Ski Magazine perennially ranks Québec’s Tremblant the crème de la crème of eastern North American skiing. But you can be a great movie star without being a great actor. They’ve also written “it sure isn’t the skiing that puts Tremblant at the top of the Eastern rankings year after year.” They love Tremblant’s Disney-like, family-oriented village tucked beneath the roosterlike crests of the Laurentian Mountains. It has a European look and ambiance offering ski-in, ski-out accommodations. We like it too. And we especially like Hotel Quintessence, a zinger of a boutique property with only 30 lakefront luxury suites. Everything so perfect there’s nothing to write about.
If you prefer the anonymity found in a large five-star property, the eyebrow-raising Fairmont Tremblant is just down the road. There are, too, a wealth of other ski resorts centered in the Eastern Townships, one-to-two hours driving time from Montreal and appealing to skiers with a stray-dog complex. But really, who are we kidding? Sometimes skiing the East feels like we’re tugging at a too-short skirt. A lot of ski areas in eastern North America are as interchangeable as light bulbs.
Québec City
Québec City is a ski town
So let me tell you how we like to ski Québec. How we turn it into the most unique place to ski in North America. I mean capital-E Experience the far-reaching slopes while wrapped in that heartwarming French-Canadian mystique. It seeps into your soul and slows time. The real travel begins when you stop moving. Here’s the punchline. We base our ski trip in Québec City, which Travel + Leisure readers’ selected as the best city in Canada 2016. History is never buried here. Let me tell you.
Here is a Québec City scene.
Imagine coming home to a vibrant, romantic French-speaking city at the end of an extraordinary, blindingly bright ski day. There you are in Canada’s oldest permanent European settlement (1608), the only fortified city north of Mexico, and a UNESCO World Heritage site, to boot. Your legs are toast and cheeks ruddy from Christmas-like cold.
You’re bedding down at the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac within the ramparts of Old Québec. The place oozes with a sugar rush of history and over-the-top sensuality. The Frontenac is one of those elegant 19th-century Canadian Pacific Railroad hotels that lord over the best places across Canada, like Chateau Lake Louise, and have been graciously restored by Fairmont. You’re dining on carpaccio of Atlantic salmon. And that’s just for breakfast.
Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac
I could go on, but you get the idea.
If you visit in late February, when the mercury pools in the bulb and the city lives for sunrise, you’ll be a player in Québec City’s incomparable 17-day-long winter carnival, one of the largest winter festivals in the world. Some things in life you just have to do.
Carnaval
Maybe you’re a gourmand; maybe you like to shop. It’s easy to blow off a ski day in this inspiring and completely absorbing city. For fine French cuisine with a regional touch, we like what the locals like and one favorite is Aux Anciens Canadiens Restaurant, which is housed in a 1675 mansion. This Experts’ Choice award winner, steeped in history, is located in the heart of Old Québec.
Have I even mentioned the skiing? It’s why we’re here, right? Three major, high-octane resorts are within easy striking distance of Quebec City. Shuttles operate from hotels. You don’t have to slalom your way along northern roads where the Canadian spare tire is a pair of ice skates in the trunk. There’s a multi-ski area lift ticket and a 75-cent Canadian dollar.
Mont-Sainte-Anne
Mont-Sainte-Anne
Just 30 minutes from Quebec City is Mont-Sainte-Anne, one of the gnarlier ski mountains in the East, but also offering great runs for kids. This is a lulu of a resort giving way to aha-inducing views of the rugged, wild, and lost in time St. Lawrence River. During the off season, from May to October, humpbacks, minkes, blue whales and white belugas gorge in the river and attract flotillas of whale watchers. More than 70 runs topple down three mountain faces, offering everything from elevator-shaft-like black-diamond runs to long, winding intermediate trails. They amble over the contours of the mountains, rimmed by magnificent hardwoods that bleed maple syrup in springtime. Nearby, Canada’s largest cross-country ski center is a mind-blowing stretch of white trails unspooling through the valley and surrounding hills. There are more than 135 miles of track and seven heated huts along the way. If you want to sleep rough and spend a night on the cross-country trail, we like the cozy ski-in L’Auberge du Fondeur, where we mingle with the locals, sharing a kitchen, fireplace and sauna.
