Chicoutimi-Jonquière

Chicoutimi and Jonquière are communities in the city of Saguenay (145,000 inhabitants in 2011) in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Québec.

Understand
Chicoutimi and Jonquière are former cities in the Saguenay region of Quebec which (with Bagotville, Ville de la Baie and other surrounding towns) were merged in 2002 into one municipality named "Saguenay" for the Saguenay River. The region is strongly unilingual francophone; principal local industries have historically been forestry, paper (Abitibi, Price, Stone-Consolidated) and aluminium smelting (Alcan). CFB Bagotville is the local air force base; a community college (Collège de Jonquière) offers an intensive three-week immersion programme in French as a second language which has long attracted civil servants from the nation's capital and draws students from as far as New Brunswick.

Chicoutimi-Jonquière is geographically isolated as the 2½ hours of four-lane road leading into the municipality from Québec City runs almost entirely on provincial parkland with just one opportunity to stop for fuel at the midpoint. There is cellular telephone service on the main road in, but along many other roads (such as Chicoutimi-Nord to Tadoussac) there is truly nothing.

Closest larger airport
While there is some service to Bagotville, the local Royal Canadian Air Force base, the closest major airport to the region is in the Quebec City suburb of Sainte Foy.

By bus

 * Operates the following routes to Chicoutimi and Jonquière:
 * Between Jonquiere and Montreal with stops along the way in Chicoutimi and Quebec City. Travel time to Jonquiere from Montreal is 6.25 hours and from Quebec City is 2.75-3 hours.  Travel time to Chicoutimi from Montreal is 5.75 hours and from Quebec City is 2.25-2.5 hours.  Jonquiere and Chicoutimi are 20-25 minute travel from each other.  Operates several days per week.
 * Between Chicoutimi and Dolbeau with stops in Jonquiere, Alma, and Val-Jalbert. Travel time to Chicoutimi from Jonquiere is 35 minutes, from Alma is 1.25 hours, and Val-Jalbert is 2.25 hours, and from Dolbeau is 3.75 hours.  Operates several days per week.

By train

 * Operates one round trip per week Jonquière (in the Saguenay region) and Montreal including stops in Hervey-Jonction, Shawinigan, Saint-Paulin, Saint-Justin, and Joliette. Travel time to Jonquière from Montreal is 9 hours and from Shawinigan is 6.5 hours. Route operates as a wilderness service: a request stop may be made at any point along the route for those who want to hike and kayak in the remoter regions of Quebec that the train passes through.
 * Operates one round trip per week Jonquière (in the Saguenay region) and Montreal including stops in Hervey-Jonction, Shawinigan, Saint-Paulin, Saint-Justin, and Joliette. Travel time to Jonquière from Montreal is 9 hours and from Shawinigan is 6.5 hours. Route operates as a wilderness service: a request stop may be made at any point along the route for those who want to hike and kayak in the remoter regions of Quebec that the train passes through.

By boat
Various cruise ships include the Saguenay River as one stop on a longer tour.

By car

 * from Québec City, Route 175 is the main road through the Laurentian provincial park.
 * from Tadoussac or Saint-Siméon, a highway follows the full length of the river on each side (Route 172 on the north shore, Route 170 on the south shore). There are no villages and no services on most of this route.
 * from New Brunswick, follow the Trans-Canada Highway to Rivière-du-Loup then cross by ferry to Tadoussac
 * from Trois-Rivières, Route 155 meets the ring road (Route 169) around Lac-Saint-Jean
 * Ride share may be available through Allô-Stop in Québec City

By taxi
Taxis in Chicoutimi include: Taxi service in Jonquière is offered by:

Buy
The main street of downtown Chicoutimi is la rue Racine; construction of shopping malls has greatly diminished the number of downtown businesses. Local confections such as maple syrup or chocolate blueberries are usually less expensive in the main street shops frequented by locals in the city than at tourist establishments... even for blueberries in Lac-Saint-Jean.

Eat
The region is known for two dishes. Tourtière, a traditional French-Canadian meat pie, is named for la tourte (the passenger pigeon), a bird of prey which was once common in Lac-Saint-Jean but now extinct worldwide. More famous are the region's blueberries. Various farms around Lac-Saint-Jean invite you to pick your own blueberries in season (usually August, weather permitting).

Drink
The main street of Jonquière (la rue Ste. Dominique, the "Saint Do") has a fairly extensive and notorious bar strip with several bars in close proximity. Some other options include:



Go next
As the largest city in-region, Chicoutimi serves as a jumping-off point to Lac-Saint-Jean in the west and the Saguenay River to Tadoussac in the east:
 * Lac-Saint-Jean is famous for its blueberries, to the point where locals in the region are referred to as "les bleuets" (literally, blueberries), with a Trappist monk group manufacturing tasty chocolate-covered blueberries and other confections in Mistassini at the far end of Lac-Saint-Jean. Other key landmarks around the lake are a zoo at St. Felicien, the tourist ghost town of Val-Jalbert (near Roberval) and a good collection of cycling and snowmobile trails.
 * Tadoussac, at the eastern end of the fjord of the Saguenay River, is notable primarily for whale-watching. Both sides of the Saguenay River fjord between La Baie and Tadoussac - St. Siméon are largely parkland with no services. Boat tours of the river and fjord depart from either endpoint.