The St. Lawrence River in the Heart of the Boreal Winter

Canada's most diverse metropolis, Montréal, is an island city that favors style and elegance over order or even prosperity, a city where past and present intrude on each other daily. In some ways it resembles Vienna—well past its peak of power and glory, perhaps, yet still vibrant and grand.But don't get the wrong idea. Montréal has always had a bit of an edge. During Prohibition, thirsty Americans headed north to the city on the St. Lawrence for booze, music, and a good time, and people still come for the same things. Summer festivals celebrate everything from comedy and French music and culture to beer and fireworks, and, of course, jazz. And on those rare weeks when there isn't a planned event, the party continues. Clubs and sidewalk cafés are abuzz from late afternoon to the early hours of the morning. And Montréal is a city that knows how to mix it up even when it's 20 below zero. Rue St-Denis is almost as lively on a Saturday night in January as it is in July, and the festival Montréal en Lumière, or Montréal Highlights, enlivens the dreary days of February with concerts, balls, and fine food.Montréal takes its name from Parc du Mont-Royal, a stubby plug of tree-covered igneous rock that rises 764 feet above the surrounding cityscape. Although its height is unimpressive, "the Mountain" forms one of Canada's finest urban parks, and views from the Chalet du Mont-Royal atop the hill provide an excellent orientation to the city's layout and major landmarks.Old Montréal is home to museums, the municipal government, and the magnificent Basilique Notre-Dame-de-Montréal within its network of narrow, cobblestone streets. Although Montréal's centre-ville, or Downtown, bustles like many other major cities on the surface, it's active below street level as well, in the so-called Underground City–-the underground levels of shopping malls and food courts connected by pedestrian tunnels and the city's subway system, or métro. Residential Plateau Mont-Royal and trendy neighborhoods are abuzz with restaurants, nightclubs, art galleries, and cafés. The greener areas of town are composed of the Parc du Mont-Royal and the Jardin Botanique.

Quebec City is by many accounts the most French city in New France. The Old Town’s centerpiece, the magnificent Château Frontenac, seems transported from the palatial landscapes of the Loire Valley, and its French-accented streets lead past white-stone buildings that evoke old-world medieval villages. The only remaining walled city in North America outside of Mexico, Quebec City was fortified in the 17th century soon after its founding in 1608. Its strategic setting on the rocky promontory of Cape Diamond gave troops a close view of the St. Lawrence.

During the long winter months, in the majestic Saguenay Valley, the borough of La Baie is cloaked in an aura of mystery. Here, the striking contrasts of its pristine lands, where nature displays its full splendour, invite you to experience a unique moment alongside the Saguenayens, a people amongst the most welcoming and hospitable in the world. During a snowshoe walk or a dog sled outing, as a passenger or a musher, take the time to observe immaculate nature bordered by a thick ice floe, where Le Commandant Charcot will remain for several days, and you will be able to disembark. Each winter, hundreds of colourful huts set up on these frozen waters to practice traditional ice fishing. You will be initiated into these ancestral techniques and have the pleasure of tasting freshly caught rockfish.

Gaspé is one of North America’s earliest European settlements, set amid stunning natural beauty at the tip of the Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Claimed first by the French, then by the British, Gaspé is known as the “Cradle of French Canada.” Across a small bay from the charming town lies the rugged wilderness of Forillon National Park. With hundreds of species, the Gaspé Peninsula is a spectacular area for bird-watching, and the surrounding gulf is home to wildlife including blue and humpback whales.

In the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the waters are still partially frozen but the ice break-up has begun. The broken-up ice makes for a fascinating spectacle, forming shapes that seem to be dancing across the waves. You will sail in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, following in the footsteps of Jacques Cartier, who reached it during his first voyage in 1534. From the bridge, if luck is on your side, you will contemplate the seals and belugas that populate the region during this season. In the distance, the boreal forests, their peaks whitened by the last snow, offer you the idealised image of this piece of Canada. A moment of indescribable magic.

