The first port of call on our recent Azamara cruise was Gaspé.

Gaspé is about 650 km northeast of Québec City, and has a population of just over 15,000 people.  We were greeted at the port by a band of drummers which was a nice touch.

Mr. Q and I didn’t really see much of Gaspé itself though, instead we took an excursion to Percé which is about an hour further along the coast.

I had read that it was a very scenic drive to Percé, and it was lovely, although I have to admit we were spoiled by the scenic drive in Norway that we experienced back in 2023 and this wasn’t nearly as dramatic.

Percé itself is known as one of the most beautiful villages in Québec, and I will agree that it was lovely.

And as you’ll soon learn was the case for almost our entire trip, we had glorious weather that day.  Sunny and low 70’s.  Perfect.

Percé means ‘pierced’ in English and the town is named for the rock formation that is located on the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula.

I didn’t really get a good photo of it, but the rock formation does have a natural arch at one end (on the right end in my photo above), so in other words, it is pierced.

Percé is even smaller than Gaspé, having a population of around 3,000 people.  It definitely felt like a tourist destination with mostly small shops, cafes and hotels in the center of town.

It is beautifully situated on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

But the shoreline is very pebbly.  Mr. Q and I attempted to walk along the water, but those pebbles are bigger than they look in my photo and they aren’t very stable to walk on.  I’m sure I wouldn’t want to attempt it barefoot.

Luckily Percé has added a very nice boardwalk along the waterfront that is far easier to walk on.

There were lots of comfy chairs where you could just sit and admire the view.

The boardwalk was mostly backed by small hotels.

I can see where this would be a great spot for a family summer vacation.  There are plenty of outdoor activities nearby like hiking, kayaking and birdwatching.  According to Wikipedia they get over 500,000 visitors per year.

But it was very quiet the day we were there since the summer season was pretty much over.

After first getting some coffee and pastries at a local cafe, then strolling along that boardwalk, we decided to walk along this road to admire some of the houses …

I suspect that most of these places are either private vacation homes or vacation rentals.

I certainly could see the appeal of staying in one of these for a few days.

However, I have to say that there really wasn’t much to do in Percé itself.  We were only there for about 2 hours and that was plenty of time to see the town itself, but not enough time to try out any of the surrounding outdoor activities.  I think this small village would be better experienced by staying there and exploring the surrounding areas rather than visiting on an afternoon cruise ship excursion.

That being said, it was a lovely day and I certainly don’t regret spending it in Percé.

If you enjoy my travel posts, be sure to check back next week when I’ll share our 2nd port of call on Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown.  And if you don’t enjoy my travel posts, check back on Friday when I’ll be sharing another makeover project!