Travel to Mont Sainte Anne with ski insurance from Essential Travel

With its proximity to the French-Canadian city of Québec, it’s not surprising that Mont-Sainte-Anne ski resort has a distinctly European atmosphere. The resort does not cover a massive area or provide endless facilities, but all the necessary amenities are available, including an outstanding ski school, a comprehensive selection of shops and accommodation, and an array of enticing eateries.

Mont-Sainte-Anne resort offers 56 ski slopes, distributed among beginners (23 per cent), intermediates (46 per cent), advanced skiers (18 per cent) and expert skiers (13 per cent). Access to the slopes is gained via 13 lifts, with the combined ability to transport up to 18,500 people per hour. The longest standard run is 5.8kms, but distance fans will be in their element at Mont-Saint-Anne, with a colossal 223kms of groomed cross-country skiing trails at their disposal, plus an additional 125kms of cross-country skating trails.

A range of lodging options, including hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, and rental apartments, is offered by the ski resort. Additionally, Mont-Sainte-Anne is peppered with 26 diverse restaurants (nine of them on the mountain), an excellent ski and snowboard school offering tuition for all ability levels, childcare facilities, a health centre, a bowling alley, and a small selection of bars. Other off-slope activities include: snowshoeing, dog-sledding, ice-skating, skidooing, snowmobiling and paragliding.

Mont-Sainte-Anne has a long ski season that runs from November to April. The most convenient way to get to the resort is to fly to Québec City and complete the journey via bus, limo/taxi or hire a car.

Skiing in Mont Sainte Anne

Mont-Sainte-Anne is known for its world class skiing, thrilling snowboarding and proximity to old Québec City, the only walled city in North America and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Additionally, the resort has made a name for itself as a premier cross-country skiing venue, with a number of national championships held here.

Whether downhill skiing, snowboarding or cross-country is your preference, Mont-Sainte-Anne has it all. The resort encompasses 56 ski runs, of which the majority cater to intermediates (46 per cent). The remaining runs are split among novices (23 per cent), advanced skiers (18 per cent) and experts (13 percent). Most beginner runs are located on the north and west faces of the mountain, while a goldmine of expert slopes can be found on the south side. Thirteen lifts, with an uplift capacity of 18,500 people per hour, provide transport to the slopes.

The longest run at Mont-Sainte-Anne is 5.8kms - a good deal longer than at many North American ski resorts. Mont-Sainte-Anne Cross-Country Center offers a monstrous 223kms of standard cross-country skiing, and 125kms of cross-country skating trails. Snowboarders are also well catered for at the resort, with a snow park and half-pipe.

Skiing is available at Mont-Sainte-Anne from November to April, with optimal snow conditions in February. The easiest means of getting to the ski resort is by flying to Québec City’s Jean Lesage International Airport and taking a bus or taxi to the resort or hiring a car to complete the journey.

Après-ski in Mont Sainte Anne

An exhilarating range of non-skiing activities is offered at Mont-Sainte-Anne, including: snowshoeing, dog-sledding, ice-skating, skidooing, snowmobiling and paragliding. Additionally, the resort encompasses a health centre, a bowling alley, almost 30 restaurants of all description, and a small array of atmospheric bars to provide nightly entertainment. For more frenetic nightlife, the nearby city of Québec offers plenty of options.

Accommodation available at Mont-Sainte-Anne includes rustic bed–and-breakfasts, convenient rental condos and plush hotels. The resort provides all the necessary facilities and services, including childcare, a highly rated ski and snowboard school, and a handful of shops.

Beyond the ski resort, Ile dOrléans is a beautiful area to explore with its orchards, farms and historical houses. The Charlevoix region and St Lawrence are equally alluring, and the city of Québec is inundated with culture, history and recreational opportunities.

Transportation to Mont Sainte Anne

Mont-Sainte-Anne is situated just 50kms northeast of Québec City, and is accessible via road transportation, or a combination of air and road. The easiest method of reaching the resort is to catch a plane to Québec City, followed by a bus or taxi transfer, or to complete the journey by car. However, Québec can also be reached by self-drive, or by train or bus from other parts of Canada and some parts of the United States.

If you are driving from Ottawa, the route to Québec City covers roughly 500kms on highways 417 and 40, via Montréal. Self-drive from Montréal involves taking highway 20 to Québec City, followed by routes 138 and 360 to Mont-Sainte-Anne resort. The journey is 300kms and takes approximately three to four hours. From Toronto, Mont-Sainte-Anne is more than a day’s drive via highway 401 and Montréal. Driving from New York entails using I-87 and route 15 to Montréal.

Québec City’s Jean Lesage International Airport is the closest airport to Mont-Sainte-Anne, and receives flights from destinations across Canada, as well as from the US and the UK. Transportation to the resort is available in the form of taxis and buses, or if you opt for hiring a car, you can reach Mont-Sainte-Anne via route 138 to Beaupre, and route 360, which leads to the resort.

Trains run regularly from Ottawa and Toronto to Québec City, and daily from Washington, DC and New York, via Montréal. At least four trains run between Montréal and Québec City daily, taking roughly three hours to complete the journey.

Orléans Express buses run between Montréal and Québec City almost every hour on the hour from 07:00 to 01:00. This service also links Québec City to the rest of Québec province, with connections to the rest of Canada. Greyhound buses run from New York or Boston to Québec City, via Montréal.

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