Canada self drive map & highlights
Canada is crossed by one of the longest roads in the world, the Trans-Canada Highway, which takes just under 7,500km to pass through its 10 provinces. For those with less time, leave Canada’s inland prairies, with all their wide-angle views, for another trip and focus your lens instead on the east or west. The east has lobster suppers and lighthouses; the west has Rocky Mountains and foodie Vancouver. And, if you’re flying from Europe and considering your carbon footprint, the east coast has the shorter flight – seven hours out and six hours back (thanks, jet stream!). Taking a car is the best way to get outside the cities, where public transport is sparse. Beyond the provinces, Canada’s three territories to the north are beyond the reach of most holiday drivers.
1.
Icefields Parkway
2. Pacific Marine Circle Route
3. Sea to Sky Highway
4. Fundy Coastal Drive
5. Cabot Trail
6. Route du Fleuve
2. Pacific Marine Circle Route
3. Sea to Sky Highway
4. Fundy Coastal Drive
5. Cabot Trail
6. Route du Fleuve
Icefields Parkway
1. Icefields Parkway
Sharing the Rockies with British Columbia, Alberta’s got the lion’s share of household names, including Banff and Jasper national parks, Lake Louise and the spectacular Icefields Parkway. The 232-km Parkway, named for the glaciers that you can see from the road, also passes glacier-fed lakes and waterfalls. It’s hard not to stop at every turn to take photographs.
Pacific Marine Circle Route
2. Pacific Marine Circle Route
There’s salt in the air: the Pacific Marine Circle Route is a 263-km scenic driving loop on the southern side of Vancouver Island. The drive gives you a tour of some of the island’s wild sights, including the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, where temperate rainforest and sandy beaches sit before the ocean. Those brown blotches on the rocks? Probably sea lions.
Sea to Sky Highway
3. Sea to Sky Highway
BC is for big hitters: Vancouver and Vancouver Island are holidays in themselves, then one spectacular drive along the sea to Sky Highway later and you can be at Whistler, hiking and white-water rafting. The 377-km drive is a destination in itself, though, with short hikes to waterfalls along the route, and lakes and mountains out the windscreen. This is one route where it’s great being a passenger.
Fundy Coastal Drive
4. Fundy Coastal Drive
Whilst New Brunswick shares the Bay of Fundy with Nova Scotia, it keeps Fundy National Park – and Fundy Coastal Drive – for itself. The 438-km drive goes all the way along the southern shore of the province, passing rocky coves and forested hills, and you can stop en route at the national park to hike. New Brunswick has many of Canada’s remaining historic covered bridges. See how many you can cross as you drive.
Cabot Trail
5. Cabot Trail
Nova Scotia is special. Out on a limb, its peninsula seems scenic and quiet, with a lonely, lighthouse-strung south shore. Cape Breton Island, on its eastern end, is the province’s wild side. On the 298-km long Cabot Trail drive through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, you’ll need to keep an eye out for elk, as the road passes through the Margaree Valley, then try to keep your eyes on the road, not the dreamy sea views, as it undulates along the coast.
Route du Fleuve
6. Route du Fleuve
You’ve got to be selective in Quebec, Canada’s largest province. Focus your driving trip on its two great cities, Montreal and Quebec City, and then let the St Lawrence River lead you east along the scenic Route du Fleuve which runs between Baie-St-Paul and La Malbaie. Keep an eye out for roadside eateries; round here, the humbler the exterior, the tastier the house speciality could be.
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Canada driving distances
A rough idea of the travel times by road in Canada.
Vancouver to Vancouver Island: 45-minute drive to ferry terminal; 2-hour car ferry
Vancouver to Whistler (along the Sea to Sky Highway): 1 hour 45 minutes
Vancouver to Kelowna: 4 hours 30 minutes
Vancouver to Banff (Alberta): 10 hours
Kelowna to Banff (Alberta): 6 hours
Montreal to Quebec City: 2 hours 30 minutes
Quebec City to Baie St Paul: 3 hours 30 minutes
Quebec City to Saguanay Fjord: 3 hours 45 minutes
Montreal to Ottawa (Ontario): 2 hours
Banff to Jasper (along the Icefields Parkway): 3 hours 30 minutes
Calgary to Jasper: 5 hours
Lake Louise to Jasper: 2 hours 30 minutes
Ottawa to Toronto: 4 hours
Toronto to Niagara Falls: 1 hour 30 minutes
British Columbia
Quebec
Alberta
Ontario
Recommended driving routes in Canada
Eastern Canada in two weeks
Let strong tides reel you into Canada’s maritime provinces. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island (PEI) make a compatible trio to visit in two weeks, their rocky outposts lighthouse-crowned, their houses clapboard and their lobster suppers generous. In two weeks, you could start in Halifax before heading to Dalvay by the Sea, PEI, which is literary home to Anne of Green Gables. Then drive on to the Fundy Coast, the settlements of St Andrews and St John, and walking in Fundy National Park.
Western Canada in two weeks
Start in Vancouver and head inland for scenery that keeps getting bigger and bigger, culminating in the impressive heights of the Rocky Mountains. In two weeks, you can explore Vancouver, Whistler, Wells Grey Provincial Park, Jasper National Park and Banff National Park, benefitting from the knowledge and perspectives of Indigenous guides in Stanley Park, Vancouver and Banff. By the time you come to Calgary, Alberta, your world will have been truly Rockied.
When to go
Most visitors drive in Canada between May and October. The tourist season is April to October – this is when the Rocky Mountaineer trains run, and when the weather is warmest. Going to popular roads like the Icefields Parkway in late spring, rather than summer, reduces your chances of being stuck driving behind a convoy of tourist coaches.
In summer there’s more accommodation open, and more options – lots of places in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia shut their doors over the winter.
Eastern Canada’s autumn is famous for its colours. Yellow birch and red maple trees stand incandescent among the evergreens, pixelating the rolling hills, and there are wonderful autumn drives to be had in Quebec.
Winter driving can be challenging, with extreme conditions. Most Canadians have a strict packing list for their cars in winter, and some provinces require the use of snow tires. For the average holidaymaker, Canada is strictly a spring-to-autumn driving destination.
Whatever time of year you go, look up driving conditions for the next few hours when driving in the mountains, as the weather can be changeable.
In summer there’s more accommodation open, and more options – lots of places in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia shut their doors over the winter.
Eastern Canada’s autumn is famous for its colours. Yellow birch and red maple trees stand incandescent among the evergreens, pixelating the rolling hills, and there are wonderful autumn drives to be had in Quebec.
Winter driving can be challenging, with extreme conditions. Most Canadians have a strict packing list for their cars in winter, and some provinces require the use of snow tires. For the average holidaymaker, Canada is strictly a spring-to-autumn driving destination.
Whatever time of year you go, look up driving conditions for the next few hours when driving in the mountains, as the weather can be changeable.
More Canada self drive articles
In Canada, self driving is one of the best ways to get around if you want to see multiple sights.
Quebec road trips: where you might come for the views but end up staying for the food.
On self drive tours in Nova Scotia, you’ll visit quiet coastal villages and lonely lighthouses.
The open road awaits – read our guide to this iconic Canada adventure.