A taste of France awaits on the windswept shores of Saint-Pierre, the capital of a small archipelago and French overseas territory just off the coast of Newfoundland. The island exhibits its French flair in narrow streets, baguette-filled bakeries, and charming cafés. Take a stroll along the waterfront and visit local museums that reveal Saint-Pierre’s unique heritage, including its time as a smuggler’s haven during the Prohibition era in America. Shop duty-free for French fare such as fine wines and cheeses, or venture out onto the water in search of the region’s vibrant marine life, including whales, seals, dolphins and puffins.

Newfoundland's fourth-largest city, Corner Brook is the hub of the island's west coast. Hills fringe three sides of the city, which has dramatic views of the harbor and the Bay of Islands. The town is also home to a large paper mill and a branch of Memorial University. Captain James Cook, the British explorer, charted the coast in the 1760s, and a memorial to him overlooks the bay.The town enjoys more clearly defined seasons than most of the rest of the island, and in summer it has many pretty gardens. The nearby Humber River is the best-known salmon river in the province, and there are many kilometers of well-maintained walking trails in the community.

Sailing the Strait of Belle Isle will guarantee a moment of intense emotion. Your ship will enter this waterway, which separates Newfoundland from the North American continent, while the ice break-up is only just beginning its cycle. From the bridge, if the ice is still present, you will perhaps observe the Greenland seals which populate these waters dotted with fragments of ice floe, aiming to breed there. Time stands still, a magical spell is cast.

Viewing the workings of this major Canadian port from a waterfront boardwalk, no one would guess this was once a quiet fishing village. The place boomed after World War II, when large companies decided Sept-Îles would make a good base for expanding northern Québec’s iron-mining industry. But all of the massive infrastructure can’t trump Mother Nature. Beautiful beaches line the coast, and the islands of an archipelago park sit just offshore. Campers and bird-watchers flock here, in part to spot the colorful beaks of the puffins.

Linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes region inland, the Saint Lawrence Seaway was inaugurated in 1959, more than 250 years after the initial construction aiming to avoid the rapids obstructing navigation in these parts. This large engineering project, which required four years of huge work, offers a unique sailing experience.

Canada's most diverse metropolis, Montréal, is an island city that favors style and elegance over order or even prosperity, a city where past and present intrude on each other daily. In some ways it resembles Vienna—well past its peak of power and glory, perhaps, yet still vibrant and grand.But don't get the wrong idea. Montréal has always had a bit of an edge. During Prohibition, thirsty Americans headed north to the city on the St. Lawrence for booze, music, and a good time, and people still come for the same things. Summer festivals celebrate everything from comedy and French music and culture to beer and fireworks, and, of course, jazz. And on those rare weeks when there isn't a planned event, the party continues. Clubs and sidewalk cafés are abuzz from late afternoon to the early hours of the morning. And Montréal is a city that knows how to mix it up even when it's 20 below zero. Rue St-Denis is almost as lively on a Saturday night in January as it is in July, and the festival Montréal en Lumière, or Montréal Highlights, enlivens the dreary days of February with concerts, balls, and fine food.Montréal takes its name from Parc du Mont-Royal, a stubby plug of tree-covered igneous rock that rises 764 feet above the surrounding cityscape. Although its height is unimpressive, "the Mountain" forms one of Canada's finest urban parks, and views from the Chalet du Mont-Royal atop the hill provide an excellent orientation to the city's layout and major landmarks.Old Montréal is home to museums, the municipal government, and the magnificent Basilique Notre-Dame-de-Montréal within its network of narrow, cobblestone streets. Although Montréal's centre-ville, or Downtown, bustles like many other major cities on the surface, it's active below street level as well, in the so-called Underground City–-the underground levels of shopping malls and food courts connected by pedestrian tunnels and the city's subway system, or métro. Residential Plateau Mont-Royal and trendy neighborhoods are abuzz with restaurants, nightclubs, art galleries, and cafés. The greener areas of town are composed of the Parc du Mont-Royal and the Jardin Botanique.