Towns to visit between Montreal And Quebec City

Ste Hyacinthe is the home of Casavant Organs. If you are into pipe organs you will know about them. I have gotten to play a couple of them and a friend had a 13 rank Casavant in his basement. For many people this would be the town to avoid I guess.

obgraham wrote:
A bit more: In Trois Rivieres, if you like church architecture, the Ursuline Convent is marvellous, as is the St Joseph Seminary.

And along the south shore, there is not a more picturesque town than Boucherville, where lots of Montreal's hoi-polloi live.

Well hoi-polloi is a bit of a derogatory term. I lived in Boucherville for 17 years in my youth when it was a quaint small town of 5,000 people. It supported a lot of farming and essentially was a blue collar town for businesses/manufacturers in the area. Today the population is about 43,000 with 3 industrial parks and host of large companies.

With the population of the Montreal region being over 3.8 million there's really not much of Montreal's hoi-polloi there. :B

A bit more: In Trois Rivieres, if you like church architecture, the Ursuline Convent is marvellous, as is the St Joseph Seminary.

And along the south shore, there is not a more picturesque town than Boucherville, where lots of Montreal's hoi-polloi(Correction: see below -- Hoity-Toity is indeed the proper term)live.

Well I've done both sides of the St. Lawrence on a bicycle, the 132 and the 138. Personally the 138 is prettier as you have the villages of Grondines, Deschambault, Neuville with beautiful buildings, but the 132 is not too shabby either. If you are doing a round trip, do them both. St-Pierre-des-Becquets and on to St-Nicolas. Don't forget, get off the roads and visit the villages, as there are many wher you exit at one end and come back out on the other as those raods are the ''old'' roads. I highly suggest Avenue Royale from Beauport, which is just east of Q-City all the way to Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré (Free or next to free camping just across the 138 form the basilica there). A tip. If you visit the Montmorency Falls, access it by Avenue Royale in Courville (Beauport). The charge $11.00 for parking but you can park in the streets there for free and there is no entry fee.

AND if you really have time on your hands......Orléans Island and also an hour'sdrive from the City is Baie-St-Paul and its surrounding area.

If you want to wander in these areas send me a PM.....

One thing I would definitely suggest is for you to bring your bicycles and hit the bike trail between Montreal Old Port and the town of Lachine (12 miles West). The trail follows Lake St-Louis and St Lawrence river.
I lived in that area (town of Dorval) all my life before moving to the States in 2005. I used to bike from home to the Old Port, have lunch and come back. If ever you do that bike ride, don't miss the peninsula in Lachine....a gem with modern architecture.(bring a picnic)
Also, while in Montreal, go visit St-Joseph Shrine on top of Mont Royal, and take the trail to the top of the mountain where you will have spectacular view of Montreal. While in the area, take a car ride to Cote des Neiges cemetery which is the one and only cemetery in Montreal (Millions of people are buried there)...... It even has street names!

South shore has a bunch: Ste Hyacinthe. Drummondville, Victoriaville, Asbestos. St Romuald has a wonderful church interior.
And Manoir de Tilly, south shore just West of Quebec City just might be the finest dining I've been to in 30 years!
Oh, if you like churches - Cap de la Madeleine on the north shore.

Not a lot of native English speakers in those parts, but we've found the locals extremely friendly to tourists.