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Location Highlights
- Great Bear Rainforest - a region of spectacular natural beauty and abundant wildlife where Black, Grizzly and Spirit Bears patrol the forests and beaches, Humpback Whales roam the seas and Bald Eagles soar high above
- Vancouver Island - one of the best places in the world to see both Orca and Grey Whale, alongside some 10,000 Black Bears
- Churchill - the Polar Bear capital of the world!
- Quebec & Bay of Fundy - towering mountain ranges, vast waterways, historic cities, boreal forests, a breathtaking coastline and a wonderful array of land-based and marine wildlife, alongside a rich culture and indigenous heritage
- Niagara Falls and South-east Ontario - witness the thundering natural spectacle of Niagara Falls and visit Point Pelee National Parl - probably the most famous bird migration hotspot in all of North America
Tailormade Holidays in Canada
Tailormade | Tour Code: TCANThe kaleidoscope of colour that encapsulates the Canadian ‘fall’ provides a spectacular backdrop to magnificent wildlife, which includes numerous bears and whales. In the cold tundra of the north, Polar Bears can be found alongside other impressive Arctic specialists. Create your own Tailormade holiday to Canada with dates and an itinerary to suit you.
When to Visit
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SAMPLE HOLIDAY: Spirit Bears, Grizzlies & Humpbacks - Cruising the Great Bear Rainforest
10 days from £8,295 (Flight Inclusive)
A 10-day holiday to coastal British Columbia including a 7-night wildlife cruise through the Great Bear Rainforest
Location Highlights
- Great Bear Rainforest - a region of spectacular natural beauty and abundant wildlife where Black, Grizzly and Spirit Bears patrol the forests and beaches, Humpback Whales roam the seas and Bald Eagles soar high above
- Vancouver Island - one of the best places in the world to see both Orca and Grey Whale, alongside some 10,000 Black Bears
- Churchill - the Polar Bear capital of the world!
- Quebec & Bay of Fundy - towering mountain ranges, vast waterways, historic cities, boreal forests, a breathtaking coastline and a wonderful array of land-based and marine wildlife, alongside a rich culture and indigenous heritage
- Niagara Falls and South-east Ontario - witness the thundering natural spectacle of Niagara Falls and visit Point Pelee National Parl - probably the most famous bird migration hotspot in all of North America
Summary
Canada is the second largest country in the world and a truly outstanding wildlife destination. Covering almost nine million square kilometres, it is home to a wonderfully diverse range of habitats and landscapes, from the cold Arctic tundra of the north to the high rocky peaks and vivid turquoise lakes of the Rocky Mountains in the west. Moving east – beyond Canada’s wheat belt and flat central prairies – lie the Great Lakes, the St Lawrence River and the spectacular Niagara Falls. The land here is clothed in broadleaf forests that turn a kaleidoscope of reds, oranges and golds each ‘Fall’. Canada’s eastern seaboard has much to offer too, from the Bay of Fundy’s impressive tides (the highest in the world) to the architecture and history of Quebec City and iceberg-dotted coastline of Newfoundland.
Canada’s wildlife cannot fail to impress! Each spring, millions of songbirds fan out into its vast forests to breed, concentrating in May and September at a few key bottlenecks – especially around the Great Lakes – to offer some of the best, and most exciting, birding in all of North America! On a larger scale, Caribou, Wolves and Moose, plus Grizzly, Black and Polar Bears all inhabit Canada’s vast wilderness areas, whilst the surrounding seas are home to a wonderful variety of marine mammals including Orca, Blue, Fin and Humpback Whales, Beluga and the bizarre Narwhal. Wildlife and landscapes aside, the locals are warm and friendly, the food is delicious and there are some spectacular lodges in which to stay. With so much variety on offer and such a vast country to explore, Canada is a truly exciting option for a Tailormade wildlife holiday.
Our Destinations
Southern Ontario offers an interesting mix of exciting wildlife and spectacular scenery, and is an excellent option for self-drive exploration.
