Canada coast to coast, and what a fortnight can do

Canada is vast. It is the second-largest country in the world by area, spanning six time zones, and the distance from Montreal to Vancouver is greater than the distance from London to Moscow. Most of its people live in a narrow band close to the border with the United States, and its great sights are strung out along that band, from the old French cities of the St Lawrence in the east to the mountains and coast of British Columbia in the west.

A first visit can't see all of it, and it shouldn't try. But in a little over two weeks it is possible to see both ends: the historic east and the spectacular west. The usual approach is to cross the great stretch of prairie in the middle by air. Its wheat fields and big skies are a world of their own, but much of a trip could be spent crossing them.

The east

Quebec City is the place to start. It was founded by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain in 1608 on a cliff above the St Lawrence, and it is the only walled city in North America north of Mexico. Its old town, a World Heritage Site, is a maze of stone houses, churches and steep streets, dominated by the turreted Château Frontenac hotel. French is the language of the street. Montreal, upriver, is a lively bilingual city with an old quarter by the river, great food and a mountain park in its middle.

Ottawa, the capital, sits on the river that divides the French-speaking province of Quebec from English-speaking Ontario, with its Gothic Revival Parliament buildings above the water and the Rideau Canal through its centre. Kingston, on Lake Ontario, was briefly the first capital of the Province of Canada. Toronto, Canada's largest city, is a modern, multicultural metropolis on the lake, and Niagara Falls, a short drive away, is the great natural spectacle of the east.

The west

The west is a different country. The Rocky Mountains rise from the prairie at Calgary, and Banff, in Canada's first national park, is the gateway to a world of peaks, glaciers, forests and turquoise lakes. Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are among the most famous views in the country. West of the Rockies, the Okanagan Valley, in the dry interior of British Columbia, is a land of lakes, orchards and vineyards, with a climate warm enough for some of Canada's best wines. Vancouver, on the coast, is a city between the mountains and the sea, with Victoria, on Vancouver Island, and Whistler, in the Coast Mountains, within reach.

The Rocky Mountaineer train, which runs through the mountains between the Rockies and the coast in daylight, is one of the most famous ways to make the westward journey.

Canada's two founding languages run through the whole journey. In Quebec, French is the language of everyday life, of street signs and menus, and the province has its own distinct culture, cuisine and sense of nationhood. Further west, English dominates, but federal signs and products are bilingual everywhere. Indigenous peoples, First Nations, Inuit and Métis, are present across the country too, and their languages and art are increasingly visible, especially on the west coast.

The fortnight tours

Just You's Canada Coast to Coast, seventeen nights for solo travellers, covers Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto and Niagara Falls in the east, and Banff, Lake Louise, the Okanagan Valley, Vancouver and Whistler in the west.

Travelsphere's Grand Tour of Canada and the Rocky Mountaineer, sixteen nights, covers Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto and Niagara Falls, Banff and Lake Louise, Kamloops, Vancouver, Victoria and Whistler, with the Rocky Mountaineer train, as its name says. Travelsphere's Grand Tour of Canada and the Rocky Mountaineer with Vancouver Add-on, eighteen nights, adds more time in Vancouver.

The best time for a coast-to-coast trip is from late spring to early autumn. September and early October bring the autumn colours in the east, and the Rockies' high trails are clear of snow from about July to September. Winter is long and cold almost everywhere except the west coast, and many mountain roads and attractions close.

Pack for every kind of weather. In a single trip, you may need a sun hat at Niagara and a fleece on a glacier.