Imagine a junior-varsity, budget-friendly British Columbia about the size of Delaware — but with serious French flair. The destination you’re dreaming of is Charlevoix, Québec, and it’s the definition of “winter wonderland.”
Catch the 9:13 a.m. United flight from Newark to Québec City, and you’ll be carving tracks on the highest vertical drop east of the Canadian Rockies by lunch.
While you can fly back to the Big Apple later that night, you won’t want to.
Floating under the radar and nestled between the majestic Laurentian Mountains and the mighty St. Lawrence River, this snow-covered crater is worth a long weekend, at the very least.
Charlevoix is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve with 30,000 residents. It boasts Le Massif (the Ikon Pass’s newest North American ski resort), Canada’s first Club Med and the 82-stop Flavour Trail featuring the finest cheeses, chocolates and charcuteries you’ll find outside of France.
Still, this scenic oasis, an hour’s drive northeast of Québec City, had a rocky start. It was formed when a meteorite crashed into the earth 450 million years ago.
While the stardust is long gone, you’ll find plenty of fresh powder. “We’ve already received 10 inches of snow since the beginning of November, so we are ahead of the last three years,” Emmanuel Perot told The Post.
Perot is the general manager of Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu (from $200 a night), Charlevoix’s poshest property — so posh it hosted the G7 Summit in 2018. Built to resemble a 19th-century French castle, the 405-room hotel is perched on a cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence River, the main artery connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. Only 2% of its guests are American. Still, Perot said he’s noticed a slight uptick over previous years. And he’s not offended by jokes about Canada becoming the 51st state.
“Please rest assured that we continue to greet our neighbors from the south with open arms — this bond will never fade,” he said.
Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu is just 15 minutes from Mont Grand Fonds, a beginner-friendly ski resort where lift tickets start at $40. Still, Perot’s favorite thing to do in winter is snowmobile with family.
“There’s nothing quite like spending a few hours with the people you love, exploring the scenery, stopping for a bite in a ‘yurt,’ or even catching sight of a moose along the trail,” he said.
Go for a guided tour with Norde Expe, or rent your own Skidoo and choose from loops ranging from 42 miles to 607 miles.
Trail 378 deposits you at Le 2020 (from $60 a night), a motel where you can warm up with an herbal, gin-based eggnog at nearby Menaud. The craft spirits served at this micro-distillery — a stop on the Flavour Trail — are made with grains grown on Isle-aux-Coudres, Charlevoix’s answer to Martha’s Vineyard. In Baie-Saint-Paul, the region’s cultural capital, visit MicroBrasserie Charlevoix for a pint of Flacatoune. This Belgian-style IPA beat more than 1,800 beers from all 10 Canadian provinces to be crowned winner of the 2025 Canada Beer Cup. If coffee is your drink of choice, hit up Mousse café, a convent turned coffee shop with more than 150 board games patrons can play.
For food, Mylène Simard, destination promotion manager of Tourism Charlevoix, recommends Famille Migneron de Charlevoix, another Flavour Trail favorite. The Migneron family, winners of the Canadian Cheese Grand Prix, could teach a master class on micro-cheesemaking. And this spring, their farm will welcome a new restaurant helmed by Chef Hugue Dufour, co-owner of the now-shuttered M. Wells, a Michelin-starred steakhouse in Long Island City, Queens. Simard also loves Faux Bergers, a communal eatery with one nightly sitting.
“The experience unfolds as a seven-course tasting menu,” she said.
For an après-ski appetizer, you can’t go wrong with the gnocchi-poutine served alongside panoramic views atop Le Massif’s summit at Camp Boule.
Averaging 18 feet of snow annually, Le Massif features 53 trails. Lift tickets start at $70 and, starting this year, it’s part of the Ikon Pass. If you’d rather strap on a headlamp than cram your feet into boots, go night-sledding at nearby Mont à Liguori. Its 4.7-mile luge track is the longest in North America.
Thrill seekers will also want to try fat biking and kayaking on Charlevoix’s half-frozen rivers. There’s also ziplining and ice climbing at the Palisades. Or, leave the harnessing to the dogs and embrace your inner musher at La Reine et le Millionnaire. Just remember that like most people in Charlevoix, your pack’s first language will probably be French.
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