Canada’s new Train le Massif de Charlevoix provides a five-star rail journey from Quebec City to the artisan region of Charlevoix, 140 kilometres along the banks of the St Lawrence River.
Owned by Daniel Gauthier, co-founder of the Cirque de Soleil, the train and its tracks also serve as a shuttle to the ski runs of Le Massif de Charlevoix Ski Resort.
Self-confessed ski bum and long-time devotee of Le Massif, Gauthier has helped fund the venture, which includes a new gondola, four new trails, upgraded trail access and an increase to the ski area of 30%.
Created entirely from restored railcars, the train stops at the new Hotel La Ferme (also developed by Gauthier), a 145-room eco-friendly hotel, built on the site of an old wooden farmhouse, just minutes from the picture postcard town of Baie-Saint-Paul
Le Massif ski resort is 15 minutes from Baie-Saint-Paul.
Fast facts
– The mountain offers the highest vertical east of the Canadian Rockies
– Ski 53 trails and glades on 3076 acres, plus snow shoeing, snowmobiling, dog-sledding, ice-floe sea-kayaking
– SnowSchool includes beginner, perfect turn, telemark, sit-skiing and snowboarding clinics
