Quebec: Montreal, Quebec City and Charlevoix

1. Day 1: Arrive in Montreal

   Montréal-Trudeau International Airport to your hotel in Montreal

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Montreal
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Montréal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL), about 20 km west of downtown, where a driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the ride to your hotel in or near Old Montreal. Plan to land by about 3 pm so you can settle in before the evening briefing; the exact time comes with your final itinerary. If you arrive early, the Old Port and the riverside promenade are a short walk from the hotel. At about 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week: the train to Quebec City, what to wear on a whale cruise, and how the days are paced, with a free afternoon or evening in every base. Then we walk to dinner together at a bistro serving Québécois cooking, the start of a week that eats its way down the St. Lawrence: tourtière, duck, local cheeses, and maple in more places than you expect.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Montréal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner of Québécois cooking

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

2. Day 2: Mount Royal, the market and Old Montreal

   Mount Royal to Mile End and Jean-Talon Market, then Old Montreal

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Montreal
   Day 2 details

   We start on Mount Royal, the hill that gives the city its name. The van takes us most of the way up, and a short walk through the woods brings us to the Kondiaronk Belvedere, where the downtown towers line up below you with the St. Lawrence behind them. It is quiet at this hour, before the tour buses arrive. Down the north side of the mountain we stop in Mile End for a bagel still warm from a wood-fired oven: Montreal bagels are boiled in honey-sweetened water, smaller and denser than New York's. Lunch is a tasting walk through Jean-Talon Market with your guide, stall to stall: Quebec cheeses, charcuterie, seasonal fruit and maple. In the afternoon we walk Old Montreal: Place d'Armes, the Notre-Dame Basilica with its deep blue and gold interior, Place Jacques-Cartier and the Old Port. The evening is free; your guide has a list of places for smoked meat, or something smarter.

   Included

   • Mount Royal and the Kondiaronk Belvedere
   • A Mile End bagel
   • Tasting lunch walk through Jean-Talon Market
   • Old Montreal on foot with your guide: Place d'Armes, Place Jacques-Cartier and the Old Port
   • Entry to the Notre-Dame Basilica

   Easier option: Ride the van to the chalet car park on Mount Royal and skip the woodland path.

   More active option: Walk down Mount Royal on the trails to the Plateau instead of riding, about 45 minutes, and meet the group in Mile End.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: About 5 to 6 km on foot over the day, with a short climb on Mount Royal.

   

3. Day 3: By train to Quebec City

   Montreal Central Station to Quebec City's Gare du Palais by VIA Rail

   • By train
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Quebec City
   Day 3 details

   After breakfast the van takes your bags to Quebec City by road while we take a VIA Rail train from Montreal's Central Station, so you travel with a day bag only. The ride is about three and a quarter hours along the south shore of the St. Lawrence, through farmland and small towns with tall church spires, with seats reserved together and light meals and drinks for sale on board. We arrive around midday at the Gare du Palais, a château-style station at the foot of Old Quebec, and the van carries your bags to the hotel, where we stay three nights. Lunch is yours in the Lower Town or on Rue Saint-Jean. Mid-afternoon your guide walks the group up to the ramparts for a first orientation: the city gates, the walls and the view across the river to Lévis, so you know your way around before tomorrow. Quebec City kept its fortifications, one reason UNESCO listed the old town. The evening is free.

   Included

   • VIA Rail from Montreal to Quebec City, with your bags carried by road
   • Transfer from the Gare du Palais to your hotel
   • Orientation walk on the ramparts of Old Quebec

   Free time: Lunch and evening free in Old Quebec

   Activity: Old Quebec is built on a cliff: the walk from the Lower Town to the Upper Town is steep, and the funicular is there when you want it. Your bags go by van, about 250 km by road, and the same van stays in Quebec City for days 5 to 7.

4. Day 4: Old Quebec on foot

   Upper Town to the Petit-Champlain quarter and Place Royale

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Quebec City
   Day 4 details

   A local Quebec City guide joins your See Sight Tours guide this morning for a walking tour of Old Quebec, the historic district UNESCO listed in 1985. We start early in the Upper Town on Dufferin Terrace, the boardwalk beneath the Château Frontenac with a long view down the river, and walk along the Citadelle's walls to the edge of the Plains of Abraham, where the battle of 1759 decided the fate of New France. Back through the Upper Town's convents and seminary buildings, we go down the Breakneck Stairs to the Petit-Champlain quarter and Place Royale, where Samuel de Champlain founded the city in 1608 and the small stone church of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires still stands. On cruise-ship days the Lower Town fills by late morning, so we ride the funicular back up as the crowds come down. The afternoon and evening are free: the Musée de la civilisation, a long walk on the Plains, or a slow lunch on Rue Saint-Jean.

   Included

   • Old Quebec walking tour with a local guide: Dufferin Terrace, the Citadelle walls, the Plains of Abraham, the Breakneck Stairs, Petit-Champlain and Place Royale
   • The Old Quebec funicular

   Optional experiences

   • Guided tour of La Citadelle de Québec, still an active military base, with the changing of the guard on summer mornings (paid on the day)

   Easier option: Take the funicular down to the Lower Town instead of the Breakneck Stairs.

