PickEasyRoad trips
Our picks, chained into drives worth taking: a top five for summer and a few for every other season. Each stop links to its pick, and every distance, drive time and date comes from a linked source.
AdventureSeptember and October
Halifax, NS to Chéticamp, NS
National Geographic calls the Cabot Trail beautiful all year and especially spectacular in autumn. Drive it anticlockwise as they suggest, from Baddeck up the east coast and over the Highlands to Acadian Chéticamp.
5 stops · 2 of them picks
RomanticSeptember and October
Dunham, QC to Cookshire-Eaton, QC
Harvest season in the Townships, all picks: a brewery near the Vermont border, farm cooking at Stanbridge East and Austin, and a lakeside resort in North Hatley. The wine route links 24 wineries along the way.
6 stops · every stop a pick
Ski weekDecember to March
Canmore, AB to Revelstoke, BC
Five resorts in a week, every stop a pick: Sunshine and Lake Louise from Banff, then west on the Powder Highway to Kicking Horse and Revelstoke. Know your pass first, since Kicking Horse is on Epic and the rest are on Ikon.
8 stops · every stop a pick
RomanticDecember to March
Québec City, QC to La Malbaie, QC
Two nights in Old Québec, then east along the St. Lawrence to Charlevoix. Québec terroir in the Upper Town and Old Port, small plates in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, and Baie-Saint-Paul for the last dinner.
6 stops · 5 of them picks
Ski weekendDecember to March
Mirabel, QC to Mont-Tremblant, QC
North from Montréal for a sugar shack holiday menu, two Laurentian bistros and a day on the slopes at Tremblant. Short drives, every stop a pick, and unlimited Ikon days at the end.
4 stops · every stop a pick
AdventureApril to June
Vancouver, BC to Whistler, BC
Highway 99 runs from the ocean to the mountains in a morning. Go in spring, when the corridor is quieter than summer, for a gondola above Howe Sound, a waterfall stop and two days in Whistler.
6 stops · 4 of them picks
FoodieApril to June
Jordan, ON to Niagara Falls, ON
Four days of eating your way across the Niagara Peninsula, every stop a pick. Bread in Jordan, a barn among the vines, a 12-seat fish counter in St. Catharines, fire cooking in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and the Falls to finish.
7 stops · every stop a pick
RomanticMarch to June
Victoria, BC to Tofino, BC
A grand old hotel and a seafood room in Victoria, then across the island to the open Pacific. Long Beach is open all year, and the highway is far quieter before the summer rush; every stop is a pick.
5 stops · every stop a pick
AdventureJune to mid-October
Canmore, AB to Jasper, AB
Dinner in Canmore, a night in Banff's grand park hotel, then the lakes: Moraine by shuttle and a night beside Lake Louise. Day three is the parkway itself, past the Columbia Icefield all the way to Jasper.
6 stops · every stop a pick
FamilyLate May to October
The Blue Mountains, ON to Severn, ON
National Geographic's Georgian Bay route, cut to six days: caves on the escarpment, glass-bottom boats over Tobermory's wrecks, the ferry to Manitoulin and the Big Nickel in Sudbury. Come home down Highway 11 with a charcoal burger at Webers.
9 stops · 7 of them picks
FoodieJune to September
Halifax, NS to Barrington Passage, NS
Leave Halifax and keep to the coast: Peggy's Cove first, then the churches of Mahone Bay and Old Town Lunenburg. The road ends near Barrington, the self-styled Lobster Capital of Canada, at a three-time champion lobster roll.
7 stops · 5 of them picks
FoodieJune to September
St. Andrews, NB to Halifax, NS
Three provinces, four dinners. An inn on Passamaquoddy Bay, an Acadian bistro in Moncton, a four-hour fire feast on Prince Edward Island, then the ferry across to Nova Scotia for a nightcap in Halifax.
5 stops · 4 of them picks
AdventureJune to September
Gros Morne National Park, NL to St. John's, NL
Cross the island west to east: a boat up the fjord at Western Brook Pond, a ferry to the Fogo Island Inn, then three tables in St. John's. Long days on the road, rewarded every evening.
5 stops · every stop a pick
