If you're planning a family road trip in Quebec, here's a region you can't miss. The Eastern Townships sit about an hour from Montreal, right up against the Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine border. On the surface it's rolling hills, lake villages, cheese farms, and vineyards. But it's also home to some of the most unexpected experiences we've had with the kids: a 150-year-old mine you climb down into, the longest suspension footbridge in North America, a glowing night walk through a gorge, a real-life fishing video game, and the museum of the man who invented the snowmobile.
This is the kind of affordable countryside escape that feels like a slice of New England farm country. You just drive, and you get the lake towns, the back-road food trail, the mountain air, and a real cabin in the forest.
We went in the summer and spent five days here, split between two home bases: three nights in a forest cabin near Mont-Orford, then a night down in Coaticook for the gorge. I'm going to break it down stop by stop, where we stayed, where we ate, and what's actually worth your time with kids.
Capelton and Le Vertendre
We broke up the drive in by heading straight underground into a 150-year-old mine, then settled into a cabin in the forest. A good first day!
Capelton Mines
The underground tour of the Capelton Mines was one of our favourite things we did the entire trip. You start with a tractor pulling you up Mont Capel on a trailer to the mine entrance, which the kids thought was half the fun already. Then you head into the 150-year-old Capelton Mine, one of the oldest copper mines in Canada, which boomed here starting in 1863. The guided tour runs about an hour and forty-five minutes, and the stories the guide tells about how the miners actually worked down there are genuinely wild, dug out by hand and candlelight, in conditions that are hard to believe. Near the end they shut off every single light so you feel exactly what it was like to work in the dark.
One heads-up: it stays cool underground even in summer, so bring a layer. Back up top there's a free obstacle course for ages 3 to 13, a little museum, and a snack bar with local products. There's also a separate Prospector Tour you can book, where you head down to the brook to pan for gold and hunt for minerals with a guide, a fun add-on if you have time (it's an extra fee). Going underground into a real old mine is a proper adventure, and my kids still bring it up.
Le Vertendre (where we stayed)
This was one of the most unique places we have ever stayed. Le Vertendre is a sustainable estate on the back slope of Mont-Orford, around a thousand acres of private forest with two lakes, streams, and little waterfalls, so you can swim, canoe, kayak, or paddleboard right outside your door. Ours was a Zoobox, an architectural cabin you reach by a trail through the forest, and it was pure magic for the kids. Inside there was a bed you pull down from the ceiling, twinklingtwinkle stars in the bedroom, a rock-climbing chalk wall, a giant Lite-Brite wall, a popcorn machine with a stack of DVDs, and a shower with colour-changing lights. During the day we kayaked on the lakes and roasted s'mores by the fire, and at night we left the doors open, screens on, and fell asleep to a full orchestra of crickets and wildlife.
There are around 40 Zooboxes across the estate, and they come in two main styles: a bigger layout like ours, and a smaller, cozier one. Every single one is different inside, so it's worth looking at a few before you book. While ours didn't have the famous human-sized hamster wheel, we got to check out one that did (some even have it hooked up to a candy dispenser). The smaller cabin we peeked into had a fireman's pole, more climbing wall, bean bags to toss, and a little crawlspace up top. Check the features when you book so you get the ones your kids will love.
For dinner the first night we kept it simple with a gourmet box from Huit5Quatre and a bottle of wine. It was such a beautiful grazing box, packed with local Quebec products. We spread it out at the cabin and called it a perfect first night.
Breakfast near the cabin
We hit two great breakfast spots close to Le Vertendre, both an easy drive from the cabin. La Station, in Eastman, does the best grilled cheese, made with the region's famous award-winning cheese, and my husband, a bit of a sandwich connoisseur, still says he had the best sandwich of his life there. Café Bowen is a big, open, family-friendly space full of young kids, with a prêt-à-manger counter and a bakery, and their French toast was divine.
Valcourt and Racine
Day two we went a little further out, for one unforgettable museum and a few great stops along the back roads.
Musée de l'ingéniosité J. Armand Bombardier
The Joseph-Armand Bombardier museum is a can't-miss. It tells the story of the man who invented the snowmobile and built a global empire, and it's very hands-on for kids. The vintage vehicle collection alone is incredible, around 75 machines that trace the whole story. There’s the propeller-driven snow sleigh he built with his brother at just 15 back in 1922, the big wood-and-steel snow buses that carried rural kids to school and hauled mail through the winter, and the early Ski-Doos that changed everything. You can walk through his original garage, and there are two multimedia shows, one produced by Moment Factory, plus interactive devices everywhere. Kids can strike a pose to star in a fake Ski-Doo ad, climb around a life-size tramway, fly a plane on a flight simulator, and design their own vehicle of the future. We came out having learned so much about the man and the company, and it ended up being one of our favourite stops in the whole region.
