Best of Baie Comeau
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Port
Baie-Comeau, Quebec, Canada
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Activity Level
Moderate Activity
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Excursion Type
All
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Wheelchair Accessible
No
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Starting At (prices in USD)
$130
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Minimum Age
Information Not Currently Available
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Duration
Approximately 2¾ hours
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Meals Included
Meals not included
This tour, combining history, nature, and technology offers an overview of Baie-Comeau. Colonel Robert McCormick, then President of the Chicago Tribune, founded the city in 1937 when he established a pulp and paper plant -- backward integration for his newspaper business. Today, Baie-Comeau is a high-tech industrial hub for hydroelectricity and is home to about 23,000 residents. Learn about the rich religious and cultural heritage here, as well as the strong character of the hearty souls living in this remote paradise.
Take advantage of a photo stop at the magnificent Havre St-Pancrace Lookout -- almost 2,000 feet above sea level. During Prohibition in the 1930s, this isolated spot was a popular delivery point for contraband liquor.
At the Village Forestier d'Antan Interpretive Center, learn how the forestry industry was crucial to the development of the North Shore. Cutting, hauling, driving, and other aspects of life in the forest are presented at this interpretative center. Typical buildings, period objects, and old photographs illustrate lumberjacks' living conditions and way of life.
A short drive through Baie-Comeau's Old Quarter includes Place La Salle -- a quaint commercial artery that is home to Biosphere Square. Full of sites of historical interest, the town bustles with specialty food shops, souvenir stores, art galleries, fine restaurants, and nightclubs. You'll drive down Champlain Street, where the former Premier of Canada, Brian Mulroney, spent his childhood. From Mance Lookout, take in a view of magnificent scenery.
Guests wishing to stay in town to shop or explore independently are welcome to do so but must make their own way back to the ship.