The Top Ten Attractions on the Mighty Saint Lawrence

Not far downstream from Québec City is the startlingly majestic Saguenay Fjord. In this national park, glacier-carved walls plunge into nutrient-rich waters, attracting whales galore: fins, minkes, blues, and ghostly white belugas. It’s hard to know whether to gaze at the cliffs or—“Thar she blows!”—at the sea below.

Guarding the face of the Gaspé Peninsula, sheer cliffs mark where the Appalachian Mountains drop into the deep blue sea. A fine place to take in this rugged oceanscape—plus the abundance of birds and sea mammals—is from Canada’s tallest lighthouse, perched high in Forillon National Park.

Newfoundland’s south shore is its roughest and most isolated. On this wave-lashed coast you’ll see roadless outports where the locals live much as their forebears did, surviving almost entirely from the sea. Here, too, you can experience raw and ancient geology, cool critters—puffins, seabirds, whales—and, if the weather is right, take a perfect hike.

Snug in a balmy valley on the St. Lawrence’s south shore, the Jardins De Métis National Historic Site (also known as Reford Gardens) nurtures 2,000 varieties of flowers and plants, some found nowhere else in Canada. Your spirit will blossom as you stroll the leafy, fragrant paths and explore the art installations, sculptures, and delightful museum.

At the otherworldly Mingan Archipelago on Québec’s Lower North Shore, the ocean gets creative. Here, lively waters carve the surrounding limestone into strange pinnacles and monoliths. You’ll revel in the surreal shapes. Joining you in your awe may be flocks of seabirds, including puffins and eiders, and a menagerie of harp, harbour, and grey seals.

Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine are a world apart. On this remote, cliff-flanked archipelago thrive 12,000 hearty fisherfolk, many of them descendants of shipwreck survivors. Over centuries, they’ve forged a distinctive Acadian dialect and culture. Get to know the islanders—and their handicrafts, seafood, and local beers and wines!

Like countless mariners before you, you won’t miss it: standing proud off the tip of the Gaspé is myth-haunted Percé Rock. Board a Zodiac to see this sparkling, red-gold landmark up close, bisected by one of the world’s highest natural sea arches and reaching four storeys above the waterline. Nearby is the less-imposing Bonaventure Island, one of New France’s first fishing ports and the nesting grounds of countless gannets.

Just kilometres offshore of Newfoundland is Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, an official territory of the French Republic and its last colonial jurisdiction in North America. The 6,000 locals drive Citroens, smoke Gauloises, and pay in euros, but are crazy about ice hockey. Here you can (over)indulge in French food, wine, and shopping—without having to fly clear to Paris.

Wee, twee, and on the sea, Canada’s smallest province features gentle hills, wooded glades, cozy coves, and rich red soil. This bucolic isle is most famous as the home of the beloved fictional character Anne of Green Gables. Tour PEI’s iconic sites, including historic Charlottetown, known as the birthplace of Confederation.

A former outpost of Europe overlooking the Saint Lawrence, Québec City is pure cobblestone charm, and it’s worth extending your stay here. Within the walled Old Quarter, you’ll find citadels and cathedrals harkening back to the seventeenth century. Nearby is the famous funicular and the battlefield of the Plains of Abraham. And down every laneway are hole-in-the-wall eateries offering haute cuisine and sumptuous Québecois comfort food, the perfect amuse-bouche to the Mighty Saint Lawrence Taste of Place program. Bon Appetit!