Québec & Montréal

French-speaking patrons enjoying croissants in cafes. Ornate church spires peeking out from within the city walls. Is this really North America? Explore the Old World grace of Quebec City with your Tour Director as you stride along 17th century cobblestone streets. Historical animation of Upper Town conducted by your Tour Director. Stops include the beautifully lit National Assembly, Dufferin Terrace, Chateau Frontenac, famous architecture such as Aux Anciens Canadiens, gates and walls of Vieux Quebec, rue du Tresor (artist’s street) and the most photographed cannon ball in Quebec.

Navigate your way through the street performers, vendors and tourists on this landscaped promenade for one of the best views of the St. Lawrence River, Levis & Lower Town.

Enjoy a delicious meal inspired by the local cuisine.

Spirit of Lower Town including l’escalier casse-cou (breakneck stairs,) and Place-Royale and the beautiful Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church. Experience the Old World and see first hand the original habitation of Samuel de Champlain. From Iroquois fur-trading post to UNESCO World Heritage Site, Québec City grew in picturesque leaps and bounds. Have you seen Catch Me If You Can? Maybe you will catch the site where part of the movie was filmed!

Forts and Châteaux-Saint-Louis National Historic Site is a well-hidden secret. Located under the Dufferin Terrace in Old Quebec City, it reveals the remains of the residence and seat of power of the French and British governors from 1620 to 1834. Immerse yourself in more than 200 years of colonial history of diplomacy. Accompanied by a guide, explore the archeological remains and discover this place where important decisions once marked North America.

The site of many clashes for supremacy between the French and British Empires, the Plains of Abraham is the scene of the 1759 Conquest, which changed the fate of North America. Your Tour Director will discuss the events that took place on September 13, 1759. Then you will be divided into two teams representing the troops of Generals Wolfe and Montcalm, and will re-enact the famous battle!

Students enjoy a hearty authentic Québecois meal complete with traditional music and entertainment. After dinner there is a presentation on the production of maple syrup including a taffy pull.

Take a scenic drive down Canada's oldest road, Chemin Royal, for a panoramic tour of the stunning Beaupre Coast.

Ste-Anne-de-Beaupre is an insight into understanding the importance of religion on the history of Quebec. See the sight where thousands of pilgrims journey to pay homage to Ste-Anne every year.

Believe it or not, the lesser-known Montmorency Falls are actually 98 feet higher than the famous Niagara Falls! The falls are located just outside of Old Quebec and originate from the Montmorency River where the water cascades over the cliff shores and into the St. Lawrence River below. Staircases and a suspension bridge over the falls allow you to get an up close look at this amazing natural wonder.

Discover the world and culture of Québec's indigenous peoples as you explore this authentic recreation of a traditional Huron site.

Students experience the city’s highest points and lowest depths, and everything in between. At the highest point, Saint Joseph’s Oratory rises majestically on Mont Royal. The church’s dome is second only to St. Peter’s in Rome. On the other end of the spectrum, students witness the double-decker city of Montréal – an underground city comprised of a series of tunnels and galleries connecting shops and restaurants.

Enjoy a delicious meal inspired by the local cuisine.

When he saw his church completed, the Protestant architect of the Notre Dame Basilica was so inspired that he converted to Catholicism. The blue-and-gold interior certainly is inspiring: practically every bit of the immense wooden church is covered in gold leaf. The imported stained-glass windows show the history of Montreal, further illustrated by the statues of famous residences outside. This famous Basilica helps demonstrate how the church played an important role in Canada’s history.

Visit the very site where Montréal was founded over 350 years ago, learn about Canada's archaelogical history and visit Pointe-a-Calliere where important archaeological remains and artifacts collected from archaeological digs at the site are displayed.

Perched high atop Mont Royal, the giant green dome of Saint Joseph’s Oratory makes for an impressive sight. Climb the long flight of white stairs up to the great stone basilica for a chance to enter the place where Pope John Paul II deemed authentic miracles to have taken place.

Exploration and rally through four recreated eco-systems of the Americas at the Biodôme. From Tropical Rainforest, Laurentian Maple Forest, Gulf of St Lawrence, and Sub-Polar Regions, students will see more than 300 live animals in each simulated habitats -- macaws in the Tropical Forest, lynx in the Laurentian Forest, penguins in the Antarctic and different kinds of fish that inhabit the waters of the Saint Lawrence River.

