Quebec City 2-day road trip from Montreal, Chaudière Falls to the Charlevoix coast

Our kid was playing on the beach at Saint-Irénée when a single yellow train car rolled in along the shoreline tracks. It was the afternoon of day two of a Quebec City weekend with my parents, the last weekend of June. We left Montreal on Saturday morning, spent day one on two waterfalls and Old Quebec, and slept at a hotel west of Quebec City. On day two we drove the Charlevoix coast road and got home Sunday night.

If you’re planning a Quebec City 2-day road trip from Montreal, you have three decisions to make: where to sleep, which road to take on day two, and what to ride if you don’t have a car.

Our three days in Quebec City with friends in mid-June, including a whale-watching tour from Tadoussac, are in a separate post. → Three days in Quebec City, plus a Tadoussac whale tour

01Two-day route map and timeline

We had spent three days in Quebec City with friends two weeks earlier. This time we went back with my parents, so we only walked Old Quebec on the afternoon of day one. Day one put one waterfall on the way into Quebec City and another on the way out. Day two followed the north shore of the St. Lawrence east, then came back on the inland road through the mountains. Montreal to Quebec City is about three hours by car. If you need a car, compare Montreal car rentals for your dates and pick from there.

02Day one: Chaudière Falls, Old Quebec and Montmorency Falls

11:15 a.m., Chaudière Falls

Parc des Chutes-de-la-Chaudière is a short detour off the highway on the way to Quebec City. The falls are lower than Montmorency but wide, and the water spilling over the rock ledge threw mist in every direction. Our kid said the falls were small but looked mysteriously strong.

We crossed the suspension bridge over the river and walked to the lookout on the far side. From the bridge, mist kept rising from the foot of the falls.

Lunch was the sandwiches we had packed, spread out on a picnic table in the park. With no admission or parking fee, it made an easy hour-and-a-half break before Quebec City.

2:05 p.m., Old Quebec

We went into Old Quebec at 2:05 p.m. and came out around 6:45 p.m. In the Lower Town we passed a pink sculpture beside the Fresque des Québécois mural. It’s Monsieur Rose, by French singer and writer Philippe Katerine, and it once stood in downtown Montreal too. We walked through Rue du Cul-de-Sac, the “umbrella alley” hung with colorful umbrellas from June to October, then watched a street show on the square in front of the Château Frontenac.

We bought maple taffy, Quebec’s chewy maple candy, at La Petite Cabane à Sucre. On the Plains of Abraham (Plaines d’Abraham), our kid did the usual clover hunt and found several four-leaf clovers. On the way out, we stopped briefly at the war museum.

Dinner was at Les Trois Brasseurs. The days were long, and the sky was still bright when we came out.

7:10 p.m., Montmorency Falls

We reached Parc de la Chute-Montmorency at 7:10 p.m. The path below the falls was soaked through by the spray.

When we climbed to the top and crossed the bridge, our kid said it felt like walking a plank over water with crocodiles hiding in it. A leaf drifting on the current floated for a moment, then dropped over the falls.

Around 8:30 p.m., from the lookout, the sky over Quebec City across the river turned pink. We took one more look down at the falls from the wooden stairway, then drove to the hotel.

Montmorency Falls also shows up in our fall day trip that paired it with Jacques-Cartier National Park. → Jacques-Cartier fall colors and Montmorency Falls in one day

03Where to stay for one night

We spent the night at the Grand Times Hôtel Aéroport de Québec in L’Ancienne-Lorette, west of Quebec City. It’s near Jean Lesage airport, hence the name. The room had an extra bed that folds down from the wall, and there was an indoor pool, not a big one. Parking in the outdoor lot out front was free.

We left at 8:50 a.m. the next morning and reached Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Basilica in about 35 minutes. If you’re heading to Charlevoix on day two, Beauport (where Montmorency Falls is) and Old Quebec are both 8–16 km (5–10 mi) closer as the crow flies. If day two goes west or south instead, the west side where we stayed is the easier base.

04Day two: the Charlevoix coast road

We followed this day hour by hour in a separate post. → A Charlevoix day trip from Quebec City: Baie-Saint-Paul, La Malbaie and the Clermont lookout

9:25 a.m., Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Basilica

Our first stop was the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré (Basilique Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré), a pilgrimage church dedicated to Saint Anne. Just inside the entrance hang crutches left as thanks by people who believe they were healed. You’ll see the same thing at Saint Joseph’s Oratory (Oratoire Saint-Joseph) in Montreal. We looked around for about 50 minutes and stopped in the gift shop. Without a car, there are also half-day bus tours that cover Montmorency Falls and the basilica.

