Like a good French wine, this drive offers a complex blend of history, culture, and scenery.

Overview
This rewarding loop drive begins in Montreal, one of the world's largest French-speaking cities, with more museums, cultural events, restaurants, and shops than you can count. The route then leads to "the regions" outside the city, first southeast through pastoral Montérégie, then rolling through the British-settled Eastern Townships and Quebec's picturesque wine country, crossing into the Mauricie Bois-Francs region and over the St. Lawrence River. The loop is completed along two historic river roads, le chemin du Roy, which traces the St. Lawrence, and le chemin des Patriotes, which follows the Richelieu.

Start in Montreal
Montreal is a city at once northern and Latin, sophisticated and provincial, and conversant in two languages. First explored in 1535 by Jacques Cartier, the city was founded as a missionary colony in 1642. The most dramatic entrée to the island of Montreal is via Pont Champlain. At dusk, the skyline soars and glitters against silhouetted Mont-Royal.

Mont-Royal
This generally walkable city can be divided into five sections. The first, named Mont-Royal by Cartier, offers lovely Parc du Mont-Royal, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. A pilgrimage site, the magnificent Oratoire Saint-Joseph (3800 chemin Queen Mary; +1 514 733 8211) boasts a massive copper dome and lofty views.