Ottawa offers a nice balance of history, culture and nature. There are several museums, a world-renowned art museum and many important federal institutions. The city itself is surrounded by many public green spaces. It’s the capital of Canada and is reputed to be one of the coldest capitals in the world. Good thing we were visiting in the summer!
Category: Canada
Quebec City
With its cobblestone streets and colourful, quaint shops, Quebec City has a distinctly European look and feel to it. It’s the only walled-in city in Canada and it contains one of the most iconic hotels in the country. With it’s charming architecture, rich history, vibrant culture and high walkability factor, Quebec City is as close as we can get to Europe without having to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
La Mauricie National Park
La Mauricie National Park is located in the Laurentian Mountains in Quebec. It protects a portion of the Canadian Shield and contains a series of interconnected lakes, forests and rolling hills. It is also home to an abundance of wildlife, including beavers, snowshoe hares, moose and black bears. The park is open year round and there are an array of activities depending on the season.
The Cabin – August 2025
We haven’t gone anywhere since returning from New Zealand in May. We’ve been staying close to home, spending time with friends and family, gardening and doing stuff around the house. But summer was ending and we wanted to make the most of our time with M before she started daycare in September. We planned a short one week road trip to Quebec and decided to spend the weekend at the cabin since it was somewhat along the drive.
A Short Stop in Vancouver
Vancouver is an extremely picturesque city that’s surrounded by the mountains and the sea. But it’s also one of the rainiest cities in Canada. While the summer is typically dry, the rest of the year can be damp and wet. I guess they don’t call it the wet coast for nothing.
Thousand Islands National Park in the Winter
The Thousand Islands are a group of 1,864 islands located in the St. Lawrence River between southeastern Ontario in Canada and northern New York in the United States. Thousand Islands National Park is located on the Canadian side and is spread across 21 of these islands and a few different areas on the mainland. While the islands are inaccessible in the winter, there are a few hiking trails on the mainland section of the park that remain open year-round.
Point Pelee in February
Point Pelee may be one of the smallest national parks in Canada, but it’s also the most ecologically diverse. It’s located on a peninsula on Lake Erie and is the southernmost point of the mainland in Canada. It contains several habitats including beach, marsh, dry and wet forest and cedar savannah. It’s open year-round and is a popular spot for swimming, birdwatching and hiking.
MacGregor Point Provincial Park in the Winter
MacGregor Point Provincial Park is located along the shore of Lake Huron. It’s super popular in the summer because of its sandy beach. But the park remains open in the winter and offers a variety of activities to enjoy the snow, including skating, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
Winter Camping in a Cabin in Arrowhead Provincial Park
Arrowhead Provincial Park is located in Muskoka. While this area is commonly known as cottage country, it also boasts of being one the snowiest regions in Ontario. In the winter Arrowhead offers skating, cross-country, skiing and other winter activities to enjoy the snow. It also offers winter camping, including in several cabins for those that want to stay overnight in the park.
Winter Camping in a Yurt in Killarney Provincial Park
For the past few years we’ve been visiting Killarney Provincial Park at the end of fall or beginning of winter when the trails are much quieter. It’s located along the northern shore of Georgian Bay and features windswept pines, lush forests, pink granite and white quartzite ridges. The landscape is so breathtakingly beautiful that it provided much inspiration to the famous Group of Seven painters. We typically stay in one of the rustic cabins, but they’re becoming harder to book. We managed to reserve a yurt though and decided to give that a whirl.