Between Lakes Erie and Ontario and straddling the United States and Canadian border lies Niagara Falls, one of the world’s great natural wonders. Niagara is actually a group of three waterfalls, with Horseshoe Falls the largest, and the only one to lie on Canadian soil. The combined flow rate of Niagara is the highest of any across North America and, with a drop exceeding 50 metres, this is an unmissable sight!
Lying at the southernmost extremity of mainland Canada, Point Pelee National Park is probably the most famous migration hotspot in all of North America! Jutting south into Lake Eire, the point is the first landfall for weary spring migrants crossing the lake on their way north and, as such, can experience huge falls of birds given the right weather conditions. In May the trees can be festooned with a kaleidoscope of colourful American warblers, plus numerous other vireos, thrushes, orioles, sparrows and buntings. During the summer months, you can wander the trails or take to the water by canoe as cicadas bring the forest alive around you. In autumn, thousands of vibrant Monarch Butterflies pass through as they make their incredible journey south to the mountains of central Mexico. For a few very special days, the butterflies rest here, before taking off across Lake Erie – a truly spectacular sight.
To the north of Toronto lies Algonquin Provincial Park, a vast area of mixed southern hardwood and northern coniferous forests dotted with a plethora of sparkling lakes. As well as offering numerous hiking trails, the park may be explored by canoe, drifting through the glassy water as it reflects the deep greens of the surrounding forest. Algonquin is home to some of the best of Canada’s wildlife, with highlights including Moose, White-tailed Deer, Beaver and Black Bear. Indeed, this is one of the best places in Ontario for Moose sightings! Over 270 bird species have been recorded within the park including Canada Jay, Spruce Grouse, Pine Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting and plenty of Common Loons (Great Northern Diver). This area is particularly picturesque in the ‘fall’, when the forests burst into intense reds, oranges and golds that simply take one’s breath away.
With these fantastic locations, and many, many others besides – all easily accessible by car – it will be difficult to leave!
The journey from Vancouver to Vancouver Island is breathtaking. The ferry offers exciting opportunities for a variety of cetaceans and seabirds, with each season bringing its own delights. Bald Eagles are common, and this is a key migratory route for waterbirds including Surf, White-winged and Black Scoter, Pacific Diver, Western and Red-necked Grebes and the beautiful Harlequin Duck. Both Dall’s and Harbour Porpoises patrol these waters, alongside playful pods of Pacific White-sided Dolphins, which move into the area each spring. The pods of salmon-eating 'Resident' Orcas for which this region is famous arrive in June, but the mammal-eating 'Transients’ live in these waters year-round, although their predatory lifestyle makes them a more secretive animal and less easy to view.
Vancouver Island offers some wonderfully varied scenery. The towering Mackenzie Range is breathtaking, and Kennedy Lake offers lush temperate rainforest wilderness. The spectacular Pacific Rim National Park, which spans more than 130 kilometres of west coast shoreline, is a dramatic area of rocky headlands and pristine sandy beaches pounded by the full force of the Pacific Ocean and backed by some of the region’s last remaining old-growth coastal rainforest. It lies on the main migratory route of the Grey Whale as the species moves between Mexico’s Baja Peninsula and its summer feeding haunt in the Bering Sea. Some, however, remain around Tofino and Ucluelet for the summer. The Pacific Rim is one of the best places in the world from which to observe these magnificent creatures and, whilst scanning for whales (either on land or by boat), plenty of other species may also be seen including Steller’s Sea Lion, Sea Otter, Humpback Whale, a transient pod of Orca, Pigeon Guillemot, Harlequin Duck or the beautiful Tufted Puffin. The mystical rainforests, with their towering Western Red Cedars and moss-covered Sitka Spruce, offer an intriguing avifauna, alongside noisy Red Squirrels and the enigmatic Banana Slug.
Zeballos, in the northwest of the Island, is home to the charismatic Sea Otter and, whilst there are no Grizzly Bears on Vancouver Island, Black Bears are commonly seen – some 10,000 live here! No stay on Vancouver Island is complete without a couple of nights in either Telegraph Cove or Port McNeil and a boat trip out onto Johnstone Strait, the summer and early autumn haunt of the island’s ‘Northern Resident’ Orcas. This is one of the best places to view this impressive cetacean anywhere in the world as the whales tend to favour the strait at this time of year and their movements are monitored by the local whale researchers and the whale-watching operators.
