Canada’s surf scene is totally radical, dude. Even Outside Magazine has taken notice of our Great White Waves, naming Tofino, British Columbia “North America’s Best Surf Town” in their 2010 Editor’s Choice Awards and calling it the Surf City of Canada. However, there’s surfing to be had right across this.

Canadian gardens are known for their extraordinary beauty, and now you can eat your way through their delights from coast to coast.

Feel the wind in your face and the snowflakes or sea spray on your cheeks as you zoom along a sandy beach in a buggy, ski or board across a frozen lake or ride the waves – fun sports made even more exhilarating when you slip into a kite harness and let the wind do the work.

Big trees and some very big whales. The splash of fish jumping. The pre-dawn silence of the forest. You’re immersed in pristine wilderness on British Columbia’s west coast and you feel totally alive and at one with the natural world.

As much as Canada is considered an outdoor lover’s paradise, we have some great indoor recreation too, especially if you consider shopping a sport.

Of all the places in the world to visit this year, National Geographic Traveler recommends 20. And two of them are right here in Canada – one on the west coast, the other on the east.

Vancouver’s Kingsway corridor isn’t much to look at with its strip malls and heavy traffic, but it sure is tasty.

The neighbourhood known as Kensington-Cedar Cottage is home to thousands of Vietnamese-Canadians, many who came as refugees in the 1970s.