Tadoussac to Îles de la Madeleine
Replies: 3 - Last Post: May 23, 2012 10:36 AM Last Post By: canadianacctstu...
jump to
Tadoussac to Îles de la Madeleine
I'm planning a trip with my Mom to Quebec for two weeks in July. We are planning on starting in Montreal, traveling via train to Quebec City, and then by bus to Tadoussac (or area - I haven't booked accomodations yet). From Tadoussac I would like to go to Îles de la Madeleine (via the ferry in Souris, PEI). I'm wondering what is the best way to get from Tadoussac to Souris to catch the ferry.Also, does anyone has any interesting accomodation ideas? We are looking for something under $100 per night in each place for the both of us and preferrable private rooms.
Just for those interested, this is sort of what we have planned for each place:
Montreal – shopping, spa, art, wine region, Jazz Festival
Quebec City - biking tour, night walking tour, Notre Dame Basilica, other city highlights
Tadoussac (& area) - whale watching, sea kayaking
Iles de la Madeleine - sea kayaking, beaches, biking, seafood cooking class, horseback riding
Charlottetown - only have one day we will be there before our flight so probably just walk around - I'm not sure how much we will be able to cram in.
Open to any suggestions or tips! I like to do a lot of outdoorsy/active stuff, but my mom is more interested in group activities that are less active (like walking tours, active demonstrations, etc.).
1
There's no practical public transport from Tadoussac to PEI. You'd have to take a bus or expensive taxi from Tadoussac to Saint-Simon, catch the ferry on foot to Rivière-du-Loup (carrying your luggage) and from there hope for a bus to New Brunswick and then PEI. That would set you back at least a day, maybe more if there are too few buses to match your schedule.If you only have two weeks, you might want to consider renting a car at Quebec City Airport when you're done in that city, drive up to Tadoussac and back, fly one-way from Quebec City to the islands and come back by ferry to PEI to catch your return flight. It's more expensive (Air Canada charges at least $300 per pax for that one-way flight) but the alternative is a lot of lost time and quite a bit of boring scenery from the bus window between the St. Lawrence and the NB coast !
No idea on lodging, sorry, but in Charlottetown I always recommend a visit to the Cows Creamery for a tour of the plant and some of the best ice cream on the continent ! The city also has a nice little historical downtown quarter near the waterfront, which makes for several hours of nice shopping and walking around.
2
With only two weeks, I doubt you will have time to do anything you have listed besides moving from one place to the other. Although Iles de la Madeleine are undoubtedly amazing, I would have suggested to skip that part since just the ferry from Souris to the islands takes 5 hours. But since your flight back is in Charlottetown, I would then suggest you skip Tadoussac. François makes a good suggestion to fly from Quebec to the islands, if you can afford it. That will leave you more time in the islands.Have you booked your ferry yet? I know you have to reserve well in advance for there are a lot of tourists in the summer months. The same goes for the accomodation in the islands (but I don't have any suggestion, sorry).
3
Thank you for all your suggestions and honesty of how much of our trip would be spent traveling place to place. We have decided to book flights from Quebec City to Iles de la Madeleine to save time. We ended up being able to use some Airmiles for this, so it is not much extra costs - we just need to pay the $100 tax each. So our trip will now look like:Fly into Montreal
Train from Montreal to Quebec City
Bus from Quebec City to Tadoussac (or rent a car)
Bus back from Tadoussac to Quebec City (or drive rented car)
Fly from Quebec City to Iles de la Madeleine
Ferry to Souris, PEI
Bus from Souris to Charlottetown
Fly home from Charlottetown