Accommodation
The 'Great Bear Rainforest' protects one of the largest remaining tracts of temperate rainforest left in the world. Stretching along the intricate, island-dotted, coastline of British Columbia, from Vancouver Island north to the Alaskan border, this is a region of spectacular natural beauty and abundant wildlife. Ancient Western Red Cedars – some over 1,000 years old – grow alongside towering Western Hemlocks, Amabilis Fir and Sitka Spruce, each dripping with curtains of lichens and moss, and bisected by numerous glacier-fed streams which flow into the maze of narrow channels, fjords and wooded islands of the fabled ‘Inside Passage’. On land, the forests, estuaries and rocky beaches are patrolled by Black Bears (including the occasional ‘Spirit Bear’, a rare white genetic variant), Grey Wolves, Cougars and, of course, the ‘Great Bear’ itself, the Grizzly! Overhead soar Bald Eagles, whilst offshore Humpback Whales return every summer, joining pods of Orcas, Grey Whales, Pacific White-sided Dolphins, Steller’s Sea Lions and numerous seabirds including Rhinoceros Auklets, the diminutive Marbled Murrelet, Red-necked and Slavonian Grebes, Black and Surf Scoters and parties of twirling Red-necked Phalaropes.
Sample Itineraries
A 10-day holiday to coastal British Columbia including a 7-night wildlife cruise through the Great Bear Rainforest
A self-drive exploration of breathtaking Vancouver Island in search of a plethora of wildlife, from Grey Whales and Orcas to Black Bears and birds!
The Essentials
- Wildlife Guides: Excellent local naturalist guides are available as well as specialist birding guides.
- When to Visit: Canada has much to offer the naturalist throughout the year, with each season bringing its own special highlights. Birders traditionally tend to favour the spring and autumn months, lured by spectacular migrations and the chance of some rarities, as well as the promise of sunny days and comfortable temperatures. Late summer/early autumn is a particularly good time to search for Grizzly, Black and Spirit Bears on the west coast, when bears are more active as they fatten-up prior to hibernation, and the Pacific salmon return to the rivers. The summer and autumn months are also excellent times for cetacean watching. Those keen to see Polar Bears in Churchill should consider travelling in October and November, when the bears are returning to the Hudson Bay sea ice from their summer residence further inland. Summer walking safaris here can also be productive for Polar Bears too, however, and this is also when thousands of Beluga Whales can be seen in the mouth of the Churchill River. Autumn and winter are the best times to visit for the Northern Lights. The ‘fall’ colours of eastern Canada are simply spectacular, and many choose to visit this region in September and October to view this natural wonder, taking advantage, too, of the autumn bird and Monarch migrations and the numerous cetaceans that linger along the coast.
J F M A M J J A S O N D - - Y YY YY YY YY YY YY YY YY - - Getting Around: Canada is served by an excellent road network so self-drive is an excellent option. Due to the wilderness nature of some of our favourite locations, sometimes internal flights are also needed. There are also a number of wonderful cruise options, such as those around the Great Bear Rainforest.
Why Naturetrek Tailormade?
'A Naturetrek Tailormade holiday allows you, with the benefit of our wildlife travel expertise and destination experience, to enjoy the perfect private wildlife holiday – one that truly matches your requirements, expectations and ambitions. We will ensure the most competitive prices, superb naturalist guides and seamless ground services.
Some of the benefits of Naturetrek Tailormade travel include:
• A bespoke itinerary which is crafted by experts and designed specifically for you
• Private guiding by the very best local naturalists
• Travel with people you know, at your own pace
• Incorporate as much culture, history or relaxation time as you wish
• Choose dates to suit you
• Select your preferred style of accommodation
• Travel with families and children of any age
Furthermore, our Tailormade team are always on hand to help and guide you along the way, with friendly advice, first-hand knowledge and inside information specific to your destination of choice. So if you have any queries about your holiday, we will be delighted to answer them. Please just give us a call!'
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