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Quebec

Independent Québec City and Montréal: People, Places, Culture

Program No. 20338RJ
Gain a comprehensive understanding of Montréal and Québec from experts, learning about the art, architecture, history and cuisine of these two great French Canadian cities.

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Prices displayed below are based on per person,doubleoccupancy.
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
May 12 - May 20, 2024
Starting at
2,649
May 19 - May 27, 2024
Starting at
2,649
May 26 - Jun 3, 2024
Starting at
2,649
Filling Fast!
Jun 2 - Jun 10, 2024
Starting at
2,649
Filling Fast!
Jun 16 - Jun 24, 2024
Starting at
2,849
Jul 7 - Jul 15, 2024
Starting at
2,849
Jul 21 - Jul 29, 2024
Starting at
2,849
Aug 4 - Aug 12, 2024
Starting at
2,849
Aug 11 - Aug 19, 2024
Starting at
2,849
Aug 18 - Aug 26, 2024
Starting at
2,849
Sep 1 - Sep 9, 2024
Starting at
2,849
Sep 15 - Sep 23, 2024
Starting at
2,849
Sep 22 - Sep 30, 2024
Starting at
2,849
Sep 29 - Oct 7, 2024
Starting at
2,849
Oct 6 - Oct 14, 2024
Starting at
2,849
Oct 13 - Oct 21, 2024
Starting at
2,649
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
May 12 - May 20, 2024
Starting at
3,599
May 19 - May 27, 2024
Starting at
3,599
Filling Fast!
May 26 - Jun 3, 2024
Starting at
3,599
Filling Fast!
Jun 2 - Jun 10, 2024
Starting at
3,599
Filling Fast!
Jun 16 - Jun 24, 2024
Starting at
3,979
Jul 7 - Jul 15, 2024
Starting at
3,979
Jul 21 - Jul 29, 2024
Starting at
3,979
Aug 4 - Aug 12, 2024
Starting at
3,979
Aug 11 - Aug 19, 2024
Starting at
3,979
Aug 18 - Aug 26, 2024
Starting at
3,979
Sep 1 - Sep 9, 2024
Starting at
3,979
Sep 15 - Sep 23, 2024
Starting at
3,979
Sep 22 - Sep 30, 2024
Starting at
3,979
Sep 29 - Oct 7, 2024
Starting at
3,979
Oct 6 - Oct 14, 2024
Starting at
3,979
Oct 13 - Oct 21, 2024
Starting at
3,599

At a Glance

Enjoy French Canada’s two very different cities — cosmopolitan Montréal and charming Québec City — and revel in the fine cuisine, history and artistry of both cities, with plenty of cultural insights from longtime residents.
Activity Level
Let's Go!
Urban walking of two miles or more over varied terrain; some stairs. Participants need to carry their own luggage and on the train each participant is restricted to one piece of baggage and one carry-on bag.
Independent City Discoveries
Independent City Discoveries
Learn with a Group Leader and enjoy educational programming while also getting substantial independent time to explore on your own. Most Independent City Discoveries include lectures, self-guided excursions and passes for public transit and museums.

Best of all, you’ll…

  • Discover Québec, with its eclectic architecture, streets and monuments—eloquent, perfectly conserved testaments to its evolution.
  • Delight in a day for food lovers that'll lead you on an adventure through the many flavors of Montréal, strolling along beloved Saint-Laurent Boulevard.
  • Enjoy independent study time with the benefit of insight from our local expert, entry to five major museums and the Botanical Garden and a metro pass.

