1,000 Places to See Before You Die

by Patricia Schultz

  With ten quirky yet luxurious guest rooms in three historic 19th-century homes and a carriage house, the Three Houses Bed and Breakfast Inn perfectly captures Stratford’s sophistication and good-natured sense of high drama. The stylish décor partakes equally of whimsy and refined good taste, and breakfasts have the festive spirit of a dinner party.

  WHERE: 93 miles/149 km west of Toronto. Tel 800-567-1600 or 519-273-1600; www.stratfordfestival.ca. When: mid-Apr–early Nov. THE CHURCH RESTAURANT: Tel 519-273-3424; www.churchrestaurant.com. Cost: 3-course tasting menu $55. THREE HOUSES INN: Tel 519-272-0722; www.thethreehouses.com. Cost: from $195. BEST TIMES: Jul–Aug for the peak of the theater festival; late Jul–mid-Aug for Stratford Summer Music Festival.

  Temples of Canadian Art and Culture

  ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO AND THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM

  Toronto, Ontario, Canada

  With a striking new Frank Gehry–designed expansion that increased gallery space at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) by almost half, one of the largest and most important collections of visual art in Canada is bigger and better than ever. The expansion didn’t just enlarge the august 1918 Beaux Arts building physically, it also brought an additional 10,000 new works of art to the permanent collection and added FRANK, a contemporary, chic restaurant with locally sourced comfort food and an all-Ontario wine list. Named after the Toronto-born, Los Angeles–based architect, the restaurant also throws a nod to Frank Stella, whose installation adorns the space.

  The AGO expansion was triggered when Kenneth Thomson, a leading Canadian busi-nessperson, donated nearly 2,000 works from his private art collection to the museum—the largest gift ever made to a Canadian cultural institution. The Thomson collection spans the centuries, from Medieval and Baroque ivories and classics of 17th- and 18th-century European painting to Canadian art from the 19th and 20th centuries. It joined the museum’s already impressive collection of works by European masters from Brueghel to Van Gogh, and more-contemporary artists like Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg. The AGO also has the finest collection of Inuit art in Canada and the world’s largest collection of works by British sculptor Henry Moore.

  Also newly expanded, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is Canada’s largest museum of natural history and world culture. More than 6 million objects comprise an overview of natural history from the dawn of time, with art and artifacts of human cultures from around the world. The exhibits are diverse and captivating, ranging from a remarkable selection of Chinese art and a wing dedicated to European decorative arts to dinosaur skeletons and a Canadian heritage gallery.

  Further reason to visit can be found in the Daniel Libeskind–designed “Crystal”—300,000 square feet of new and renovated gallery space defined by the jagged, multifaceted form adjoining the museum’s neo-Romanesque façade. It helped reinvent the venerable museum, while expanding gallery space for the display of never-before-seen collections.

  The Royal Ontario Museum’s “Crystal” addition was designed by Daniel Libeskind.

  ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO: Tel 416-979-6648; www.ago.net. ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM: Tel 416-586-8000; www.rom.on.ca.

  Hollywood Glamour on Lake Ontario

  TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

  Toronto, Ontario, Canada

  Established in 1976, and showing more than 330 films from over 65 countries, the Toronto International Film Festival is the top film festival in North America. Widely considered second only to Cannes (see p. 127) on the world stage, it is regarded by many filmmakers as the premier opportunity for launching new films. Little wonder, Canada in general, and Toronto specifically, has become Hollywood North, a major filmmaking center minus the high costs of southern California.

  The September festival began as an assemblage of films from other showcases, a “festival of festivals,” but quickly became a platform for film premieres, idiosyncratic retrospectives, and the introduction of international films to North America. For 10 intensive days, the films are screened in 23 different venues in downtown Toronto, attracting an audience of over 300,000 filmgoers. The presence of so many cinephiles, Hollywood executives, and movie stars in a relatively compact area makes for a real People-magazine-goes-to-the-carnival atmosphere.

  When the film world’s glitterati finish gracing the red carpets, chances are excellent that they’ll take their limos to Yorkville and the Four Seasons Hotel, the Canadian company’s flagship property and still one of Toronto’s most fashionable. Some rooms offer views of the city skyline, with the 1,815-foot Canadian National (CN) Tower—the world’s tallest freestanding structure and the symbol of the city.

  For those who prefer their lodgings a little more eclectic, there’s the Drake, a small design-aware hotel that serves as a hip crossroads for Toronto’s creative types.

