Four hours of Laurentian and Townships driving against a downtown desk’s hours
Before the scenery, the arithmetic. A day out of Montréal is a long drive bracketed by two desk visits.
A Tremblant round trip is about four hours at the wheel before you’ve parked. Most downtown desks open at 7 or 8 and shut by 5 or 6, so the day has room for the drive and a few hours on the mountain — not much more. Do it the day before boarding or the day after you dock, never on the morning the ship sails.
| From the Grand Quay | One way, our routing | There and back |
|---|---|---|
| Mont-Tremblant, the resort village | 90.3 mi · 2 hr 02 min | 180.6 mi · 4 hr 04 min |
| Magog, by Mont-Orford | 76.9 mi · 1 hr 41 min | 153.8 mi · 3 hr 22 min |
| North Hatley, Lake Massawippi | 88.3 mi · 1 hr 55 min | 176.6 mi · 3 hr 50 min |
| Knowlton, Lac-Brome | 66.0 mi · 1 hr 30 min | 132.0 mi · 3 hr 00 min |
OpenStreetMap routing, no traffic and no stops. The round trip doubles the one-way figure, our arithmetic. Our routing
Those are free-flow times — a Friday afternoon heading north, or a fall Saturday on the way back, will run longer, and we have no traffic data to put a number on it.
Sunday is the trap.
Only one downtown desk stays open past early afternoon, so a Sunday day trip means returning there or at YUL — the hub’s checker shows which.
The airport counters suit a late return, though YUL leaves you a cab ride from the quay at the end of a long day.
Mont-Tremblant by car: fall parking, the North Side lot and no overnights
The calculator starts with two of you and a downtown car. Switch the pick-up to YUL if you’ll come back after the downtown desks close.
The rental, line by line
Day-trip arithmetic in Canadian dollars, on a C$55 base rate we assumed; type yours. GST and QST, 14.975% together, are on the rental. Fuel covers about 181 miles there and back at 30 mpg and C$7.98 a US gallon, our conversion of a GasWizard forecast. Parking is the resort’s C$25 for its village lots during the fall season; set it to 10 for the North Side lot. The route as we’d drive it crosses no toll.
At an assumed C$55 a day, the Tremblant run comes to about C$136 with the village parking, our arithmetic — or about C$121 using the North Side lot.
Tremblant’s P1 to P5 lots charge C$25 a car during its fall colours season (Sept 19 to Oct 12, 2026); the North Side lot, open from Oct 3, is C$10 with a shuttle from 9 AM.
Tremblant runs its fall programme on weekends from Sept 19 to Oct 12, 2026, with the panoramic gondola among the activities (no price on the page). Weekends only, so a weekday visit misses the programme.
No overnight parking except for lodging guests whose hotel lot is full; 24 EV chargers in the resort lots (819-808-1511). That shuts the door on sleeping in the car and on leaving it overnight before a morning lift.
The resort and the national park are separate places.
Parc national du Mont-Tremblant is a Sépaq park with its own entry fee, while the resort’s lots bill on their own.
What a Sépaq national park charges at the gate, and what it doesn’t
Québec’s parks charge people, not cars. The exception is a beach.
Québec’s national parks (Sépaq) charge adults C$10.30 a day, taxes included, valid from May 1, 2026; 17 and under are free. Buy before you go; the fee replaces parking charges except at the supervised beaches of Yamaska, Oka and Mont-Orford.
Parc national du Mont-Tremblant asks you to buy the daily access before your visit — so buy it before you set off.
Mont-Orford adds C$10.78 a car, plus tax, on days its supervised beach is open.
For two adults at Mont-Orford, with a car from downtown and the Magog drive, that’s about C$125 for the day, our arithmetic; four adults bring it to about C$145.
Children cost nothing — which tilts the sum toward a family.
A carload of kids pays the same entry as an empty back seat.
Magog, North Hatley and Knowlton from the Grand Quay
Southeast of the city, three lake towns sit within about two hours of the quay. We routed each one separately.
| Town | One way | A day by car, our estimate | What’s in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magog and Mont-Orford | 76.9 mi · 1 hr 41 min | C$125 | Two adults’ Sépaq entry included |
| North Hatley | 88.3 mi · 1 hr 55 min | C$110 | Rental, tax and fuel only |
| Knowlton | 66.0 mi · 1 hr 30 min | C$98 | Rental, tax and fuel only |
At an assumed C$55 a day with GST and QST, fuel for the round trip, no parking. Our arithmetic
The Townships are the shorter of the two escapes.
Knowlton is the closest of the three we routed, about an hour and a half each way.
We priced the drives, not the inns, the wineries or the lake cruises — none of those pages were part of our research, and we won’t guess their prices.
A loop through two towns is easy on the map. Add the gap between them yourself — we routed each one from the quay alone.
If the cruise starts in Québec City instead, the Townships sit off that drive too, and the one-way page has the main route.
Filling up for a Laurentians or Townships day
Gas is the cost that grows with the drive. A forecast is the best we can do for a price that changes daily.
GasWizard’s Montréal regular forecast, 210.9 cents a litre for Oct 3, 2026 — about C$7.98 a US gallon, our conversion. CAA’s national average was 180.4 cents.
At 30 mpg that puts the Tremblant round trip at about C$48 in fuel, Magog at about C$41, and Knowlton at about C$35 — all our arithmetic on a forecast.
Québec sells fuel by the litre. A pump showing 210.9 is cents a litre, not dollars a gallon.
Return the car with the tank as you found it.
A refuelling charge at the counter is the one line on this day you can avoid entirely.
Pick up early, return before the Montréal desk shuts
Book the car for the one day out, from the desk that opens earliest on that day of the week.
If the drive back might run late, collect and return at YUL instead — the airport page covers the P4 counters and the ride back to the quay.
- Search opens on YUL
- Same-day return
- Taxes and fees shown before you pay
- Cancel free up to 48 hrs before pickup
Tremblant and the Townships by car: questions
How long is the drive from Montréal to Mont-Tremblant?
About 90.3 miles and 2 hr 02 min from the Grand Quay on free-flow routing, our estimate, so roughly four hours there and back before traffic.
How much is parking at Mont-Tremblant in the fall?
C$25 a car in the resort’s P1 to P5 lots during its fall colours season, Sept 19 to Oct 12, 2026. The North Side lot is C$10, open from Oct 3, with a shuttle from 9 AM.
Do you pay to enter Québec national parks?
Yes. Sépaq charges adults C$10.30 a day, taxes included, from May 1, 2026; anyone 17 or under is free. The fee replaces parking except at the supervised beaches of Yamaska, Oka and Mont-Orford.
How far are the Eastern Townships from Montréal?
From the Grand Quay, Knowlton is about 66 miles, Magog about 77 and North Hatley about 88, on free-flow routing, our estimate.
Can you visit Mont-Tremblant the day before a Montréal cruise?
Yes, if the rental desk’s hours allow it. The round trip is about four hours of driving, and most downtown desks close by 5 or 6, so start early or return the car at YUL, where counters run until 1 AM.
Can you park overnight at Tremblant?
Not as a day visitor. Tremblant allows overnight parking only for lodging guests whose hotel lot is full.
More on renting around a Montréal cruise
Want Tremblant or the Townships built around the ship?
Tell us your sailing. An advisor fits the countryside day before or after it, car and desk hours included, at no extra cost.
Got it — thank you.
Seabound Journeys will follow up within one business day. In the meantime, feel free to keep browsing.
Want to talk sooner? Book a free 30-minute call.
Journey further.