By SHANNON KELLY
Niagara Falls, the world’s most photographed waterfalls (Photo: scazon)
Whether wonders of nature, man-made monuments or iconic landscapes, these sights across Canada are those you’re most likely to find on a postcard, and least likely to be able to resist photographing yourself.
We gathered statistics from tourism boards and industry associations, reputable news outlets and online photo-sharing libraries to come up with this list of Canada’s most photographed places in every province.
See the most photographed places in Canada »
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- <small>VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA</small><br /> <br /> If you didn't guess that the <a href="http://www.fairmont.com/empress-victoria/">Fairmont Empress Hotel</a> was Victoria's most photographed landmark, you probably haven't been to Victoria. Opened in 1908, the grand hotel serves a famed afternoon tea.
- Photo: Michael Gramiak/Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
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- Photo: Michael Gramiak/Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
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- <small>VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA</small><br /> <br /> In Canada's most photographed city, <a href="http://www.where.ca/listings/listing_detail.php?slug=stanley-park-wh">Stanley Park</a> is one of the most popular spots for photographers, not only for the many attractions within the park, but for the excellent views of the city from the park's 8-km-long seawall path.
- Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/o_0/6091219901/">Guilhem Vellut</a>
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- Photo: Guilhem Vellut
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- <small>CANADIAN ROCKIES</small><br /> <br /> When you see that photo of the Canadian Rockies—you know, <em>that</em> one, the one that prompts an intake of breath and the desire to Go. There. Right. Now—that photo is usually of Maligne Lake. This slice of sparkling blue water in <a href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/index.aspx/" target="_blank">Jasper National Park</a> is perfectly tucked between jagged, snow-capped mountain ranges, with an iconic little red-roofed boat house to boot. If you ever wanted to take a postcard-worthy photo, this is it.
- Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shahnoorhabib/7560908484/">Shahnoor Habib</a>
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- Photo: Shahnoor Habib
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- <small>CALGARY, ALBERTA</small><br /> <br /> Toronto has the CN Tower, Calgary has the <a href="http://www.where.ca/listings/listing_detail.php?slug=calgary-tower-wh">Calgary Tower</a>. And there's just something about towers that is irresistible to photographers. The city's best-recognized monument soars nearly 181 metres (626 feet) above the ground in downtown Calgary.
- Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterbc/1360563768/">Rich Moffitt</a>
- Calgary Tower
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- Photo: Rich Moffitt
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- <small>EDMONTON, ALBERTA</small><br /> <br /> The four iconic pyramids of the <a href="http://www.where.ca/listings/listing_detail.php?slug=muttart-conservatory-wh">Muttart Conservatory</a> gardens house vegetation from tropical, arid and temperate climates.
- Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/badcomputer/3923150189/">Darren Kirby</a>
- Muttart Conservatory
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- Photo: Darren Kirby
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- <small>SASKATCHEWAN</small><br /> <br /> As you drive through the Prairies there are hundreds of scenes like these, each more beautiful than the next. It's no wonder, then, that travellers find it hard to resist snapping a few (or a thousand) photos.
- Photo: Tourism Saskatchewan/Charles Melnick
- Canola and Flax Fields
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- Photo: Tourism Saskatchewan/Charles Melnick
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- <small>NORTHERN MANITOBA</small><br /> <br /> A spot where northern lights, whales and polar bears meet doesn't just beg to be photographed, it draws photographers by the busload. This <a href="http://everythingchurchill.com/" target="_blank">unique spot</a> in northern Manitoba on Hudson Bay is a cornucopia of once-in-a-lifetime adventures and a very good reason to invest in a telephoto lens.
- Photo: Travel Manitoba
- Churchill, Manitoba
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- Photo: Travel Manitoba
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- <small>NIAGARA FALLS, ONTARIO</small><br /> <br /> This natural wonder holds the trump card on photographs in Canada and is counted among the most photographed places on earth—up there with the Great Wall of China and the Colosseum. The trick is to get a the right angle. You can try a different shot from nearly every place in town: along several kilometres of the Niagara Parkway; from observatory towers, hotels and restaurants and even while taking a ride on the glass-enclosed <a href="http://www.where.ca/listings/listing_detail.php?slug=niagara-skywheel-wh">SkyWheel</a>.
- Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/scazon/5087715565/">scazon</a>
- Niagara Falls
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- Photo: scazon
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- <small>TORONTO, ONTARIO</small><br /> <br /> Did you really think any monument in Toronto could beat the 553-metre-tall (1,815-foot-tall) <a title="http://www.where.ca/listings/listing_detail.php?slug=cn-tower-wh" href="http://www.where.ca/listings/listing_detail.php?slug=cn-tower-wh">CN Tower</a> for sheer volume of film and digital camera memory expended? The second-most popular photo of Toronto is probably the one taken <em>from</em> the tower.
- Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28299495@N04/3881477141/in/photostream/">leander.canaris</a>
- CN Tower
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- Photo: leander.canaris
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- <small>OTTAWA, ONTARIO</small><br /> <br /> It makes perfect sense that the most popular sights to snap in Canada's capital city are Canada's federal <a title="http://www.where.ca/listings/listing_detail.php?slug=parliament-hill-wh" href="http://www.where.ca/listings/listing_detail.php?slug=parliament-hill-wh">Parliament buildings</a>, especially when the buildings are stunningly intricate 19th- and early-20th-century Gothic Revival masterpieces.
- Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vlitvinov/6576995349/">Vlad Litvinov</a>
- Parliament Hill
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- Photo: Vlad Litvinov
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- <small>MONTREAL, QUEBEC</small><br /> <br /> Built for the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, the <a title="http://www.parcolympique.qc.ca/en/" href="http://www.parcolympique.qc.ca/en/" target="_blank">Olympic Stadium</a> and its connected observation tower (the world's tallest inclined tower, at 175 metres) may be the most viewed example of modern architecture in Montreal. Though it wasn't finished until after the Games (oops!), today it serves as a prime photo op.
- Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/arturstaszewski/6873310284/">Artur Staszewski</a>
- Olympic Stadium
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- Photo: Artur Staszewski
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- <small>QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC</small><br /> <br /> On a hill overlooking the ramparts surrounding Old Quebec and the St. Lawrence River below, this hotel, now a <a title="http://www.fairmont.com/frontenac-quebec/" href="http://www.fairmont.com/frontenac-quebec/" target="_blank">Fairmont property</a>, is without a doubt the most iconic landmark in the city.
- Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/2870154868/">Dennis Jarvis</a>
- Le Château Frontenac
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- Photo: Dennis Jarvis
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- <small>GREEN GABLES SHORE, PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND</small><br /> <br /> The most visited place in P.E.I. after Charlottetown (the arrival and departure point for most travellers) is what's known as Anne's Land or <a href="http://www.tourismpei.com/Green-Gables-Shore" target="_blank">Green Gables Shore</a>, the north-central shore of the island in and around Cavendish where author Lucy Maud Montgomery spent her childhood and which served as the setting for her popular Anne of Green Gables series of books. It stands to reason, then, that Anne-related sights would make for some of the most popular photo subjects in the province. A close second may be the fields of purple lupins that cover much of the Island's countryside in summer.
- Photo: Tourism PEI
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- Photo: Tourism PEI
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- <small>BAY OF FUNDY, NEW BRUNSWICK</small><br /> <br /> The Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world, with an astounding 100 billion tonnes of water flowing in and out twice daily. The force of these tides has shaped the towering, hoodoo-like <a title="http://www.thehopewellrocks.ca/" href="http://www.thehopewellrocks.ca/" target="_blank">Hopewell Rocks</a>, a popular place for tourists to explore on foot at low tide or by kayak at high tide.
- Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pchiu/3039406737/">Five-two</a>
- The Hopewell Rocks
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- Photo: Five-two
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- <small>ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND</small><br /> <br /> Not all houses in St. John's are covered in clapboards and painted bright, primary colours, but you might think they are from the photos you most often see of the province's capital city, of the blue, red, and yellow houses sloping down to the harbour in the historic downtown. "Jellybean Row" is no one place in particular, but refers to any row of kaleidoscope town houses you find downtown.
- Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/manumilou/6142834860/">Emmanuel Milou</a>
- Jellybean Row
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- Photo: Emmanuel Milou
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- <small>PEGGY'S COVE, NOVA SCOTIA</small><br /> <br /> The world's most photographed lighthouse? Maybe, maybe not, but Peggy's Cove is almost certainly Nova Scotia's most photographed attraction and Canada's most photographed lighthouse. We reported in May that the lighthouse was <a title="http://www.where.ca/blog/check-in/iconic-peggys-cove-lighthouse-could-be-demolished/" href="http://www.where.ca/blog/check-in/iconic-peggys-cove-lighthouse-could-be-demolished/">in danger of demolition</a>, but now it seems that non-profit community groups and tourist organizations are coming together to save and <a title="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/07/26/ns-peggys-cove-tlc.html" href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/07/26/ns-peggys-cove-tlc.html" target="_blank">refurbish</a> the lighthouse.
- Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/madmiked/68743618/">Mike Durkin</a>
- Peggy's Cove Lighthouse
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- Photo: Mike Durkin
Stay, Dine, Do
Ironic that an article called Canada’s most photographed places leads off with a picture of Niagara Falls, USA and not Canada’s horseshoe falls barely seen in the background…