Like its neighbour to the south, Canada is a spectrum of cultures, a hotchpotch of immigrant groups who supplanted the continent's many native peoples. There's a crucial difference, though. Whereas citizens of the United States are encouraged to perceive themselves as Americans above all else, Canada's concertedly multicultural approach has done more to acknowledge the origins of its people, creating an ethnic mosaic as opposed to America's "melting-pot". Alongside the French and British majorities live a host of communities who maintain the traditions of their homelands - Chinese, Ukrainians, Portuguese, Indians, Dutch, Polish, Greek and Spanish, to name just the most numerous. For the visitor, the mix that results from the country's exemplary tolerance is an exhilarating experience, offering such widely differing environments as Vancouver's huge Chinatown and the austere religious enclaves of Manitoba. Canadians themselves, however, are often troubled by the lack of a clear self-image, tending to emphasize the ways in which they are different from the US as a means of self-description. The question "What is a Canadian?" has acquired a new immediacy with the interminable and acrimonious debate over Québec and its possible secession, but ultimately there can be no simple characterization of a people whose country is not so much a single nation as a committee on a continental scale. Pierre Berton, one of Canada's finest writers, wisely ducked the issue; Canadians, he quipped, are "people who know how to make love in a canoe".

The typical Canadian might be an elusive concept, but you'll find there's a distinctive feel to the country. Some towns might seem a touch too well-regulated and unspontaneous, but against this there's the overwhelming sense of Canadian pride in their history and pleasure in the beauty of their land. Canada embraces its own clichés with an energy that's irresistible, promoting everything from the Calgary Stampede to maple-syrup festivals and lumberjacking contests with an extraordinary zeal and openness. As John Buchan, writer and Governor-General of Canada, said, "You have to know a man awfully well in Canada to know his surname."

Where to go

The time and expense involved in covering Canada's immense distances means that most visitors confine their explorations to the area around one of the main cities - usually Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver or Calgary for arrivals by air. The attractions of these centres vary widely, but they have one thing in common with each other and all other Canadian towns - they are within easy reach of the great outdoors.

Canada's most southerly region, south Ontario , contains not only the manufacturing heart of the country and its largest city, Toronto , but also Niagara Falls , Canada's premier tourist sight. North of Toronto there's the far less packaged scenic attraction of Georgian Bay , a beautiful waterscape of pine-studded islets set against crystal-blue waters. Like the forested Algonquin park, the bay is also accessible from the capital city of Ottawa , not as dynamic a place as Toronto, but still well worth a stay for its art galleries and museums.

Québec , set apart from the rest of the continent by the profundity of its French tradition, focuses on its biggest city, Montréal , which is for many people the most vibrant place in the country, a fascinating mix of old-world style and commercial dynamism. The pace of life is more relaxed in the historic provincial capital, Québec City , and more easy-going still in the villages dotted along the St Lawrence lowlands, where glittering spires attest to the enduring influence of the Catholic Church. For something more bracing, you could continue north to Tadoussac , where whales can be seen near the mouth of the splendid Saguenay fjord - and if you're really prepared for the wilds, forge on through to Labrador , as inhospitable a zone as you'll find in the east.

Across the mouth of the St Lawrence, the pastoral Gaspé peninsula - the easternmost part of Québec - borders New Brunswick , a mild-mannered introduction to the three Maritime Provinces , whose people have long been dependent on timber and the sea for their livelihood. Here, the tapering Bay of Fundy boasts amazing tides - rising and falling by nine metres, sometimes more - whilst the tiny fishing villages characteristic of the region are at their most beguiling near Halifax , the bustling capital of Nova Scotia . Perhaps even prettier, and certainly more austere, are the land and seascapes of Cape Breton Island , whose rugged topography anticipates that of the island of Newfoundland to the north. Newfoundland's isolation has spawned a distinctive culture that's at its most lively in the capital, St John's , where the local folk-music scene is the country's best. The island also boasts some of the Atlantic seaboard's finest landscapes, particularly the flat-topped peaks and glacier-gouged lakes of Gros Morne National Park .

Back on the mainland, separating Ontario from Alberta and the Rockies, the so-called prairie provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan have a reputation for dullness that's somewhat unfair: even in the flat southern parts there's the diversion of Winnipeg , whose traces of its early days make it a good place to break a trans-Canadian journey. To the north, the myriad lakes and gigantic forests of the provinces' wilderness regions offer magnificent canoeing and hiking, especially within Prince Albert National Park . Up in the far north, beside Hudson Bay, the settlement of Churchill - remote but accessible by train - is famous for its polar bears, who gather near town from the end of June waiting to move out over the ice as soon as the bay freezes.

Moving west, Alberta's wheatfields ripple into ranching country on the approach to the Canadian Rockies , whose international reputation is more than borne out by the reality. The provincial capital, Edmonton , is overshadowed by Calgary , a brash place grown fat on the region's oil and gas fields, and the most useful springboard for a venture into the mountains. British Columbia embodies the popular picture of Canada to perfection: a land of snowcapped summits, rivers and forests, pioneer villages, gold-rush ghost towns, and some of the greatest hiking, skiing, fishing and canoeing opportunities in the world. Its urban focus, Vancouver , is the country's third city, known for its spectacular natural setting and a laid-back West Coast hedonism. Off the coast lies Vancouver Island , a microcosm of the province's immense natural riches, and home to Victoria , a devotedly anglophile little city.

North of British Columbia, wedged alongside Alaska, is the Yukon Territory , half grandiose mountains, half subarctic tundra, and full of evocative echoes of the Klondike gold rush. Whitehorse , its capital, and Dawson City , a gold-rush relic, are virtually the only towns here, each accessed by dramatic frontier highways. The Northwest Territories and Nunavut , arching over the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, are an immensity of stunted forest, lakes, tundra and ice, the realm of Dene and Inuit native bands whose traditional way of life is being threatened as oil and gas exploration reaches up into the Arctic. Roads are virtually non-existent in the deep north, and only Yellowknife , a bizarre frontier city, plus a handful of ramshackle villages, offer the air links and resources necessary to explore this wilderness.