Quebec whale watching
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Anonymous
| Wise people of DCUM- we are heading to Montreal and Quebec City later this summer. Seems like there is decent whale watching a few hours from QC. Anyone do this and have a company they would recommend? Also open to ideas for things to do in QC and spots to stop between Montreal and Quebec city. Thanks in advance! |
Anonymous
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It’s in St. Catherine’s. Any of the companies will be fine.
It’s about a three hour drive. There’s really nothing of interest between the city and the town. |
Anonymous
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Also no reason to stop between Montreal and QC.
DP |
Anonymous
| To the poster who has done it- was it worth the time and money? |
Anonymous
| Cannot recommend Tadoussac enough. Was really a highlight of our Quebec trip and the whale watching was only a part of it. |
Anonymous
| Sugar shacks along the way may have shaved ice with maple syrup as a treat. |
Anonymous
| DP, you will see whales or you won’t. It has nothing to do with the company. It’s a hit or miss. You usually will see other wildlife though (usually at least dolphins) |
Anonymous
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I just researched this type of trip and unfortunately had to cancel mine planned for next week due to a family emergency but I'll share my tips! We did some of this years ago but not all.
There's lots to do in Quebec city with kids. The Musee des civilization is supposed to be good, there's some splash pads, the funicular is fun, just visiting some different restaurants (La Buche is my fav- make reservations) and bakeries. 15 minutes from Quebec city is Montmorency water falls and there is a cable car you can take down & up and then you are basically almost next to Ile d'Orleans where you can go biking, taste local cheeses, apple cider (hard cider/wine for adults) and get apparently amazing icecream- dipped in chocolate. You can stop in the Charlevoix region in between Quebec & Tadoussac and Baie-St-Paul, & La Malbaie are the two biggest towns to stay in. BSP is supposed to be a great little foodie and art town and is along the st. Lawrence river. There's great hiking nearby and you can take a free 20 minute ferry to Isle-aux-coudres (looks super cute, again lots of yummy food to try, ect). There's some little beaches in the towns and it just looks pretty and relaxing. 20 minutes from BSP towards Tadoussac is the Musee de maritime Charlevoix with big ships and what looks like a great forested children's climbing/play area. I was 100% going to take my kids, bring a picnic lunch and spend time at the climbing/play area and then down at the beach and of course checking out the ships. Looked like a great time. You take a (Free) ferry to Tadoussac and lodging is super limited and especially for this summer (a lot is booked up)...but there's always camping. We LOVE camping Tadoussac which overlooks the Saguenay Fjord and you MUST bring binoculars and watch the sunset from there. You can spot whales from your site (mostly Beluga and other smaller whales) but there is a nice little playground overlooking fjord. I would try to book a site near the playground so you can sit and relax there. You can also walk along the shore behind the whale museum early morning & about 1.5 hours before sunset to whale watch....it was really fun! There are some different whale watching tours but you DO need to book them in advance. The best ones are the Zodiak boat tours but just make sure your kid are old enough. Camping Tadoussac has a Zodiak tour connected to their campground that is very reasonably priced and had good reviews at roughly $165 for a family of 4 when the others were about $300-350ish. I wouldn't say I had amazing food in Tadoussac but there's a few places to eat that's a place where picnicking might be the best option. Have fun! |
Anonymous
Parts of the drive north from QC are gorgeous and reminded me of NZ. The tour we did feature a lot of wildlife. But there's nothing really in between. There are some wineries and fromageries between Montreal and Quebec which are fun to check out. However, your French better be good. Mine is only passable and it was challenging at times. Even 30 minutes outside Montreal and they don't speak English. At all. |
Anonymous
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"The Musee des civilization is supposed to be good"
My two cents, I thought it was very good. |
Anonymous
Yes…this is where the St Lawrence and Atlantic meet and is a major whale mating location in summer. We took a whale two hour whale trip from Tadoussac and saw like every whale you can imagine…humpbacks, blue whales, minke…others I can’t recall. I honestly had little expectations from crappy whale watching boats from Cape Cod so it really blew me away. |
Anonymous
Fyi, they speak Quebecois which is almost a completely different language from Parisian French - kind of like saying "dunno" instead of "I don't know and also some slang. Can try writing instead. |
Anonymous
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The drive from Baie St Paul to Tadoussac (via Rte 362) is the prettiest I've ever taken. Highly recommend. Stop in Baie-St-Paul and stroll thru some shops and galleries. Stop at the beach in Ste Irenee and get ice cream at the snack shop across the street. Amazingly, the only way to get from Baie-Ste-Catherine to Tadoussac is via ferry, which the kids will enjoy. Whale watching from Tadoussac is terrific. Get a tour that includes the fjord. So lovely. (Be warned: it will be shockingly cold out on the St Lawrence.) In Tadoussac, don't miss the giant sand dune.
We loved this trip so much we did it twice (at our teens' request)--once in 2018 and again in 2022. |
Anonymous
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We are headed there as well, OP, in August. One week in QC (we went last summer as well), and one week in Baie-St. Paul (2 nights) and Taddoussac (4 nights). We plan on doing the zodiac whale watching with a local company: https://www.tadoussacautrement.com/. It will be our first time going (2 adults/2 kids).
As far as the drive from Montreal to QC - there are two routes. The highway and the local route following the river. We did the local route and it was beautiful. I've never done the drive from QC up to Tadoussac but I expect it will be gorgeous. Thanks to the poster with the recommendations of things to do in the Charlevoix region. |
Anonymous
| Bumping. Where did you all stay in/around Tadoussac? We were planning a trip for mid August. |