Tadoussac is a few hours away from Montreal so it’s easy to escape the city for a few days for a nature getaway. A beautiful drive at this time of year because the the fall colors are everywhere and the trees all have this orange/red hues. I have always wanted to explore my region as well as hike and see the whales in Canada and Tadoussac was the perfect location for this. The highlight of the trip was definitely sleeping in a yurt under the stars in the middle of nowhere.
day one: Tadoussac is just under 6 hours away from downtown Montreal by car. 9am is the ideal time to leave to get an early-ish start while avoiding peak rush hour. Make sure you prepare a great playlist and some road trip snacks, because the bulk of the day will be spent on the road!
Alfred le voisin d'Oscar - Yourte la Belle étoile # établissement 627497
Around lunchtime, we stopped at the Belvédère Baie St Paul roadside stop on Route 362 to see the perfect panoramic view of the bay and town. There are also picnic tables if you want to stay longer and enjoy the view.
We then took the ferry to get to Tadoussac and arrived in Sacré Coeur right in time for sunset. We were staying a beautiful yurt in the middle of the forest overlooking the fjord.
day two: We drove about 20 minutes to hike the Fjord Trail. There are a few different trails when you get there, one is 41km and takes about 2-3 days to complete. We were only there for a few hours so we decided to go to Halte Beluga and have a little picnic by the water.
After the hike, we made our way to Tadoussac and checked in at Hôtel Tadoussac.
During the afternoon we grabbed coffee and walked around to explore the little shops and had happy hour by the water at sunset before having dinner at Chez Mathilde. Food was good but a little overpriced as only five courses tasting menus were available. Plan a minimum of $80 per person.
day three: We woke up and had breakfast at Le Café Bohème before getting ready to go whale watching. We booked through Croisière AML for a Zodiac tour that lasted about 2.5 hours. It was a very fun experience, we saw lots of finwhales, humpback whales and grey seals and finished the tour in the fjord. The Marine Mammal Interpretation Center was right next to the AML office so we decided to go in and see skeletons of whales that were found around the fjord over the years.
Make sure you stop by the dunes before you leave. It’s a steep hike but worth the view!
