Quebec

Québec, set apart from the rest of Canada by the depth of its French culture, is anchored by its biggest city, Montréal, yet its bounty extends far down the St Lawrence River to charming Québec City and the awe-inspiring landscapes of the Saguenay Fjord and Gaspé Peninsula.

In Old Montréal, charming cobbled streets lead visitors past North America’s greatest concentration of Early Modern buildings to the beautiful Basilica of Notre-Dame, cathedral to the Catholic faithful since 1829. Elsewhere, explore the impressive Space for Life complex or escape the cold in the city’s underground network of shops, museums, bars and restaurants, linked together by over 20 miles of tunnels.

Further along the St Lawrence River, Québec City offers a slower pace of life and deep historical charm. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Old Québec is North America’s only walled city north of Mexico, home to winding, hilly streets lined by vintage stone houses and chic boutiques and crowned by the iconic Fairmont Le Château Frontenac hotel.

East of the capital, the Charlevoix region is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of dramatic valleys, rivers and rare wildlife. Further downriver, the Saguenay Fjord offers world-class whale watching, with a year-round population of beluga whales joined each summer by minke, finback and even blue whales. Finally, at the river’s mouth, the remote Gaspé Peninsula finishes with a flourish among some of Québec’s most striking coastal scenery.