From Friday, April 3 to Monday, April 6, 2026, it’s the first long weekend of spring. That means it’s finally—finally!—time to swap your fur-lined boots for rain boots, take off your mittens, and bring out that not-so-practical but very charming wicker basket for a picnic.
It’s also the first weekend of the year when road trips can end with your feet in the (cold) water. To go shelling on the beaches of the North Shore in three destinations where the air is salty and life is sweet, we have guides for our favorite villages in northern Quebec.
The municipality of Kamouraska is a four-hour drive northof Montreal, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. The name of the place comes from the Algonquin wordakamaraska, meaning “there are rushes at the water’s edge.”
Several villages, including the eponymous Kamouraska, have been brought together to form a municipality, and today we often referto Kamouraska as if it were a country—or a kingdom.
Our visitor’s guide to Kamouraska is here!
Baie Saint-Paul is just under a four-hour drive from downtown Montreal and, for the views, it’s one of the most beautiful routes to take by car.
The Charlevoix region, northeast of Quebec City, between the banks of the St. Lawrence River and the mouth of the Saguenay River. At the heart of the region is the Charlevoix Biosphere Reserve, located in a 400-million-year-old asteroid crater.
Baie Saint-Paulis one of the largest towns in the region, but it’s a small village with the feel of a 1990s American TV series—and we love it. The village has shops and restaurants and is amust-stopfor local products (cheese, fruit and vegetables, honey, meat), but the realroad tripleads to the heart of Charlevoix’s nature.
Our visitor’s guide for Baie Saint-Paul is here!Tadoussac: for those who want to reconnect with nature…
Toreconnect with natureafter forgetting what unfiltered water tastes like (for those who still drink water and haven’t replaced 90% of their fluids with matcha), we’re going to spend a weekend in one of the best-preserved natural areas on the North Shore: Tadoussac.
Tadoussac isa small town about a six-hour drive from Montreal. If six hours seems like a long time, you can also leave in the evening, drive three hoursto Quebec City (and sleep in a convent, why not?)and leave the next day.
The St. Lawrence River estuary, where Tadoussac is located, is a gathering place for local whales —13 species, including the fin whale, minke whale, humpback whale, and blue whale, which are endangered and protected.
Tadoussac is a kind of pantry for all these whales, with an underwater landscape that encourages the concentration of krill (the staple food of whales) and fish. From May and throughout the summer, whales gather here to feast until fall, before migrating to warmer but less nourishing waters.
Our visitor’s guide to Tadoussac is here!