Best time for a family to go to Canada

The best time to go on a family vacation to Canada often wars with the only time to go. Most trips run in summer, when the ice has melted, trails are open, and the kids are released from school. It’s a busy time of year for Canada, but luckily there’s plenty of land to go around – roughly 10 million km^² of it.

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Best time for a family to go to Canada

The choice of when to go is taken out of your hands: 90 percent of family vacations run in the summer vacations.

The best time to go with your family to Canada is July and August. In fact, summer is often the only time many small group tours run. But that’s fine: you’ll get the best weather on the notorious “Rain Coast” of British Columbia (good news for sea kayaking and whale watching tours) and surprisingly warm temperatures in the heights of the Rocky Mountains. The wildlife also livens up in summer, so you can catch bears snacking on summer berries by the roadside and salmon flipping their way upstream. A word of warning: summer is also the busiest time of year in Canada, so you’ll probably need to book your vacation at least a year in advance.

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Vancouver Weather Chart

MIN °C

MAX °C

RAIN (mm)

JAN

191

FEB

155

MAR

135

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

152

NOV

207

DEC

228

Our Canada family Vacations

Things to do on a family vacation in Canada…

Looking at a map of Canada barely clues you in on the vastness of the country and the true distances between places. Pack Uno, prepare playlists and get ready for some long (if scenic) drives. Some of the most fun family vacations are small group trips, where you get to camp in shared campsites and meet other families. Get to know your fellow campers. It’s a cliché, but Canadians really are a friendly bunch; we defy even the grumpiest teen not to crack a grin. Most families have their sights set on national parks like Banff and Jasper, but don’t forget to see the smaller provincial parks. Wells Gray Provincial Park is a case in point, hiding its waterfalls and forest lakes firmly under a bushel. Take heed of bear warnings: they’re there for the bears’ safety as much as yours. Wildlife rangers are forced to kill ‘nuisance bears’ that are repeatedly tempted into campsites by litter and carelessly stored food.

Things not to do on a family vacation Canada…

Forget your camera. A smartphone will do just fine for scenery shots and selfies, but you’ll need a SLR with a decent zoom if you want to capture that bear plodding along the valley opposite. About 25 percent of the temperate rainforest in the world swathes British Columbia, the mountains have notoriously fickle weather, and the coastlines are prone to showers – so don’t leave your raincoat at home. Just think: it’s these downpours that feed the rainforests and waterfalls. As tempting as it might seem to strike out into the Canadian wilderness Grizzly Man style, you don’t want to do it completely alone. (It didn’t exactly work out for him, either.) An expert vacation company will match you up with just the right activity providers, and guides will lead the way to the most family-friendly mountain trails. Consider the cities as stopovers. You’ll spend most of your time exploring the mountains and coasts, granted, but cities like Vancouver harbour impossibly scenic parks and beaches at the end of the Rocky Mountains. Add on an extra day or two, if possible.