Gaspé Peninsula and the St Lawrence North Shore - CanaDream

Eleven nights and 2,000 kilometres in a loop from Montreal in a motorhome, out to the Gaspe and home along the north shore of the St Lawrence.

Riviere-du-Loup comes first down the south bank, where the river is already wide enough to be called a sea, then the long run out along the peninsula.

Perce is the far point and gets several days: a limestone rock pierced by an arch stands offshore, and Bonaventure Island beyond it holds one of the largest northern gannet colonies in the world, where tens of thousands of pairs nest within a few metres of the path. Forillon at the tip of the peninsula follows, where the Appalachians run out into the sea. Matane comes next for the ferry across to Baie-Comeau, then Tadoussac at the mouth of the Saguenay, where beluga are resident and the summer brings the larger whales in to feed, with Quebec City and Trois-Rivieres on the way home.

The motorhome and the day-by-day plan come from CanaDream, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with insurance options priced at booking. Twelve days for 2,000 kilometres is a fair pace with the Gaspe days doing the work. The Matane ferry takes motorhomes and needs booking, and it saves a long detour back up the river. The season runs roughly June to September, with the gannets present from spring into autumn and the whales best from July. Much of this route is French-speaking, which is part of the point.