Cities
St. Lawrence RiverPassionately St. Lawrence
Discover a great river as alluring as the seaQuébec is split along its southern latitudes by the St. Lawrence River, one of the longest rivers in the world and the gateway to the Great Lakes and the North American heartland since time immemorial. Since Jacques Cartier first explored it in the 16th century, the lengthy river has been a veritable lifeline for the Québecers who made their homes on its shores.
Roads hug both sides of the St. Lawrence, providing panoramic views on a coastline by turns rural, mountainous or supremely wild, from west of Montréal to the very tip of the Gaspésie—and even further still, to the edges of Labrador. The road also veers off into the spectacular force of nature known as the Saguenay Fjord.
Over its 1,600-km (995-mi.) trajectory, the river broadens into an estuary and then a gulf that’s more like an inland sea. By sailboat or kayak, on a ferry or a cruise ship, discover the infinite secrets of this majestic waterway where the gleaming backs of whales break the waves beneath flocks of seabirds in flight.
From Montréal to Anticosti and the Îles-de-la-Madeleine, innumerable islands and archipelagos, verdant or rocky, invite you to discover their fauna and flora and hear the legends of the farmers, sailors and fishermen who lived there once, and live there still.
