The Travel Blog by TravelPod

The Canadian Council of Learning has released their annual list of Canada’s Smartest Cities. If you’re into culture, and are traveling to Canada soon, make sure you check this list out before you go. Rankings on the list are judged by the quality of cultural, sport and educational activities in each city.

1. Calgary

“We went inside the information hall and well I have to say this would have to be one of the best displays of old lifestyles I have seen on this trip. The entrance fee was for once well worth the money, it was not crammed so much that you soon lost interest. You actually enjoyed wandering around reading each section’s story and its relation to the fort and Calgary.” – Rossport

2.Victoria

Today we visited the Butchart Gardens, a quite famous botanical garden established by a BC landowner over a century ago on the grounds of a quarry. The place is set up to be a gardner’s Disney World, with four main areas, restaurants, gift shops, and the like. Aside from that aspect, it is quite scenic, colorful, and fragrant. – Tomdart07

3. Saskatoon

After food we started to wander around taking photos and then we ran into a random local gallery called the Art du Jus.  It was an art gallery that was really abstract and played with a lot of different pieces of what normal people would think was garbage.  But the greatest part of the gallery was a man by the name of Ric Pollock.  An artist since a very young age and a native Saskatonian. Beth and I spent two hours just talking to him learning about the local art community and about his life.  He is an artist who lives in a village of 8 people, in a house where he pays no rent or taxes and is a truck driver when he needs extra cash. After Art du Jus we went to the Mendel art gallery. Popular among locals here this gallery mixes modern art with recyclable art as well as what they called school art (art done by kids and teenagers) and a studio where we could create our own art. – Mgraveli

4. Guelph, Ontario

The study bit goes without saying. Lectures everyday with lots of exams and assignments to do. This semester alone I’ve ended up with 16 exams, so I’ll definitely be glad to see the end of all of them. – Wkfoster

5. Barrie, Ontario

Belle petite découverte ces trails de Barrie (1h au nord de toronto).. Beau réseau de single tracks, ultra bien entretenu, plusieurs north-shores et bascules, et quelques descentes à faire.. marcher ou passer par dessus l’guidon. Définitivement un “Must” si vous passez dans l’coin… – Pyg69

6. Ottawa

Last weekend we went to the Canadian Tulip Festival.  And according to the fantastic and always true and accurate source wikipedia, it claims to be the biggest tulip festival in the world with 300,000 tulip bulbs throughout the city.  It comes from Canada’s involvement in the Netherlands during WWII and their sheltering of the royal family in Ottawa…. We have also been seeing a fair few things lately we are doing the rounds of the museums, there are lots of really good ones here we have been to the Museum of Civilization which is on the Quebec side of the river in Gatineau and the Museum of Nature.  We have really enjoyed them both and like learning about a different culture.  Still to come is the Science and Technology Museum and a tour of Parliament Hill. - Danfa

7. Regina

But the museum was so cool, we ended up spending most of the afternoon. It had history, artifacts, dioramas, and videos. The 30 min. movie was one of the best documentaries I have seen in a museum. Then we had an excellent one hour walking tour of the academy. The museum itself has 6 areas and each one took around 30 min. So if your ever in Regina, come here. – Scoonpooh

8. Kitchener, Ontario

Football. My second game ever, I think. Really it was about the alumni tent and running into all kinds of random faces that we mostly recognized. Every now and again we’d look up to see the score. We knew enough to cheer when people in the stands were cheering. – Jose

9. Edmonton

I was determined to see inside the museum after arriving too late the day before to see in. It cost me $10 dollars to go in. The museum was modern and the exhibits were OK till I got to the Aboriginal exhibit. It was so blunt about the current situation of the Canadian aboriginal people it took me by surprise. It talked about the drug and alcohol abuse along with the lack of education in the community. To think about it the Wild Alberta exhibit also talked about how it is difficult to balance the environment with the economy in Alberta.  Welcome to Conservative country! – Mgraveli

10. Kelowna, B.C.

I had come to Kelowna for one main reason: to visit a winery. Having missed the ones in California’s Napa and Sonoma Valleys, I was comforted to know I could visit a local Canadian one instead. Amid the hundreds that are in the Okanagan Valley, I chose Mission hill based on several recommendations. But I soon discovered that getting there would be no easy feat without a car, not that this fact would stop me, especially because I had no other plans while I was here. So I rode the three necessary buses, waiting for the long connections between each, and walked 1.5 km uphill along Mission Hill Road. Two and a half hours later, I was there. Extremely picturesque, the Mission Hill Family estate winery sits atop a hill, looking out onto the Okanagan Lake and the mountains behing it. The architecture was rebuilt in the 1990s to mimic European styles and blends in perfectly with the surrounding landscape. – Canadianjulie

11. Oshawa, Ontario

12. Winnipeg

13. Brampton, Ontario

14. Halifax

15. Mississauga, Ontario

16. Toronto

17. Gatineau, Quebec

18. Kingston, Ontario

19. London, Ontario

20. Fredericton

21. Hamilton

22. St. Catharines, Ontario

23. Thunder Bay, Ontario

24. Vancouver

25. Quebec City

26. Abbotsford, BC

27. St. John’s

28. Windsor, Ontario

29. Charlottetown

30. Sudbury, Ontario

31. Moncton, New Brunswick

32. Longueuil, Quebec

33. Laval, Quebec

34. Montreal

35. Saint John, New Brunswick

36. Sherbrooke, Quebec

37. Trois-Rivieres, Quebec

38. Saguenay, Quebec