The Best Walks

Halifax's Waterfront (Nova Scotia): Take your time strolling along Halifax's working waterfront. You can visit museums, board a historic ship or two, enjoy a snack, and take an inexpensive ferry ride across the harbor and back. Come evening, there's fiddle and guitar playing at the pubs.

Cape Breton Highlands National Park (Nova Scotia): You'll find bog and woodland walks aplenty at Cape Breton, but the best trails follow rugged cliffs along the open ocean. The Skyline Trail is among the most dramatic pathways in the province.

Green Gardens Trail (Gros Morne, Newfoundland): This demanding hike at Gros Morne National Park takes you on a 16km (10-mile) loop, much of which follows coastal meadows atop fractured cliffs. It's demanding but worth every step of the way.

Old Montréal (Québec): Wander the cobblestone streets, where you'll find some remains -- above and below the streets -- of what founder Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve, christened Ville-Marie in 1642. Aboveground, buildings have been restored into homes, stores, restaurants, and nightclubs. Horse-drawn carriages clop and creak along the streets, past the heart of the district, Place Jacques-Cartier, which is lined with cafes. Below ground, a tunnel leads from the new Museum of Archaeology to the old Custom House.

Toronto's Art & Design District (Ontario): The stretch of Queen Street that runs west of Bathurst Avenue has been recently reinvented as the Art & Design District. This isn't just a marketing ploy -- the title is well deserved. The area is the new home of the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art; it's also the neighborhood to see some of the best local design talent, with block after block of unique boutiques, small but edgy galleries, and plenty of cafes.

Lake Superior Provincial Park (Ontario): Follow any trail in this park to a rewarding vista. The 16km (10-mile) Peat Mountain Trail leads to a panoramic view close to 150m (about 500 ft.) above the surrounding lakes and forests. The moderate Orphan Lake Trail offers views over the Orphan Lake and Lake Superior, plus a pebble beach and Baldhead River falls. The 26km (16-mile) Toawab Trail takes you through the Agawa Valley to the 25m (82-ft.) Agawa Falls.

Johnston Canyon (Banff National Park, Alberta): Just 24km (15 miles) west of Banff, Johnston Creek cuts a deep, very narrow canyon through limestone cliffs. The trail winds through tunnels, passes waterfalls, edges by shaded rock faces, and crosses the chasm on footbridges before reaching a series of iridescent pools, formed by springs that bubble up through highly colored rock.

Plain of Six Glaciers Trail (Lake Louise, Alberta): From Chateau Lake Louise, a lakeside trail rambles along the edge of emerald-green Lake Louise, and then climbs to the base of Victoria Glacier. At a rustic teahouse, you can order a cup of tea and a scone -- each made over a wood-burning stove -- and gaze up at the rumpled face of the glacier.

Stanley Park (Vancouver, British Columbia) is something of a miracle -- a huge, lush park (one of the largest city parks in the world) right on the edge of a densely populated urban neighborhood. Stroll the famous Seawall that skirts the entire park, visit a striking collection of First Nation totem poles, or simply wander among the giant trees and magnificent plantings.

Long Beach (Vancouver Island, British Columbia): Part of Pacific Rim National Park, Long Beach is more than 16km (10 miles) long and hundreds of meters wide and is flanked by awe-inspiring rain forests of cedar, fir, and Sitka spruce. Beyond the roaring surf you'll see soaring eagles, basking sea lions, and occasionally even migrating gray whales.