After a few weeks at home, you might be looking for an alternative to your daily 10km run. At-home workouts and armchair travel are both useful distractions, but as the weather warms up, you’re probably looking to get outside – and out of the city. The perfect solution? Take a drive, and make a day of it. If you’re in the Montreal area, here are 5 scenic routes we recommend.

Oka

Catch a glimpse of the lush Oka National Park near the town of Oka just 45 minutes northwest of Montreal. Take Chemain des Collines to Hwy 344 to see the Oka Mountains, and stake out your spot on the Oka beach when it (hopefully) opens back up this summer. Montreal doesn’t always adjust well to the seasonal transition from winter to spring. Should you get an unexpected dump of snow this April, drive across the Oka-Hudson ice bridge over the Ottawa River.

Senneville

Senneville, an affluent suburb half an hour east of Montreal, boasts some of the most beautiful properties on the island – surrounded by equally beautiful scenery. Cap St-Jaques along Gouin turns into Chemain Senneville, which will give you a tour of some of the most incredible homes in the area. The road also forms the perimeter of the Bois-de-la-Roche Agricultural Park and Anse-à-l’Orme Nature Park.

Long Sault Parkway

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1vpIcdhFDL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The Parkway, located 90 minutes west of Montreal in Cornwall, Ontario connects a series of 11 small islands and two beaches, providing a much-needed change of scenery – even for the day.

Lakeshore Drive

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJb897gjGTN/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Day or night, take Lakeshore Drive from Dorval to Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue for views of the St. Lawrence River. The main street running through Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue, a quaint, historic village on Montreal’s West Island, runs along the shore, too.