Fall Foliage on the St. Lawrence: Québec to the Canadian Maritimes – with Smithsonian Journeys

Cruise overview

In alliance with Smithsonian Journeys.

This cruise is part of a collection of PONANT voyages that are specially-tailored for English-speaking travelers who want to engage with the world. In addition to the usual elements of the PONANT experience, the listed price for these voyages includes transfers to and from the ship, talks and discussions aboard ship by world class experts, and a shore excursion or activity in each port of call that encourages guests to embrace the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of the local environment and culture.

The waterways of eastern Canada and northern New England are among the loveliest in the world. The rock-bound coast, soaring cliffs, and idyllic waterfront villages have drawn visitors for more than one hundred years.

From Toronto, your first full day aboard ship is spent navigating the St. Lawrence Seaway, a network of lakes, canals, and locks that provides deep-water passage from Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence River.

Montréal, the first of three calls in Québec, is a cosmopolitan metropolis, where you may tour the charming Old Town or explore the arts scene along St. Laurent Boulevard. Québec City, with its narrow cobblestoned lanes and historic battlements, is one of North America’s most romantic spots. Tadoussac, the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in Canada, sits at the mouth of the Saguenay River, an area famous for the whales that congregate there to feed.

The colonial seaport of Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island was the site of the conference in 1864 that set the stage for Canada’s unification, and it is also home to the Anne of Green Gables House—inspiration for Lucy Maud Montgomery’s classic novel.

Cap-aux-Meules, in the Magdalen Islands of Québec, is a fascinating Acadian stronghold, where the legacy of the 17th-century colonists who settled here and defended their autonomy against both British and French lives on.

Nova Scotia is next, offering three historical towns for discovery. From charming Sydney on Cape Breton Island, you may visit the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site, a living museum that recreates 18th-century life through the reconstruction of the formerly thriving settlement. Lunenburg, whose Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, is also home to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. And finally, Shelburne, a picturesque harbor town steeped in Loyalist history, dotted with 18th-century buildings and a strong seafaring heritage.

Across the border in Eastport, Maine—the easternmost city in the U.S.—enjoy a historic walking tour through this quaint coastal town, a hands-on lobster boat experience, or a scenic excursion to nearby Shackford Head State Park.

A day at sea brings you to Provincetown, Massachusetts, at the tip of historic Cape Cod, where the Pilgrims landed in 1620, and which now features a vibrant art scene. Disembark the following day in Boston.