Lighthouses Québec City

During our recent road trip along the Gaspe Peninsula we took in many lighthouses. Each has its own unique charm and setting, and some offer tourism activities that give visitors an inside look into their history.

Some are found in remote settings and others are perched on scenic parks. Many feature the typical cylindrical tower painted bright red, and some have an unusual octagonal shape. Some are still in active service while others have been decommissioned and converted into restaurants or inns. But it’s not just the beauty and history that make lighthouses quebec city so captivating, they also serve as sentinels that guard our maritime culture.

One of the most iconic is the Perce Rock lighthouse on the Gaspe Peninsula. It is home to the largest colony of northern gannets in the world and it stands as a natural symbol of Canada. It was the first lighthouse built on the St. Lawrence and is now a heritage site.

Another is the Cap d’Espoir lighthouse in the Bas-Saint-Laurent. The promontory is an important gateway to Chaleur Bay and it used to be known as Cape of Hope but early English charts named it Cape Despair. The lighthouse is now a museum and you can spend the night here in the former lightkeeper’s house.

The Pointe-a-la-Renommee lighthouse is another must-see along the route. It was once called the most travelled lighthouse in the world because it moved 20 times before being returned to its original location in 1997. It’s now the site of a museum with two exhibitions that showcase the history of navigation and wireless communication, thanks to the presence of North America’s first marine radio station, installed by Marconi in 1904.