Mr. Athena and I are contemplating a Canada vacation this summer. What we’d like to do is drive east, hit Montreal for a bit, hit Quebec City for a bit, head over to the Gaspe Peninsula, then head down to PEI and Nova Scotia.
In reality, we on only have two weeks, and we’ll be driving. From what I hear, we’re a good two day drive from Montreal.
So, given that we have two weeks, what should we do? Specific questions below:
Are both Montreal and Quebec City worth seeing? Is one more scenic or vacation-worthy than the other? If we had to pick one, which should it be?
Gaspe Peninsula vs. Nova Scotia vs. PEI: is one better than another? If we had to pick one, which should it be?
Montreal is a bigger city than Quebec, but both have definate tourist value. Summer in Montreal brings the festivals, so depending on the date of your visit you’ll be here at the same time as one of the following: Formula One Grand Prix (June), The International Fireworks Competition (May thru July), The Jazz Festival (June) the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival (July). Those are the biggies but there are others. The Old Port and Old Montreal are wildly popular in the summertime for both locals and tourists (bars, pubs, restaurants, open-air concerts, expositions) as well as having period architecture. You can also visit Mount Royal (park and look-out point) and the Olympic Village where you can ride up the mast of the Stadium to get a great 360-degree view of city and surrounding area.
Quebec City is smaller a perhaps less festival-laden, but their Old City was better protected from modern developement as is very, very pretty. Similar to Montreal but on a slightly smaller scale, some people find Quebec City more ‘intimate’.
I would be hard-pressed to say which is better, being from Montreal myself I have a tendancy towards telling you that Montreal will give you more bang for your buck, being bigger, but both are lovely.
As far as going East, both Gaspé and Nova-Scotia are awesome, awesome drives. The Cabot trail in NS is breathtaking. IMHO I’d say since you’ll be in Quebec for the first half of your trip, why not go to NS to experience some of the Acadians and Maritimers’s culture? You’ll be getting two cultures in the same trip that way.
When my wife and I moved from Ontario to Nova Scotia, this is the exact route we took to get there. A very pretty drive, but be warned that if you end up going through the interior of New Brunswick, it can get a bit monotonous.
Gaspe, Nova Scotia, PEI all have their different charms and I recommend seeing them all. Love the hills and trees in Gaspe. Nova Scotia kind of has a rugged rocky beauty and some colourful towns, you will have to go to the standard places, Cape Breton, Halifax, Lunenberg, and if you can find it on your map, a Cape-Codish little town called Chester. PEI is very pastoral and idyllic as well as having some nice red-sand beaches. It doesn’t take very long to see most of the Island and the center of the city of Charlottetown (the birthplace of Canadian conferederation) is quite pretty.
When you get into Nova Scotia, try to find a tourist info center, they give out a book called something like Nova Scotia Guide for Doers and Dreamers. Will give you lots of things to do. Or, you can order it online (free) from this site http://www.checkinnovascotia.com/Public/main/brochureRequest.asp
Make sure your car has air conditioning. Our big regret was we didn’t and sometimes the heat was unbearable.
Follow your nose, says I, a native of PEI. Montreal and Quebec City are both worth visiting. As are the Gaspe, PEI, Cape Breton, and mainland Nova Scotia.
Two weeks is not enough. You’re going to have to be arbitrary. Follow the weather and your sense of fun, or your interest in history, or whatever you’re drawn to normally.
You should absolutely not pass up on any chance you might have to see the bands; Slowcoaster (Cape Breton), or The New Drifts (PEI). Both have amazing percussion, guitar and original lyrics. This, of course, assumes that you like anything remotely resembling rock, folk or alternative.
It’s probably the typo in your thread title. Easter was a couple of weeks ago! Maybe they’re all assuming that they’re too late.
Anyway, I don’t have alot to add, since it’s been years since I’ve been out east. We went on a family vacation to PEI one year, travelling through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on the way. My parents enjoyed Nova Scotia so much that we went back a few years later to spend more time touring around there exclusively. PEI was nice as well, but we liked Nova Scotia even better. My $0.02 (Canadian - now worth $0.014 US! Go Loonie!)
Quebec City and Montreal are both well worth a look. Montreal has lots of good festivals, especially in July. Both have awesome, cheap food. See the old parts of both cities.
PEI is a beautiful place to golf or fish. It is also very kid friendly.
Gaspe and Nova Scotia are also very nice. Halifax is a fun city. Nova Scotia is filled with picturesque towns, especially in the lower half of the province. You can take a ferry to Nova Scotia from Bar Harbour or Portland if it is easier to do your trip the other way round.
Two weeks is plenty to get a taste of the regions. I’d start in Montreal and slowly go east, rather than stick too much to a specific agendum.
Former Islander (PEI) here, so I will give some advice on PEI.
Anywhere is lovely in PEI during the summer, but like most of the maritimes it can get cold and wet for days on end. Plan indoor and outdoor activities.
There is a week long festival in Charlottetown called “Old Home Week” from Aug 8-16. This includes a smallish exhibition (rides, games, etc), livestock contests, and horse racing every day. The final race is a $50,000 race that attracts people from all over North America.
Generally I would spend only a day taking in the really touristy places, and spend a few days exploring the small communities and fishing towns. There is almost no nightlife to really speak of in Charlottetown, but you can find quite a few good small pubs that have local entertainment.
PEI has really blossomed as a golfing destination. If you or the hubby golfs then you need to check out Crowbush (a very highly rated course. A very difficult course as well. )
I think PEI has the highest Tim Hortons (Coffee shop):Resident ratio than any other province in Canada. It’s almost scary.
Meh, looking back I see that I didn’t really do PEI justice. It really is a nice place, and is worth at least a night or two. Check out here for the official PEI travel guide.