Charming old-world towns in Canada off the beaten path.
Less-touristed old-world towns in Canada, for travelers seeking fewer crowds but all the beauty.
Lunenburg
A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995, Lunenburg is a port town on Nova Scotia's South Shore whose original 1753 street layout and wooden vernacular archit…
Dawson City
Dawson City, at the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike rivers in Canada's Yukon territory, is defined by its role in the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896–1899, w…
Kelowna
This walkable city on the shores of Okanagan Lake in southern British Columbia, Kelowna sits at the heart of BC's wine country and draws visitors with a live…
Salmon Arm
Salmon Arm sits on the shores of Shuswap Lake in British Columbia's Southern Interior, home to the longest wooden freshwater wharf in North America.
Shawnigan Lake
A small lakeside town on Vancouver Island, where dense Pacific Northwest forest surrounds a little pond and Tudor-style buildings, with forested hills rollin…
New Westminster
British Columbia's first mainland capital, founded in 1858 on the banks of the Fraser River, New Westminster retains a concentration of Victorian-era buildin…
Nanaimo
Nanaimo sits right on the harbour along British Columbia's Vancouver Island, with a walkable centre dense with cafés, restaurants, and heritage buildings, an…
Kingston
Nicknamed the "Limestone City" for its many heritage buildings constructed from local limestone, Kingston sits where Lake Ontario meets the St.
Huntsville
Walkable town in Ontario's Muskoka District with a centre full of cafés and restaurants, Huntsville sits amid the lakes and hilly terrain of the Canadian Shi…
Terrace
Regional hub in British Columbia's Skeena valley where the Kitsumkalum River meets the Skeena, Terrace sits close to mountains with cafés and restaurants con…
Cobourg
A lakeside town on the north shore of Lake Ontario in southern Ontario, Cobourg has a walkable centre with cafés and restaurants and sits roughly midway betw…
Brantford
Brantford, a city on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario, is known as "The Telephone City" — Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone here and made t…
Edmundston
Edmundston, a compact city in northern New Brunswick on the Saint John River, is the second-largest majority-francophone city in Canada outside Quebec — a di…
Port Alberni
Sitting at the head of Vancouver Island's longest inlet and practically surrounded by mountains, Port Alberni is a waterfront town in British Columbia with s…
Rivière-du-Loup
A town on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec's Bas-Saint-Laurent region, Rivière-du-Loup offers whale watching tours on the river, a compa…
Elmvale
Compact Ontario village with a walkable main street of red-brick storefronts, flower-basket lamp posts, and a local coffee shop, sitting close to both Georgi…
Saint John
Canada's oldest incorporated city, established by royal charter in 1785 on the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick, Saint John pairs a walkable, heritage-thick cen…
Peterborough
A walkable city in Ontario with a lively café and restaurant scene in its centre, Peterborough sits on the water and serves as the gateway to the Kawarthas,…
Qualicum Beach
This little waterfront town on Vancouver Island's Salish Sea coast, Qualicum Beach sits at the foot of Mount Arrowsmith with a walkable central core of cafés…
Lindsay
A pocket-sized Ontario city on the Scugog River, Lindsay sits along the Trent-Severn Waterway — the canal system linking central Ontario to Lake Ontario and…
Bathurst
A small city on the water in northern New Brunswick, Bathurst sits at the mouth of the Nepisiguit River where it meets Chaleur Bay, with a central core that…
Wolfville
This pocket-sized Nova Scotia town on the Bay of Fundy, Wolfville sits at the heart of Annapolis Valley wine country with vineyards nearby and views across t…
Brockville
A walkable city on the St.
Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan
A pocket-sized Quebec town on the Achigan River, where a grand three-storey stone manor with a cross-topped spire and white-trimmed verandas anchors a low-ke…
Yarmouth
Tiny port town on the southwestern tip of Nova Scotia, Yarmouth sits at the entrance to the Gulf of Maine with a working waterfront built around fishing and…
Chicoutimi
A walkable waterfront borough at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers, Chicoutimi is the commercial and cultural heart of Quebec's Saguenay–L…
Duncan
This walkable waterfront city on southern Vancouver Island, Duncan sits in the Cowichan Valley with mountains close by and a centre well supplied with cafés…
Ridgetown
Pocket-sized Ontario farming town with a well-preserved Victorian brick main street, Ridgetown offers a walkable downtown of independent eateries set against…
Sainte-Julienne
This small Quebec town in Lanaudière's upland country, anchored by a striking grey-stone Gothic Revival church with a soaring white steeple, set beside water…
Alberton
A small service-town on the western shore of Prince Edward Island, Alberton sits beside the harbour community of Northport and has served the surrounding fis…
Fergus
A walkable Ontario town on the Grand River, Fergus is the largest community in Centre Wellington, Wellington County, a short drive north of Guelph.
Paris
Sitting at the confluence of the Nith and Grand rivers in Ontario's Brant County, this pocket-sized Canadian town has a walkable central core with cafés, res…
Collingwood
Georgian Bay town in Ontario known for winter skiing and summer access to limestone caves along the Niagara Escarpment, Collingwood sits on Nottawasaga Bay w…
Sault Ste. Marie
The Sault Ste.
Owen Sound
Pocket-sized city on Georgian Bay in Ontario, Owen Sound sits where the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers meet the water, with a compact centre of cafés and re…
North Sydney
Small Cape Breton community on Sydney Harbour, North Sydney is the western terminus of the Marine Atlantic ferry service — the marine link connecting the Tra…
Brandon
Known as The Wheat City, Brandon is Manitoba's second-largest city, sitting on the banks of the Assiniboine River in western Canada.
Carleton Place
Small Ontario town on Canada's Mississippi River, Carleton Place sits about an hour's drive west of Ottawa with a walkable central core of cafés and restaura…
Regina
Saskatchewan's provincial capital, Regina sits at the centre of a café and restaurant scene that punches well above its size, with a heritage-dense downtown…
Corner Brook
A modest city on Newfoundland's west coast where the Bay of Islands meets the mouth of the Humber River, Corner Brook sits in mountain terrain with a compact…
Summerside
Summerside sits on the Northumberland Strait in western Prince Edward Island, a heritage-dense modest city with a real café and restaurant scene and many his…
Sackville
Small university town in southeastern New Brunswick, Sackville is home to Mount Allison University and sits alongside the water with a café and restaurant sc…
Hillsborough
This pocket-sized waterside village in eastern New Brunswick, Hillsborough sits in upland country near the Bay of Fundy region, offering heritage architectur…
Renfrew
A little Ontario town set where upland country meets the water, Renfrew offers a walkable central core with cafés, restaurants, and a notable concentration o…
Morden
Tiny Canadian prairie town on the water with rolling hills nearby, Morden draws independent travellers with its walkable central core of cafés and restaurant…
Kipling
Small Saskatchewan village with a walkable waterfront and rolling surrounds, Kipling is unusually rich for its size with several historic churches worth a qu…