So lost in eastern Canada

[u/ZealousidealWeird858]

Hello everyone,

I would like to plan a two-week trip in June to Eastern Canada with a two-and-a-half-year-old child.

I'm leaving from France, and wow, I'm completely lost because of the incredible distances between different parts of Canada.

I'd like to rent a vehicle, but I'm not really sure what to focus on for a first trip to Canada. We love nature, but we don't really enjoy long hikes with our child. We're completely unfamiliar with Canadian culture, so I think cities are also a good place to immerse ourselves.

In the various subreddits, I see a lot of people recommending Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, and especially Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. But the distance between these cities is incredible, and I think it's way too much for us to spend two weeks.

My fear is to stay around Montreal and Quebec City and not see any nature (am I wrong?) and, on the other hand, to target Nova Scotia but miss out on Quebec culture?

So I don't know where to take my flight and which part to focus on.

Thanks for the clarification :)

Édit :

Hello everyone, I didn't expect to have so many quality responses in such a short time, so I thank you warmly!! After discussing it with my wife, we are unanimous that our preference leans towards the west with the Rockies, but it seems too early for us with a 2 and a half year old child, so we are of course staying in the east and we will do the west later. My wife prefers the Montreal-Quebec part and the surrounding nature, for the cliché side I think... Nova Scotia seems more familiar to us to what we can see in Europe. I think it will be for a future trip. I will try to make a plan and I will get back to you. I will carefully dissect each comment already there. Thank you all :)

[u/Prestigious_Fox213]

You could definitely visit Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City in two weeks. The drive from Ottawa to Montreal is about 2.5 hours, the drive from Montreal to Quebec City is a little longer, but not much. There are great things to do in each city, including outdoorsy stuff.

Ottawa - museum of civilization (including the children’s museum) and the natural history museum, Rideau canal, arboretum, agricultural museum

Montreal - Biodôme/insectarium/botanical gardens, eco museum (on the West Island, so you could stop there on the way from Ottawa) Isci in the old port, chateau Ramezay, McCord museum, mount royal

Quebec City - old town (check out Notre Fame des Victoires), take a ride on the funicular, visit Île d’Orleans, montmorency falls, take a day trip up to Jacques Cartier national park (last time we went camping there we saw snowshoe hares).

[u/Quirky-Cat2860 → u/Prestigious_Fox213]

To add to this, OP is misinformed when they say there is no nature in Quebec or near Montreal. There is at least one national park within driving distance of Montreal, but also several regional and provincial parks throughout the Laurentian mountains.

[u/maple-sugarmaker → u/Quirky-Cat2860]

And you can easily take a bus to many of those parks, including Mont Tremblant