From Quebec City to the Gaspe Peninsula - A Riverside Road Trip in Quebec

Sixteen days following the St Lawrence out to the end of the Gaspe peninsula and back, which is one of the great riverside drives and gets steadily wilder as it goes.

Quebec City opens it with three nights, the only walled city in North America, with the Citadel and an optional day in Jacques-Cartier National Park. Baie-Saint-Paul follows, an arts town that is the gateway to the Grands-Jardins and Hautes-Gorges parks.

Le Bic then gets two nights across the river by ferry, with Bic National Park’s headlands and bays and the seals that haul out on its rocks. Carleton follows for two nights, an eighteenth-century Acadian fishing village behind a natural lagoon, with kayaking on the Bonaventure River.

Perce is the destination and gets two nights. Perce Rock is a limestone block in the sea with a natural arch through it, reached by boat, and Bonaventure Island next to it holds one of the largest northern gannet colonies in the world, with the birds nesting within a few metres of the path. Gaspe follows with Forillon National Park and its seabird cliffs and seal colonies, then two nights in Gaspesie National Park, where white-tailed deer, moose and the last caribou herd south of the St Lawrence share the same mountains, with golden eagles overhead. Riviere-du-Loup closes the loop before the ferry back. Original Travel include the hire car, the ferries, accommodation, the boat trips and guided walks, concierge access, a 24-hour helpline and carbon absorption. International flights and most meals are separate. Prices run from 2,750 to 4,150 pounds per person.