   More active option: In the free afternoon, walk the full circuit of the walls, about 4.6 km, with your guide's map.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 3 hours on foot in the morning, with steep streets and stairs.

5. Day 5: Montmorency Falls and Île d'Orléans

   Quebec City to Montmorency Falls, around Île d'Orléans, and back

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Quebec City
   Day 5 details

   We drive about 15 minutes east to Montmorency Falls for around 9 am, ahead of the coaches. The falls drop 83 metres into the St. Lawrence, about 30 metres more than Niagara. Walk the suspension bridge across the top of the falls, then go down, by the 487-step staircase on the cliff face or by cable car. The bridge to Île d'Orléans is a few minutes from the foot of the falls. The island is farmland and six old villages along one road, the Chemin Royal, about 67 km around, and it supplies much of what Quebec City eats. We drive the loop and stop at producers according to season: strawberries in early summer, apples and cider in autumn, blackcurrant liqueur, cheese, and maple all year. Lunch is a sit-down meal on the island made from what grows on it. We are back in Quebec City by mid-afternoon, and the rest of the day is yours; tonight is your last free evening in Old Quebec.

   Included

   • Montmorency Falls with the suspension bridge and the cable car
   • Drive around Île d'Orléans on the Chemin Royal
   • Tastings at island producers: cider, blackcurrant, cheese and maple
   • Sit-down lunch on Île d'Orléans

   Easier option: Ride the cable car both ways at Montmorency and stay with the van at the farm stops if you prefer.

   More active option: Take the 487-step panoramic staircase down the cliff beside the falls.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free

   Activity: Spray from the falls reaches the lower viewpoints, so bring a rain jacket.

6. Day 6: Whales at Tadoussac, then Charlevoix

   Quebec City to Baie-Sainte-Catherine, ferry to Tadoussac, then back to La Malbaie

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in La Malbaie
   Day 6 details

   Today is the longest on the road, about 290 km and four hours of driving, split into a morning drive and a short evening leg with lunch and a three-hour cruise between them. We leave Quebec City at 8 am with bags in the van and follow Route 138 along the Côte-de-Beaupré and over the hills of Charlevoix to Baie-Sainte-Catherine, where a free ferry crosses the mouth of the Saguenay Fjord to Tadoussac in about ten minutes; in high summer the queue can pass an hour, so we aim for the early crossings and set the cruise time around them. After lunch in the village we board a whale-watching cruise in the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, where cold, deep water from the fjord meets the river and brings up food. Belugas live here year round; minke, fin and humpback whales feed here through the summer and into autumn, and blue whales on some days. The whales are wild, so no sighting is certain, and the naturalist on board explains what you are seeing. We cross back on the ferry and drive about an hour to La Malbaie for a dinner of Charlevoix produce.

   Included

   • Ferry across the Saguenay between Baie-Sainte-Catherine and Tadoussac
   • Lunch in Tadoussac
   • Whale-watching cruise of about 3 hours in the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, with a naturalist
   • Dinner of Charlevoix produce in La Malbaie

   Easier option: The larger cruise boat has indoor seating and a heated cabin; stay inside and step out on deck when whales surface.

   More active option: Take a seat on a Zodiac, a smaller open boat that sits low on the water, instead of the larger boat, when there is space; we confirm the price at booking.

   Activity: It is cold on the water even in summer: bring a warm layer, a hat and gloves. The ferry is crossed twice today; in mid-July to August we use the early crossings and adjust the cruise time to the queue.

   

7. Day 7: The Charlevoix river road and Baie-Saint-Paul

   La Malbaie to Les Éboulements and Baie-Saint-Paul, then Quebec City

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   Day 7 details

   A slower morning in La Malbaie, where the river is wide enough to smell of salt and the hills of Charlevoix run down to the water; the region is a UNESCO biosphere reserve, its valley shaped by an ancient meteorite impact. Mid-morning we take Route 362, the river road, west through Les Éboulements, where it dips and climbs high above the St. Lawrence with Isle-aux-Coudres offshore, and we stop at the lookouts on the way. Baie-Saint-Paul sits where the Gouffre river reaches the St. Lawrence, an artists' town of galleries, workshops and cafes on Rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste. You have time to browse before a last lunch together. Then it is about an hour and a half to Quebec City: we drop you at Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB) around 3:30 pm, or at the Gare du Palais or an Old Quebec hotel if you are staying on. Your guide checks your flight or train before saying goodbye.

   Included

   • Route 362, the Charlevoix river road, with stops at the lookouts
   • Time in Baie-Saint-Paul and a farewell lunch
   • Drop-off at Quebec City Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB), the Gare du Palais or an Old Quebec hotel

   Free time: Free time in Baie-Saint-Paul before lunch

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 6 pm: we reach YQB around 3:30 pm, and check-in for most flights closes about 1 hour before departure, so this leaves room for a slow road. Or take an evening VIA Rail train to Montreal.

   

Wildlife and weather: June to August is warm (often mid to high 20s C) with long evenings; September and early October bring cooler days and autumn colour in Charlevoix from late September. Belugas live in the St. Lawrence estuary year round, and minke, fin and humpback whales feed off Tadoussac from about June into October; sightings are likely but never guaranteed.

• Montreal2 nights
• Quebec City3 nights
• La Malbaie1 night