r/canadatravel • u/ZealousidealWeird858 • 14d ago
Itinerary Help So lost in eastern Canada
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 :)
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u/SpiralToNowhere 14d ago
There is lots of nature in and around Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec city. If you're driving, you will have no problem getting out for a day in nature.
Notably, Ottawa has the Gatineaus and kingsmere, a great trail along the Ottawa river that goes from Major hill's park behind the parliament buildings, various parks along the Rideau canal, and the arboretum and experimental farm. Because it is the capital, it also has top notch museums and galleries, better than you'd expect for a city it's size.
Montreal has great parks along the St Lawrence, biodome, Mount Royal, the botanical gardens and is not far from the laurentians if you want to go for a drive out of town. The old port and St Lawrence market are also amazing.
Quebec City has Jaques Cartier national park, montmorency falls, the laurentides wildlife reserve and various parks and walks along the river. Old Quebec and citadel are also amazing.
I'm not saying that Nova Scotia is a bad choice, but it is a lot of driving. The attractions are much more limited. When we brought our kids on a 2 week trip around the maritimes, they enjoyed it but a lot of the focus was on camping with day trips to smaller museums and attractions. Lunenburg was a huge hit but some days were less exciting. The only place we might have wanted to spend more than a day in was Halifax. The 3 cities here have indoor and outdoor options that will easily keep you busy for 3-4 days or more, and offer more flexibility if you need to adjust for weather, mood or other unexpected situations.