Mont-Tremblant

First gondola on Saturday and fondue at night in a Tremblant weekend

Spend a ski weekend at Tremblant by driving up on Friday and checking into the Pedestrian Village, so you can walk to the gondola in ski boots. Be on the first gondola on Saturday, ski the south face while it gets the morning sun, and finish with fondue in the village that night.

Drive up on Friday and check into the Pedestrian Village, so that the next morning you can walk to the gondola in ski boots without hunting for a parking space. Have dinner on the Place Saint-Bernard side of the village and get to bed early.

The south face gets the sun first and its groomed runs are at their best before ten. Half the terrain here is rated expert, so confident skiers should cross to the north side once the south side gets busy; beginners have the gentler runs near the base to themselves. Afternoon: take a long lunch near the summit, then ski back down for apres-ski at Le Shack at the foot of the lifts. Evening: fondue or raclette at La Savoie on Chemin Kandahar, a little Swiss cabin in the older part of the resort; book a table.

Sunday: rest the legs. Snowshoe or cross-country ski in the national park, or drive down to St-Jovite for brunch and cheaper shopping, then aim to be on Autoroute 15 before the mid-afternoon rush back to Montreal.

Fondue at La Savoie and house beers at Le Diable

Tremblant eats like a ski town, with heavy, warming food and plenty of beer. La Savoie is the place for Swiss fondue and raclette, expensive but memorable, and Le Diable, a microbrewery in the Pedestrian Village, brews half a dozen of its own beers and serves pub food after the lifts close.

The Swiss influence is strongest at La Savoie, where fondue and raclette are the whole point of going; it is not cheap, but it is the meal people remember. Le Diable, a microbrewery in the village, brews half a dozen of its own beers and serves big plates of ribs and sausages that suit a cold evening after a day on the slopes.

Mornings are simpler: Au Grain de Cafe, tucked into the upper village just off Place Saint-Bernard, does coffee and pastries before the lifts open.

Do not leave Quebec without the basics. Poutine (fries, squeaky cheese curds and gravy) turns up on almost every pub menu, and in late winter and early spring the sugar shacks of the Laurentians serve tire sur la neige, hot maple syrup poured on snow and rolled onto a stick. Nightlife is centred on the village: Le P'tit Caribou is where the dancing happens, and it gets loud late.

Beyond the slopes at Chute du Diable, Lac Monroe and Tam Bao Son

Head north of town to Parc national du Mont-Tremblant, the largest park in Quebec's SEPAQ network and the province's first national park. Its Diable sector is the easy way in: rent a canoe at Lac Monroe, hike to the Chute du Diable waterfall, and add the Tam Bao Son Buddhist monastery to the day.

The mountain is only a corner of the area. North of town, Parc national du Mont-Tremblant is the largest park in Quebec's SEPAQ network and the first national park the province created, a vast spread of lakes, rivers and Laurentian forest. The Diable sector is the easy entry: from the Lac Monroe area you can rent a canoe, paddle a calm lake, and hike to the Chute du Diable, a waterfall on the Riviere du Diable. Go early in the day in July and August, when the car parks fill.

Closer to home, the P'tit Train du Nord is a linear park built on the old railway bed through the Laurentians. Ride a stretch north or south of the old village on a hired bike; the grades are gentle because trains once used it. In winter parts of the route are used for cross-country skiing.

For something completely different, drive about 40 km south on Route 327 and Chemin de la Riviere Rouge to Harrington and the Tam Bao Son Buddhist monastery, a Vietnamese retreat set among the trees. It welcomes visitors in the warmer months and closes for the winter, so check opening days before you drive out. Race fans should check the calendar at Circuit Mont-Tremblant, a track that has staged Formula One and Can-Am races; event weekends and the Ironman triathlon also push up room prices.