My wife and I (no children) are planning a short-notice vacation 8/8 - 8/16 before my new job starts 9/1. She unfortunately didn't renew her passport so that limits our travel options. Some acquaintances of hers suggested that Canada would be a good destination.

So, all of our Canadian savages, if we are planning to spend ~8 days in Canada what would be a good destination (or two if we chose to split it up via a decent rental car ride).  We would be flying in from Alabama (USA) but likely rent a car if needed while there to go do stuff. We want to relax and refresh ourselves, but at the same time don't want to just sit in a hotel for a week....we can sit and be lazy at home.  

I appreciate your suggestions. We want to have a good time and get the most bang for our buck, and considering neither of us have been to Canada we don't want to miss anything notable that the locals would say we shouldn't.  We're not fru-fru people that are too good to try new things and get our hands dirty so that kinda stuff is cool for us.  We're young (41) and very agile and able bodied and have no physical limitations in what we can do, so lay it on me.

EDIT: We were also discussing going to Alaska so that's not completely out of the question either.

Why not do an Alaskan cruise? You get to relax and do things too. I can't help you with Canada. Regardless enjoy whatever you do.

Last year my wife and I attached the trailer to my car, and we hauled the ST1100 up to Michigan and vacationed in the area just north of Traverse City.....we had a ball!

About 3 years ago we flew to Portland, Oregon and went to the Evergreen Aviation Museum and saw the Spruce Goose (one of my bucket list items), and then drove to the coast and traveled up and down the coast, and then went up the Columbia River to Hood River.  We hadn't planned anything and just went where the wind blew us....we found great hotels and food and sights - it was really nice.  We need to go back and see Crater Lake next time.....we couldn't have had a better time if we had planned it, and we were incredibly lucky at getting nice hotels rooms wherever we went.  The Overleaf Lodge in Yachats, OR was really a hit with my wife....it was a very classy hotel/spa that was right on the ocean and we slept to the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks.

Hello Stew. I actually just got back from vacation last night. One of our stops was Niagara Falls on the Canadian side and it was absolutely amazing. Pictures and video just do not do it justice. We did present our passports at the border, but I do not really know if they were required as they were not stamped.

We also went to the football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. If you are in to football you will find it to be a great time. Then Cleveland, which is only an hour drive from Canton, has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which was not as exciting to me but still fun. Oh, and Cleveland just seems to be a beautiful city.

Wherever you go, have a great vacation.