  VISITOR INFO: Tel 416-968-3456; www.tiff.net/thefestival. When: 10 days in early to mid-Sep. FOUR SEASONS HOTEL: Tel 800-268-6282 or 416-964-0411; www.fourseasons.com/toronto. Cost: from $300 (off-peak), from $445 (peak). DRAKE HOTEL: Tel 866-372-5386 or 416-531-5042; www.thedrakehotel.ca. Cost: from $190.

  Green Gables and the Founding of Canada

  PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

  Canada

  Canada’s smallest province, Prince Edward Island (PEI) is a low-lying, richly agricultural isle in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. PEI is as pastoral as a postcard, with tiny farm towns set amid rolling green hills and coastal villages on rocky bays where fishermen pull lobsters, clams, scallops, and oysters from the sea. Its self-reliant lifestyle was nurtured by isolation—until 1997, when the 9-mile Confederation Bridge was completed, ferries were the only link to the mainland. The northern shores of PEI don’t just look storybook, they are storybook: This is the bucolic setting of Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s famed novel of a spunky, red-haired orphan girl coming of age at the turn of the 20th century. The inspiration for the book’s setting was Green Gables House, the Cavendish farm belonging to Montgomery’s cousins, now preserved for all to enjoy as part of Prince Edward Island National Park and drawing 350,000 visitors annually to the island and its many Anne-related sights.

  But Prince Edward Island National Park is more than just Anne’s Land. The park also protects 25 miles of the island’s north-central coast, a unique maritime shoreline of sand spits, dunes, islands, and beaches, plus coastal wetlands and forests. Stay at the gracious Dalvay-by-the-Sea National Historic Site and Heritage Inn, a seaside Victorian mansion turned summer resort, built in 1895 and today administered by the park. It offers beaches, hiking trails, and golf nearby.

  Even Charlottetown, PEI’s capital and a delightful small city on the island’s southern coast, gets caught up with Green Gables fever during the Charlottetown Festival, held every summer at the Confederation Centre of the Arts. The festival offers a showcase of live performances but the perennial audience favorite is Anne of Green Gables—the Musical.

  Charlottetown (population of 35,000) is PEI’s one true hub, though it feels more like a well-to-do and friendly small town. Its waterfront, with Peake’s Wharf at its center, is a lively place to visit, with its brick warehouses converted to shops, restaurants, and open-air cafés. Above the waterfront, the old town center is more stately, with Georgian-era homes and storefronts: Wander up Great George Street, lined with old churches and majestic maples, for an especially evocative glimpse of old Charlottetown. Fifteen of the historic buildings on this street are part of the Great George, a unique set of lodging options with guest rooms that range from traditional to stylishly modern.

  Charlottetown celebrates its fishing heritage during September’s International Shellfish Festival. Those prized Malpeque oysters, shipped worldwide, taste twice as sweet here.

  WHERE: Cavendish is 24 miles/39 km from Charlottetown. www.pc.gc.ca. GREEN GABLES HOUSE: Tel 902-963-7874; www.pc.gc.ca. DALVAY-BY-THE-SEA: Tel 902-672-2048 (summer), 902-672-1408 (winter); www.dalvaybythesea.com. Cost: from $205. When: mid-Jun–Oct. THE GREAT GEORGE: Tel 800-361-1118 or 902-892-0606; www.thegreatgeorge.com. C
ost: from $180. BEST TIMES: Jul–Sep for nicest weather; late May–mid-Oct for Charlottetown Festival; mid-Jul for Summerside Lobster Carnival; early Aug for Highland Games in Eldon; mid-Sep for International Shellfish Festival.

  Wilderness Grandeur in the Newport of the North

  CHARLEVOIX

  Quebec, Canada

  An hour northeast of Quebec City, along the north shores of the St. Lawrence River, the land grows rugged; forests of fir, cedar, and spruce edge into farmland, and the banks of the river rise into rock-faced cliffs. This is Charlevoix, an area of astonishing natural beauty, long famed for its upscale resorts and bucolic recreational pursuits.

  Although the first French traders arrived here in the 1670s, it was in the next century, after the English began driving the French Acadians from the Maritime Provinces, that Charlevoix was truly settled. Charlevoix’s beauty began to attract travelers, and during the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, a summer influx of wealthy American families began streaming into the Charlevoix villages known collectively as Murray Bay (in French, La Malbaie and Pointe-au-Pic), making this the “Newport of the North.”

