High season in the province of Québec is June 24 (Jean-Baptiste Day) through early September (Labour Day). In Québec City, the period from Christmas to New Year's and February weekends during the big winter Carnaval are busy, too. Just north of Montréal, the Laurentian Mountains do big ski business in the cold months. Hotels are most likely to be full and charge their highest rates in these periods.

Low season is during March and April, when few events are scheduled and winter sports start to be iffy. The late-fall months of October and November are also slow due to their all-but-empty social calendars.

Weather

Temperatures are usually a few degrees lower in Québec City than in Montréal. Spring, short but sweet, arrives around the middle of May. Summer (mid-June through mid-Sept) tends to be humid in Montréal, Québec City, and other communities along the St. Lawrence River, and drier at the inland resorts of the Laurentides and the Cantons-de-l'Est. Intense, but usually brief, heat waves mark July and early August, but temperatures rarely remain oppressive in the evenings.

Autumn (Sept-Oct) is as short and changeable as spring, with warm days and cool or chilly nights. It's during this season that Canadian maples blaze with color.

Winter brings dependable snows for skiing in the Laurentides, Cantons-de-l'Est, and, north of Québec City, Charlevoix. Snow and slush are present from November to March. For many, Montréal's underground city is a climate-controlled blessing during this time.

For the current Montréal weather forecast, call tel. 514/283-3010 or check www.weatheroffice.gc.ca.

Holidays

Canada's important public holidays are New Year's Day (Jan 1); Good Friday and Easter Monday (Mar or Apr); Victoria Day (the Mon preceding May 25); St-Jean-Baptiste Day, Québec's "national" day (June 24); Canada Day (July 1); Labour Day (first Mon in Sept); Canadian Thanksgiving Day (second Mon in Oct); and Christmas (Dec 25).

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.