Exploring Autumn: A Scenic Drive through Quebec's Eastern Townships and Vermont's Bordering Towns

The highlight of my fall exploration was the Eastern Townships that dots the Appalachian hills of south-central Quebec and its bordering towns in Vermont! The area had  exploded into magnificent fall colours when I visited during the Canadian thanksgiving weekend. 

It is about an hour and half drive from Montreal and around six or seven hours from Toronto depending upon which of these  clusters of towns and villages of Eastern Township you are visiting. This area is popular year round, for summer countryside beauty, fall foliage, great skiing, small town charms, wine route to mention a few. 

We explored  the Magog-Orford area in the Eastern Townships, and Newport, Stowe and Waterbury in Vermont. As it was a fall trip we spent hours driving to take in the views of the hills ablaze in colours! Staying for two nights in Magog, we first went to Mont Orford during their La flambee des couleurs event. We took the gondola ride/ski chair up to the summit to enjoy the stunning view! Coming down on the ski chair my heart  screamed in delight at the surrounding nature aflame in fall colours!! We relaxed and ate hotdogs, duck poutine and beavertail at the foot of the mountain on the patio listening to the fun music  mix by the DJ.

Next stop was to the Haskell Free Library and Opera House on the border of Canada and the USA. One library, the border cutting through the building! Established in 1901, a gift from the Haskell family, this library serves the border communities of Stanstead, Canada and Derby Line, USA. It is now a heritage building. As it requires the employees there to be bilingual , most employees are Canadians! The only entrance door is in the USA, with a small designated path through a sidewalk on Church Street for Canadians to cross into America without going through customs and immigration to enter the library. The GPS however took us through the border as the address is in the United States. It was fascinating to be in such a unique place! Mind you this quiet, tranquil  place is heavily monitored for security! So please do follow all instructions there!

There are a lot of restaurants and cafes in the Magog Orford area. Magog downtown has several places for breakfast, lunch and dinner with great reviews! Next morning  we got croissants and deliciously rich cappuccino from Cafes Les Estries and headed towards Vermont. We drove through Newport to Stowe, famous for its scenic views and as a skiing destination overlooking Mount Mansfield. Driving through Smugglers Notch is a must on a fall drive in this area. 

After having lunch at a butchery (one of the best burgers I have had in a while) in charming Stowe, we drove along the Green Mountain Byway reaching Waterbury, home to Ben and Jerry’s! Sadly we could not do the factory tour as it was a Sunday, but we dipped our sweet tooth into treats at Lake Champlain Chocolates Waterbury  store! 

Exploring the beautiful waterfront  at the Bay of Magog on the last day, with a desire to visit again, we headed home, satiating our fall exploration for the year.

The bending and winding roads, the colourful mountains and hills, the picturesque farms,  the pretty small towns, the covered bridges, the right company and random stops were the perfect  ingredients of this wonderfully enjoyable road trip.