If you’re intrigued by science and technology, passionate about ecology or conservation, then a visit to the Montreal Science Center is a must. The Center offers several interactive exhibits and workshops where you need to use your knowledge, imagination and creativity to find solutions to improve our world including the interactive news room (idTV) and the game room that has you find solutions to real life ecological issues (Mission Gaia).

Enjoy a delicious meal inspired by the local cuisine.

It’s a good thing Ottawa is so photogenic – Queen Victoria chose the provincial logging town as Canada’s capital in 1857 after seeing only a few watercolors of the area. (More cosmopolitan rivals Toronto and Montreal were not amused). Setting aside its reputation for barroom brawls, Ottawa concentrated on running the country from its London-style Parliament Buildings, built in the 1860’s. The central Peace Tower indicated when Parliament is in session. The 90-mter tower was built in 1927 to honor the Canadians who served in World War I and was paved from stones from the battlefields of Europe.

Originally the hub of Ottawa’s logging industry, the Byward Market area has many restaurants and cafes. The area hosts a daily market with crafts, fruits and vegetables, souvenirs, clothing and more.

Be captivated by friendly and talented storytellers, each wearing iconic black cloaks, as they recount the area’s most spine-tingling ghostly tales. Using lanterns to light the way, visit Ottawa’s most haunted places, such as Grant House, the elegant Fairmont Château Laurier, and the city’s infamous haunted high school. This memorable evening will forever alter your perception of the city and its historic buildings. Ideal for all ages.

Ottawa boasts some of the best recreational pathways in North America. What better way for students to explore the nation's capital? Strap on your helmet, hop on your bike and tour along the easy pathways along both sides of the scenic Rideau Canal.

Step back a century of so at the BCE Place, where the faces of twelve buildings that survived the city’s 1904 fire still stand, one of them seemingly encased in glass. The complex’s 19th-century Bank of Montreal Building now houses the Hockey Hall of Fame. Continue your sports education at the Scotiabank Arena (home to the Raptors and Maple Leafs) and the Rogers Centre (Skydome), under whose retractable dome the Blue Jays won their second World Series title in 1993. After a view of the city’s harbour, go back to the future at City Hall, a modern glass-and-concrete crescent reaching into the sky. The beloved statue that stands outside the building, “The Archer,” was so controversial in 1965 that the city refused to use public money to buy it; the mayor raised private funds for it and then was soundly defeated in the next election. The walking tour will end up in Kensington Market and Toronto’s Chinatown and experience first had the ethnic diversity of Toronto.

The entire metropolis of Toronto spread beneath your feet as you hover 1,136 feet in the air. Ride the glass-front elevator to the glass-floored observation deck of the CN Tower, the world's tallest manmade self-supporting structure. It's the perfect place to get a view of the city.

There is more to Niagara than the thunderous falls themselves. Travel to Queenston Heights, the site of the 1812 Battle of Queenston Heights where Major-General Sir Isaac Brock was killed in the defense of Upper Canada (now Ontario) and see Brock’s Monument. Then watch as huge ferries and barges make their way between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie on the man-made Welland Canal.

After a discussion with your tour director, students re-enact the battle of Queenston Heights where General Sir Isaac Brock died while leading his troops to victory over the American Forces. The monument, erected in 1856, serves as a testimonial of the fallen General who saved Canada from being overrun by its southern neighbor.

This spectacular movie takes you back to the days when Native peoples worshipped the thunder spirits, and when the first European encountered of this wild wonder of nature. Meet the daredevils who challenged the fury of the Falls, from the Great Blondin, who completed a death-defying tightrope walk over the river in 1860, to Annie Taylor, a 63-year-old schoolteacher, who became the first person to go over the Falls in a barrel and live to tell the tale. Share the heart-pounding terror of seven-year-old Roger Woodward, who survived the plunge with only a lifejacket.

Board one of the Hornblower's catamarans for a cruise to the base of Niagara Falls. This exciting and memorable trip passes directly in front of the American Falls, the Rock of Ages, beyond the Cave of the Winds and on to the foot of the thundering Horseshoe Falls.