Despite its massive size, around 3.85 million square miles, Canada is very sparsely populated. Almost 70% of the population live within 60 miles of its southern border with the USA. Talking of borders, this one is over 5,500 miles long and the longest in the world! To the east is the Atlantic Ocean, west the Pacific Ocean and in the north the Arctic Ocean and in-between, the majority of the country is covered in forest and tundra.
Not surprisingly, as they share the longest land border in the world, both the USA and Canada use the same type of plugs, sockets, and electrical systems so you don’t need a travel adapter. So if you are on vacation across the border, you have nothing to worry about.
But taking a travel adapter with multiple USB connections might be useful, since it means you don’t need to carry all those different chargers around! And it could come in useful on other vacations, so not a bad investment!
The capital is Ottawa in the state of Ontario, close to Montreal. Located on the Ottawa River, it’s close to the border with the US state of Vermont. The city is known for its grand Victorian architecture and Parliament Hill in the center. There are many museums, including the National Gallery of Canada which focuses on Canadian and indigenous works of art.
Staying on the east coast, Montreal, the largest city in Quebec province, is just a short distance from Ottawa. It is built on the Island of Montreal and heavily influenced by its French past. French is the official language and all 19 city boroughs are French named. Moving north along the St Lawrence River brings you to Quebec City with a UNESCO listed Citadel and the imposing Chateau Frontenac Hotel which dominates the skyline.
If you carry on north there is little but tundra and forest and you soon run out of good roads and towns! Remember to keep your USB travel adapter handy to charge as many devices at once whenever you get the chance. In the winter, these are ice-roads that lead deep into the Newfoundland and Labrador province. Here the scenery is stunningly beautiful, but also very inaccessible. From here we are in Inuit country, the group of culturally similar peoples that have lived in the Arctic regions since at least 1000 CE.
Moving west we come to Hudson Bay, named after an English sailor Henry Hudson who explored the area in 1610 on his ship Discovery. This massive bay covers around 470,000 sq miles, but has a catchment area of three times that. From here, through the provinces of Manitoba, Northwest Territories and the Yukon that borders with Alaska, there are very few people.
Coming south along the Alaska border we come into the province of British Columbia along the edge of the Rocky Mountains and eventually to Vancouver on the United States border. This busy seaport built on both sides of the Fraser River. It’s vibrant city with mountains all around, colorful downtown areas and an eclectic mix. Just over the border is Seattle in the USA, less than a 100 miles south.
Moving east along the border, you are into the Rocky Mountains and one of the things Canada is known for, snow sports. Whistler-Blackcomb and Lake Louise ski resorts offer some of the best skiing in the world. Keep going and you reach Calgary, that hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics and just north from there, Edmonton one of Canada's sunniest cities and it once also laid claim to having the largest shopping mall in the world!
Keep going east through Saskatchewan, into Manitoba province and past Winnipeg and you come to Lake Superior and the Great Lakes of North America. Such a beautiful area and of course you can’t miss Lake Ontario and Niagara Falls sitting right on the Canada/USA border.
This whistle-stop tour through Canada is just the start and future blogs will visit the many places we briefly mentioned above, so stay connected! Throughout your travels in Canada, make sure you keep your smartphone and camera fully charged through your USB travel adapter. The SublimeWare Multi-country travel adapters feature 4 USB connections, making charging all your devices at once so easy.
Happy travels!
