Canada

  • Charlevoix

    Charlevoix

    On our last full day in Québec, we explored the Charlevoix region. Designated a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, this region is well known for its agrotourism. The Charlevoix lamb is much prized for its flavor and texture that it became the first food product in North America to be legally protected based on its region… Read more…

  • Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier

    Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier

    Named after a French navigator who discovered Canada, Jacques-Cartier, Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier is located about 45 minutes drive from Québec City. This national park is located in the Laurentian Mountains that contains several glacial landforms. It is home to one of Québec’s most spectacular glacial valleys, the Jacques-Cartier valley. Just like our visit… Read more…

  • Île d’Orléans

    Île d’Orléans

    We originally didn’t think we would have enough time to cramp in a visit to Île d’Orléans during our stay in Québec City, so we excluded this place from our initial trip plan. Since we managed to visit Old Québec in just 2 days, we had an extra day to explore this island at a… Read more…

  • Québec City

    Québec City

    Among all places we covered in this 12-day trip, Québec City — or more precisely, Old Québec — was by far our most highly anticipated travel destination. Inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1985, Old Québec was characterized as “the cradle of the French civilization in America”. This city was the capital of New… Read more…

  • Eastern Townships & Chemin du Roy

    Eastern Townships & Chemin du Roy

    The highway drive from Montréal to Québec City typically takes a little less than 3 hours. However, after learning about a cluster of picturesque small towns in a region known as the Eastern Townships, we allocated an entire day to explore several interesting small towns during our drive to Québec City. Due to our limited… Read more…

  • Parc national du Mont-Tremblant

    Parc national du Mont-Tremblant

    When we first planned this trip, we contemplated the possibility of spending a few nights in Parc national de la Mauricie, which is located halfway between Montréal and Québec City. However, since half of that park was closed for construction, we decided to do a day trip in Parc national du Mont-Tremblant instead, and perhaps,… Read more…

  • Montréal

    Montréal

    The province of Québec intrigues us. While Canada’s majority is Anglophone, Québec has the largest Francophone communities in Canada where 80% of them speak French as their first language while 95% of them can speak French. In fact, Montréal is the fourth largest Francophone city in the world. Prior to arrival, we bought 3-day Passeport… Read more…

  • Calgary

    Calgary

    We contemplated the decision on whether to spend an extra day to explore Calgary or to head home immediately after spending 10 days in the national parks. In the end, we chose the earlier because it would be rather unlikely for us to come back here in the near future. Since the first day we… Read more…

  • Jasper National Park

    Jasper National Park

    From Banff, we departed early in the morning and headed to Jasper. We stopped by at the Columbia Icefield along the way. Although the drive from Banff to the icefield took about 2.5 hours and an additional 1.5 hours to reach Jasper from the icefield, we made several wonderful stops along the Icefields Parkway, considered… Read more…