Try a Canadian trip
If you’ve never been to Canada, this is the time to go, but as it’s so vast, you need to choose a side. Western Canada has an irresistible combination of mountain and coastal scenery, as well as islands, lakes, forests, vineyards, whales and bears. The lively waterfront city of Vancouver is a great base; its attractions include Stanley Park, Granville Island with its artisan studios and eclectic market, the funky Yaletown warehouse district and the west’s second largest Chinatown. It’s also the starting point for some of the world’s most scenic rail journeys, including the Rocky Mountaineer to Whistler, Jasper or Banff.
With flying time from the UK as little as six hours, Eastern Canada has an equally beautiful coastline and historic maritime towns. Its cities are fascinating, too: Toronto offers easy side trips to Niagara Falls and the Algonquin wilderness; Ottawa, the capital, is known for its museums; Québec
City is the centre of French Canadian culture; and Montréal holds its famous jazz festival in July.
Atlantic Canada also beckons. The four provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador are home to wonderful marine wildlife, including humpback and North Atlantic right whales, along with dramatic rocky shores, maritime museums and more lobsters than you’ve had hot dinners!
GET THERE: Trailfinders’ 15-night Best of Canada’s West tour costs from £2,379pp including flights, car hire, ferry and train travel (trailfinders.com). Cosmos has two seven-night guided tours, visiting Toronto, Ottawa, Québec City and Montréal and Niagara Falls, leaving on 9 and 23 July, from £989pp tour only (cosmos.co.uk).