Out of Holiday Gift Ideas? Try One of These Memorable Experiences
Gifting memories.
What to get the person who has everything? More often than not, items given during the holidays, without thought and consideration for the person, just add to the clutter and end up collecting dust (or simply regifted at the next opportunity). At times, the best presents are the ones that cannot be wrapped. Here, we list some stories from recent years about memorable experiences, from skiing to spas, that if gifted are sure to provide longer-lasting memories than a physical present.
How to Ski the Alps With One Epic Season Pass
For years, the Epic Pass has been the golden ticket for skiers and snowboarders seeking access to some of North America’s storied slopes—from Vail to Park City to Whistler. Now, Epic’s reach is stretching farther, with a decisive expansion across Europe. What started as a North American megapass has gone global, turning a lift ticket into a ticket to adventure.
For the 2025/26 season, the Epic Pass will include several partner destinations in Austria: Mayrhofen and Hintertux, Saalbach and Zell am See-Kaprun, Silvretta Montafon, and Sölden. In many cases, pass holders get five consecutive days at these resorts in addition to the existing partnerships at resorts such as Les 3 Vallées in France, Ski Arlberg in Austria, Verbier 4 Vallées in Switzerland, and Italy’s Skirama Dolomiti. That the Epic Pass now offers access to 39 resorts worldwide makes it less a season pass and more of a global ski passport. —Claudia Cusano
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Scandinave Spa Whistler
Canada’s Best Spas and Saunas to Relax and Recharge In
Whether it’s to find an escape in a bustling city such as Toronto, indulge in luxurious treatments, or to simply rest and contemplate, we have rounded up a few of our favourite stories exploring the country’s best spa and sauna offerings.
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Skiers scatter excitedly for cabins fronting historic Tweedsmuir Park Lodge outside the coastal British Columbia town of Bella Coola. Soon, groups of four-plus-guide assemble at flagged landing areas, and the whup-whup of rotor wash echoes from the valley’s rocky walls. It’s go time at Bella Coola Heli Sports (BCHS). Already heralded for big terrain and deep snow, BCHS expanded several years ago into the Pantheon Range near Mount Waddington—B.C.’s highest peak at 4,019 metres—capping an astonishing 3.25-million-acre tenure.
In the 1990s, BCHS founders Christian Begin and Beat Steiner were cinematographers with a string of high-profile movie credits, while Peter “Swede” Mattsson guided their backcountry shoots. Searching for a less-crowded venue, their eyes were widened by the mountains around Bella Coola, and they made a deal with a funky 1930s hunting-and-fishing lodge to pay a fee for every head they brought in. “You could barely drag tourists here in the summer, and suddenly we were bringing in people in the winter,” Mattsson recalls. “No one in town really knew what was going on above treeline because they’d never been up there, so it was all a bit mysterious.” —Leslie Anthony
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Courtesy of Ponant
Aboard Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot
Tasiilaq, a community of just under 2,000 residents, is the largest on Greenland’s eastern coast, but like most towns on the island, it is inaccessible except by helicopter or snowmobile in the colder months. The ship casting its impressive silhouette against the jagged peaks behind it is Le Commandant Charcot, one of 13 in the fleet of French cruise line Ponant. But what sets the hybrid electric vessel apart from the competition is its status as the world’s only luxury icebreaker ship, meaning it’s capable of cutting through thick sea ice, allowing it to sail to remote Arctic areas such as Tasiilaq.
Le Commandant Charcot is small by cruise ship standards, with a combined 123 guest rooms and suites and none of the more garish markers often associated with cruise liners—if it’s waterslides, casinos, or plastic cups with mini umbrellas you’re seeking, look elsewhere. Instead, Ponant opts for grand style, intended for those wishing to get off the beaten track yet always be in comfort. The interior colour palette of light woods, blues, and tans designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte and Jean-Philippe Nuel complements the wintry environment. Rooms range from cozy but comfortable to downright extravagant: the owner’s suite is 1,237 square feet with a soaker tub overlooking the water, a private outdoor deck with a hot tub, and a Swarovski crystal–adorned telescope. —Elia Essen
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For the Adventurous: Fairmont Waterfront’s Polar Plunge & Brunch
Ring in 2026 with a thrilling dip into the ocean at Vancouver’s picturesque Third Beach in Stanley Park, followed by a bottomless brunch at the hotel’s ARC restaurant—ideal for the adventure seekers. This experience includes transportation to the beach and access to Fairmont Waterfront’s health club and heated rooftop pool.
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Siwash Lake Wilderness Resort
Swap Streetlamps for Starlight in B.C. With These Wilderness Resorts
Canada has 13 officially designated Dark-Sky Preserves, which creates areas not only protected from human change but also ideal for stargazing, which has been a human pastime for as long as we have walked on the Earth and is gaining popularity as a wellness therapy. By combining stargazing with high-quality accommodations in and around areas with little light pollution, it is possible to engage in hours of uninterrupted sky-watching before heading back to your room to relax.
Stargazing and limiting light pollution are also part of a wider philosophy of creating off-grid accommodations to highlight the natural beauty of an area while minimizing the impact on the environment and the communities who have been on the land for multiple generations. For British Columbians looking to stargaze in a peaceful setting, there are numerous options across the province. —Jack Lowe
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Sushi Mahana Offers a Kimono-Dressing Experience Ahead of the 20-Plus-Course Meal
As Yuki Aida gently ties the soft strings holding my juban together, I ask the top of her head a question. “Do, um, Japanese people ever come in for this?” She smiles and shakes her head. Duh, I think. Aida’s North Shore restaurant, Sushi Mahana, offers the dressing as a bonus—patrons who have booked in for the 5:30 p.m. omakase sitting can arrive an hour early to be outfitted in kimonos by the restaurant’s staff.
There’s something very intimate about the “getting ready” process that I think goes beyond culture. It’s a ritual of community, especially for women—as Aida insists that Sayama fixes one of her knots (“She’s the expert”), I think of preparties with my friends where the one girl who was good with the curling iron always ended up helping everyone else. Aida puts on the finishing touches, and I joke that I feel like a queen. She says, “I feel like a mom!”
I get over my initial worries, in part because Aida is right (kimonos look good on everyone) and in part because there isn’t much time to fret when chef Hoshiko is serving up dish after delicate dish of perfectly prepared fish. —Alyssa Hirose
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Inside Eloise, the Restaurant Where Design Meets Appetite
Just a block and a half down the road from the eponymous market in Toronto’s St. Lawrence neighbourhood, Eloise is serving up yet another reason why the area is a gastronome’s dream. At the sultry, wood-clad, midcentury-inspired restaurant—the latest venture from brothers Graham and Dan Hnatiw—chef Akhil Hajare (formerly of Alo) has designed a broad, globally informed menu whose dishes defy easy definition but tend toward light, clean flavours served over substantial proteins and carbohydrates.
Bites like the potato pavé served with a yuzu kosho and Thai basil epitomize what Eloise is: a distinctly Toronto restaurant in the city’s most delicious neighbourhood. —John Clegg
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Jasper, Alberta
Thirteen Canadian Bucket List Experiences
As the second-largest country in the world, Canada has no shortage of must-visit destinations. Yet beyond the typical points of interest—Niagara Falls, the CN Tower, the Rocky Mountains—are a multitude of lesser known, yet equally memorable, experiences to be had. Whether you’re a visitor or you have lived here all your life, there is surely something to discover in our roundup of Canadian bucket list experiences. —Jessica Wong
