Rainforest, Cape Breton world’s ‘must-see places’

National Geographic Traveler magazine has named British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest and Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island as being among the world’s “must-see places” of 2013.

The rainforest is “an untamed strip of land” stretching 400 kilometres along the B.C. coast, but its tranquillity has “recently been rocked” by the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project to send oilsands crude from Alberta to a terminal at Kitimat, the magazine says.

On Canada’s East Coast, Cape Breton lures visitors with its “abun- dant wildlife, natural beauty and assembly of French, Micmac and Celtic cultures.”

The island’s 300-kilometre Cabot Trail is often ranked among the world’s most spectacular drives.

National Geographic’s list includes four U.S. destinations: Hudson Valley, N.Y.; Missouri River Breaks, Mont.; Memphis, Tenn.; and St. Augustine, Fla.

International locales include Thessaloniki, Greece; Bodo, Norway; Marseille, France; Ravenna, Italy; Jarash, Jordan; Crimea, Ukraine; Malawai; Uganda; Bagan, Myanmar; Raja Ampat, Indonesia; Kyoto, Japan; Valparaiso, Chile; Quito, Ecuador; Grenada.