11:35 a.m., Baie-Saint-Paul

We had high hopes for Baie-Saint-Paul. The streets are lined with small cafés, restaurants and galleries. For three generations traveling together, though, it was a little awkward. I kept wondering what our kid and my parents would actually enjoy. A street market happened to be on, so we wandered between the stalls.

For lunch we bought croissants and bread at Café Charlevoix.

12:55 p.m., Route 362

Past Baie-Saint-Paul, once we turned onto Route 362, the road climbed and dropped steeply toward the river. We pulled over a few times to look down at the water.

1:20 p.m., Saint-Irénée beach

The beach at Saint-Irénée is a stretch of sand right next to the Charlevoix train stop. Our kid said the water was a bit cold but played happily at the edge, and we watched from beside it. Around 1:20 p.m. the yellow train rolled in, the one that leaves La Malbaie at 1 p.m. and heads back to Quebec City.

The Charlevoix train (Train de Charlevoix) leaves from Montmorency Falls Park and follows the river through Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Baie-Saint-Paul and Saint-Irénée to La Malbaie. As of 2026, regular fares start at C$169 round trip between Quebec City and Baie-Saint-Paul, and at C$268 round trip between Quebec City and La Malbaie. Without a car, this train is the best way to see the coast scenery.

2:15 p.m., La Malbaie

In La Malbaie we stopped briefly by the river to look at Église Saint-Étienne. The first church here went up in 1805, burned in 1949 and was rebuilt in 1952. From here we turned toward Clermont.

Without a car

If you’d rather not drive, the Charlevoix train above is the way to see the coast. From Quebec City there are also half-day bus tours to Montmorency Falls and the basilica, and whale-watching day tours that follow the river. If you’re based in Montreal and only have one day, look at a Quebec City day tour from Montreal.

05Two viewpoints on the drive back

On the way back we stopped at two more high spots. On a first trip, stop at Clermont only and give the time you’d spend at Grands-Jardins to Quebec City instead.

Montagne de la Croix in Clermont and Grands-Jardins National Park

Item	Montagne de la Croix, Clermont	Grands-Jardins National Park
Official name	Site régional de la Montagne de la Croix	Parc national des Grands-Jardins
Admission and parking	Free	Paid Free for ages 17 and under Daily visitor cap, buy online
Getting up	Drive almost to the top	Walk a forest trail from the parking lot
What you see	Malbaie River valley and the Charlevoix meteorite crater landscape	Lichens, northern plants, conifer forest
What to bring	Nothing special	Bug repellent
Time we spent	30 min	1 hr 5 min

Sources: Tourisme Charlevoix (Montagne de la Croix); a Quebec outings guide (free outdoor parking); Sépaq, Grands-Jardins National Park (daily visitor cap), as of 2026

2:55 p.m., Montagne de la Croix in Clermont

In Clermont we followed the signs and drove almost to the top of the Montagne de la Croix. A short walk up brought us to a large iron cross, with the Malbaie River (Rivière Malbaie) valley and the town spread out below.

Heading back, we also pulled into a roadside lookout in Saint-Urbain. It has an orientation table (table d’orientation) naming the mountains in view.

4:40 p.m., Grands-Jardins National Park

We went to Grands-Jardins National Park (Parc national des Grands-Jardins) because I wanted my parents to see the fir forest we’d driven through on the way to Tadoussac two weeks earlier. From the parking lot we walked a short way along a trail lined with straight birch trees. The woods were full of bugs.

That said, on a first trip to Quebec you can skip Grands-Jardins. Coming back down toward Baie-Saint-Paul we passed fields of yellow flowers and cows grazing, and the sun went down as we crossed to the south shore past Quebec City. We got back to Montreal at 11:45 p.m.

06What we’d change next time

We’d do day one exactly the same way again. A rest at Chaudière at midday, Old Quebec in the afternoon and Montmorency at sunset spread the effort evenly across the day. On day two, sleeping on the Montmorency Falls side and skipping Grands-Jardins would let you take the Charlevoix coast road at an easy pace and still get home earlier.

QFAQ

The short version

Two days in Quebec work better spread out along the river than spent only in the city. Fill day one with Chaudière Falls, Old Quebec and Montmorency at sunset, then drive the Charlevoix coast road on day two. Choose where you sleep based on which direction you’re heading on day two. Without a car, the Charlevoix train or a day tour covers the same scenery.

Sources

• Bonjour Québec, Parc des Chutes-de-la-Chaudière
• Tourisme Lévis, Chaudière Falls park brochure (in French)
• Sépaq, Montmorency Falls park admission
• Québec Cité, Grand Times Hôtel Aéroport de Québec
• Train de Charlevoix, official site
• Train de Charlevoix, Saint-Irénée station
• Tourisme Charlevoix, Site de la Montagne de la Croix
• Sépaq, Parc national des Grands-Jardins