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It’s all magnificent, and full of friendly Canadians
I’ve driven from coast to coast - Vancouver Island to Newfoundland
Next coast: the Arctic Ocean at Tuktoyaktuk
Going from Toronto west, long. Driving through Ontario it’s as if you’re on a loop. “I swear I saw that tree and little lake a second ago”. And it takes an unreasonably long time to get through. I liked the prairies, it seems to go way faster, big sky, interesting river valleys. The mountains are neat and then you’re there!
Toronto east is absolute bullshit until you get to Quebec and then it starts getting interesting. I have very little experience driving beyond Quebec city. I’ve heard people say the roads in New Brunswick are comically bad.
The Matapedia Valley from Quebec into Northern New Brunswick is a gorgeous drive. I love driving in NB but take the old highway along the coast. The new highways go through replanted forest and all you see are pine trees. I haven’t driven a lot in Nova Scotia or PEI. Newfoundland is great though. Take the ferry to Port aux Basques and drive around the island to St. John’s. You can depart from the Argentia ferry.
Edited because autocorrect.
BC is gorgeous, no matter the weather, but it can get crazy.
AB is a tale of two opposites, in more than one way.
SK, and MB, can be very boring, but also gorgeous – being able to see isolated storms way off in the distance, or the sunset of a million yellows and oranges and purples for what feels like days, over a field of canola, can be a quiet gratitude.
Northern Ontario is gorgeous in a way that it doesn’t have to compete with BC’s mountains. The Canadian shield is… well, it’s Canadian. Southern Ontario, and Quebec, along the main corridor, are boring and full of people.
I don’t know much about the rest of Quebec, and I haven’t spent a lot of time in the Maritimes (with the exception of Newfoundland).
Newfoundland is distinct. The people have a history (and they’re super kind), they have all sorts of geography and historical quirks. The weather is tough, and it’s really shaped the people, it really is quite a rock they live on.
If you love nature, I highly highly highly recommend you drive through some or all of the sections, if you get a chance. All of them, even the supposedly boring SK/MB stretch. It took a long time, but I really do appreciate it now that I’ve moved away.
One of my favourite towns is Kenora Ontario. Because after three days of rocks and trees driving through Northern Ontario the forest falls away and the Prairies open up in front of you. Kenora has rivers and a lake and is a great spot.
Manitoba and Saskatchewan are dull if you stick to the TransCanada. The lower 15% are bald prairie but they are both better up North. It’s very flat until you get to around Swift Current SK.
Medicine Hat in Alberta is where the badlands really start to open up. Take the loop up to Drumheller if you want to see Hoodoos and dinosaurs.
I love the drive from Calgary into the mountains. Remember - you are never in a hurry in the mountains. Things change rapidly and there is little to no shoulder or room for emergency maneuvers. Take your time. The ice highway connecting Banff and Jasper is great. I love Yoho. The town of Field is good for a stop.
I’ll let someone else do the BC interior to Vancity.
Manitoba and Saskatchewan are dull if you stick to the TransCanada.
I actually think Saskatchewan is really beautiful, if you find the right spots. Theres lots of lakes, and lots of salt deposits, which can make for an interesting scene. If you find a nice lake to camp by you’ll be able to see quite a lot of wildlife, in my experience. Beavers, loons, maybe hear some wolves howling, etc. Plus the sunset/sunrise in the prairies is really beautiful. The sky looks so big when it’s not obscured by mountains
I actually think Saskatchewan is really beautiful, if you find the right spots.
And at the right time of the year.
Yep, basically any time of year other than early spring when it’s just brown as far as the eye can see
It absolutely is gorgeous - but rolling along the Highway 1 doesn’t show you the best of it. But I’ll take the number 2 from Findlater to P.A. instead of taking the 11 through Saskatoon. The old roads have a soul and the Number 1 doesn’t.
Huh, I’m the opposite of everyone else in this thread. I grew up in Ottawa and have only ever gone east, never been west of Niagara Falls. I’ve driven to Halifax or Cape Breton Island and back maybe 50 times in my life. 14 to 16 hours each way.
I’ve always enjoyed the drives. Every rest stop or gas station along the way has always been full of mostly friendly people. I like to stop in Quebec for Poutine and/or cheese curds at least once per trip.
The scenery is glorious east of Montreal, pretty much the whole way to the coast. The scenery used to be nicer, at the expense of scarier roads 15 years ago. Now they have nice new divided 2-lane highways almost all the way to Cape Breton, so it’s a much easier drive, but less “quaint” (fewer farms passed by / towns passed through).
It’s not a nice drive when it’s snowing. Some areas of highway are very susceptible to snow drifts.
My favourite section might be the cobequid pass.
Mostly long, tedious and repetitive with poor quality roads.
