During the holiday season, it would be a shame to stay in the city every weekend – even though Montreal will be transformed into a fairy-tale setting with huge fir trees, Christmas villages and skating rinks…
So we’ll be getting out of town on weekends or, for the lucky ones, on out-of-office days taken as snow days… And, of course, we know Quebec as a rather magical winter region, with its snow-covered hills, fir forests and incredibly charming villages.
We’ve got 3 places in Quebec, within a three-hour drive of Montreal, to visit for a day or a weekend during the holiday season…
1.Mont Sutton
1h30-2h drive from Montreal, Mont Sutton is the mountain where many Montrealers learned to ski, where winter weekends were spent by the fire in the chalets with mittens on the corner of the stove…
The ski season hasn’t even started yet, and after the first snowfall of the year we’re eagerly awaiting our first day on the slopes… To pick up your passes and check the dates for the 2025-2026 season, visit the Mont Sutton website here!
And at Sutton, it’s not just the mountain that’s worthy of a Christmas movie, where the characters fall in love under the heavy branches of a snow-covered fir tree… We also recommend a visit to the ultra-charming village of Sutton, which has an old-fashioned Christmas market on the weekends of November 29 and 30 and December 6 and 7, 2025.
2 .Knowlton (Brome Lake)
When you arrive in Knowlton, you’re not sure you’re not in a Quebec micro Twin Peaks … Small stone churches, Victorian houses, and a small waterfall lined with large millennial rocks.
This is one of the Eastern Townships villages that inspired novelist Louise Penny and her mysteries… More info here!
On December 13, 2025, Knowlton’s Christmas market will light up the town – Midnight Madness, from 5 p.m. to midnight. There’ll be sausages and mulled wine, Christmas gifts from local artisans and shows in the dark, on snow…
3.Quebec
Quebec City, and especially Old Quebec, is one of the region’s oldest – think old Europe – and most beautiful places.
The blocks of ice on the river, the Plains of Abraham (where you can cross-country ski) and the city’s traditional markets promise a truly romantic holiday weekend.
From November 20 to December 23, 2025, you can visit a large German Christmas market on Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, for Munich-style glühwein and meters of shots with the raclette that goes with it…
Happy Holidays!