First stop: Montreal & Quebec City!
From bagels to Northern Lights - a food tour through Montreal, chasing Aurora Borealis, and exploring Quebec City.
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As we have recovered from our recent trip to Canada, we’re bursting with excitement to share the details of our 3-week journey with you.
And trust us, we have a lot to share.
We’re starting our Canada series with our very first stop: Quebec!
Our mission over here in the French part of Canada? To visit Hannah’s brother and fiancée in Montreal, meet the newest side of the family in the countryside, and wander through the old town of Quebec City.
Ready for a perfect mix of quality time and exploration?
On y va!
Montreal Food Tour
Our first - and absolutely essential - activity in Montreal was a food tour, carefully planned by our wonderful hosts (thank you once again ❤️).
We’re big into combining exploration with good food stops, so this was the perfect way to discover the city. Hannah’s brother and fiancée took us through some of the best spots in Montreal, these were the amazing stops of the day:
St-Viateur Bagel
We kicked off the day with bagels from St-Viateur Bagel, one of Montreal’s most iconic spots. Since 1957, they’ve been creating tasty traditionally-styled bagels. They told us they bake over 10,000 plain bagels a day.
Every. Single. Day.
Isn’t that insane?!
This doesn’t even include their other bagels like apple & maple syrup, caramel, or onion. One thing’s for sure, they know what they’re doing, and you should give them a go as well!
Schwartz Deli
Next up was the legendary Schwartz Deli, where we savored a smoked meat sandwich and typical Quebecois poutine.
Visiting on a Friday morning, we were pleasantly surprised to find no queue. Later, we learned that it's usually a waiting game to place an order here, so we definitely lucked out!
Chinatown
From there, we ventured to Chinatown for some refreshing bubble tea and dumplings, adding a nice twist to our food journey so far.
Crew Cafe
Our caffeine fix came from Crew Cafe, a unique spot housed in a former bank. It’s now a stunning blend of co-working spaces and a coffee shop.
We really loved the vibe here!
The iced coffees were a bit too bitter for Hannah’s liking, but the CAKES - my gosh - they were absolutely delicious. We had a slice of the lemon cake and a triple chocolate cookie, we’d go back for those in a heartbeat.
Atwater Market
In the afternoon, we hopped on Bixi bikes and rode across the city to Atwater Market.
It’s a bustling market hall that’s been around since 1933. Nowadays, it’s a haven for fresh produce and a variety of food stands, offering everything from Vietnamese cuisine to pub food and ice cream.
We finished our tour off with drinks here and a variation of small dishes to share. Then, we crossed over to the other side of the water. Here we hung out in grass and soaked up some sun after a fun day of exploring Montreal.
Northern Lights in Charette
Our second stop on the ‘Quebec-calendar’ was a family visit to Charette.
It’s where the parents of Hannah’s soon-to-be sister in law live. It’s halfway between Montreal and Quebec City and takes about 1.5 hours by car.
We were initially planning to go here the next morning, but a little birdie told Mike about the crazy Northern Lights storm that was happening that evening!
And if you’ve read our blog post about the ultimate strategy to see the Northern Lights, you know the key is to have as little light pollution as possible. That’s we decided to swap out the big city of Montreal with the countryside of Charette to maximize our chances.
After the 1.5-hour drive, we were not disappointed.
After this massive surprise, we had a relaxing Saturday.
We spent the day at their lovely family home and walked through their woods and spacious garden. We soaked up the sun, read some books, played a few games - Throw Throw Burrito is a guaranteed laugh - and enjoyed some quality time together.
It was a perfect countryside weekend where we finally got to meet the newest side of the family ☺️
Quebec City
Our last big stop on the Quebec-calendar was Quebec City.
Since we were already in Charette, it only took us 1.5 hours to get here instead of the usual 3-hour drive from Montreal.
After a mandatory stop at Tim Hortons for coffee and timbits, we were ready to hit the road.
Quebec City is a small but beautiful city that can easily be explored in a day. When we arrived, our first stop was the stunning Notre Dame Cathedral and the view over the Saint Lawrence River.
For lunch, we indulged in delicious savory crepes at Le Casse-Crêpe Breton. With our bellies full, we took our time strolling around Old Quebec, admiring the small shops and charming restaurants that line the cobblestone streets.
In the afternoon, we enjoyed some drinks at the square (Place Royale) and then took the cable car back up again, soaking in the city's unique scenery from above.
We wrapped up our day with tasty falafel wraps and a visit to Montmorency Falls Park. It's incredible to think that this waterfall completely freezes over in the winter.
This was the first waterfall of the trip, and we can assure you, we have many more beautiful waterfalls to share with you.
Stay tuned for the Banff & Jasper recaps 😉
What a start!
Lots of family time, 2 very different cities, and many tasty cookies (yes, our new sister-in-law loves to bake 🤤).
Quebec (& our amazing hosts) treated us very well!
Have you ever been to Montreal or Quebec? Which activity or food spot would you be most excited to try out? Let us know in the comments!
Also…
We have a special announcement going live tomorrow.
Two Mapping Memories posts in one weekend??
We know, we simply appreciate you all too much. 🥰
See you then!