The Maple Trail

This itinerary is the starting point for your tour, but it’s not set in stone. If there are days you would like to change, or specific places you’d like to go, we can work with you to create a personalized program that fits the needs of you and your students.

Day 1: Quebec

Welcome to Québec City! Meet your ACIS Tour Manager and begin to explore the city on a walking tour. You will see Place d’Youville, la Porte St-Jean, the Latin Quarter, le petit Séminaire de Québec and Notre Dame de Québec Cathedral. After dinner, continue your walking tour, ending on the Terrasse Dufferin outside the Château Frontenac, where you will pause for a group photograph before returning to the hotel.

Day 2: Quebec

Meet your Tour Manager then walk via the La Porte St. Jean and the Quartier Latin to a breakfast at the beautifully restored Monastère des Augustines. Following lunch, depart for a visit to the magnificent Basilique Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. This gothic cathedral is renowned for its enormous proportions and superb stained-glass windows. Then visit Parc de la Chutes Montmorency, where you will walk over a footbridge that passes directly over the 275-foot-high falls. After dinner, walk to the Plains of Abraham for a visit to the unique stone fortification that was erected in the mid-nineteenth century to protect Québec City, followed by an interactive lesson about military strategy of the era at the Martello Tower.

Day 3: Montreal

Following breakfast, transfer to the Musée du Fort where you will learn about the many battles between the French, British and American armies. End your Québec City visit with a ferry ride across the mile-wide St. Lawrence River and head to Montréal, the second largest French-speaking city in the world. Begin your Montreal visit with a brief walking orientation tour, then you’ll be free to explore Place Jacques Cartier. After dinner, your day will end with an hour and a half of ice skating at L’Amphithéâtre de Glace, an indoor, 10,000-square-foot ice-skating pavilion. Alternatively, you can choose an evening at the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium or an animated ghost walk through the cobblestoned streets of Vieux Montreal.

Day 4: Montreal

After breakfast, walk to Notre Dame Basilica, for a tour of “the Jewel of Montréal”, and one of the most beautiful churches in the Americas. Next, you will participate in a comparative French cultures class at an accredited French language school. (If unavailable, the group can take part in a historic Chasse au Trésor that will test you on what you have learned thus far about the rich history of New France). This afternoon, depart on a city sightseeing tour that includes a visit to the Chalet de la Montagne at the top of Mount Royale and a visit to the Oratoire St-Joseph. Your day will end with an all-you-can eat lumberjack dinner and an evening of French-Canadian music and folklore at an authentic French-Canadian cabane à sucre.

Day 5: Departure

In 1976, Montréal hosted the Summer Olympic Games and this morning, you’ll get to see this beautiful venue with a private tour of the Olympic Stadium and Pools. Next, you will ascend 556 feet on the Funiculaire to the top of the world’s tallest inclined tower for a panoramic, 50-mile view of Montréal, the St. Lawrence Seaway and the surrounding countryside. On a clear day you can see all the way to the Green Mountains of Vermont and the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Have lunch on your own here or back at Place Jacques Cartier before heading home.