A BIG AGENDA IN A SMALL PLACE

12 things to do on a day trip to Frelighsburg

Just a little over an hour’s drive from Montreal, the last stop before the border into Vermont, the village of Frelighsburg in the Eastern Townships makes a perfect day-trip destination. The trip is especially beautiful in the fall, when the foliage is in full blazing colour. The last stretch of the drive — from Pike River, through Stanbridge Station, Bedford and Stanbridge East — is especially scenic, winding through pastures, woodlands and orchards, past Loyalist houses with rambling verandas and pretty gardens.

Frelighsburg isn’t big, but there’s plenty to see, taste and do — from apple-picking and cidertasting to fine dining, farm-hopping and antique-rummaging.

Best to go on Friday, Saturday or Sunday (or a holiday Monday), when all the shops and restaurants are open and the village really comes to life. It’s good to know, too, that after the middle of October, when apple season is over and the autumn leaves have fallen, things get sleepier.

Here are 12 fun things to do in Frelighsburg. For more ideas, and information about accommodations and services check out the websites frelighsburg.com or village.frelighsburg.qc.ca. There’s also a Facebook page called Le Gout de Frelighsburg that posts news about events and happenings. The Mount Pinnacle Trust, a non-profit group that seeks to preserve the natural environment around Frelighsburg, also runs a series of activities around the mountain several times throughout the year. Find out more at montpinacle.ca/activites.

Once there, stop at the Frelighsburg Tourist Office, which is housed in the old brick Grammar School Building in Place l’Hôtel de Ville in the centre of town, where the Frelighsburg Farmer’s Market takes place every Saturday morning between 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. from May until Oct. 17.