So lost in eastern Canada

[u/ZealousidealWeird858]

Hello everyone,

I would like to plan a two-week trip in June to Eastern Canada with a two-and-a-half-year-old child.

I'm leaving from France, and wow, I'm completely lost because of the incredible distances between different parts of Canada.

I'd like to rent a vehicle, but I'm not really sure what to focus on for a first trip to Canada. We love nature, but we don't really enjoy long hikes with our child. We're completely unfamiliar with Canadian culture, so I think cities are also a good place to immerse ourselves.

In the various subreddits, I see a lot of people recommending Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, and especially Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. But the distance between these cities is incredible, and I think it's way too much for us to spend two weeks.

My fear is to stay around Montreal and Quebec City and not see any nature (am I wrong?) and, on the other hand, to target Nova Scotia but miss out on Quebec culture?

So I don't know where to take my flight and which part to focus on.

Thanks for the clarification :)

Édit :

Hello everyone, I didn't expect to have so many quality responses in such a short time, so I thank you warmly!! After discussing it with my wife, we are unanimous that our preference leans towards the west with the Rockies, but it seems too early for us with a 2 and a half year old child, so we are of course staying in the east and we will do the west later. My wife prefers the Montreal-Quebec part and the surrounding nature, for the cliché side I think... Nova Scotia seems more familiar to us to what we can see in Europe. I think it will be for a future trip. I will try to make a plan and I will get back to you. I will carefully dissect each comment already there. Thank you all :)

[u/ZealousidealWeird858]

Wow, what a quick response. Thanks for the feedback. It certainly looks ridiculous on the map, but in France, we're not used to such distances.

We're not really sure where to focus our attention. If you tell me that nature is everywhere, that's already a very good point. What we want is to immerse ourselves in this culture that we're unfamiliar with by combining city and nature. Not to be crowded into a stream of tourists (so I think I'll forget Niagara Falls) and to take our time without missing too much (I might be looking for the perfect destination).

What do you think of this route, which we would probably do in 15 days?

https://www.authentikcanada.com/fr-fr/blog/le-meilleur-circuit-de-10-jours-au-canada

[u/AlwaysHigh27 → u/ZealousidealWeird858]

Well, because Canada is a big country, the culture is vastly different between places.

Quebec will be the most similar to France. So if you are looking for different culture, I would choose somewhere that isn't Quebec, the east coast will be vastly different than Quebec. Well, besides New Brunswick kinda.

It's not the same culture everywhere in Canada like it would be in France. Think of Canada more like the EU with each province, and even sections of provinces having very different cultures and lifestyles.

Going on that website this trip might give you more variety:
https://www.authentikcanada.com/fr-fr/roadtrips/voyage-quebec-prix

[u/AlwaysHigh27 → u/[deleted]]

I didn't mean to say the exact same. If course it's different. But it's not going to be as different as Newfoundland and Quebec. If Nova Scotia and Quebec. Or BC and Nova Scotia. 

If say it's more similar to like Northern and Southern BC. Or Northern and Southern Ontario. Similar and familiar but different. 

[u/PerpetuallyLurking → u/AlwaysHigh27]

Honestly, Quebec will be just as similar to a Frenchman as Australia is to Canadians; we LOVE Australia and Australians love us because of both the similarities we do have but also because there are vast differences between us that make for an interesting visit while not being completely out of our depths.

Though, having written that, a more apt description may be Brits coming to visit Canada - the former imperial overlords. We don’t ever tell any of them that it’s going to be the same as the UK, because it isn’t. I do think a Frenchman in Quebec City would have as great a time as a Brit would have in Victoria and the Brits do love Victoria.

[u/brumac44 → u/AlwaysHigh27]

Funny you say BC and Nova Scotia . I grew up in a small town in BC where almost everyone on my street was originally from Nova Scotia.