General Notes

This program is an active exploration of Montreal and Québec City and includes substantial free time and directions for self-directed excursions.
Featured Expert
All Experts
Profile Image
Andrée Girard
Andrée Girard has been an active figure on the arts scene in Québec and in Canada for over 25 years. She worked as a broadcaster for CBC radio and television before becoming programming director for CBC French radio’s Chaîne culturelle for several years. She was also a founding member and director of the Conseil québécois de la musique. Over the course of her career, she has been associated with the creation of the Opus Prize, as well as the development of the Canadian Conference of the Arts.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Profile Image of Andrée Girard
Andrée Girard View biography
Andrée Girard has been an active figure on the arts scene in Québec and in Canada for over 25 years. She worked as a broadcaster for CBC radio and television before becoming programming director for CBC French radio’s Chaîne culturelle for several years. She was also a founding member and director of the Conseil québécois de la musique. Over the course of her career, she has been associated with the creation of the Opus Prize, as well as the development of the Canadian Conference of the Arts.
Profile Image of Michel Jutras
Michel Jutras View biography
Originally from Montreal, Michel Jutras holds a master's degree in the management of cultural organizations and has extensive experience in leading educational excusions. Passionate about researching history, especially the history of the dietary and culinary traditions of Quebec, he is working on a large collection of ethnological texts, the first volume of which has already been published, while the second is currently being printed.
Profile Image of Marie Legroulx
Marie Legroulx View biography
Marie Legroulx, a native of Québec City, has a bachelor's in history and a master's in Québec literature. She taught French and Québec literature at local universities for over 20 years. In 2008, she returned to college to become a professional in the tourism industry, and has since been leading historical, architectural and literary explorations. Québec history and language are topics close to her heart since she is a twelfth-generation Québécoise whose ancestors settled on the St. Lawrence River in the mid-seventeenth century.
Profile Image of Marie Bussières
Marie Bussières View biography
Marie Bussières, born in Quebec City, is in love with its culture, French heritage and rich history. She is naturally curious about people and cultures, leading her to numerous travels and living broad. Her academic background includes geography, communication, and tourism. She became a group leader and local expert throughout the province of Quebec, as well as elsewhere in Canada. Inquisitive by nature and physically active, Marie is an avid photographer and skier who, within her guiding work, constantly learns and shares her knowledge generously.
Profile Image of Françoise Baby
Françoise Baby View biography
Françoise Baby loves to share her enthusiasm about Montreal with visitors. She has a penchant for great food — her mother is French! — history, and architecture. What she enjoys most about being a local expert is interaction with Road Scholars. Her wish is that they come away with a cultural experience. The two most frequently asked questions Françoise gets are whether she is a native Montrealer and what is her favourite “thing” about the city. The answers are “yes”, and the multiculturalism that best defines Montreal.
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Shadows on the Rock
by Willa Cather
Set in seventeenth-century Canada, an evocation of North American origins highlights the men and women who struggled to adapt to the new world even as they clung to the one they left behind. The novel covers one year of the lives of Cecile Auclair and her father Euclide, French colonists in Quebec.
Champlain's Dream
by David Hackett Fischer
In this enthralling biography, acclaimed historian David Hackett Fischer brings to life the remarkable Samuel de Champlain—soldier, spy, master mariner, explorer, cartographer, artist, and Father of New France.
A short history of Quebec
by John Alexander Dickinson and Brian J Young
A Canadian classic, A Short History of Quebec offers a concise yet comprehensive overview of the province from the pre-contact native period to present-day constitutional struggles. The authors bring a refreshing perspective to the history of Quebec, focusing on the social and economic development of the region and its diverse peoples.
Montreal & Quebec City Guide – Lonely Planet
by Montréal-based author
Montréal and Québec City really serve it up. You've got old-world grandeur, new-world sensibilities and big-city charms - there's enough neighbourhoods, restaurants and festivals to keep you mon-dieu'ing for months. This guide, penned by a Montréal-based author, gets you straight to the action. Pick & Mix: buy and download individual chapters from this book You could download free: Introducing Montreal (Very interesting…)
A People’s History of Quebec
by Jacques Lacoursière
A People’s History of Quebec is a lively guide to a little-known part of North American history. It tells of the settlement of the St. Lawrence Valley, but also of the Montreal and Quebec-based explorers and traders who travelled, mapped, and inhabited most of North America, and embrothered the peoples they met.





Important registration tip:
If you want to attend the live lecture, please do not wait until the last minute to enroll.
If you enroll after a lecture is complete, we’ll send you a recording of the event.