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The travel in Canada, as I envisioned it, in 17 days, might have seemed crazy, but instead it went well and I saw without even running, everything I set my mind to. For many, the same trip would take months; from several places I had read that one must choose one coast or the other. Instead, I tasted both.

Certainly the territory is so vast that one could stay there a lifetime, but also considering how expensive it is, my idea was to visit what inspired me to get an overall idea of the country. If I ever went back, I would devote myself to the vast north that I had to choose to leave out.

Travel in Canada – the itinerary

I left in late June 2025, for a solo trip and using public transportation: both a domestic flight and trains and buses.

These are the main destinations

• Vancouver (airplane)
• Victoria (metro + ferry + bus)
• Banff National Park (plane + bus)
• Jasper National Park (bus)
• Toronto (train, 3 nights)
• Niagara Falls (bus)
• Ottawa (bus)
• Quebec city (train)
• Montreal (bus)

And on mymaps the map.

In hindsight it would have been better to fly directly to Victoria, instead of going there on a day trip from Vancouver, I thought it would be easier to get there.The ferry ride is splendid, but you also need a good chunk of subway and then bus, just do it once.

Cost to cost

The much more expensive cost of living than in my home country was perhaps the most well-founded concern of the trip, more so than bears and fires. For this reason I almost always slept in hostel dorms.

But for example, drinking may never be paid for, because everywhere you find fountains of good, drinkable water. Public toilets are also free, widespread and well placed. Already these two aspects save something, especially on a long trip. The food is not the best and it was not much of a sacrifice to avoid restaurants.

Before I left I read several blogs of Italians who had been there, always with the fixation of renting a car. Philosophically I avoid it if I can, in this case it was also another way to reduce costs. And the vehicles, besides being a source of interesting insights, work well in Canada. Even for visiting natural parks, there is a network of partly free buses that take you from downtown to where the hikes start.

Some anecdotes and encounters during the trip

I made few acquaintances, but I exchanged funny jokes and was able to make several curious observations.

On the intercontinental flight I had a couple next to me, and he was frankly absurd. Hearing them talk about a fellow countrywoman, at one point he said: I’ve never seen her, but I know her well. Every now and then he would give a stewardess in Italian a few words of English, and then to his companion he said a couple of times: I ask so much for…but I don’t understand anything.At one point the discussion shifted to a question, and that was why on earth, in a plane with 300 people, the stewardesses did not speak in Italian (by the way, the airline was not Italian).The apotheosis was when he wondered why we were not taking off, which we had been doing for a couple of hours.

In the bus to Banff the driver introduced us to the trip with a half-hour monologue. For Jasper, on the other hand, a lady came in who had evidently washed herself in perfume, since I was halfway through and could hear her even though she was in the front. She had the air of a rich lady and it seemed that perfuming herself so much was for show. In those parts, on the other hand, one usually smells a lot of maple syrup (found everywhere) and especially marjuana, which is legal.

This message I wrote to a friend back home:

I booked and caught a bus almost on the fly; sometimes they have ramshackle buses. This one doesn’t even have the sign; in fact, others by now were letting it get away by waiting for a designer one.

I go up and randomly sit down.

One of the ones that goes up at the last, I can see her looking for her place.

Oops, I didn’t even think of that, so I’m going to look in my ticket. So, in a bus there are about 55 seats…guess which one I had randomly sat in? Just in the right one!

Links from the trip to Canada and beyond

The home page with links to all the videos made in Canada: More videos from Canada, the forest fire

Next stop Coast to coast of Canada by train

Trips taken, travel stories divided by continent

Countries visited in my travel stories

Anecdotes, divided by type in travel narratives

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Fabio Viroli

Ho sempre avuto tante passioni, ma da sempre più o meno latenti, le principali sono viaggiare e scrivere. Tra le altre cose ho una laurea in psicologia; ho fatto per più di 30 anni l’allenatore di basket; leggo tanti libri; sono stato molto appassionato di sport e di musica rock; e faccio improvvisazione teatrale. IL mio primo romanzo, che non parla di viaggi, si chiama LE TUE GAMBE SONO BELLE COME LE TAGLIATELLE

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