Cities of Eastern Canada by Rail

In 1857, and doubtlessly to the irritation of the much larger cities of Toronto and Montreal, Queen Victoria announced that Ottawa had been chosen as Canada’s capital. With a strategic setting high above the Ottawa River, it was deemed the perfect place to unite the English- and French-speaking parts of the country (indeed the francophone city of Gatineau sits just across the river). Today, it’s a cosmopolitan city of around one million people, boasting impressive neo-Gothic parliament buildings, a raft of national museums and galleries, vibrant Byward Market and the historic Rideau Canal, which in winter becomes the world’s longest skating rink!

Spread along the banks of the mighty St. Lawrence River, this is Canada’s most historic city and the only walled city in North America, earning its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The cobbled streets of the atmospheric Upper and Lower Towns are a delight to explore, and the expansive views from the city’s ramparts and star-shaped citadel are breathtaking. Largely francophone, Quebec City’s elegant architecture and thriving café culture are reminiscent of Paris; the pavement tables here invite you to pause your sightseeing plans (or throw them out of the window entirely) and just soak up the irrepressible ‘joie de vivre’.

The island metropolis of Montreal is a vibrant and multi-dimensional city, and nowhere comes closer to achieving true bilingual status, its four million inhabitants switching effortlessly between English and French. Overlooked by the parks and forests of Mont Royal (from which the city takes its name), the modern skyscrapers of downtown sit side-by-side with the elegant architecture of the old town (‘Vieux-Montreal’). Scratch beneath Montreal’s surface (literally) and you’ll discover an entire Underground City, twenty miles of walkways and passages linking the main points of interest.