Petrel

Famous Landmarks in Canada: 7 Sites Worth Seeing

Six days from Pacific city to Rocky Mountain postcard, Vancouver’s seawall, rainforest, and market island, then the turquoise lakes and glacier country of Banff. One short flight connects ocean kayaks to grizzly territory. See the full itinerary.

From the same hand-researched library as our Canada itinerary. Last reviewed 2026-07-29.

Vancouver

Vancouver is the rare city where downtown meets temperate rainforest and open ocean. You can kayak, ride a gondola into the mountains, and eat some of North America’s best Asian food in the same day. It is consistently ranked among the world’s most livable cities, and three days shows you why.

1
Canada Place
The sail-roofed pier where cruise ships dock, start of the Coal Harbour waterfront walk, with floatplanes landing against the North Shore mountains all day.
Vancouver
2
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
A 137-meter bridge swaying 70 meters above a rainforest canyon, plus treetop and cliff walks. Crowded by 10 AM; the free Lynn Canyon bridge nearby is the local alternative.
Vancouver
3
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden
The first full Ming-style scholar’s garden built outside China, assembled by Suzhou craftsmen in historic Chinatown, a pocket of engineered calm.
Vancouver

Banff & Lake Louise

Banff is Canada’s first national park and still its definitive one, glacier-fed lakes of implausible turquoise, a Victorian resort town ringed by 3,000-meter peaks, and elk wandering the outskirts. This is the landscape on the postcards, and it does not disappoint in person.

4
Lake Louise
The turquoise lake below Victoria Glacier that made the Rockies famous. Arrive before 8 AM or ride the shuttle; then walk the flat lakeshore trail or climb to the Lake Agnes teahouse.
Banff & Lake Louise
5
Moraine Lake
Ten glacier-crowned peaks over impossibly blue water, the former $20-bill view. Private cars have been banned since 2023: reserve the Parks Canada shuttle (2026 season 1 June–12 Oct, with 4 and 5 AM Alpine Start runs for sunrise).
Banff & Lake Louise
6
Banff Gondola and Sulphur Mountain
Eight minutes up to a summit boardwalk with a 360-degree sweep of six mountain ranges, or hike the switchbacks up and ride down.
Banff & Lake Louise
7
Cave and Basin National Historic Site
The sulphur hot-spring cave whose 1883 discovery sparked Canada’s entire national park system, the origin story, still steaming.
Banff & Lake Louise

Museums, parks, and neighborhoods are on the full Canada itinerary, sequenced into a realistic day-by-day plan with transport between cities.

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