EtyV

Hi,

We (2 people) will be in Montreal (3+ days) than in Quebec (2+ days) and have additional 2 days before taking a cruise (Saguenay, Gaspe, Charlottetown, Sydney, Halifax, Bar Harbor).

What would be your high preference to visit in those 2 days ?

We are ready to travel 6 hours a day (starting and return point can be Riviere-Du-Loup or Quebec ).
We want to see the nature and would like to include trip of short distance walking (2-3 hours) during a day.
Since Canada is so beautiful country, and 2 days is very very limited , I would like to spend them the best we can.

I was thinking to travel to Fundy NP and Hopewell Rocks, is it the best option consider the limited time or you have a better idea?

Thanks a lot for any help / idea.

Regards,
Kissh

eliztravels2

Seriously? Hopewell Rocks is at least 8 hours from Quebec and 6 from Riviere Du Loup, without stops. That's a lot of highway and not much nature. The eastern townships or the Laurentians are a better bet.

NorthwestMale

Well, I used Google to gain a sense for the path of your cruise ship, and I would agree that missing the Bay of Fundy during all that is significant.

So I would as well be inspired to take the general path you suggest, and Hopewell Rocks IS indeed the most vivid single image of what is unique about The Bay of Fundy.

Thankfully you're already on target for Charlottetown, Sydney, and Halifax, so you need not double-up in those directions.


Indeed Riviere-du-Loup to Hopewell Cape is 365 miles and just under 6 hours via Fredericton, and it isn't likely too scenic, relatively speaking.

More scenery and more time are involved if you went from Riviere-du-Loup via Bathurst and Miramichi, but that would add variety, and different views of Canada. (it is 440 miles, 9 hours of DRIVING time, from Riviere-du-Loup to Hopewell Cape along such a path)

I had a glimmer of an added idea, but even I now have to admit that it is too ambitious for your time constraints... so now I'm excited to endorse following your exact instinct there, only to underscore taking the Rimouski-Amqui-Bathurst-Miramichi path on the way TO Hopewell Cape... giving yourselves every hope of observing various scenery along that path.

BE SURE to use the TIDE TABLES at http://www.waterlevels.gc.ca/eng/station?sid=170

to know for certain just when Low tide is, for your projected arrival.

I guess you should target a night in/near Moncton, NB for what I guess would be the end of that first, long day of travel.

Then, in a perfect world, you set out for an early-day low tide at Hopewell Cape the next morning.

Perhaps if you've done everything ideally, and nature agrees, you then set sail back to the north again, perhaps making time for anything you might not have had time for on the way south.

A strategic night somewhere along the path, and maybe a different route back to Riviere-du-Loup based on time constraints, will be in the cards.

I'd say your initial instinct was the best idea to fully complement your exposure by sea to the Maritime Provinces.

Perhaps Fundy N.P. can be added, for the walking part, based on whether you feel you have time to offer it.

If you're going to be at sea for a while, perhaps it isn't so bad to undertake a considerable driving trip on dry land for just that brief window of opportunity.

Southam

You could easily put in those two extra day walking around Montreal and Quebec City. In Montreal the park on Mont Royal, while a planned greenspace rather than wilderness, is a favourite attraction for the locals, enjoying views in all directions and plenty of vegetation. Or you could take an urban hike along the old Lachine Canal, which parallels the St. Lawrence River running west to the suburb of Lachine. Or spend a day at the Mont-Tremblant ski area, with trails open in the summer. In Quebec City, the parks west from the Plains of Abraham are extensive, or take a quick ferry ride to Levis on the South Shore. The Montmorency Falls park is just east of the city. Plenty of exercise, and plenty of history, everywhere in the province. It is also very bicycle-oriented and renting a bike for a day should not be hard.

laverendrye

I can't imagine spending two days driving from Québec City to the Bay of Fundy and back, especially when there is so much to see in the environs.

The Charlevoix, down river from Québec City on the north shore, is beautiful countryside. I would take a day meandering through the countryside (including the Ile d'Orléans) and stay overnight in Baie-St-Paul, a very picturesque town frequented by artists since the 1920s. Or you could stay overnight at the historic Manoir Richelieu just outside La Malbaie. In either case, don't miss the stunning views on the coastal road (route 362) between Baie-St-Paul and La Malbaie.

Save the Bay of Fundy for another visit. You really don't have enough time to enjoy it.