Le Massif de Charlevoix
Le Massif de Charlevoix
If you’re looking to amp up the game, a little more than an hour away from Quebec City is Le Massif de Charlevoix, a resort with two mountains of elongated joy attracting feisty skiers with moxie and pep. The two mountains yield the highest vertical drop in eastern Canada and some of its steeps are a meet-yourself experience, echoing why we love movies that make us cry.
Le Masssif towers over a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve and the ice-choked silent thread of the St. Lawrence River. The snow can be Utah light. Beside the river lie the Old World, dolled up towns of Petite-Riviere-Saint-François and Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. Some of the third and fourth generation families seem out of Guy de Maupassant. If you want to spend a night nearby, we like Le Germain Hotel Charlevoix and its thermal spa.
Stoneham Ski Resort
Stoneham Ski Resort
Located just 15 miles north of Quebec City, Stoneham sits in a snow-trapping, wind-protected, horseshoe-shaped valley. The trails sprawl across four mountains, making it easy to follow the warm sun. It’s perfect for families that want to ski together. Its three terrain parks and 22-foot Olympic Super Pipe are popular with snowboarders and tricksters on skis — a big sandbox where hope dies last. The resort claims to have the largest night skiing network in Canada. At least two other Quebec ski areas make the same boast. Well, there you have it. That’s how we ski Quebec. May the truth set you skiing.
Drake has said, “When I think of myself, I think of Toronto. My music would never sound the way it does if it weren’t for Toronto.” Growing up in the suburbs outside Toronto, Drake’s love for his hometown shows no bounds. The rapper is set to release his long-awaited fourth album Views from the 6 this month, once again referencing his city. Recently, he was given the key to the city by mayor John Tory at the NBA All Star Celebrity Game, held for the first time outside the U.S.
Despite having multiple cribs in LA, NYC and Miami, Drake often makes his way home, either hitting up Joso’s for seafood or hiding out at the Hazelton Hotel. If you’ve got love for the 6 God, then we have the ultimate guide to exploring Canada’s largest and most culturally diverse city to the soundtrack of its most treasured export.
TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 12: Drake and Toronto Mayor John Tory attend the 2016 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game at Ricoh Coliseum on February 12, 2016 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by George Pimentel/WireImage)
Drake receiving the key to Toronto from Mayor John Tory.
No relation to Toronto’s favorite rapper, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more apt hotel to stay in. Concierge.com says “for anyone who wants to live hard, party with locals, and see the city’s younger, hipper side, there’s no better place to lay your weary head.” With only 19 rooms, the Drake may be small in size, but “epitomises bohemian luxury” according to Insight Guides. A popular rooftop patio, comfort food restaurant, and nightclub will make you never want to leave. Rooms from $166. Listen: “Best I Ever Had”
As sleek as one of Drake’s whips, the NY-based hotel chain made its Toronto debut in 2010, quickly becoming an “adult amusement park” according to BlackBook. Located in the fashionable King West Village, the hotel is a stone’s throw from art, entertainment and shopping, not to mention nightlife (the hotel even has its own underground club). Of the hotel, Gayot says “guests who choose one of the Toronto Thompson Hotel’s spacious 102 rooms or suites can enjoy floor-to-ceiling window views and such amenities as marble bathrooms with heated floors.” Rooms from $230. Listen: “HYFR”
Drake references this Four Seasons outpost in his latest single “Summer Sixteen,” and why not? Standing 55 floors tall with 259 rooms, the hotel is perfect for holding court with your crew, “looking like a damn football team.” Located in the upscale Yorkville neighborhood, Jetsetter says the Four Seasons is “a scene-stealing skyscraper with a talked-about restaurant and stellar spa in downtown’s swankiest ‘hood.” It’s nice being so high up, huh? Rooms from $367. Listen: “Summer Sixteen”
The Hazy, as it’s affectionately known, made not one but two appearances on Drake’s fourth mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. A favorite among high rollers, the luxury hotel in Yorkville features rooms decked out in black and gold (Drizzy’s colors of choice). “Sophisticated, dramatic and sexy, this hotel is small enough (62 rooms, 15 suites) to make you feel like the someone special that we all know you are (Lonely Planet). Rooms from $289. Listen: “Used To” “10 Bands”