  The clifftop Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu has stood above the river since 1899 (the current structure was built after a fire in 1928). This 405-room castlelike hotel perfectly captures Charlevoix’s blend of quiet countryside charm, wilderness grandeur, and world-class resort life. Spacious guest rooms, a tunnel connection to the Casino de Charlevoix, a pampering spa, and a number of dining choices are luxurious complements to the outdoor activities that have long lured return guests.

  The area has become a year-round destination and offers a myriad of opportunities for hiking, biking, kayaking, and wildlife-watching (particularly for beluga whales). The resort’s golf club maintains 27 scenic holes on a bluff above the river. In the white months, the region’s deep snowfalls lure snowmobilers and both downhill and Nordic skiers, while ice-skaters glide and twirl at the hotel’s river-facing outdoor rink.

  A delicious air of country elegance prevails at the 18-room Auberge La Pinsonnière. Expect marvelous views (some overlooking Murray Bay), cozy-but-elegant furnishings, an impressive art collection, and impeccable service. Topping it all is the hotel’s famous restaurant, widely considered the best in Charlevoix (and beyond), with an award-winning 12,000-bottle wine cellar.

  WHERE: 50 miles/80 km northeast of Quebec City. FAIRMONT LE MANOIR RICHELIEU: Tel 800-441-1414 or 418-665-3703; www.fairmont.com/richelieu. Cost: from $155 (off-peak), from $200 (peak). LA PINSONNIÈRE: Tel 800-387-4431 or 418-665-4431; www.lapinsonniere.com. Cost: from $295 (off-peak), from $350 (peak); dinner $80. BEST TIMES: May–Oct for outdoor activities and whale-watching; Dec–Mar for skiing and snowmobiling.

  Idyllic Retreats and Gourmet Adventures in the Quebec Heartland

  LAKE MASSAWIPPI AND THE EASTERN TOWNSHIPS

  Quebec, Canada

  Quebec’s Eastern Townships feature wide valleys, glacial lakes, and low mountains (the northern extension of the Appalachians) snuggled between the St. Lawrence River and the borders of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The region’s many farms and vineyards provide the produce, wines, and traditional foods that lend a French je ne sais quoi to fine cuisine across the province of Quebec. At the turn of the 20th century, Lake Massawippi, a narrow, 10-mile-long glacier-dug lake flanked by hardwood forests, had become a favorite summer vacation destination for wealthy families; train lines brought America’s captains of industry, who built grand lakefront estates here.

  Today, Lake Massawippi is still an idyllic place. Small prim villages such as North Hatley sit at the lake’s edge, their narrow streets lined with galleries, antiques shops, and excellent restaurants. Many of the old lakeside mansions have been converted to boutique hotels and country inns, all exuding an inimitable mix of Quebecois charm and New England character.

  Built in 1899, Manoir Hovey stands amid 25 hillside acres, an elegant country inn with English-style gardens sloping down to a heated pool, clay tennis court, and two small lakefront beaches. Diners enjoy award-winning Quebecois food and an acclaimed wine list by the dining room’s inglenook fireplace.

  At the southern end of Massawippi, in the town of Ayer’s Cliff, the Ripplecove Inn sits on a 12-acre peninsula, a testament to its beginnings as a 1940s fishing resort. Today, this well-loved inn offers luxurious accommodations, fine dining, and easy access to outdoor recreation.

  The village of Dunham is at the center of the “Route des Vins”—a circuit of 16 wineries that’s popular with cyclists. Artisanal cheeses are another local specialty, none more revered than the award winners made by the small community of monks at the Abbey of St. Benoit-du-Lac, on Lake Memphremagog.

  A marvelous way to take in the scenery and enjoy regional cuisine is to board the Orford Express, a vintage excursion train that offers 3.5-hour sightseeing and culinary trips that travel past farms, vineyards, orchards, and lakes—the countryside whose bounty appears on the menu.

  A round red barn is part of the charming scenery of West Brome, one of the Eastern Townships.

  WHERE: 100 miles/161 km southeast of Montreal. VISITOR INFO: www.easterntownships.org. MANOIR HOVEY: Tel 800-661-2421 or 819-842-2421; www.manoirhovey.com. Cost: from $350, inclusive. RIPPLECOVE INN: Tel 800-668-4296 or 819-838-4296; www.ripplecove.com. Cost: from $280, inclusive. ABBEY OF ST. BENOIT-DU-LAC: Tel 819-843-4080; www.st-benoit-du-lac.com. ORFORD EXPRESS: Tel 866-575-8081 or 819-575-8081; www.orfordexpress.com. When: early May–Oct. BEST TIMES: Jun–Sep for fishing and boating; last 2 weekends in Sep for Knowlton Duck Festival; late Sep–early Oct for foliage.

