Prince Edward Island. A Northern-American version of the European Ireland, rich in charm and full of people so happy and friendly despite the awful weather they have to deal with for most of the year! This is why, start out there, let's say in August. You should be save from snow. Just kidding, it will be super nice, but really there are not too many months that allow you to enjoy a pleasant outdoorsy discovery of the cliffs, lighthouses, endless beaches, dunes and pub crawls. PEI is magical and I can imagine it especially sweet for a young family trip. If you have the chance and enough dollar bills to shoot over to Newfoundland, do it. We didn't, so can't tell you much here, except that we heard it's like another Ireland, but BIGGER. Which of course, is awesome.
After that, you'll cross over and have the chance to explore Nova-Scotia. Halifax is Prince Charming of all and you gotta drive at least some of the coastline, and definitely the part farthest North-East, which is very remote and offers nice walks and hiking. Then there is New Bruinswick. Drive through. You are getting into Quebec, which is despite the rumors much more than just wannabe-foie-gras. It is absolutely douce, and on the way to Quebec-City itself you can enjoy the beautiful River Saint-Laurent and relax at its side and find many hikes if you stroll out a bit further North. Quebec-City will be one of the most historic and architecturally unique cities you will see in Canada and the US. While this city has just the right size to not get awfully lost and feel like you are in a whole other country at the same time, the other Franco, Montreal, has the big city buzz going with its quick heartbeat. And understand here, in both places you will find people that are perfectly bilingual, others will be mostly French- or mostly English-Speaking. Don't come in as a French-Language Nazi! Most people within Quebec surprised us with their English, while a smoothie-boy in Ottawa did so with his French and non-English.
You can drive around Ottawa too, if you want to. No, just fooling around. It's not too bad. A little gray, especially on a gray-ish day (dah..), but once you wonder about and find all the political buildings and enormous castle-lookalikes you will find a heartbeat for it for sure! In the end, it is the capital (yes, it is, don't worry, most people don't know).
Toronto is a freaking blast. Make sure you drink beer. Check out Kensington and buy sweet clothing for a dollar and smile at the hippies. Eat Vegan food while sitting in old sofas playing board games at Lipstick & Dynamite. Take the ferry over to Toronto Island and feel like you are already at the ocean (you are not, it is Lake Ontario). Now Ontario, we did really like driving through it, as well as the praries of Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. But, you might consider skipping it, spend some time in that southern strip of Toronto that you can see if you look at the map. Kitchener and Waterloo is a beautiful relaxing area with Elora and Guelph being one of the sweetest towns I have seen in Canada. Elora has lovely walks by its Gorge and offers tubing and the likewise. Guelph is a hip university town full of tasty food and party potential.
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