Splendid Nature of Quebec

Fourteen nights by hire car and the operator’s fullest Quebec itinerary, reaching the far end of the Gaspe peninsula, which almost no visitor to the province manages.

Montreal opens it with a guided cruise on the St Lawrence, then Quebec City, the only walled city in North America, with the Citadel and the Plains of Abraham, where the battle in 1759 decided which empire would hold Canada.

The route then follows the south shore out along the peninsula, taking the Capitaine Fournier road with its view of the railway tunnel through Cap de l’Enfer. Perce is the destination: once the largest fishing port on the Gaspe and now its best known town, with the pierced limestone rock standing offshore.

Forillon National Park at the eastern tip follows, with cliffs dropping into the gulf, the Pointe-au-Pere lighthouse thirty metres above the water, and wild roses at Cap-des-Rosiers. Parc de la Gaspesie comes next inland, holding twenty-five peaks above a thousand metres and the only place in Quebec where caribou, moose and white-tailed deer share the same ground, with nearly ninety miles of trails and an interpretation centre. Tadoussac closes the route where the Saguenay meets the St Lawrence, which is among the best whale-watching sites in the world. Canadian Affair include the flights, the hire car, the hotels and the cruise, with fuel, insurance and meals separate. The price is per person, and no wildlife sighting can be promised. This is a long way round for a fortnight and the Gaspe is remote enough that services thin out considerably, which is exactly why so few visitors get there and why the ones who do tend to rate it above the Montreal and Quebec City circuit.