Sainte-Anne-des-Monts sits on the north shore of the Gaspé Peninsula, where the St. Lawrence estuary meets the road into the Chic-Choc Mountains. It is a small French-speaking town, but the setting gives it real pull: sea on one side, high inland mountains on the other.
Most travelers stop here for Gaspésie National Park, whose road begins in town and climbs toward Mont Albert and Mont Jacques-Cartier. The park is the main reason to make the trip, with alpine tundra, serious hiking, and a rare caribou herd south of the St. Lawrence.
The town itself adds enough to justify a base rather than a fuel stop. Exploramer gives the waterfront a useful museum and sea-life focus, the quay is good at sunset, and La Martre Lighthouse makes a worthwhile coastal drive east. Sainte-Anne-des-Monts is quiet, but it has a clear identity: Gaspé sea air, mountain weather, and a working edge rather than resort polish.