Route des Navigateurs

The Route des Navigateurs traces Highway 132 along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, taking its name from the maritime vocation deeply rooted in the communities it connects from the Lévis area to the far reaches of the Gaspésie, where river and ocean navigation served as the primary link between these riverside villages and the wider world for centuries. The journey unfolds a succession of exceptional panoramas over the St. Lawrence estuary, whose widening expanse as you travel eastward gradually transforms the river landscape into a distinctly maritime horizon, punctuated by historic lighthouses, traditional fishing wharves, and ferries connecting the south shore to various islands and the north shore. The villages along this route, many of which have developed strong tourism identities around their maritime heritage—wood carving in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, bird watching in Montmagny and L'Isle-aux-Grues, and access to Grosse Île—showcase the cultural and natural richness of this often less-visited shoreline compared to the more urbanized north shore. This route thus offers a valuable complement for anyone wishing to discover maritime Quebec beyond major urban centers, revealing a more intimate and authentic face of the centuries-old relationship between riverside communities and the great river that shaped their history.