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.
Enroll with Confidence
We want your Road Scholar learning adventure to be something to look forward to—not worry about. Learn more
Protecting the Environment
We offset a portion of the emissions created by your travel. Learn more
10 days
9 nights
22 meals
9B 7L 6D
1
Check-in, Registration, Orientation, Welcome Dinner
Quebec City, Québec
2
Québec History, Walking in Old Québec, Ursuline Nuns Museum
Quebec City, Québec
3
Quebec's Evolution, Plains of Abraham, Musée des Beaux Arts
Quebec City, Québec
4
Travel to Montréal, Notre-Dame Basilica, Old Montreal
Montréal, Québec
5
Montreal Culture, Pointe-à-Callière Museum, Free Time
Montréal, Québec
6
Ride to Ottawa,Canadian Museum of History, Ottawa Highlights
Ottawa, Ontario
7
Ottawa Walking Exploration, Free Time
Ottawa, Ontario
8
Coach to Toronto
Toronto, ON
9
Old Town Toronto, Market, Vibrant Toronto
Toronto, ON
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Canadian Odyssey: Québec City to Toronto
Program Number: 3734
Wolfe at Quebec, The Man Who Won the French and Indian War
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.
Toronto, No Mean City: Third Edition
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
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
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.
Toronto: A Pictorial Celebration
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.
A Concise History of Canada (Cambridge Concise Histories)
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.