Island of Orleans Food and Drink Tour

Our bus tour of Il d'Orlean was average overall based on three factors. First of all, the shuttle bus that arrived to pick us up was packed to capacity (25 occupants). We felt no effort was made to space travelers safely apart from each other & no extra safeguards were put in place (i.e. ensuring every one was fully vaccinated). Our driver, Peter, made sure everyone wore a mask but he encouraged people to drink or eat on the bus at any time, which would require removing your mask. Furthermore, the stops we made on the Island of Orleans did not have the space to handle 25 people in a short period of time. We heard from another traveler that a couple of the places declined to participate on the tour because they could not adequately expand the size of their stores. One store implemented some safeguards but did not expand the space for a large group of tourists. Secondly, we have signed up to numerous food and drink tours in the past, but in comparison to this tour, the sample portions were extremely small. Peter told us not to expect large amounts of food & drink, which we understood, but we anticipated slightly larger portions based on other tours we've attended. Finally, Peter hyped up our last (5th) stop to taste some chocolate samples. When he arrived at the door, the place was locked up. (FYI - We made a trip to the island 2 days later and the place was still closed). Peter felt bad and he tried to compensate by taking our group to a friend's place who had a large aquarium of fish and numerous fishing poles / lures. Peter told us his friend's wife made jewellery but I did not see any on display. We arrived back in Quebec City after 6 PM feeling very uneasy about being so close to our fellow travelers and very hungry. Peter tried his best to make the tour as pleasurable as possible (& he did a good job in this area) and answered all our questions, but our issues were all beyond his ability to fix them. I would encourage Quebec bus tours to make some extra safeguards on their buses and re-examine the places on the Island of Orleans to stop to showcase local food & drink products.

The visit to the chocolate store, nougat factory, and wine maker were worthwhile. The cider facility was less interesting and the jam shop being closed was disappointing.

Celine is a wonderful and fun tour guide. Everything was fun, beautiful and delicious ! We really enjoyed ourselves!

Unfortunately, due to co-vid restrictions some parts of the tour were unavailable or changed. The parts we did see were good. One caution I would advise is that our tour guide encouraged groups of people (not in your own bubble) to participate together at the ciderie tastings. Only people travelling together should have gone together.

Celine our guide was the highlight of our tour. She was wonderfully informative, friendly and almost motherly to everyone on the tour. We had a great time in Quebec City celebrating our 45th anniversary but she was definitely one of the highlights!

I would recommend this tour when visiting Quebec city. You see an experience more when you are not driving yourself. Thank you to our driver and tour guide Peter.

Great tour and great tour guide. Well worth doing and very enjoyable. We loved the wineries and scenery

The guide Celine was very knowledgeable and pleasant. We got a little extra time out because some guest were going to be a little late. that said the bus windows did fog because of the cold temperatures making some viewing difficult. The driver was able to fix after the first stop. The wipers on the bus were in awful need of replacing. If it were sunny it would be impossible to see the road. Roads were wet form slush.

This food tour was wonderful with many things to taste, even in the freezing winter. The guide/driver was super nice and informative. I highly recommend Cassis Monna et Filles, the black currant wine was unique and delicious.

We had a wonderful time and would do this tour again! We enjoyed the tasting and the beautiful scenery.