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Québec/Ontario

Canadian Odyssey: Québec City to Toronto

Program No. 3734RJ

Discover the beauty and history of Eastern Canada’s great cities — Québec City and its Old Town, cosmopolitan Montréal, national capital Ottawa and Toronto, the largest city in Canada.

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10 days

9 nights

22 meals

9B 7L 6D

Check-in, Registration, Orientation, Welcome Dinner

Quebec City, Québec

Québec History, Walking in Old Québec, Ursuline Nuns Museum

Quebec City, Québec

Quebec's Evolution, Plains of Abraham, Musée des Beaux Arts

Quebec City, Québec

Travel to Montréal, Notre-Dame Basilica, Old Montreal

Montréal, Québec

Montreal Culture, Pointe-à-Callière Museum, Free Time

Montréal, Québec

Ride to Ottawa,Canadian Museum of History, Ottawa Highlights

Ottawa, Ontario

Ottawa Walking Exploration, Free Time

Ottawa, Ontario

Coach to Toronto

Toronto, ON

Old Town Toronto, Market, Vibrant Toronto

Toronto, ON

Program Concludes

Toronto, ON

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At a Glance

Discover the grand beauty and historical significance of some of the great cities of Eastern Canada: Québec City, the last walled city in the Americas north of Mexico; Montréal, a cosmopolitan center of culture; Ottawa, the national capital; and Toronto, the largest city in Canada. Compare the distinctive architecture and mood of each city. Explore grand cathedrals, stroll cobblestone streets and visit world-class museums. And enjoy discussions with local experts on the history, culture and art of Canada.

Activity Level

Keep the Pace

Walking up to two miles per day; uneven surfaces, cobblestones; some hills and stairs encountered. Some standing in museums/historic sites.

Best of all, you’ll…

Visit the magnificent Notre Dame Basilica, a masterpiece of Gothic revival architecture.
Discover upper and lower town in Old Québec, exploring fortifications that date from 1745.
Journey from Ottawa's Parliament Hill to Old Town Toronto and the historic St. Lawrence Market.

General Notes

Select dates are designated for small groups and are limited to 24 participants or less.

Featured Expert

All trip experts

Bruce Bell

Bruce Bell — journalist, author, playwright, actor, curator — brings an incredible passion and enthusiasm for the history of Toronto and its architecture. He has been the monthly history columnist for Canada’s largest community newspaper since 1999 and has also been appointed as historian for many famed Toronto sites. Bruce is the author of “Amazing Tales of St. Lawrence Neighbourhood” and “Toronto: A Pictorial Celebration.” His mission is to tell Toronto’s history through his writings and lectures, including his sold-out shows at Toronto’s famed Winter Garden Theatre.

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

Bruce Bell View biography

David Jeanes View biography

David Jeanes is a retired professional engineer. He is vice-president of Heritage Ottawa, which is committed to the preservation of heritage architecture, and president of Transport 2000 Canada, which is devoted to sustainable public transportation. A native of Britain, David has lived in Ottawa much of his working life and spent 32 years in the high-tech industry on the design, standardization and marketing of global data-communication networks.

Don Belec View biography

Don Belec has gone from teaching to student-life animation and administration, from selling education-rated products to fund-raising and marketing and much more during his nearly fifty-year career. Over the years, he has had the opportunity to work and travel in Asia, explore parts of Australia and visit 95% of Canada’s expansive regions. He looks forward to engaging with new people as they explore the diversity of Quebec and fully appreciate its contribution to Canada and beyond.

Jocelyne Belleau View biography

Jocelyne Belleau was born and raised in Québec City. After many years in an executive position at Sears, Jocelyne shifted gears to embrace her love of sharing the history, and the present-day city of Québec. She has grown to appreciate the evolution of the city and the features of Old Québec including its narrow streets, the history of each house and its people. Jocelyne weaves her local expertise and interest in architecture, cultural traditions, Indigenous peoples and history into each of her lectures.

Clarisse Fréchette View biography

Clarisse Frechette’s family arrived in Québec back in 1677 as shipbuilders. She has a bachelor’s degree in sociology and worked as a research agent for Québec’s Department of Education before taking on the role of a field manager for Statistics Quebec. Becoming an educational interpreter was second nature for Clarisse, with her love of history and certainly her love of Québec! She has explored the old streets of Québec for over 20 years. It is always her pleasure to help people discover this area.

Marie Legroulx View biography

Marie is an eleventh-generation Quebecoise whose ancestors settled on the shores of the St. Lawrence River in the mid-17th century. She has a BA in history and an MA in Quebec literature from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Marie draws on both fields in her Road Scholar learning adventures as well as within her life more broadly. She taught French and Quebec literature for 25 years at the university level. Marie has been leading groups in Quebec City and the surrounding area since 2008.

Francois Vidal View biography

François Vidal was born in Québec City, where he spent years studying theatre and travel. He frequently combines his education with his love for Québec City and its rich history, performing in numerous educational theatrical productions. François has been an educational interpreter in Québec City since 2009 and is well-known for his personification of historical figures including a recent production in which he portrayed General Montcalm from the French-Indian War. François displays a keen interest in the architecture, culture and lifestyle in Québec City.

