Day and Weekend Trips From Montreal, Canada

Montreal is a wonderful city, but sometimes it’s nice to get a change of scenery. There are many interesting places to visit around Montreal which can serve as the perfect day or weekend getaway. In this post I will highlight some of our favorite road trips.

Quebec City

Quebec City is at the top of our list because it’s beautiful and there are lots of historical places to visit. There are also numerous and excellent restaurants to choose from and lots of small boutiques to discover.

Quebec City is also the only walled city in Canada, and it reminds us a little bit of Europe. We love wandering around the Petit Champlain and Place Royal areas and walking along the Promenade des Gouverneurs and seeing the iconic Château Frontenac.

If you go, be sure to stop by the Montmorency Falls, the tallest waterfall in the Province of Quebec. They are located less than a 20-minute drive from Quebec City. While in the area you may also want to visit Île d’Orléans, known for its quaint picturesque scenery, regional dining and art galleries.

Quebec City is located about a 3 hours’ drive northeast from Montreal. It’s also possible to take a day cruise from Montreal to Quebec City. Along the way you will see beautiful scenery and learn about the regions bordering the St. Lawrence River. We haven’t done this ourselves yet, but we know people that did and enjoyed it.

For more information about Quebec City see our post: Visiting Quebec City & the Countryside

The Laurentians

The Laurentians start a little more than an hour’s drive northwest from Montreal and extend much further north. Depending on where you go you can choose to take a day trip or spend a few days. The whole area is very picturesque all year round. We especially enjoy seeing the fall colors. We like to drive up and spend the day roaming around Saint-Sauveur’s main shopping street or Mont Tremblant’s pedestrian shopping village (be sure to try a Queue de Castor!). There are also countless restaurants serving traditional and delicious specialty dishes.

During the summer many people go to enjoy the sparking lakes and greenery of the Laurentians and camp, fish, kayak, canoe, play golf, or simply relax in a quaint lake-side cottage. In the wintertime people flock to the area for the slopes to ski, snowboard and toboggan. Others might prefer to enjoy a relaxing break at one of the many Nordic spas.

In a nutshell there’s a lot to see and do in the Laurentians and this is why it’s one of our favorite destinations to visit from Montreal year-round.

For more ideas: Where to See Fall Foliage Around Montreal

Oka

Oka is located about one-hour west from Montreal’s city-center and makes for a nice place to go for a day trip. But there is also a campground if you want to spend a few days exploring the area.

There are hiking trails with great views of the Lake of Two Mountains, a beach with lifeguards, bike paths and watersports in the summer. The Oka National Park (Parc national d’Oka) is open year-round and is a popular place for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and sledding in the winter.

In the fall we like to go apple picking or see the colors and, in the Spring, we go for brunch at a Cabane-à-sucre (sugar shack).

Oka is also renowned for its Oka cheese, a semi-soft cheese with a bright orange rind, mild taste and a strong odor. The cheese was first created by the Trappist monks of the Abbey of Notre-Dame du Lac (now an inn and restaurant). It is still made according to the traditional recipe, delicious!

Tadoussac

Tadoussac, located approximately 6 hours northeast of Montreal, is the place to go for whale watching in Quebec. The peak season is from late June to early September and during this time you are guaranteed to see lots of whales. Blue whales and belugas stick around all year, but I can’t imagine going on a boat out of season. In September, it was already freezing on the water. Another thing to consider is that some businesses also close down for the winter.

Consider taking the scenic route along the 362 (Route du Fleuve) through the Charlevoix region.

You can read more about our experience in our post: Whale Watching in Tadoussac, Quebec, Canada

Ottawa

Obviously, I couldn’t leave Canada’s capital off the list of places to visit from Montreal. It’s only a 2 hours’ drive west from Montreal and we visited many times.

One of the prettiest times to visit Ottawa is during the Tulip Festival which is held yearly in May. You can see a delightful kaleidoscope of colors with over a million tulips in bloom at Commissioners Park. At that time, you will also see countless tulips throughout the city. In gratitude for Canada’s help to the Dutch royal family during Second World War the Dutch government continues to gift tulips to Canada.

Another popular time to visit Ottawa is for the Canada Day celebrations where thousands gather on Parliament Hill for a spectacular display of fireworks.

There’s a lot to see and do in Ottawa, indoors and outdoors:

• Parliament Hill, home to the Canadian Government
• Rideau Canal with its walking and bike trails. It becomes the world’s largest skating rink during the winter
• ByWard Market, one of Canada’s oldest public markets with specialty shops and restaurants
• Major’s Hill Park with walking paths and great river views
• Ottawa’s seven national museums

You can also cross the Alexandra Bridge (next to the National Gallery of Canada) to Hull, Gatineau’s oldest district, in Quebec. This is where you’ll find the Canadian Museum of History formerly known as the Museum of Civilization. From there you’ll get a great view of the Parliament of Canada.

Nearby you’ll find Jacques Cartier Park where you can see Mosaicultures, consisting of beautiful floral and plant sculptures.

Brockville

Brockville is a small city in the Province of Ontario about 2 ½ hours southwest of Montreal. It’s popular with scuba divers. In fact, this is where we got our scuba diving certification.

This area of the St. Lawrence River was very treacherous for boats and many met their demise. There are over 200 shipwrecks (wooden schooners, war ships and freighters) in the Thousand Islands area for divers to explore. The fast-moving current keeps the water clear, and the cold fresh water helps to preserve these historic shipwrecks.

Our first official open water dive was on the Lillie Parsons, an American two-masted schooner which sank in 1877. There was a strong current, approximately 30 feet visibility and in early September the water temperature was around 70° F. It was amazing that the wooden hull and bow were still intact after all those years. With salt water wrecks have significant erosion after only a few years.

Make sure you have a Dryfob waterproof container for you car key so you can take it with you when you dive.

In the Thousand Islands National Park there are also hiking trails and camping facilities. It’s a a very picturesque place to enjoy the outdoors. Take a narrated boat tour to see some of the thousand islands.

Conclusion

Of course, there are so many other places to visit as day or weekend trips from Montreal. But these are some of the places we enjoyed the most and recommend.

There are also many beautiful lakes and provincial parks where people can go camping and enjoy the great outdoors within a short drive from Montreal. This reminds me that in the early days of our travels we would drive south of the border to go camping in the Lake Champlain area and visit places like Ausable Chasm in the Adirondack Mountains.

We have also heard good things about the Charlevoix area, but we haven’t had the chance to visit yet. If you have been, perhaps you could share your experience with us.

We would love to hear about some of the day and weekend getaways you like to take from Montreal…

Related Post: Things to See and Do in Montreal, Canada