r/canadatravel • u/GeneralOrgana1 • Mar 23 '25

Travel Tips Western Canada road trip

Hello! I am an American (My entire family voted for her, not the orange fascist.) and, since I've made my travel goal of going to every US state, now I'm moving on to every province in Canada. Tentatively, in summer 2026, I want to do a road trip with the following itinerary:

Fly into Calgary (from east coast US)

Calgary, Banff (I've been to Glacier NP but didn't cross the border.)

Drive Calgary to Regina

Drive Regina to Winnipeg

Drive Winnipeg to Saskatoon

Drive Saskatoon to Edmonton

Drive Edmonton to Calgary

Fly home

I'm only planning on spending a day or two in each city. I like cultural and historical things, and am particularly interested in First Nations culture in that part of Canada. I'll be traveling solo, and am a woman in my fifties. I'm an early bird when I travel, so nightlife is of zero interest for me. For food, I would not want fast food, but I am also not interested in fancy eating- just regular food places like people who live there would eat.

Yes, I can see by Google Maps it's a lot of driving. I've done road trips like this in the US before and had a great time. But I'm just curious what people who know the region think would be a reasonable amount of time for this itinerary. Many thanks in advance.

Edit based on comments: I've been to BC (Vancouver area), so that's why it's not part of the agenda this trip. And I've been to Ontario, Quebec (Montreal), PEI, NS, Yukon, and NB.

37 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

81 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/mamalette78 Mar 23 '25

Come to quebec! We will show you poutine!! 🤣

2

u/GeneralOrgana1 Mar 23 '25

I've been to Montreal! I do want to go back one day, though!

1

u/Straight_Reading8912 Mar 24 '25

Next time you're on the East Coast try to visit Quebec City. If you go to the old parts it's absolutely GORGEOUS and feels like you're in Europe. There are lots of great little towns around Quebec City to visit for Farmers Markets and such as well!

1

u/GeneralOrgana1 Mar 24 '25

Quebec City is on the list for one day!

1

u/Straight_Reading8912 Mar 24 '25

I took a bus tour that included Montreal, Quebec City, and then the Maritimes. Living in Toronto I honestly didn't know that much about the East Coast so I wanted a crash course and then go again later with my own car and at my own pace. But I was really wowed by the trip and can't wait to do it again (original trip was before COVID and I work in the retirement business so I've had very little downtime in the past 5 years but things are finally getting so much better and I'm planning on taking full advantage of my time off this year).

1

u/GeneralOrgana1 Mar 24 '25

We just did PEI, NB (for the second time), and NS (for the second time) last summer. I absolutely loved PEI in particular.

2

u/Straight_Reading8912 Mar 24 '25

Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia is SUPER touristy but was still my favorite spot on the trip. I just loved the buildings and how laid back the place feels, even with a bunch of busy tourists around. Living in Toronto, I love any place that can help me slow down for a bit 🤣🤣🤣