Fromagerie Nouvelle-France
In Racine, don't miss Fromagerie Nouvelle-France, where Marie-Chantal and Jean-Paul Houde make award-winning cheese mostly from their own ewes' milk. Their Zacharie Cloutier was named Best Cheese in Quebec, and the maple yogurt is worth grabbing too.
Asinerie Les Ânes en Culottes
A donkey farm we were excited for, but the rain washed it out, so it's on the list for next time. You visit the donkeys, learn about donkey milk, and there's a boutique full of natural soaps and donkey-milk cosmetics.
Lakeside Afternoon in Magog
Magog might be the prettiest town in the region. It sits right at the tip of Lake Memphremagog and it's the lively little hub of the Townships, walkable and full of character, with the lake waiting at the bottom of the main street. The rain had just let up when we arrived, so we took it slow that afternoon : strolling the streets, popping into the shops, wandering down to the water, and stopping for a coffee at Géogène, a young micro-roaster with a seasonal, ethical approach to their beans.
Dinner at Bistro Kóz
Dinner was at Bistro Kóz, set inside the retro-modern Hotel Verso, and hands down some of the best food we’d had all trip, the fattoush salad alone, oh my. It's also so easy with kids: we sat on the covered patio where the kids had their own swing bench, and they were obsessed with pouring the tea into little Turkish cups. There's a stunning second-floor patio too, with views right over the lake.
Coaticook
We checked out of Le Vertendre and drove down to Coaticook for what turned into the biggest day of the trip.
Acoatica at Parc Découverte Nature
Acoatica is honestly hard to explain, because we've never been anywhere like it. It's a giant indoor-and-outdoor video game that mixes technology, the outdoors, and real fishing, and it's very unique and very cool. Before you begin you pick your team's fish, like the copper redhorse, a species found only in Quebec, then everyone gets an RFID wristband and you work through five adventures earning points to grow your shoal (plan about three hours):
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Immersive: you step into an underwater-feeling room and work as a team to keep the marine world in balance, fending off threats like overfishing and pollution with a giant flashlight and magnet.
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Fishing: they hand you a rod and bait and you actually fish the on-site ponds (the kids LOVED this and caught 2 fish each).
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Gourmet: they clean and debone the fish for you, and then you grill your fresh fish on big barbecues and dress it up with local spices and side dishes.
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Survival: a guided tour of the on-site fish farm, turned into an escape game, that walks you through how endangered species are raised and released back into the wild.
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Fun zone: an outdoor tech playground where you frog-hop across the water, race through obstacle modules, and memorize light-and-sound sequences as a team collecting points with your wristbands along the way.
The whole thing is built around protecting endangered Quebec fish species, so the better you do, the more fish you save. You finish with a team selfie, and yes, you eat what you catch, with Coaticook ice cream after. It runs rain or shine, which is a gift with kids.
Parc de la Gorge de Coaticook
The park's famous suspended footbridge stretches 169 metres across the gorge and hangs 50 metres up, and it's the longest footbridge of its kind in North America. It was built in 1988 and it actually held the world record until 2006. Walking the whole family out across it, with the gorge dropping away below your feet, is equal parts terrifying and amazing. There's a beautiful network of forest paths and boardwalks winding along both sides of the gorge, and just note the last admission for the trails is at 4pm, so don't leave it too late.
Foresta Lumina
We didn't get to go to Foresta Lumina this trip, a magical night walk that lights up the gorge with light, sound, and video projections, but it's by the same Moment Factory team behind Onhwa' Lumina in Quebec City. It only runs after dark, so plan a late night with little ones, and it's high on our list for next time.
Ice cream and a pint
Two easy Coaticook stops. Laiterie de Coaticook is one of Quebec's best-known ice cream makers, and they do a new soft serve flavour every week in summer. We got a mango one that was unbelievable, so that's the kids' reward sorted. And Hop Station is a local microbrewery and gathering spot if the grownups want a break.
Hôtel Coaticook (where we stayed)
We spent the night at Hôtel Coaticook, set inside the former La Penman factory from 1899, overlooking the gorge. It's a fully self-guided stay, so there's no front desk. You just get an access code by text and email and let yourself in, which is honestly great when you're arriving with tired kids.
Dinner at Microbrasserie de Coaticook
We had dinner at the Microbrasserie de Coaticook, a local craft beer spot with a laid-back room and food to match. Mozzarella sticks, poutine and a beer tasting flight. YUM!
Practical tips for the Eastern Townships with kids
A few things that made the trip smoother:
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This is a roadtrip region. It's about an hour from Montreal, and you'll want a car since everything is spread across back roads and little towns.
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We did three nights at a cabin in the woods and one in Coaticook. Splitting it across two home bases kept the scenery changing without packing up every single night.
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Pack for both nature and water. The weather turned during this stretch of our roadtrip, so we were glad we had our rain jackets, but also good walking shoes for the trail walk to the cabin and the gorge. Layers for going underground at Capelton Mines were also essential!
