Bus tour or drive yourself?

Two ways to reach the whales

The whales feed where the Saguenay meets the St. Lawrence, about 130 miles (210 km) downstream from Quebec City, where the river has turned salty and cold. The city itself sees none. That leaves two ways to make the trip. You can ride the coach on AML's full-day trip from Quebec City, from ~$183, which bundles the bus with the cruise. Or you can drive yourself and book the cruise alone, from ~$130 for a Zodiac or ~$130 for the big boat.

Both routes put you on the same boats with the same naturalist guides, since Croisières AML runs every well-reviewed whale trip within reach of the city. What changes is the shape of the day around the cruise, and who holds the clock.

The bus day, hour by hour

The coach leaves at 9 am from the Fontaine de Tourny on Grande Allée, the fountain in front of the Parliament. AML asks you to arrive by 8:30 am. Nobody can park at the fountain itself, so anyone driving in from a hotel outside the old city uses the paid lots nearby, and the operator names the Édifice H and D'Youville lots.

The ride to Baie-Sainte-Catherine takes about three hours through Charlevoix, with one stop on the way to stretch your legs. A guide on the bus gives live commentary on the towns you pass. On arrival you get an hour for lunch, which the price does not cover. Pack your own or buy AML's lunchbox at the wharf while they last. Eat it ashore, because outside food is not allowed on the boats.

Then comes the cruise you picked when booking, a Zodiac for two and a half hours or the big boat for three. The coach heads back once everyone is ashore and reaches the Fontaine de Tourny at about 8 pm. Reviewers like to point out that the drive is longer than the cruise, and the arithmetic agrees with them. Six of your eleven hours are spent on the bus, which is also why the trip rarely fits a single day in port off a cruise ship.

Where the bus shines, and where it struggles

• Nobody drives. You can doze on the way home instead of facing Route 138 in the dark after three hours on a cold river;
• A guide from the first mile. GetYourGuide reviewers score both the guide and the transport 4.6 out of 5, and several name their driver with affection;
• The coaches. Some reviewers found theirs old, with air conditioning blowing straight in their faces;
• Language. On some days the English commentary runs thinner than the French;
• Lunch on a Zodiac day. Zodiac passengers describe the break as tight, and anyone who had not packed food went hungry, since the stop sells little;
• The big boat. It starts in Tadoussac and reaches Baie-Sainte-Catherine half full, so bus passengers boarding second can struggle for a place at the rail.

One more lesson from the reviews concerns timing. A booking made the day before failed to reach AML's list, and the bus had no room. Book a few days ahead at least, and further for July and August weekends.

Driving yourself on Route 138

The road follows Route 138 east out of Quebec City, through Baie-Saint-Paul and La Malbaie, and reaches the wharf at Baie-Sainte-Catherine in roughly three hours without long stops. Expect hills and curves with the river below you, and from late September the Charlevoix forests turn to fall colors along the way.

Driving hands you the clock. With a night nearby you can take the 8–10 am Zodiac or the sunset run from 4:30–6:30 pm, and neither fits the bus. The price is the driving itself, about six hours there and back, plus paid parking up the road from the wharf. What a whale trip costs sets the bus fare against fuel and a rental car, line by line.

Baie-Sainte-Catherine or Tadoussac?

AML's boats leave from both banks of the Saguenay mouth. Baie-Sainte-Catherine sits on the Charlevoix side, so you reach it from Quebec City without crossing anything, and AML itself recommends that departure for people coming from the city. The Zodiac tickets wait at a booth near the wharf on Route 138.

Tadoussac lies on the far bank. A free ferry crosses the Saguenay in about 10 minutes and runs day and night, but in summer the line of cars can take far longer than the crossing. Leave a margin, because the crew starts boarding half an hour ahead and casts off at the posted time. The cruise is the same from either wharf. Tadoussac has more to do once you are ashore, which matters if you stay the night.

A night in the region changes the day

A night in Tadoussac or Charlevoix turns one long haul into two easy halves. Drive up in the afternoon and catch the sunset trip, or sleep near the water and take a morning Zodiac without a dawn alarm. Shore lookouts fill the spare hours, and seeing whales from shore lists the ones near both wharves. Families with young children gain the most from the slower pace, as whale watching with kids explains. A second day also leaves room for the fjord itself, which the Saguenay Fjord by boat describes.

From Montreal, and the other bus

Montreal adds about three more hours of road before Quebec City, which makes a same-day whale trip from there unrealistic. Moose Travel Company's three-day tour from Montreal covers the distance by group bus, with time in Quebec City and a day trip to Tadoussac for a cruise. The catch is the evidence, a single review, with no price shown until the season opens. Expect a backpacker-style group rather than a hotel tour.

A second bus also runs from Quebec City. Unitours' whale day trip sets off from 12 rue Sainte-Anne, inside the old walls, on a day of roughly 10 hours. A driver-guide narrates on the coach, and the cruise sails in the estuary off Charlevoix. Its catch is how little you can check before paying. Five reviews make a thin record and no price appears until the season opens. The listing also names neither the boat company nor the type of boat.

Which one to pick

• No car and one free day. The AML bus day. Pick the big boat if anyone in the group is under 6;
• A car and an early start. Drive to Baie-Sainte-Catherine and book the cruise alone; Zodiac or big boat? helps you choose the vessel;
• Two days to spare. Drive up and stay a night, then sail at the hour that suits you;
• Prone to motion sickness. Ask for a front seat on the winding Charlevoix roads, and read seasickness on the St. Lawrence before the river part.

Whichever you choose, settle the month first with the best months for whales, then book the day.