Site No. 741
Old Town Lunenburg

The first World Heritage Site we visited in Canada. On the beautiful coast of Nova Scotia it is easy to access, and no special entry fees to pay. A nice stroll through an old fashioned city that is real - and not just built for tourists....

The village became a World Heritage Site, because it is the best example of a planned colonial British settlement. Founded in 1753, the layout and arrangement of the houses stayed the same until today.

Site No. 419
Gros Morne
National Park

Well, first of all you have to get to Newfoundland, but when you are there, Gros Morne is a good place to visit. As we are not so well geological educated, we could not experience the reason, why the National Park is a World Heritage Site. For those, who are, the park provides a rare example of the continental drift.

We enjoyed a impressive landscape, with a lot of hiking possibilities in summer. April might not be the best time to visit.

Site No. 4
L'Anse aux Meadows
National Historic Site

Newfoundland is the first step, and then: There are approximately 700 kilometers to the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula. A long drive - and it has to be driven twice, as there is no way to go afterwards. That´s why accessibility and pricing got bad notes.

The interpretation centre shows, what it is all about: In the 11th century Vikings built a settlement here: the first European presence in North America. For us it was very interesting to learn about the way they took - crossing over the North Pole - making Europe real close!

Site No. 300
Historic District of Old Québec

Having been in Canada without visiting Quebec would be a big mistake. Today it is a living city, with a lot of european flair, and a appealing scenery.

The reason it was put on the World Heritage List is because it is "the only North American city to have preserved its ramparts, together with the numerous bastions, gates and defensive works which still surround Old Québec."

The Upper Town, built on the cliff, has remained the religious and administrative centre, with its churches, convents and other monuments like the Dauphine Redoubt, the Citadel and Château Frontenac. Together with the Lower Town and its ancient districts, it forms an urban ensemble which is one of the best examples of a fortified colonial city.

Site No. 1221
Rideau Canal
Canada

When we left the town of Quebec, we were looking for a route south - off the beaten path. And we found the Rideau-Canal Route. Not knowing, that it would receive World Heritage status, we were quite impressed of the ensemble of fortifications and the multiple locks.

Imagine that the start of its building was in 1826 - and 202 kilometres of waterway were to plan. Fascinating is to see them today still operated by hand. It might be very nice to travel the whole canal by boat...

Easy to reach, cheap to travel, and (until now) not so well visited.

Site No. 686
Miguasha National Park

This site is very small and very important in the results for the development of live on our planet, but for an ordinary visitor not very amazing.

It is "considered to be the world's most outstanding illustration of the Devonian Period known as the 'Age of Fishes'. Dating from 370 million years ago, the Upper Devonian Escuminac Formation represented here contains five of the six fossil fish groups associated with this period."

That means, as far, as we understood it, the evolutionary step from fishes to land based animals - the tetrapods.

Site No. 158
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Located in the south-west of Alberta, scientists found (and still find) a huge amount of Buffalo-skeletons. They tell a story of native people, that were hunting here for more than 6.00 years.

The interpretative center explains a lot of details about their history, the way they hunted, and how this kind of "cliff" was used. Chasing the bisons over the cliff, they fell down to the bottom and most of them died. The visitor center is beautifully integrated into the landscape, and the walks in the area are really nice.

The interesting name was given long ago by native people - to remind on a little boy, who wanted to watch the buffalo´s falling down. Because he was not allowed to participate in the hunt, he stood underneath the cliff - and eventually was killed.

Site No. 354
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park

In 1932 Waterton Lakes National Park (Alberta, Canada) was combined with the Glacier National Park (Montana, United States) to form the world's first International Peace Park. It covers therefore areas in both countries and offers a outstanding landscape.

We visited the northern part in Canada and were also impressed by the scenery - and the free roaming bisons! As many Canadiens do not want to cross the border, the quite small part in Canada is well visited.

Site No. 256
Wood Buffalo National Park

It is a several hundreds of kilometres on an unpaved road to the plains in the north-central region of Canada. The huge park is home to North America's largest population of wild bison. It is also the natural nesting place of the whooping crane.

For us it was a long drive, with a nice view over the plains, but we actually could not see one buffallo (the one shown is from somewhere else...)

Site No. 72ter
Kluane / Wrangell-St Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini - Alsek National Parks