Eastern Canada, from Toronto to Quebec City

From Niagara Falls to the walls of Quebec City, the best way to see Eastern Canada is to follow the water. Eleven days on the road, through the Thousand Islands, the Rideau Canal, Ottawa, Montreal and the lakes of the Mauricie.

Canada

Niagara Falls from the air on a summer day, with the Skylon Tower.

From the Great Lakes to the St Lawrence

This trip links Toronto to Quebec City by following the water: Lake Ontario, then the St Lawrence. From Toronto, you first head down to Niagara Falls, which you watch from Table Rock, right on the edge of Horseshoe Falls. Below, the Niagara City Cruises boats go into the spray. The Niagara Parkway then runs along the river to Niagara-on-the-Lake, between orchards and vineyards. You come back through Toronto and its CN Tower.

After Kingston, the Thousand Islands Parkway follows the St Lawrence right by the water, between granite islets topped with pines. The road then goes up the Rideau Canal to Ottawa, through lock villages such as Merrickville.

Between Ottawa and Montreal, the road signs switch to French. After Montreal, the Chemin du Roy, completed in 1737, follows the river towards Quebec City. North of Trois-Rivières, La Mauricie National Park lines up lakes surrounded by forest. In late September, its maples turn red and orange.

The Château Frontenac on Cap Diamant, above the Lower Town and the St Lawrence.

Quebec City and Montreal, French America

Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City in 1608, at the foot of Cap Diamant, on the banks of the St Lawrence. The Upper Town is still surrounded by walls, for more than four kilometres. It is the most complete fortified city north of Mexico, and was added to the Unesco World Heritage List in 1985. Below, Place Royale stands on the site of Champlain’s Habitation. Above, the Château Frontenac, a hotel opened in 1893 by the Canadian Pacific, towers over Dufferin Terrace.

On 13 September 1759, Wolfe’s British troops defeated Montcalm’s forces on the Plains of Abraham, west of the walls. Both generals were fatally wounded there. In 1763, New France became British. Today the Plains are a large park.

Montreal was founded in 1642 under the name Ville-Marie, where the Pointe-à-Callière museum stands today. Close by rises the Notre-Dame Basilica, opened in 1829.

The canal was never used for war.

The American border and the Rideau Canal

During the War of 1812, the Americans attacked Upper Canada across the Niagara River. On 13 October 1812, General Isaac Brock was killed at the Battle of Queenston Heights, won by the British; his monument towers over the gorge. Niagara-on-the-Lake was the first capital of Upper Canada. The government then moved to York, today’s Toronto, further from the border.

After the war, the British wanted to link Montreal to Kingston away from the St Lawrence, which was too exposed. Lieutenant-Colonel John By built the Rideau Canal from 1826 to 1832: 202 kilometres of rivers and lakes joined by locks. It is the oldest continuously operated canal in North America, and was listed by Unesco in 2007 together with Fort Henry. The canal was never used for war. In Ottawa, chosen as the capital in 1857, eight locks step down at the foot of Parliament.

The Sandbanks dunes on the shore of Lake Ontario.

Sandbanks Provincial Park

Prince Edward County, Ontario · 45 minutes from Belleville

According to Ontario Parks, these are the largest dunes in the world formed on a sandbar closing off a freshwater bay. The beaches stretch for kilometres along Lake Ontario, which is warm enough for a swim in summer.

Practical notes

When to go: June to early October, with the autumn colours in late September. The La Mauricie Parkway is only fully open from late May to mid-October; the rest of the year, you can only drive its first stretch.
Getting there: Direct flights from Paris to Toronto and Montreal. One-way hire from Ontario to Quebec is expensive with rental companies: drop the car in Ottawa, take the train to Montreal and hire another one there.
Access: Everything is tarmac; Highway 401 and Autoroute 40 are faster. On the island of Montreal, turning right on a red light is not allowed.
Sleeping in a van: Campsites in the national and provincial parks, to book early in summer. In Old Quebec and Old Montreal, park outside the centre.
Worth knowing: In Quebec, road signs are in French only. The Centre Block of Parliament in Ottawa is closed for works until the early 2030s. The old bridge to Île d’Orléans often has night-time roadworks: check Québec 511 before you go.
Allow: Eleven days, two more for Algonquin Park or Mont-Tremblant in autumn.

Lac Wapizagonke between the wooded hills of La Mauricie National Park.

What not to miss

1Table RockThe viewpoint right on the edge of the falls, and the tunnels dug behind the curtain of water.
2Fort HenryKingston’s British fort, facing Lake Ontario, brought to life in summer by soldiers in uniform.
3The Canadian Museum of HistoryDesigned by Douglas Cardinal, it faces Parliament from the other bank, in Gatineau.
4Mount RoyalA park designed by Olmsted, one of the creators of Central Park, with the view from the Kondiaronk Belvedere.
5The Vide-Bouteille lookoutThe view over Lac Wapizagonke, long and narrow between the hills of the Mauricie.
6Montmorency Falls83 metres, about thirty more than Niagara, crossed on a suspension bridge.

Eastern Canada in pictures

Montmorency Falls, with its suspension bridge and its staircase.

Ottawa’s Parliament Hill above the Ottawa River.

Montreal’s Old Port in autumn, its red maples and the downtown towers.

Montmorency Falls, with its suspension bridge and its staircase.

Food in Eastern Canada

In the Niagara region, the speciality is ice wine: the grapes freeze on the vine and are picked at -8 °C or below. In Toronto, you eat a peameal bacon sandwich, cured pork rolled in cornmeal. In Ottawa, you buy beaver tails, a sweet fried dough, at the ByWard Market.

Montreal has its wood-fired bagels and its smoked meat, smoked beef served in a sandwich. All over Quebec, you find poutine: chips, cheese curds and a brown gravy. On Île d’Orléans, the farms sell strawberries, blackcurrants and cider.

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