Stunning Yet Cheap Family Vacation Ideas in Canada

You can pack your family and take cheap family vacations in Canada. Check out a few of our favorite ideas to get you started on your dream getaway!

You want to take a family vacation, but the thought of the cost has you stopped like rush hour traffic.  Fear not!  You can pack your family up in the caravan (or whatever vehicle gets you around these days) and take cheap family vacations in Canada.  Expand your vacation palate and discover something new on your adventure.  Here are a few ideas to get you started in your planning.

Related: Cheap Family Vacations on the East Coast

Cheap Family Vacations in Canada

Visit a national park:

First you should know that there is a fee, and you will get a pass.  You can either pay for the number of days you need, or purchase an annual pass.  Only you will know the more cost effective route, as it depends on how often you will use it.  It will allow you into other national parks, aside from the one you  purchased it at.

Banff

There are tons of great Canadian national parks, but here are a two of my favorites:

  • Banff National Park, with 1,641,027 acres, is located in Alberta, is Canada’s first national park.  Sitting at 4,540 feet above sea level, there is a fairly new, non motorized paved trail for you to enjoy for 16 miles of scenery and wildlife.
  • Fundy National Park in New Brunswick is much smaller (the smallest in Canada actually) with a little over 50,000 acres.  You can walk on the ocean floor.  When the tide roles in, it brings the water level up 38 feet (that is like a 4 story building!)  If you want to wait the 6 or hours for it to recede, you will be left to witness what is left behind for intertidal wildlife (and walk on the ocean floor, that just sounds so cool!)  A little fun fact, it is home to the world’s oldest red spruce, it is 400 years old (if you are into that sort of thing).

Heritage Park Historical Village, Calgary:

I once took a family vacation as a teenager to Historical Williamsburg and Jamestown in Virginia.  History was not my most favorite subject in school (I have a better appreciation for it these days), but being among history and walking through it was much cooler.  Take your family on a historical vacation to Heritage Park and some of it is FREE (I guess you can still get something for free these days!)  Before you get to the gates, you can enjoy Heritage Town Square where you can eat, shop and take advantage of a 2-acre nature park.  Entry to the rest is reasonably priced (you can visit www.heritagepark.ca for ticket info).  Employees are all dressed in historical garb so you will feel like you just jumped into the past, only you get to drive home, instead of taking your horse and buggy.

Related: 5 Family Travel Destinations for History Loving Families

Muskoka, Ontario:

There are so many things to do here, too many to list so I will drop the website here before telling you about a few www.discovermuskoka.ca After discovering that National Geographic Traveler has rated this area #1 for Ten Best Trips Of Summer and naming it a place that will change your child’s life, I may just be booking my next family vacation there!  From steamship cruises, horseback riding through trails, hiking, and zipline and aerial parks, you will not get bored, and possibly not want to leave!  Take it down a notch and plan a picnic in a park and just enjoy the scenery.  Definitely something you won’t find everywhere is waterfalls, and Muskoka has about 17 for you to discover (ok, for real, I am breaking out the Visa and booking my trip now!) Waterfalls, that is all I have to say.

There is also plenty of shopping and places to fill up your bellies as well, no matter where you decide to visit.  It is possible to enjoy your family on vacation without cashing out your kid’s college funds.

Where have you vacationed in Canada?  What special and inexpensive things did you find to do?  Share your ideas for cheap family vacations in Canada with the rest of us who are dying to go!  Remember, waterfalls.

10 thoughts on “Stunning Yet Cheap Family Vacation Ideas in Canada”

  1. I’ve been to Banff and it’s seriously one of the most beautiful places!!! I would love to go back one day!

  2. This is a great and helpful list that you’ve put together. It’s always fun to go on trips with family and the good thing about that is, they don’t have to be pricey. I bookmarked this for future use. My howe and I are planning to visit Canada next year.

  3. I’ve been to Fundy National Park in New Brunswick and it is amazing. Driving through the park is gorgeous, but it’s also great to watch the high or low tides of the Bay of Fundy.

  4. Robin Rue (@massholemommy)

    Those are some great ideas. I am not sure when we will be up that way, but I would love to check some of these out someday.

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