Sept-Îles is the main city on Quebec's far North Shore, a long drive east of Baie-Comeau where Route 138, iron ore, Innu culture, and the Gulf of St Lawrence meet. It is remote without being tiny: ships load at the port, a railway runs north into the interior, and the bay opens around the seven islands that gave the city its name.
The town is worth a spare day if you have come this far along the coast. Start with the Shaputuan Museum and the Regional Museum of the North Shore, then walk the old trading-post ground at Vieux-Poste. The best outdoor time is around the bay: Bois-Joli Creek Garden, Parc Aylmer-Whittom, and the Pointe Noire shore all make the cold-water setting feel close.
Sept-Îles is not polished resort Quebec. It is a working northern port with beaches, spruce, hard weather, and enough culture to make a stop here feel like more than a refuelling break.