The end of summer is more than three weeks away, but the unofficial end of summer weekend is coming up fast.
Labour Day Weekend is a great time to get out and enjoy fabulous destinations near major Canadian cities to try wine tasting, great hikes, small-town shopping and more. Here are suggestions for easy getaways for residents of Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary and Halifax.
HALIFAX
Kayaking on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. Photo Courtesy Nova Scotia Tourism.
The Eastern Shore is an easy drive from Halifax and features wonderful Lawrencetown Beach, as well as beautiful bays for kayaking or canoeing. Taylor Head Provincial Park has a lovely beach and rugged hiking trails. Wolfville is home to amazing wineries and is a pretty town in and of itself. Don’t miss Benjamin Bridge, which makes award-winning sparkling wines. The Grand Pre National Historic Site, just a couple minutes outside Wolfville, became a UNESCO world heritage site a few years ago. The site commemorates the Grand-Pré area as a centre of Acadian settlement from 1682 to 1755 and explains the heartbreaking deportation of the Acadians from these lovely shores by the British from 1755 to 1762.
MONTREAL
Ripplecove Lakefront Hotel and Spa on Lake Massawippi in the Eastern Townships. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Residents of the city are lucky to have a number of fine getaway places quite close to home, including Tremblant and Trois Rivieres. My personal fave would be the Eastern Townships, which features wonderful, walkable towns with fine shopping and great restaurants. One of the best is Sutton. I also love North Hatley, which is much smaller but sits on the north end of Lake Massawippi and might be the prettiest village in the province. The Leon Courville winery is located on a hill with lovely views of Lac Brome. Escapades de Memphremagog offers great cruises on Lake Memphremagog. I also enjoy poking around the city of Sherbrooke. Splurge on a night at Manoir Hovey if you can afford it. It’s often rated the top hotel in Canada. Other great options include Auberge West Brome, Spa Eastman and Ripplecove Lakefront Hotel and Spa.
TORONTO
The Sunflower Farm, Beaverton, Ontario. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Toronto residents have an embarrassment of Labour Day Weekend getaway options. In Beaverton, which is less than 90 minutes from downtown, you’ll find The Sunflower Farm and also a fun spot called Forget-Me-Not Alpaca Farm. Northwest of Toronto, try Adamo Estate Winery, just outside Orangeville. They make lovely wines and have a gorgeous patio. Quite close is the lovely Hockley Valley Resort. In Caledon, Heatherlea Farm Shoppe has fantastic food, including local steaks. The owners are awesome, too. Further west, check out Stratford and the gorgeous, tranquil Bruce Hotel. You can’t beat Niagara Falls, and Table Rock Restaurant offers amazing views and fabulous food. Down in southwestern Ontario, Kingsville has great wineries and fun shops, including Dutch Boys Chocolate. Less than two hours from downtown is Muskoka, which is home to lovely lakes and pretty towns like Huntsville and Bracebridge. Gravenhurst is home to the Muskoka Steamships and Discovery Centre (full disclosure: I’m on the board of directors). The centre’s Misko-Aki exhibit recently won the Outstanding Achievement in Exhibitions award from the Canadian Museums Association. Don’t miss a ride on Lake Muskoka with the Wenonah II, a wonderful replica steamship. The RMS Segwun won’t run again until next year, but the newly electrified and stunningly beautiful 1915 Wanda III yacht could be operating soon!
CALGARY
Alberta’s Waterton Lakes is probably my favourite national park in Canada. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Banff is perhaps the most famous nature spot in Canada, and with good reason. The scenery is nothing short of spectacular, and so are hotels such as the Fairmont Banff Springs and the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, which sits at the edge of what’s almost certainly Canada’s most beloved lake. South of Calgary, I love Turner Valley, which is home to Eau Claire Distillery and a great burger spot called the Chuckwagon Cafe. Take the Cowboy Trail south to Waterton Lakes National Park. The highway dips and drops and slithers and snakes its way through wide valleys under that famous Alberta sky as you make your way south. Waterton Lakes offers incredible hiking and nature experiences with smaller crowds than Banff.
VANCOUVER
The Sooke Potholes are a marvellous feature of Vancouver Island. – JIM BYERS PHOTO
Whistler is, of course, the most famous getaway for Vancouverites. It’s a stunning nature area with fabulous hiking and great resorts, including The Westin Resort and Spa. Victoria is always a winning choice, with fabulous craft beer, great coffee and pretty beaches. Butchart Gardens is world famous for its floral displays, but I also love the low-key atmosphere at Abkhazi Garden. For something completely different, Wheelies Motorcycles is a great spot for a drink and offers motorcycle movie posters on the wall and classic rock blaring from the speakers. A little west of Victoria, the small city of Sooke is delightful. Check out Sooke Potholes Provincial Park for pretty waterfalls and great hiking. Mom’s Cafe is great for lunch or for a humongous piece of pie. Closer to Vancouver (just minutes from downtown), Richmond offers amazing Asian cuisine (try the Dumpling Trail) and fun places to explore, including Steveston fishing village.
