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My Trip to Quebec and the Gaspe Peninsula.

My Trip to Quebec and the Gaspe Peninsula.

Old Jan 14th, 2005, 06:39 PM
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My Trip to Quebec and the Gaspe Peninsula.

Last June my girlfriend and I took a road trip from Connecticut to Montreal, Quebec City, around the Gaspe peninsula, through Maine, and back to CT. I received a lot of great advice from this forum and always meant to post my experiences in return. I’m sorry it took me so long, but here they are:

The beginning of June on the Gaspe Peninsula is still low season, which I think was a big plus because of lower rates and less people. One of my favorite aspects of the trip was the idea of venturing out where not many people know about, traveling to what really feels like “Land’s End.” Pretty much everything we wanted to see was open. We were a bit lucky and had great weather on the days when we were on the Gaspe Peninsula, although we did have our share of rain before and after.

Montreal was a great city. Unfortunately, we were there on a Sunday afternoon and a Monday so we missed the museums. We stayed at Chateau De L’argoat ( http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...al_Quebec.html ) which I highly recommend. The price was good and included parking, the location was good, the room was nicely decorated, and the hotel had a nice overall feeling.

Quebec City was quite picturesque, but I found it a bit overburdened with stereotypically rude and self-centered American tourists. The Citadel tour was really great. If you find the walkway that leads from the Plains of Abraham down towards the outer wall of the citadel it is a very nice walk along the wall, especially at night. I wish I could remember names of some of the crepe places we ate which were good. There were some nice looking restaurants too, but we were on a budget so we skipped them. We stayed at the La Maison Demers B&B for around 60 CAD/night (http://www.reservationhotels.com/qc%20demers%20a.htm ). The place was nice enough for the price, but we found the woman who ran it a bit too nosy for our taste and our room was noisy without much privacy. To be fair though, we are not really B&B types of people.

On our way from Quebec City to Matane we stopped at the Montmorency Falls, which was a definite and unexpected highlight of the trip. The falls are about a half hour outside of Quebec City. They are taller than the Niagra Falls, although not as wide. Across the top of the falls is a foot bridge that spans from one side to the other and really puts you right at the edge. One the opposite side there are stairs leading right into the mist at the bottom (we got very wet!) and a boardwalk leading over to a small cable car that will take you back up. We walked all the way down to the cable car only to find that it was a bit unreasonably priced (about 10 CAD/person I think). Being the young, adventurous souls that we are, we turned right around and took the challenge of climbing back up the stairs, which were quite a few flights and required a couple of rests on the way.

Our original plan was to drive to Sainte Anne Des Monts that day, but the Montmorency Falls took a little longer than we had expected (and we got a little lost), so we ended up spending the night in Matane. Matane didn’t have much going on, especially since it was a few weeks before high season. We found a very nice little motel on the left side of the main road towards the beginning of the town. I wish I could remember the motel’s name, but I can’t. It was right on the St. Lawrence River, which by that point had widened enough to almost look like an ocean. Because it was low season, we got a room with big windows facing the River for about 45 CAD.

The next day was when the unbelievable scenery really began. I have traveled a fair amount, seeing places like the Grand Canyon, the Central Cascades, the Alps, the White Mountains, and the Eastern and Western coasts of Mexico and I would say that the Gaspe peninsula holds its own even against these legendary places. The windmills in Cap Chat were much more impressive than I had expected them to be. As the road rolls up and down there are marvelous coastal views on your left and beautiful, albeit small, mountains on your right. We took our time as we drove through, stopping for pictures and just to soak everything in. We made the mistake of taking a side trip on the road in Mont Sainte Pierre that looks like it goes into the Parc De La Gaspesie. It is actually a very rough dirt road that I wasn’t sure my Toyota Camry was going to survive. We rolled into Cap Des Rosiers by late afternoon and stopped at the Motel Atlantique
( http://www.infogaspesie.com/villages...cat=voy&dev=11 ) to find a room. Our original plan was to stay there two nights and spend the day in Forillon National Park, but as soon as we saw our room we decided to change our minds to only stay one night. The room was only about 45 CAD but it was very bare bones. It was dirty, smelled like gasoline, and the bathroom fixtures didn’t work very well. The guy who ran the place was very nice and gave us a refund with no hassles. He also gave us a good little booklet on Forillon with a basic map of the roads and hiking trails. Despite the room, I would highly recommend staying at the Motel Atlantique for one night. The motel is literally on the edge of the park, being the second to last building before the entrance. Needless to say, the view was unbelievable. Since it was off-season, almost everything in the town was shut anyway. I think the only places we found open were the Motel Atlantique, a convenience store with shelves that were half empty, and a small restaurant.

