hawksbill

I'm planning a short driving vacation for sometime this summer. I'll be driving from New England to Quebec City, then along the Chemin du Roy to Montreal, and then back to New York.

I have the opportunity to start the trip from either of two locations in New England: Boston, or the Maine coast near Acadia National Park. If I start from Boston, I would apparently take I-93 to I-91, cross into Quebec, then pass through Sherbrooke and Drummondville on my way to Quebec City. If I start from Maine, it would be a much shorter but slower route, on US-201, passing through Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce.

Is either of these routes more scenic, or preferable for some other reason? I would assume that the more rural route from Maine would be nicer, but I've never driven in this area, so I'm open to suggestions.

I'll cross-post this in the USA and Canada forums, and provide links if I get responses in either forum. Thanks in advance.

Ackislander

Quebec City is one of the great places in North America, and I might bump it up even from there.

But it is a royal pain to get to. I have not done the Acadia National Park route, but I have done the other, and it is long and tedious. The scenery is pretty dull until you get to St Johnsbury, VT, at which point you start picking up the White Mountains. Oddly enough, the scenery north of the border is not grandly scenic like the White Mountains, but more like upstate NY.

One time I attempted to take back roads from Quebec to the Vermont border, and it was quite a lot better scenically -- rural scenery, farms, small towns -- but even slower.

Flying is no better, as the connections from Boston last time I looked were lousy. Too bad, because it is the kind of place I can see myself popping off to once a year or so.

dfrostnh

Maybe to clarify, the scenery is decent on Rt 93 from NH border heading north. I think Ackislander is describing southbound. Rt 93 is mostly wooded, I prefer to take the 293 section that goes along the Merrimack River with Manchester NH's old mills on the other side. It's a city but the mill buildings have been restored. Once above Manchester you start to get glimpses of distant hills and mountains. By the time you get to Plymouth the scenery is really nice and you are entering the White Mountains. Rt 93 cuts right thru, much to the chagrin of our dearly departed Old Man. Once past the notch, the land starts to flatten. In Canada it's not that scenic.
You would have better opportunities for services along Rt 93 than the route thru Maine.

Ackislander

Thanks for the clarification, dfrostnh. I was indeed thinking about the drive southbound, which gets better and better as opposed to the drive northbound which gets duller and duller.

hawksbill

Thanks for the tips! Over on my Canadian thread, Fodorite Cranachin, who has done both routes, votes for making the trip from Maine rather than Boston: http://www.fodors.com/community/cana...y-230554-2.cfm

He or she pointed to an earlier thread, with some good suggestions on how to make the Canadian portion of the Boston-to-QC route more scenic: http://www.fodors.com/community/cana...uebec-city.cfm

He or she also provided a trip report with a little description of leaving QC on the way back to Maine, recommending taking Route 173: http://www.fodors.com/community/cana...-surprises.cfm