius. There is no shortage of statues in
Winnipeg but perhaps the most intriguing is the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, a gift by the Government of India.
Next stop was Regina, the capital of Saskatchewan, 573km away from Winnipeg. Arrow straight highways, although a tad boring, ensured progress was brisk. For lunch we decided to stop at Archibald’s Diner just 176km shy of Regina in a town called Whitewood. No critical acclaim, no fancy ambience, just good ol’ quintessentially North American comfort food.
It was here in Regina that we saw what is possibly the most exquisite sunrise we have ever laid our eyes on! The rising sun was our cue to get back on the road venturing further west. Next was Banff in Alberta nestled in the Canadian Rockies. After driving for about 8 hours past Calgary and resetting our watches to match Mountain Time (MT), we finally got our first look at the majestic mountain range.
As we headed along the Trans-Canada Highway towards Kelowna, around 480km from Banff, the weather got balmy with the snow intensifying. They say “it’s not the destination, but the journey” and the route that our next destination served up echoes this idea quite well. Veering off the TransCanada highway, the roads led us through Canada’s amazing countryside and settlements of the native people. Whistler welcomed us with
THE ROCKIES IS THE THIRD LONGEST MOUNTAIN RANGE
IN THE WORLD AT MORE THAN 4,800KM AND IS LONGER THAN THE HIMALAYAS