How to experience Canada at its most epic
From its rugged Maritime Provinces, northwards to Prince Edward Island and Labrador, to the historical cities of Montreal and Quebec on the St Lawrence Seaway, down to Toronto and The Great Lakes, and all the way west to spectacular Vancouver, Canada is a cruise-lover’s dream. But with such an incredible breadth of options, it can be tricky to choose – so we’ve narrowed down the best sailings taking place this year and next, to help you find the Canada cruise that ticks all your boxes.
Quebec and the St Lawrence River
There’s special, and then there’s breathtaking. The St Lawrence River is the latter. Inaccessible for traditional ships in winter, this cruise on an ice-strengthened vessel is an exclusive ticket into a less-trammeled world, where the waters, once turbulent, freeze into ice, and where the forests wear a constant blanket of white.
You’ll start in Quebec, North America’s only walled city, then strike out eastwards along the river. There are stops for hiking, snowshoeing, dog sledding and ice fishing (great opportunities for seeing caribou, elk and even the Northern Lights), until eventually you find yourself on the Saint Pierre and Miquelon archipelago, the only French territory in North America.
Book it: Ponant (020 7660 4089; uk.ponant.com) offers the 12-night cruise called The St Lawrence River in the Heart of the Boreal Winter, from £17,590 per person, calling at La Baie, Sept-Iles, Gaspé, Magdalen Islands, Sydney and Saint Pierre. Departs from Quebec on February 22 2025. International flights extra.
Autumn colour on the East Coast
Anticipation is often half the pleasure – very much the case on this cruise, which originates in the UK and spends five days crossing the Atlantic before arriving in Canada. First stop is St John’s, the charmingly old-world capital of Newfoundland, then it’s onto the contrastingly vibrant city of Halifax in Nova Scotia, then into Saguenay Fjord. Four species of whale call this stretch home, but at this time of year you’re more likely to have your eyes on the towering, forest-covered cliffs, carpeted as they’ll be in some of the region’s finest autumn colours.
Book it: Fred Olsen (0800 083 3281; fredolsencruises.com) offers the 26-night Canada in the Fal cruise from £3,699 per person, calling at St John’s, Halifax, Corner Brook, Gaspé, Port Saguenay, Quebec, Trois-Rivières, Montreal and Southampton. Departs Southampton on October 3 2024.
The Northwest Passage
There are few journeys more epic than this. Following a route which has challenged explorers for centuries, this cruise meanders through the Canadian Arctic Wilderness, a wild place where the elements rule. Starting in Iceland, you’ll briefly visit Greenland before crossing the Labrador Sea into The Davis Strait. As the ship sails west towards the Pacific, there are onboard lectures on topics such as the wildlife of Northern Labrador, Inuit culture and the history of Arctic exploration, and passengers have the option to take part in various projects, too, including helping to photograph and track whales, and observing the clouds as part of a climate study.
Book it: Hurtigruten (020 4571 1378; hurtigruten.com) offers the 26-night The North West Passage – In The Wake of The Great Explorers (Westbound) cruise from £16,667 per person, calling at Nuuk, Dundas Harbour, Smoking Hills, Nome and Vancouver. Departs Reykjavik on August 8 2024. International flights extra.
Greenland to Nova Scotia
With a profound focus on ancient history, this itinerary takes in both the 1,000-year-old Norse settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows (Meadows Cove) on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland (the only authenticated Viking site in the Americas), and the huge vertical cliffs of Archean rocks – reputedly the oldest stones in Canada – on Lady Franklin Island. It’s also a rare opportunity to learn more about the Inuit people, who share stories of the spirits and traditions of their homeland during stops at the likes of Torngat Mountains National Park (whose name means “place of spirits”), and to traverse spectacular Disko Bay, the “iceberg capital of the world”.
Book it: Swan Hellenic (020 7846 0271; swanhellenic.com) offers the 15-night Greenland to Nova Scotia Canadian Arctic Explorer cruise from £13,481 per person, calling at Ilulissat, Sissimut, Nuuq, Iqaluit, Lady Franklin Island, Torngat Mountain National Park, Hebron, L’anse Aux Meadows and Halifax. Departs Kangerlussuaq on September 15 2025. International flights extra.
The Great Lakes
With stops in the United States as well as Canada, this cruise combines urban skylines and uninhabited islands to give you a truly varied introduction to the Great Lakes. Starting in Toronto, the route crosses Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron and Michigan, giving a fascinating overview of the waterways’ shipping history, as well as the complex ecosystems of their sheltered bays. The ship’s early ports of call – thundering falls at Niagara, migrating birds at Point Pelee, and a protected state park at Mackinac Island – sit in stark contrast to the lively cities of Detroit and Milwaukee, while the Welland Canal, which lifts ships between Lakes Ontario and Erie, is one of 19th-century Canada’s greatest engineering feats.
Book it: Viking Cruises (0800 014 7538; vikingcruises.co.uk) offers the eight-day Niagara and the Great lakes cruise from £7,695 per person, calling at Welland Canal, Point Pelee, Detroit, Alpena, Mackinac Island, Milwaukee. Departs Toronto on April 25 2024. International flights included.
British Columbia
The 6.4 million-hectare Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia – home to grizzly, black and spirit bears, as well as coastal wolves, humpbacks and orcas – is one of the most distinctive and biologically diverse places on the planet, and an ideal region to discover by water. The exact itinerary of this cruise varies, but generally begins in the indigenous community of Bella Bella then threads its way across the fractured fingers of the coastline, dipping for two days into the Fiordland Conservancy, and taking in Kynoch Inlet’s spectacular rock faces and waterfalls, Princess Royal Island, and Khutze Inlet’s abundance of bird life.
Book it: Canada As You Like It (020 8742 8299; canadaasyoulikeit.com) offers the eight-night Great Bear Rainforest Cruise (British Columbia) trip from £5,560 per person, calling at Kynoch Inlet, Princess Royal Island and Khutze Inlet. Departures between August to October from Bella Bella. International flights extra (return flights Vancouver to Bella Bella included).
How to get there
Various airlines – including Air Canada (aircanada.com) and Lufthansa (lufthansa.com) – fly direct from London to various Canadian cities, with returns starting at £522 (Vancouver), £444 (Quebec), £410 (Toronto) and £460 (Halifax).