Routes Adventures Mobile Phone View biography

Please call the toll free line at 1-866-745-1690 during regular business hours or for non-urgent matters (Mon - Fri 8:30 - 4:30 EST). The mobile phone #1-613-331-5777 is for after hours and weekends for emergency use only. The phone is carried by a staff member.

Thom Seivewright View biography

Thom Seivewright has been working as a local city expert in Montreal since 2018. He spends his days showing people around Montreal and connecting them with the city’s unique culture, history, architecture and languages. His background is in communications, journalism and hospitality, but sharing his passion for this cosmopolitan city is his favorite thing to do.

Anne Tanguay View biography

Anne Tanguay proudly traces her heritage to one of the King’s Daughters, young women who were sent from France in the 17th century to help settle New France. Her ancestor arrived in Quebec in 1669. Raised in the Quebec City region, Anne holds a B.A. in translation (English to French) and spent much of her career in Ottawa. There, she gained firsthand experience of Canada’s linguistic and cultural duality, observing both the shared values and unique traits of French and English Canadians.

Carolyn Quinn View biography

Carolyn Quinn is a former president of Heritage Ottawa and long-time board member, former director of communications at the National Trust for Canada, a founder of Doors Open Ottawa, and currently vice-president (communications) of Heritage Ottawa. She has researched and led trips through historic Ottawa neighborhoods. She also serves as a citizen member of Ottawa's Built Heritage Committee, which is responsible to City Council for all Built Heritage matters.

Katherine Spencer-Ross View biography

Katherine Spencer-Ross has lived in downtown Ottawa for over three decades. She served as an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces and had a full career in the Federal Public Service as a museologist, architectural historian, policy analyst, and executive. Since retiring in 2020, she has been immersed in volunteer work, particularly with Heritage Ottawa, of which she is currently president. She continues her lifelong passion for world travel.

Linda Hoad View biography

Linda Hoad is a retired librarian who has been a community activist in Ottawa for over four decades and has served as president of the Federation of Citizens Associations. She has led over 20 Heritage Ottawa walking trips in her own historic neighborhood of Hintonburg. She has served Heritage Ottawa in many capacities for more than 15 years, including newsletter editor, organizer of heritage forums with different community associations, and now vice president of operations.

Suggested Reading List (6 books)

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.

Search for a Title

Canadian Odyssey: Québec City to Toronto

Program Number: 3734

Wolfe at Quebec, The Man Who Won the French and Indian War

by Christopher Hibbert

A history of British General James Wolfe's last year of life by the entertaining and informative author of "The Story of England." Hibbert traces the neurotic general's life through diaries, letters, ships' logs and firsthand accounts, painting an interesting portrait of the man who defeated French General Montcalm at Quebec.

A Concise History of Canada (Cambridge Concise Histories)

by Margaret Conrad

Beginning in Canada's deep past with the arrival of its Aboriginal peoples, Margaret Conrad traces its history through the conquest by Europeans, the American Revolutionary War, and the industrialization of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, to its prosperous present. Conrad emphasizes the peoples' history: the relationships between Aboriginal and settler, the French and the English, the Catholic and Protestant, and the rich and poor the impact of disease, how women fared in the early colonies, and of the social transformations that took place after the Second World War as Canada began to assert itself as an independent nation.

Toronto: A Pictorial Celebration

by Bruce Bell

Bruce Bell's latest book on Toronto, including fantastic photography. A look at the top 100 sites in Toronto. Bruce is a noted historian, journalist, author, playwright, actor, and curator and is part of this program experience.

Toronto, No Mean City: Third Edition

by Eric Arthur, Stephen Otto

Eric Arthur fell in love with Toronto the first time he saw it. The year was 1923; he was twenty-five years old, newly arrived to teach architecture at the University of Toronto. For the next sixty years he dedicated himself to saving the great buildings of Toronto's past. First published in 1964, it sparked the preservation movement of the 1960s and 1970s and became its bible.

Arundel

by Kenneth Roberts (Author), N. C. Wyeth (Illustrator)

The grand historical novel of Colonel Benedict Arnold's doomed march on Quebec in 1775, told through the eyes of a soldier in the Continental Army. Rich in historical detail.

Ottawa: the Unknown City

by Rob McLennan

A quirky and practical guide to the history and attractions of the Canadian capital. Ottawa may be our capital city but it's also a place of contradictions—the official version offers numerous, beneficent historic sites, institutions, museums, and galleries, but there are other stories to be told. In this latest edition of Arsenal's Unknown City series of alternativecity guides for both locals and tourists, Ottawa comes alive as a diverse, quirky town that may look like a government city on the surface but boasts a small-town charm. The book charts a course through the city's hidden landmarks, shopping, dining, and nightlife hot spots, as well as secret histories that will come as a surprise even to life-long locals.

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