Falling for Canada – Exploring Ontario to Quebec City by Rail

Award-winning UK travel writer Neil Geraghty embarks on an unforgettable rail journey through Eastern Canada. From vibrant cities to breathtaking landscapes, Neil shares his first-hand experiences, insights, and hidden gems discovered along the way.

Be prepared to get wet….very wet! I’ve just boarded the Maid of the Mist, a zero emission electric cruise boat that whisks tourists to the edge of Niagara Falls. At first all is sweetness and light. Mellow October sunshine flooding through mist churned up by the cascading water forms a rainbow that arcs with Wizard of Oz perfection over the Niagara river. The insta brigade can’t believe their luck and with ruthless speed sprint upstairs to bag all the prime viewing positions. But the Gods of social media can be a fickle bunch and the Instagrammers are in for a rude awakening. What they haven’t factored in is Niagara’s capricious microclimate and as they pose in front of the rainbow a howling wind followed by a towering curtain of spray blows over and unceremoniously dumps an Olympic swimming pool’s worth of water directly on their heads. Pandemonium breaks loose and shrieking they run for cover trying desperately to shield their hair dos and smartphones from water damage. For the rest of us who have wisely hidden away our tech under rain ponchos we can embrace the spray and enjoy the thunderous majesty of the Niagara Falls blissfully free from social media.

My visit to Niagara is a highlight of Journeyscape’s 10-day Gems of Eastern Canada by Rail tour which takes guests on a leisurely meander through the great provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Fittingly, the tour begins in one of the world’s great railway hotels, the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto. Built in 1929 just opposite Toronto’s imposing Neo-Classical Union Station, the hotel is a monumental example of Châteauesque architecture, a style that became popular in the late 19^th Century when fashionable North American hotels were adorned with fanciful turrets modelled on the Renaissance chateaux of the Loire Valley. During the 1940s and 50s the Royal York ran Canada’s most iconic night club, the Imperial Room, where a stellar array of jazz legends including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald performed. On the first floor a gallery of nostalgic black and white photos transports guests back in time to the golden era of jazz.

A Sunday morning cycle tour is the perfect way to discover Toronto’s diverse neighbourhoods and in a stroke of luck mine coincides with the city’s annual Waterfront Marathon when Downtown Toronto closes to motorised traffic. Toronto’s flat topography and excellent cycling lane network makes it one of the easiest cities in North America to navigate across by bike. Our first stop is the Ontario Art Gallery where a striking electric blue facade, designed by celebrated Toronto architect Frank Gehry adds a splash of blue sky cheer to the city even in the depths of winter. Back on the saddle, we peddle through leafy Chinatown to the bohemian Kensington Market district where on Sunday mornings the air fills with mouth-watering aromas of cinnamon buns. At Toronto University we pause to admire the Oxford style colleges where we spot black squirrels scampering across the lawns. We then head over to the Distillery District which was once home to the largest whisky producer in the British Empire and contains the largest collection of Victorian buildings in North America, now home to microbreweries, art galleries and stylish boutiques.

From Toronto I take an early morning train to Canada’s pint-sized capital Ottawa. The train route linking Windsor Ontario to Quebec City is known locally as The Corridor and is Canada’s busiest train line. Business Class is an especially enjoyable way to travel along the longer sections and comes with comfortable vintage style high backed seats, attentive service and high-quality meals that rival those in business class on airlines. The first section of the 4½ hour long journey skims the northern shoreline of Lake Ontario where we’re treated to a mesmerising sunrise breaking through wreaths of mist hovering above the lake’s surface. We then cross the lush beech forests of the Thousand Islands National Park before striking north towards the capital.

My visit to Ottawa coincides with the peak of Canada’s world-famous Fall foliage displays and there’s no better city in the country to experience them in. Dramatically located on the confluence of two rivers, Ottawa’s stately Parliament buildings are built on a bluff which is covered in thickly wooded parkland. The best views are from the Quebec shore of the Ottawa River which is reached by crossing Alexandra Bridge, a rickety cantilever bridge built in 1900 which is now only open to pedestrians and cyclists. The city is basking in an Indian summer when I arrive and on the riverside lawns l lie down near a flock of over friendly Canada geese who seem more inclined to nibble my shoelaces than the grass. From the riverside, the view of Parliament Hill covered in crimson maple trees is stunning.

Canada’s fiery autumn landscapes were immortalised by a group of early 20^th Century artists known as the Group of Seven. Many of their best works are displayed in Ottawa’s National Gallery of Canada. Heavily influenced by the French expressionists, the pared back brushwork and bold use of colour imbues their canvasses with drama and movement and beautifully conjures up the vast expanses of the Canadian wilderness. The Group of Seven landscapes are displayed alongside intricate paintings and carvings by indigenous artists that take visitors on fascinating journeys into the spirit realm of their traditional shamanistic beliefs.

From Ottawa I move on to Montreal with its infectious blend of big city pazzazz and French old-world charm. Nowhere is the French influence more evident than in the port side Old Montreal district where cobbled streets lined with 18^th Century worker’s cottages sit alongside palatial Beaux Arts 19^th Century bank buildings. These are now home to some of Montreal’s best cafes which range from the gilded ceilings of Crew Collective housed in the old Bank of Canada building to the cozy recycled decor of Chez Mère Grand. As you travel further into Quebec the province’s French heritage becomes ever more pronounced and when I walk out of Quebec City’s charming copper roofed railway station I feel I’ve crossed the Atlantic and arrived in a small city in Normandy.

In the heart of Quebec City’s atmospheric Upper Town I check into the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, one of Canada’s most famous hotels which for over a hundred years has welcomed heads of states including Queen Elizabeth II and Charles de Gaulle and a roll call of Hollywood stars. In August 1943 the hotel hosted the top-secret Quebec Conference during which Winston Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt set out plans for the Invasion of Italy and the D Day Landings. The Rose Salon where the conference took place has been preserved as an historic monument where you can’t help feeling over awed by events that changed the course of world history.

From the lofty heights of Château Frontenac I stroll down to the Lower Town where I join local tour guide Gilbert Garcia for an entertaining pedicab tour around some of his favourite neighbourhoods. The route takes us along the Saint Charles River which until recently was lined with polluting factories but has now been landscaped with attractive parkland and wildlife reserves. At Quebec’s cavernous new food market le Grand Marché, we stop to sample an array of Quebecois delicacies including cheese and saucissons that rival the best in France and of course maple syrup which you can buy at a fraction of the price of downtown tourist shops. During our tour the temperature begins to plummet and on the last stretch Gilbert hands me a blanket to keep my legs warm. When I reach the Upper Town a squally wind is blowing torrents of leaves off the trees and in the distance brooding black clouds are spilling over the Laurentian Mountains. I scurry back to the hotel and when I reach my 15^th floor room I’m astonished to see the first flakes of snow drifting over the city. Gone in a flash, autumns in eastern Canada are brief, intense and spectacular and as I gaze out of the window I spot a V shaped flock of Canada geese hurrying south to warmer climes.

Find out more about the journey Neil took with our Gems of Eastern Canada by Rail itinerary.