  A Festival City par Excellence

  MONTREAL’S SUMMER FESTIVALS

  Montreal, Quebec, Canada

  Montreal loves a party, as its reputation as Canada’s “capital of festivals” makes clear. By far the city’s most important event is the 11-day early-summer Montreal International Jazz Festival, the world’s largest and most prestigious. In the entertainment district anchored by the Place des Arts, 10 outdoor stages present 450 free concerts, while 200 indoor concerts are held in clubs and theaters around town. An annual tradition since 1979, the festival attracts an audience of 2.5 million jazz lovers and brings together some 3,000 world-class musicians from more than 30 countries, who fill the city with jazz as well as blues, reggae, electronica, and Latin and African music. In recent years, the festival has hosted international luminaries ranging from Wynton Marsalis and Tony Bennett to Stevie Wonder and Diana Krall.

  Starting with a bang—quite literally—the Montreal International Fireworks Competition lights up the city’s night skies from mid-June through late August. National teams of fireworks designers from around the world launch their biggest, newest, and most revolutionary creations to the accompaniment of brilliant musical arrangements.

  The Just for Laughs Festival is the world’s largest comedy event. In July, more than 1,600 comedians from over 20 countries come to Montreal for the two-week festival, cracking up 2 million festivalgoers at over a thousand shows and performances, many of them in English. There’s also a huge free outdoor street fair and quirky events like the annual Twins Parade, where thousands of twins and multiples march through Montreal.

  In late August and early September, the World Film Festival brings together more than 450 international films, with entries from nearly 80 countries, as well as a growing number of world premieres. Other standouts of Montreal’s summer lineup include Les FrancoFolies de Montréal, celebrating French music from around the world, and the Festival Nuits d’Afrique, promoting music of the African diaspora with indoor and outdoor concerts that really get the city in party mode.

  Both classic and “pyromusical” (musically synchronized) fireworks light up the Jacques Cartier Bridge.

  MONTREAL JAZZ FESTIVAL: Tel 888-515-0515 or 514-871-1881; www.montrealjazzfest.com. When: late Jun–early Jul. INTERNATIONAL FIREWORKS COMPETITION: Tel 514-397-2000; www.internationaldesfeuxloto-quebec.com. When: mid-Jun–Jul. JUST FOR LAUGHS FESTIVAL: T
el 888-244-3155 or 514-845-3155; www.hahaha.com. When: mid-Jul. WORLD FILM FESTIVAL: Tel 514-848-3883; www.ffm-montreal.org. When: late Aug–early Sep. LES FRANCOFOLIES DE MONTRÉAL: Tel 800-361-4595 or 514-790-1245; www.francofolies.com. When: early Jun. FESTIVAL NUITS D’AFRIQUE: Tel 514-499-9239; www.festivalnuitsdafrique.com. When: mid-Jul.

  Paris Without Jet Lag

  VIEUX-MONTRÉAL

  Montreal, Quebec, Canada

  Montreal got its start in 1642, when a group of French missionaries arrived by river and set up camp, intent on converting the local Iroquois to Christianity. By 1759, after the British defeated the French for the rule of Canada, the growing city was centered along a narrow stretch of headland above the busy port on the St. Lawrence River. Today, this is Montreal’s old city center, known as Vieux-Montréal, and despite almost 250 years of British rule and the influence of anglais-speaking Canada and the United States, it remains a bastion of French diaspora culture. After Paris, Montreal is the second largest French-speaking city in the world.

  Place Jacques-Cartier is the epicenter of Montreal summer life, with its street performers, cafés, flower merchants, and horse-drawn caleches—you’ll see why it is commonly used by North American film crews as a stand-in location for Europe. Place d’Armes is another popular gathering spot, with views of some of the city’s most beautiful and historic sites, including the 1829 Basilica of Notre Dame, and the adjacent Sulpician Seminary, Montreal’s oldest building. Amid all this history, the Place d’Armes Hôtel and Suites strikes a note of majestic refinement, with swanky modern rooms and chic dining options all behind a grand and stately façade.