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The rolling hills southeast of Montréal hold Quebec's oldest anglophone settlements, where United Empire Loyalists arrived in the 1780s and built villages that still carry their New England character. Towns like Knowlton, North Hatley, and Magog anchor different corners of this region — Knowlton with its Victorian brick storefronts along Lakeside Road, North Hatley perched above Lac Massawippi with century-old summer estates, Magog serving as the gateway to Mont-Orford's national park. The landscape shifts between dairy farms, apple orchards, and over twenty vineyards producing notable ice wines and cold-climate varietals.
Dining here draws from the terroir: duck from Lac Brome, cheeses from Fromagerie La Station in Compton, microbrews from a growing constellation of craft producers. Restaurants operate in converted general stores, lakeside pavilions, and farmhouse kitchens where reservations fill weeks ahead in autumn foliage season. The spa culture runs deep — geothermal pools, Nordic baths, and wellness retreats occupy former monasteries and purpose-built sanctuaries tucked into forested valleys. Winter brings cross-country skiing and snowshoeing; summer means cycling the Route des Vins and swimming in glacier-carved lakes that number over a hundred across the territory.