Any Suggestions for a weeks holiday from Montreal
 

Hi,
My wife and myself will be in Montreal in the beginning of August. We would like to do a weeks holiday from there. We would be renting a car and driving. We would appreciate any suggestions as to which directions are the most interesting to drive from Montreal, places to see and stop etc.
Thanks

With a week, you'll probably be spending a good part of it just exploring this fun city. Besides the old city, the downtown, and the plateau, there is the Botanical Gardens and the Olympic Park complex, the Lachine Canal bike trails, and the riverside parks, old mill and trails on the north side. If possible, you should do an overnight in Quebec City, which is unique in all of North America.

A number of regions come to mind:

Charlevoix (about a 4-hr drive from Mtl)
Lac-Saint-Jean (~6-hr drive)
Gaspé Peninsula (~8-hr drive)

I have visited Charlevoix and Lac-Saint-Jean in August and those are good times to visit. It is typical summer weather (between 25 and 30 Celsius), but could also rain. If I had a week, I would go to the Gaspé. The drive is nice after you pass Lévis and the whole region is just beautiful. You also have a host of campsites, hotels or B&Bs to choose from.

Hi Zootsi & Pavfec,
Thanks for your suggestions. We were thinking of doing a week after spending a week in Montreal, so Montreal sightseeing will pretty much be covered. Somebody suggested that we should drive up to Tadoussac for some whale watching and then onwards to Halifax. What are your thoughts on that?

Tadoussac-Halifax-Montréal in ONE week? Too much driving, for sure! Forget the Maritimes if you have one week only! While driving to Tadoussac, make sure to visit Charlevoix (Baie St-Paul, La Malbaie, etc.). You could return to Montreal by the South shore of the St-Laurent (Kamouraska in particular! And be sure to stop at the bakery for the best strudels in Québec!). You will see some of the most beautiful villages of the Province! This link may be useful : http://www.beauxvillages.qc.ca/angla...a/index_a.html

Totally agree with Jojoana. For Tadoussac to Halifax (ferry to south shore, drive through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia), you're looking at a good 12-13 hour drive one way. It's totally not worth it for one week.

Stick with the Gaspé Peninsula or Charlevoix and Bas-Saint-Laurent, as Jojoana suggested. Those would make really great drives! Tadoussac is really pretty, as is Charlevoix, and the Bas-Saint-Laurent region is stunning.