Augusta and I woke up at Whistler’s Campground in Jasper National Park on our fifth day of roadtripping…
Times visited: 4
Provinces and territories visited: Ontario, Quebec and Alberta
Cities visited: Toronto, Montréal and Calgary
National parks visited: Banff and Jasper
UNESCO sites visited: 1/22
Before the summer of 2023, I had technically been to Canada three times – but in total, I’d spent less than 48 hours on Canadian soil. Each visit was just a long stopover: twice in Toronto for eight hours each, and once overnight in Montréal. Still, I made the most of every visit by heading into the city and squeezing in some quick exploring.
My first stopover in Toronto was during a trip to Los Angeles in the summer of 2017. I instantly loved the vibe of the city and even told my travel buddy that I could imagine living there – which is saying something, considering I’m not usually a city person! The next year, en route to Peru in the summer of 2018, my younger brother and I had back-to-back stopovers in Canada. First up was an overnight stay in Montréal, where we wandered around in the evening and into the next day. We covered a lot of ground and even ran into some raccoons after watching a stunning sunset from Mount Royal! On our way back from Peru, we had another stopover in Toronto – but this time was rough. I had brutal food poisoning, and ended up lying on the grass by the harbour the entire time. Definitely not Toronto’s fault!
Fast forward to 2023, and I finally had the chance to properly explore Canada – well, sort of. It was still technically a stopover on the way to Alaska, but I managed to stretch it to six days without paying anything extra on the flights! My friend flew up from the US to join me, and together we roadtripped, hiked, and canoed our way through the Rocky Mountains in Banff and Jasper National Parks. The trip was absolutely magical – full of epic mountain views, the bluest lakes I’ve ever seen, and more wildlife than we could count.