The next day was probably my favorite of the entire trip. We got an early start into Forillon, hiked two trails, and made it to Gaspe in time to find a place to stay before sunset. Due to the off-season the gates at the entrance to the park were left open so we saved some money there. We chose two trails, one that takes you to the tip of the peninsula and one which leads to a tower high up. Both trails were great. We brought a lunch and ate it at the tip of the peninsula, which worked out quite well. The second trail, which led to the tower, was a bit strenuous but worth the effort. While hiking we saw a lot of wildlife including three bears and a whale! Staying in Cap Des Rosiers, spending the next day in Forillon, and ending up in the town of Gaspe was what was originally recommended to us by someone on the Fodors forum (Erick_L I think) and now I agree that it really is the best way to go. We ended up in the Hotel Adams (I think), which is hard to miss since it is the biggest hotel in the town of Gaspe. It was nice and cost around 70 CAD.

Our last day on the Gaspe Peninsula was spent driving from Gaspe to Campbellton in New Brunswick. When we stopped at the captivating Perce Rock, we had no idea what schedule the tide was on. We only dared to go out about halfway past the rock for fear of getting stuck. The rest of the drive was not as unique as the previous two days, but it was still pretty. I liked how there was a bridge crossing from the end of the Gaspe peninsula to Campbellton. It seemed very symbolic to me. We stayed at the Howard Johnsons right on the NB side of the bridge, which was nice because I had the rest of the night to look back across the bridge and reflect on the past 4 days.

If anyone has any questions about my trip please don’t hesitate to email them to me. Thanks to this great forum for helping me plan this great trip. Another site that helped me a lot, especially with accommodations was tripadvisor.com.

JWitt is offline  
Old Jan 15th, 2005, 02:27 PM
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Hello Jim,

Glad you had a good time. The best way into Gaspésie park is really the 299 from Ste-Anne-des-Monts, otherwise it's dirt road, decent road but still dirt. There's still a dirt road to drive on (14km) if you want to see Lac aux Américains, which is well worth the drive. For those who hike, the trail up Mont Xalibu is fantastic. And for those who want to hike up Mont Jacques-Cartier (best place for Cariboos), I reccomend the shuttle instead of driving the ~40km of dirt road.

In Percé, a boat trip to Bonaventure island is a must, but I think you were early for that.

Little motels like the one in Cap-des-Rosiers are a dime a dozen along the coast. Not exactly 3 stars hotels but it's a place to stay. Gaspésie is very touristy during summer. Motel Plante in Gaspé is also quite decent. There's no restaurant though but I prefer it over Motel Adams. If you're lucky, you can have a room with a view on the bay. Many rooms have a kitchenette.

I remember I was going to Gaspé for work at the same time and said I was driving a red Neon and always carrying a tripod... well, I didn't see you but after I got back from taking some photos at Cap Bon-Ami, someone had left a note on my windshield... someone who read your thread! Small world.
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Old Jan 16th, 2005, 10:51 AM
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Ha, that is funny. If I remember correctly, we weren't sure if we had enough time to check out the Gaspésie Park when we passed the main road because we weren't sure how slow we would be driving. Also, we steered clear of the restaurant at Hotel Adams, so that wasn't a factor. We ended up finding a pretty good meal at a small bistro a few blocks away. Thanks again for all your help planning this trip Erick_L.
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Old Jan 16th, 2005, 02:43 PM
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As this is a trip my husband and I definitely want to take, especially the Gaspe Peninsula area, I was very interested in your report. Thank you very much for your detailed, informative and entertaining narrative!
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