The second Sunday of May is Mother’s Day, and it is also the first weekend when it feels good outside: gardens open, patios come out, sugar shacks serve their last brunch and museums offer family activities. This guide gathers the outings that make moms happy: spas and Nordic baths, botanical gardens, zoos and aquariums, petting farms with their spring babies, region by region, with each venue’s listing.
Booking brunch
It is the busiest day of the year for brunch restaurants: book by mid-April, or go on Saturday, which is much quieter. Inns and hotels offer fixed-time brunches that avoid the line.
Going out instead of eating out
A botanical garden, a public market to buy the season’s seedlings, an easy hike with a view, an afternoon spa or an open-air concert make gifts that need no wrapping. For mothers of young children, the best gift is often an outing organized by someone else.
With kids
Have the kids make breakfast (with an adult at the stove), then head out for a short outing chosen by mom: a walk through a blossoming orchard, a petting farm with its spring babies, a museum where the kids craft a gift on the spot.
💐 Outings by region
MontrealQuebecLavalAbitibi-TémiscamingueBas-Saint-LaurentCentre-du-QuébecCharlevoixChaudière-AppalachesCôte-NordEastern TownshipsGaspésieLanaudièreLaurentidesMauricieMontérégieOutaouaisSaguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean
Montreal
13 places
Quebec
15 places
Laval
3 places
Abitibi-Témiscamingue
4 places
Bas-Saint-Laurent
4 places
Centre-du-Québec
12 places
Charlevoix
7 places
Chaudière-Appalaches
7 places
Côte-Nord
2 places
Eastern Townships
20 places
Gaspésie
5 places
Lanaudière
19 places
Laurentides
12 places
Mauricie
5 places
Montérégie
19 places
Outaouais
9 places
Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean
7 places
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Read next: the best brunch spots in Quebec and zoos and farms for families.
