Family routes: Montreal and Quebec City

Île d'Orléans
The Île d'Orléans is a 34-kilometre island, five kilometres downriver from Quebec City. The tourist information office is visible as soon as you cross the bridge to the island -- bring (or rent) bikes to check out the island and its windmills, stone cottages and orchards.

Valcartier Vacation Village
Twenty minutes outside of Quebec City is Valcartier Vacation Village, home to the largest water park in Canada. Twenty-five water slides, a wave pool with eight types of waves, a half-kilometre tropical river, Game Island and acrobatic diving shows (June 18 through August 20) combine for knock-your-socks-off fun for the whole family. Summer admission rates are divided into Small (less than 52" -- $17.38 for a full day), Tall (52” and taller -- $24.34 for a full day) and Elders (65 years and over -- $17.38 for a full day). A discount admission is available after 4 p.m. and ticket access to the ground activities and diving shows is an extra $5.22 per person. Kids two and under are admitted free.

The rainy-day option: Musée de la civilisation
Don't let summer rains derail your plans for family fun. Quebec City's Musée de la civilisation is the perfect antidote for a rainy day. Highly recommended is the costume workshop that is part of the Make Way for the Middle Ages offering. Aimed at children between the ages of two and 10 and their parents (and grandparents), the workshop takes kids back to a medieval French village where they are exposed to and participate in the operation of period markets, crafts, activities and businesses.

Teens will enjoy Wild and Whimsical Artifacts, a unique and quirky display of folk art, and Vox Populi, a look at the role of democracy in societal evolution. Both are temporary exhibits at the Musee de la civilization.

If you want to take a virtual trip to check out more fun things to do and places to visit, check out these sites:

Tourism Montreal
Tourism Quebec City
The Outaouais
Tourism Quebec
Village Mont-Tremblant

Where are you going this summer? Discuss your travel plans with other readers in our forums!

Image courtesy www.old.montreal.qc.ca, le photographe masqué.

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