The scenery is what first took me to Canada 30 years ago, but it’s not the only reason I keep returning: the people, the food and hospitality, the calm culture and First Nations traditions all play their part. From national parks and prairies to pristine islands, there’s much to discover, including 260 (inhabited) isles. Ontario’s superlative Manitoulin Island, the world’s largest on a lake, is a must-visit, as is Nunavut’s immense Baffin Island, which is more than twice the size of Great Britain. But with so many to explore, the question is where to go first? After years of research, I’ve found that these 10 islands offer the ideal starting point.
Granville Island, Vancouver
Lucky Vancouver: so young, so pretty, so mountainous, so beachy. It’s the ultimate Canadian city and one reason is Granville Island, a hippy-dippy district of post-industrial galleries, shopping, a brewery and Granville Island Public Market, a la-di-da Aldi with farmers’ stalls galore. Once an island, now a peninsula, it’s nonetheless still a model of seaside bliss with a water park and a public dock of boats offering whale-watching trips. Orcas on your mind? I’d recommend a trip into the Georgia Strait with Wild Whales.
Where to stay: Room-only doubles at The Granville Island Hotel from £160.
Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Less an island, more a nation in its own right, Vancouver Island is 1.5 times larger than Wales and packs in every conceivable Pacific coast daydream. There’s stately capital Victoria, surfing in Tofino, humpback watching in Telegraph Cove, black bear safaris in Campbell River, and more First Nations culture than you could shake a dance stick at. As a former British Columbia resident, I’ve visited half a dozen times and every time I leave, I find little room in my head to think about anything else.
Where to stay: Room-only doubles at The Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino from £503.
Prince Edward Island
Of Canada’s 10 provinces, this pipsqueak off New Brunswick is by far the smallest. It’s a collision of sandstone cliffs and empty beaches with rolling farmlands and wineries, and is the perfect slow-travel destination for foodies; you can fall head over heels for its Malpeque oysters, fat lobsters, blue mussels and chowders. Spoiling seafood lovers for life are Blue Mussel Cafe, Claddagh Oyster House and Richard’s Fresh Seafood.
Nobody can visit without coming across the classic novel Anne of Green Gables, of course. Prince Edward Island is the so-called “land of Anne”, and Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish and Lucy Maud Montgomery Birthplace in New London keep you constantly aware of the island’s literary place in the world.
Where to stay: Room-only doubles at The Inn at Bay Fortune from £215.
Toronto Islands, Ontario
Let’s get one thing straight: it’s called Lake Ontario. There are several ways to experience the lake that was originally named 400 years ago, but the most memorable is a visit to the Toronto Islands, a 15-minute ride from Jack Layton Ferry Terminal in Toronto Harbour. What you get are beaches, boardwalks, bike paths and Gibraltar Point Lighthouse (the oldest in the Great Lakes), as well as a logjam of lagoons to canoe or fish and Centreville Amusement Park. Looking back towards Toronto, the cityscape is a profound panorama of skyscrapers and structures, topped out by the unmistakable CN Tower.
Where to stay: Room-only doubles at The Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto from £200.
Spirit Island, Alberta
One of Canada’s most celebrated islands is one you can’t even visit. All the same, it has become a hallmark of the Rockies; above all, it is a place of sacred healing for the Stoney Nakoda First Nation. What you see at first, from a distance, when paddling by canoe across blue-green Maligne Lake, is a cresting wave of mountains. As you drift closer, this is underpinned by a narrow, pine-topped isthmus. It’s not so much an island as a symbol of the aspirations of anyone who wants to live and breathe the wilderness. When I last visited, I found myself in awe, changing my plans to stay in nearby Jasper for much longer than I’d planned.
Where to stay: Room-only doubles at Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge from £407.
Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
This island inspires road trips, particularly on the Cabot Trail, a 185-mile super-loop billed as Canada’s answer to California’s Pacific Coast Highway. Tourism on Cape Breton is sustained by Acadian villages and Mi’kmaw traditions, Celtic-roots ceilidhs and whale rush hours; expect pilot, minke and humpback among the dozen resident species. Hiking is another essential. Trails criss-cross Cape Breton Highlands National Park and are besieged by towering red maple, old-growth hemlock and Acadian forest. I should probably tell you that you won’t be alone, though: this is the realm of moose, bald eagle and black bear.
Where to stay: Room-only doubles at The Keltic Resort in Ingonish Beach from £145.
Haida Gwaii, British Columbia
The past looms large in British Columbia, nowhere more so than on this claw-shaped Pacific archipelago, where archaeologists believe humans first set foot in North America. Located a seven-hour ferry ride from Prince Rupert or a short flight from Vancouver, Haida Gwaii is increasingly being prised open for tourism. Oceanside accommodations have recently opened at Haida House at Tllaal, while the once-abandoned ancestral village SGang Gwaay in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve is no longer a forgotten relic of broken houses and mortuary totem poles. Increasingly, it is a place of stories and guided boat tours.
Where to stay: Room-only doubles at Haida House at Tllaal from £69.
Fogo Island, Newfoundland
If you’ve read puffed-up prose about Newfoundland, it’s probably because tourism to the once-autonomous island is thriving. You can see whales and icebergs packed as tight as sardines in a can, plus colourful clapboard houses and a rugged, show-off coastline. Most of all, Fogo Island, the largest in the province, will satisfy anyone craving a reset in nature.
Where to stay: All-inclusive doubles at Fogo Island Inn from £1,327.
Magdalen Islands, Quebec
The churning presence of the Gulf of St Lawrence is strong on Quebec’s 12-island archipelago. The cold waters dictate much of life there – from the white beaches to honeyed sandstone cliffs to red-topped lighthouses, it’s an immersion in colour. In summer, the five-hour ferry trip from Prince Edward Island – or a 50-minute flight from Gaspé – leads to days of surfing, kitesurfing and sea kayaking from Cap-aux-Meules Island. In winter, the islands freeze over and seal watching, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing top tourist itineraries.
Where to stay: Room-only doubles at Domaine du Vieux Couvent from £133.
Bowen Island, British Columbia
British Columbia is greedy. Another of Vancouver’s ultimate islands, just a 20-minute ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay, is evergreen Bowen Island. You could search for a lifetime and never find one more beautiful. I’ve hiked its Everest (Mount Gardner), piloted a skiff into pretty-as-pie Snug Cove, and dined and drank at Doc Morgan’s and the Bowen Island Pub. If I ever retire in Canada, this would be the place I head to.
Where to stay: Forest cabins at Kitoki Inn from £265.