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Here are five alternatives to consider for your next great Canadian vacation, and what makes them truly special, according to people in the know.

If you love Lake Louise, visit: Golden, B.C.

In the Rocky Mountains, surrounded by six stunning national parks — Yoho, Glacier, Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Mount Revelstoke — the has all the activities you’ll find in Lake Louise, and then some. There’s access to plenty of beautiful (and less crowded) lakes, including with its dazzling turquoise waters. And because it isn’t actually inside a national park, Golden also offers activities you couldn’t do in one, such as ATVing, white-water rafting and skydiving.

“What makes this place truly special is that it offers a classic mountain town experience, where nobody feels like a tourist and everybody fits right in,” says local Kelly Cytko, executive director of the Golden Cycling Club. The small town is home to the bike park (with trails for beginners to pros), as well as attractions like the An outdoor playground that includes Canada’s highest suspension bridge, the Skybridge also hosts a summer outdoor concert series.

If you love Victoria, visit: St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, N.B.

Visitors head to Victoria, B.C., for its postcard-pretty waterfront beauty, and this town on the opposite coast offers similar charms on a more intimate scale. Featuring fine Georgian homes, Cape Cod and saltbox houses, and the historic Algonquin Resort, (popularly known as St. Andrews-by-the-Sea) was once a summer retreat for American socialites in the late 1800s. It remains a perfect resort town, with golden sand beaches, a spectacular seaside golf course, and fabulous restaurants such as the , which serves lobster eight different ways.

It’s also an arts and culture hub: Every summer, the concert series takes place in an amphitheatre in the beautiful 27-acre . “You wouldn’t expect it, but so many world-class talents come to St. Andrews,” says Tony LePage, a Broadway actor and co-founder of the festival. Whenever he brings other Broadway performers to town, he adds, they all fall in love with the place.

If you love Niagara wine country, visit: La Route des Vins, Que.

The in Quebec’s glorious Eastern Townships encompasses 22 wineries, and there’s plenty to do even if you’re not sipping. Several wineries offer yoga in the vineyards, including and the historic , for example, and many have cabin accommodations and nature and hiking trails.

All of this fits with the region’s emphasis on slow travel and relaxation. When Denis Laframboise opened 20 years ago, he was drawn to the feeling of calm among the mountains and valleys, and the sense of pride locals have in upholding traditional agricultural practices. “Because of this, we have all these specialized producers of honey and cheese, and beer made with the barley they grew in their own fields. There’s so much more to this region than wine — though the wines are excellent,” says Laframboise. All along the route are exquisite restaurants highlighting local cuisine. Laframboise loves ’ table champêtre (country table), where the five-course, family-style dining experience showcases visiting young chefs.

If you love Bruce Peninsula National Park, visit: Thousand Islands National Park, Ont.

Last year, Bruce Peninsula National Park was so popular, it drew 493,866 visitors. Meanwhile, , which encompasses around 20 main islands and many more smaller islets on the St. Lawrence River between Kingston and Brockville, welcomed less than a quarter of that number — although it also offers a wealth of activities on the water and is uniquely stunning.

The park is located on the Frontenac Arch, a ridge of ancient rock that helped form the islands (there are actually more than 1,000 altogether, in the wider region). “The exposed granite that made all those islands creates such a strange mix of landscapes that the park is a true visual feast,” says Kim Robinson, Thousand Island National Park’s visitor experience manager. “The islands themselves offer such variety and biodiversity. You could be on one side of Georgina Island and feel like you’re in Northern Ontario, then walk to the other side and you’re in a Southern (Ontario) forest.”

Besides the natural attractions of this way-less-crowded park, there are shipwrecks you can view beneath the clear water, organized nature and science experiences with Parks Canada interpreters, and waterfront glamping and camping sites. The best way to see the islands is from a kayak or boat tour, but a large part of the park is on the mainland. “You’ll see such diversity on the hiking trails at and be rewarded with spectacular views out over the islands,” Robinson says. 

If you love Quebec City, visit: Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Quebec City famously boasts a UNESCO-listed old town, but travellers can also find a rich sense of history in P.E.I.’s comparatively less-crowded capital — it’s the birthplace of Canada — alongside that classic East Coast friendliness. When strolling among the historic brick architecture along Victoria Row and Great George Street in the summer, you can imagine the city at its very start, especially when costumed tour guides waltz by in crinolines and frock coats.

But Charlottetown isn’t stuck in the past; it’s a fun and vibrant city with a lot going on from spring right through to the fall. “It’s electric here in the summer, with tons of festivals and art events,” says Kim McKeown, Top Chef Canada alumnus and chef at .

The culinary scene in Charlottetown is also impressive — P.E.I. claims the title of “Canada’s food island,” after all — and McKeown credits this, in part, to the many mom-and-pop spots serving the best food. Her favourites include , the Italian sandwich shop where focaccia is baked fresh daily. “I can’t get enough of the prosciutto, brie and balsamic with extra pickles,” says McKeown. Come in the late fall and you can also visit , where the discussions that led to Confederation began — it’s been under renovations and closed to visitors for the past decade.