This morning we begin our Canadian Adventure to Ottawa & Quebec. Our first day is spent traveling through Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley as we make our way to the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area for an overnight stay.

Today we travel through Pennsylvania into New York. Late afternoon we arrive in Alexandria Bay. We cruise through the waterways of the 1000 Islands National Park area of the St. Lawrence Seaway. After our cruise we check into our hotel for the evening.

We arrive in Ottawa and this afternoon we meet our local guide for an Ottawa Highlights tour. See the distinguished buildings of Parliament Hill, Peace Tower, and the residence of Canada’s Governor General with its beautiful parks & gardens. Next we tour Rideau Hall (if available) which has been the official home and workplace of every Canadian Governor General since the Confederation in 1867. We overnight in Ottawa. Dinner is included this evening. (D)

We follow the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City, the first French settlement in North America, reminiscent of a medieval European village. Our accommodations are in Quebec City for the next two nights. Dinner is included this evening. (D)

This morning we are joined by a knowledgeable local guide for a sightseeing tour of Quebec City. Nestled on a historic rampart, Quebec City is at once antique, medieval and lofty, a place of mellowed stone buildings and weathered cannons, ancient trees and narrow, steeply angled streets. See the Old City, the Place Royale, Plaines of Abraham, the Citadel, and breathtaking Montmorency Falls, which drops 84 meters into the St. Lawrence River. Tour the Basilica of Saint Anne de Beaupré, noted as the oldest pilgrimage site in North America. This evening is at leisure to enjoy this romantic city on foot or by horse-drawn carriage. You may want to have dinner on your own at a French Bistro inside the walled city of Old Town Quebec.

Today we turn south toward Quebec’s largest city, Montreal. Upon arrival to the city we have time for shopping and lunch on our own along the cobble-stone streets of Vieux Montreal. We meet our local guide and admire the grand mansions of Mount Royal and the modern downtown area. Our tour also includes the Basilica of Notre Dame de Montreal (if open to the public) and the site of the 1976 Olympics. After our sightseeing tour have your cameras ready as we visit Montreal Botanical Gardens. This garden is known as one of the world’s most spectacular gardens! This evening we overnight in Montreal and enjoy an included dinner. (D)

Operating as Lake Champlain’s only cruise ship and floating restaurant, we climb aboard the Spirit of Ethan Allen. Enjoy a relaxing sail across Lake Champlain while feasting on the lunch buffet. Lake Champlain is a beautiful fresh water in-land sea squeezed between New York, Vermont and Canada. Cruising this deep water Parliament Fountain / La Maison Simons lake, we view the beauty of the Adirondack Mountains is never a dull view when plying the waters here. When we disembark, we make our way south to visit Shelburne Museum. More than a museum, Shelburne boasts thirty-nine distinct structures on forty-five acres, each filled with beautiful, fascinating, and whimsical objects. The owner, an avid collector, brought together houses, barns, a meeting house, a one-room schoolhouse, a lighthouse, a jail, a general store, a covered bridge, and the 220-foot steamboat Ticonderoga to house all of her collections. She worked with a landscape design team to situate them within a welcoming environment that includes lush gardens and enticing views. We travel on to Lake George, NY, for our overnight. (L)

We begin our final day of sightseeing at the magnificent Olana home, studio, and designed landscape of Hudson River School painter, Frederic Edwin Church. The centerpiece of Olana is an eclectic villa which overlooks parkland and a working farm designed by the artist. The residence has a wide view of the Hudson River Valley, the Catskill Mountains and the Taconic Range. The main building is an architectural masterpiece: a stone, brick, and polychrome-stenciled villa. The interior, exotically furnished and decorated with objects from his global travels, has some 40 paintings collected by Church and his friends. The house is intricately stenciled inside and out, the stencils based by Church on his travels in the Middle East. Photos are welcome anywhere on the grounds and inside the home, so have your cameras ready! We enjoy an included dinner tonight before settling into our hotel for the evening. (D)

We arrive home early evening with fond memories of all that we have seen on our tour to Ottawa & Quebec.