Baie-Saint-Paul

Baie-Saint-Paul sits where the Rivière du Gouffre flows into the St. Lawrence River, in a broad green valley carved into the Charlevoix hills. It is one of the oldest towns in Quebec and one of its prettiest: a main street, Rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste, given over to art galleries, studios, cafés and inns, backed by steep forested slopes that drop toward the shore. About 7,400 people live here. The town is famous in Quebec as an artists' colony — painters have worked here for a century — and as the place where a troupe of street performers founded Cirque du Soleil in 1984. It was named a Cultural Capital of Canada in 2007.

The day's shape is simple: walk Saint-Jean-Baptiste for the galleries and the Musée d'art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul, which runs a long-standing international symposium of contemporary art each summer, then drive or cycle the valley. The Gouffre valley road climbs into farmland and mountain views; the shore road, Route 362, runs east along the river to La Malbaie through some of the prettiest villages in Quebec. The beach at the river mouth and the Boisé du Quai give you the St. Lawrence up close, and the Train de Charlevoix runs along the shore from Quebec City, stopping in town on its way to La Malbaie. In winter, Le Massif de Charlevoix, with the highest vertical drop east of the Rockies, is about 20 minutes south.

Charlevoix is one of Quebec's great food regions, and Baie-Saint-Paul is its table: bistros and bakery-cafés serving local lamb, cheeses from the valley farms, mushrooms and craft beer from the town's microbrewery. Restaurants cluster on Saint-Jean-Baptiste and the streets off it, with terraces full in July and August. Evenings are gentle — a terrasse, a concert during Le Festif! music festival in July, and early nights. Book dinner ahead in peak season; the town fills with Quebec City weekenders.

Stay in the inns and auberges along the main street, the farm stays up the Gouffre valley, or the campground and cottages toward the shore; there is also a well-known hostel in a converted convent for budget travellers. The Train de Charlevoix and Intercar buses from Quebec City make the town reachable without a car, and the centre is easily walked, but the valley farms, Le Massif and the shore villages need wheels or the excursion train. Parking on Saint-Jean-Baptiste is tight on summer weekends. Baie-Saint-Paul is the natural first base for a Charlevoix loop.

June to September is the main season: galleries, terraces, the train and Le Festif! in July. Fall colour in the valley is superb in late September and October. Winter belongs to Le Massif skiers, and the town stays alive as the resort's service base. Two days covers the town and the shore road; add a third for the valley or a ski day. On a route, Baie-Saint-Paul is the gateway to Charlevoix on Route 138 east of Quebec City, an hour away, and the start of the river-and-mountain drive to La Malbaie and Tadoussac.

If you have extra days, the surroundings are stacked. The free car ferry from Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive, just west, crosses to Île aux Coudres, an island of mills, bakeries and shore roads made for cycling. Inland, the Charlevoix highlands hold two national parks — Grands-Jardins and Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie — with via ferrata, river valleys and some of the finest hiking in southern Quebec. East along the shore, Les Éboulements and La Malbaie continue the string of villages. It is a lot of scenery within an hour of one small town, which is exactly why painters settled here first.