starfish1

We are planning a trip to Quebec for September but have a few questons I'm hoping someone familiar with the areas can help on.

We will be travelling from Toronto and have two weeks. Areas we have narrowed down to what we'd like to explore are the Eastern Townships, Charlevoix and Saguenay/Lac St Jean. We will be travelling by car but will be bringing bicycles and would like to know if these are good areas to get around on bikes either on bike paths or small roads. Ideally we would base ourselves in each region and do day trips. I have been reading about La Route Verte but cannot seem to find anything related to degree of difficulty for the regions above. (We're fit but not keen on lots of hills) Just in the planning stages now so we're open to any/all suggestions. Many thanks for your help!

Phinn

The Eastern Townships are particularly suited to cycling. There are a number of picturesque villages such as Knowlton, Sutton and Magog offering good food and lodging. Check the Quebec tourism site for more info.or www.canadatrails.ca/biking for more info - and have a good time!

colbeck

The Eastern Townships are very scenic, with excellent biking opportunities. Our favorite accomodation is Auberge Ripple Cove (www.ripplecove.com) on Lac Massawippi in Ayers Cliff. The inn is lovely, offering a spa, excellent dining, a pool and access to water sports such as kayaing. It is not far from Magog and the charming village of North Hatley.

Mont Tremblant, north of Montreal, is nice resort with excellent bike trails, shops and restaurants. The bike trails are on old railroad beds, so flat and easy to navigate. The mountainside village is indeed a "resort", so a bit commercial, but the historic old Mont Trembalnt Village is very charming, with inns, B&B's and good restaurants. There is a great organic Farmers' Market there on Saturday mornings in season. There are several other nice little towns to explore. The area might be a good stop either to, or from, Toronto to the Eastern Townships.

bellaboo

The Gaspe is AMAZING as well!

Erick_L

Bike trails are usually quite easy. There are a few short hills through Mont Orford park but nothing really difficult. Road riding is another matter. The Eastern Township are often hilly, so is Saguenay and Charlevoix is %?$ing hilly, where a 10% is a small hill. It goes up to 20%. Lac St-Jean is flat.

Some recommendations based on trails and road I rode on so I might miss a few:

- Yamaska park near Granby (Eastern T.)
- 256km loop around Lac St-Jean. The trail is a big tourist thing so it's very well serviced. My favorite was Pointe-Taillon park , which is only accessible by foot or bike.
- Île-aux-Coudres in Charlevoix.
- Parc des-Hautes-Gorges. It's very hilly to get there but fairly easy once in the park. One of the nicest road in Quebec IMO.

There are lots of trails in the Eastern Townships and you can get a map/booklet at any tourist info. There's one in Magog near the lake. There are trails nearby.

Some photos of cycling in Quebec (and Atlantic Canada):
http://www.borealphoto.com/Cycling

starfish1

Thank you all so much for the great info. Just what I needed to get started. Phinn, thanks for the link to Canada Trails and info. on the Townships. Colbeck, I appreciate hearing about Ripplecove as I've had it bookmarked for a couple of years for when the right time came. I also have Manoir Hovey bookmarked which is in North Hatley so will have to decide but it sounds like cycling around either place is great. Hadn't thought of Tremblant either but it might be a great place to stopover. Bellaboo we'll make note of the Gaspe but it might be further than we can go. Erick L thanks for all the details and especially your recommendations. Charlevoix sounds like it might be too %?$ing hilly so maybe we'll just drive through it on our way to Lac St-Jean. The photos are great - looks like the weather really cooperated. Thanks again everyone!

JQReports

starfish1,

Please don't skip the Charlevoix. It is always on my list of places to return to (Tremblant is not).

JQ

Erick_L

Yeah, don't skip Charlevoix. Île-aux-Coudres is superb excellent for cycling. It might be windy a little. You just have to get there by car. The ferry is free. Parc des Hautes-Gorges is gorgeous. Once in the park, it's easy cycling, part of the road is restricted to park buses and there's a bike trail at the road's end.

I'd recommend taking highway 138 up to Baie-St-Paul, 362 to La Malbaie (stop at îLe-aux-Coudres) and 138 again to Tadoussac. Then follow the Saguenay on 172, around the lake and back on the other side on 170. Highway 138 back to La Malbaie. Then drive on either side of rivière Malbaie (138 or a quiet road) to St-Clement and you'll go up a good hill. Turn right to St-Aimé-des-Lacs and parc des Hautes-Gorges. The park is a dead end. On your way back, link St-Aimé-des-Lacs, Notre-Dame-des-Monts and St-Urbain-de-Charlevoix on the back roads. It's the "route des Montagnes". If you'Re into hiking, take a little detour to parc des Grands-Jardins and hike up mont du Lac-des-Cygnes.

Between Mont-Ste-Anne and St-Tite-des-Caps, highway 360 is a nice drive as well.

See sepaq.com for all the parks you'll encounter on your way.

starfish1

OK, Charlevoix it is with cycling on the Ile-aux-Coudres. Sounds like we can't miss it from what I'm hearing. Erick L thanks for the very good detailed trip info. The Parc sounds awesome. Just waiting for trip maps and then can start fine tuning. I don't have a very good idea of distances at this point so they will help. Thanks again for taking the time and for your great advice.

colbeck

Starfish1,

We like Manoir Hovey very much too. Have stayed there several times. It is larger and more family oriented than Ripplecove, and very convenient to the village center of North Hatley.

I guess we prefer Ripplecove because it seems more romantic and intimate. Either one is a good choice.

Tanya

An hour south of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, you start to see blue signs that read CIRQUIT DU PAYSAN (Peasant Route). This is an amazing route that is spotted with cider makers, cheese makers, etc. Truly beautiful countryside and easy to bike. It is a culinary wonder and from one vantage point, you can see the city of Montreal. I have travelled it and look forward to going back some day soon. Here is a link that gives a better description
http://www.canada.com/topics/travel/...d-917bda027163

starfish1

Thanks colbeck - I was leaning toward Ripplecove as it sounds more like what we're looking for. Tanya, will be sure to check out the route mentioned. Greatly appreciate the info!

starfish1

Hi again folks,
Just wondering for the Charlevoix/Saguenay regions, would Baie St Paul or La Malbaie make a good base to do day trips from? We'd rather plunk ourselves in one place for four nights and explore the areas but want to make sure either one of these towns makes sense. Any other suggestions appreciated too. Many thanks!

jamierin

Starfish - did you ever do that biking trip with Wood and Westland? Just saw your post from years back and I am interested in finding just such a trip.