Canada is one of my favourite places in the world: something about the warmth of its people, the breathtaking landscapes, and the plethora of activities to engage in render it truly magical.
In a recent adventure, I embarked on a delightful road trip across eastern Canada alongside a friend I initially met in Colombia, starting in Montréal.
MONTRÉAL
Montréal – the capital of hockey – is a gorgeous place to start a road trip.
The first thing that I did upon arriving to the city was head to Parfums de Perse, where I tried a Persian twist on the classic London Fog and absolutely fell in love. The people were super lovely and the atmosphere was incredibly warm – and not to mention, the cakes were divine.
Exploring the city was easy – simply, rent a bike and go on an adventure through the streets. You can go up the year-round Grande Roue de Montréal, check out the many second-hand shops, and walk down to the front to watch the boats go by. It’s a magical place, honestly.
Out of all the places I went for food in the city, my favourite had to be – strangely enough – a Greek place called Tzatsi Qui. They served some of the best comfort food that I’ve ever had and I will forever reminisce about their gyros.
QUEBEC CITY
To be frank with you, I didn’t quite expect French Canada to look so… well, French. But it was amazing to walk around what felt exactly like a little slice of Europe, eating a chocolatine instead of pain au chocolat and staring back blankly when the locals spoke to me in French.
I stayed at the Hôtel Château Bellevue and couldn’t have had a better experience: it was in a super central location, with endless cups of free tea, spa access, AND wonderful outdoor hot tubs at their sister hotel. It was idyllic to simply plunge myself into bubbling warm water and enjoy the cold winter nights just like any ol’ Canadian.
For international food, Restaurant Gemini Sushi had to offer some of the best sushi that I’d ever tried, and for local food, Korrigane allowed me to experience vegan poutine for the first time. I cannot explain the absolute plethora of flavours in just one little bowl of chips, gravy, cheese, and vegan bacon: it is a dish that I will regularly think about until the day that I die.
And finally, the ultimate best place to go in Quebec City is Camellia Sinensis, an amazing little tea room. There, you can learn from the experts about the best way to hold a gaiwan and run your own tea ceremony with some of the highest-quality tea that you could find in Canada. It’s a real oasis, I tell you.
OTTAWA
Arriving in Ottawa meant that I was suddenly overwhelmed with cold: walking outside for too long would result in frozen eyelashes and a strange pain wherever the chilly air would touch my weak and unprepared Welsh body. Regardless, it was a beautiful city and I had a wonderful time exploring it.
One of the best ways to experience the city was by spending an afternoon with Ottawa Walking Tours. My guide, Craig, was filled with interesting tidbits about the city and somehow even made the cold feel fun. He introduced me to my new favourite Ottawa pub (the Manx), we saw the Changing of the Guards together, and he was super friendly and made me excited to continue exploring Canada.
Meanwhile, Brew Donkey gave me the BEST beer tour I’ve ever been on (and I’ve been on a fair few). We were picked up in a cool little van, taken to all of these incredible distilleries, taught about beer processing and able to try all the beer along the way, and were finally dropped back off significantly tipsier than we’d first arrived. I cannot stress how amazing an experience it was – every birthday from here on out I want to go back to Brew Donkey.
For hot beverages and cafe snacks, Little Victories Coffee and Oat Couture Cafe both tie at first place, with the former offering the best location to sit and paint and the latter offering the best avocado toast in the city.
Speakeasy Tapas Lounge serves food and drink from Latinoamerica AND has wonderful events where you can go, habla en Español, and dance your ass off. It’s a pretty buzzing – and yet entirely unexpected – atmosphere.
KINGSTON
I’ll be honest, I had no plans to visit Kingston until I spoke to Heather of Kingston Food Tours and decided to make a day trip. But boy, did Kingston grab my heart!
It is the cutest little town with somewhat British architecture, and it actually has some of the best food that I tasted in Canada. I didn’t expect it at all, but even still, my mouth salivates at the photographs of the tacos our palates were blessed with.
This was a wonderful food tour with an animated and passionate guide called Jessica who knew everything about the local food scene. She was able to work with what I consider to be extreme dietary restrictions and the dishes were all still incredible – with them, I had the best pasta I’ve ever had in my life.
I ended up leaving the food tour on a high note, having spent my time with some truly amazing people. Take me back to Kingston!
TORONTO
The first thing that I did upon arriving to Toronto was grab a boba (delicious) from Coco Fresh Tea & Juice and then head up to the CN Tower. The best way to see this is with the CityPASS – arguably, it’s the best way to explore the city.
I personally LOVED the CN Tower, and for someone sliiightly afraid of heights, I had an incredible time watching the tiny ant-like people below and taking more photos than my camera roll could allow. Then, to see the city become even tinier, I went to Little Canada – and wow, what a place!
I cannot even begin to describe my love for Little Canada – I didn’t know that I had such a big passion for such small things but honestly, I spent hours in this place just peering at the teeny-tiny people in their teeny-tiny lives. At the end, I was able to pick up an I found Maurice sticker after finding a tiny statue moose called Maurice, and loved every minute in this tiny haven.
And after discovering a new favourite type of shark at Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada and learning what exactly hockey is at the Hockey Hall of Fame, I was able to go on the highlight of the Toronto trip – a food tour.
Comedy Food Tours was incredible and our guide Shane was absolutely hilarious. Now, I don’t know about y’all but I’d never been on a comedy food tour before – but trust me, the concept of mixing two of earth’s greatest pleasures really did not disappoint. Along the way, we saw some of Toronto’s best sights (the CN Tower at night was incredible), and ate our way through an abundance of the tastiest food ever. Each place had its own story, and Shane and Ana were super patient taking us out on such a cold night.
One thing that I noticed on this food tour that I’ve never had before was that Shane would introduce us to some of the servers, something that I think is super important and yet, for whatever reason, rarely happens on tours. It added yet another personal touch and I really appreciated the connection with the people serving our food.
Thanks to Comedy Food Tours, I was able to end my Canada road trip with a full stomach and a bag full of delicious leftovers that would be my saviour on the long journey back home.
And so, have you guys ever been on a road trip around Eastern Canada, or plan on doing so? Let me know in the comments below!