We’d like to imagine Drake toasting his first record deal with his crew at this Toronto institution for more than 30 years. Consistently stellar food and fantastic views of the Toronto skyline make this one of the best places for a celebratory meal. “Up on a hillside overlooking the dazzling downtown lights, Scaramouche is the perfect hideaway for falling in love with food or your dining companion” (Forbes). Main courses from $39. List: “Crew Love”
This ivy-covered temple to seafood in Yorkville has been serving the freshest catch of the day since 1977. “Artistic objects, sensuous paintings of nudes and the sea, and signed celebrity photos line the walls at this two-story seafood institution that might catch you off-guard with its eccentricity” (Fodor’s). You might recognize the restaurant as the ornate setting for Drake’s Take Care album cover (and a mention in “5AM in Toronto”). Main courses from $28. Listen: “Take Care”
To get in touch with his Jewish side, we can imagine Drake taking his mom to one of the city’s best delis serving corned beef and pastrami (called smoked meat here). BlackBook says “Zane Caplansky’s old school deli has become the de facto spot for Jewish comfort food thanks to his luscious cured beef.” Listen: “You & The 6”
We wouldn’t be shocked to see Drake sipping vino at this Italian spot in King West (he references two other Italian joints, Il Mulino and Sotto Sotto in “Pound Cake” featuring Jay Z). Zagat says “at his high-end, hard-to-find Italian in King West, chef Rob Gentile serves upscale takes on rustic fare, using charcuterie, sausages and pastas made in-house.” Main courses from $21. Listen: “Pound Cake”
For a near-guaranteed Drake sighting…
Fring’s
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAlJ1IWPDQR/
You can thank Drake for one of the hottest spots in town – he did, after all, give Fring’s its name. Helmed by celebrity chef Susur Lee, the new restaurant in King West opened late 2015 and has already seen a bevy of famous faces come to taste its global cuisine and see its uber-cool interior. Combine that with the best song of 2015 (we may be biased) and your night is set. Listen: “Hotline Bling”
For that “irie” taste…
The Real Jerk
https://www.instagram.com/p/BC9TwSPk8fL/
You want authentic Caribbean flavor in Toronto? The Real Jerk is the answer. It recently played host to Rihanna and Drake for her “Work” music video, although we can imagine the weekly vibe is a little more sedated than what’s depicted in the video. Listen: Work
TripExpert’s top rated attraction in Toronto also happens to be one of Drake’s favorites, too: he has a tattoo of the tower inked on his arm and was seen riding its elevator in “Headlines.” At 1,815 feet, the CN Tower soars above Toronto skyline, much like the Empire State Building in NYC. Lonely Planet says “riding those glass elevators up the highest freestanding structure in the world (553m) is one of those things in life you just have to do.” Listen: “6 God”
Home of the Toronto Blue Jays, Rogers Centre was prominently featured in Drake’s “Headlines” music video and is a signature feature on the city’s burgeoning waterfront. While Time Out says it resembles “a giant white beetle,” the view of the CN Tower from the stadium can hardly be beat. After seeing a game, wander around the Queens Quay, a new urban revitalization project with green space and public art. Listen: “Headlines”
Air Canada Centre
Image: Dave Gillespie
Image: Dave Gillespie
Drake’s Sher Club
You’ll likely catch Drake cheering on the Toronto Raptors at this stadium – he is their official global ambassador. Whether or not you have thousands to spend on floor seats, it’s worth seeing a game and witnessing the city’s passion for sports. In 2015, Drake opened an exclusive, members-only club in the Air Canada Centre, Sher Club. Listen: “Energy”
For a chill time on the water…
Mariposa Private Harbor Cruise
Private Harbor Cruise
Toast the city on a private charter on Toronto’s harbor, champagne glass in hand.
For the night owl…
Drake Underground
https://www.instagram.com/p/3Ws495S55i/
Located in the basement of The Drake Hotel, the subterranean venue is “beloved by many by many for the intimate opportunities it offers to see genre-spanning artists and DJs on its red curtained stage,” according to blogTO.com. Time to be on your best (worst) behavior. Listen: “Worst Behavior”
Muzik
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBur3P3AHT4/
Drake has hosted many after parties at this sprawling nightclub on the waterfront, where the Dom Pérignon flows all night long. VIP or not, you’ll feel like a motherf***in legend at this sleek and sexy outdoor/indoor club. More recently, the club played host to the NBA All Stars afterparty. Listen: “Legend”
