• Courtesy of Charles Dion
• Eclipse-viewing crowds will gather at the AstroLab and observatory in Mont-Megantic Dark-Sky Reserve on April 8th.

Sky watchers in Québec will catch a lucky break on April 8, when a total solar eclipse will sweep across the southern edge of the province. The 115-mile-wide "path of totality" — the zone where viewers will see the moon block the sun entirely — nicks the city of Montréal, then passes over Magog, Sherbrooke and the International Dark Sky Reserve of Mont-Mégantic as it travels northeast.

Along the way, you’ll find astronomer-led events, Victorian-era reenactors and open-air parties hyping all-ages crowds. Considering an eclipse-themed trip across the border? Order your viewing glasses and start planning: Developed by the Fédération des Astronomes Amateurs du Québec, the My Eclipse app (for iPhone and Android) has Québec-specific viewing information, while the website Eclipse Québec lists public viewing areas and activities. Here are the highlights, with some favorite Québécois experiences to try when you get there.

Parc National du Mont-Mégantic

• Courtesy of Remi Boucher
• Limited light pollution helped make Mont-Megantic the first International Dark-Sky Reserve in the world

Thanks to a prime location at the center line of the eclipse path, the Parc National du Mont-Mégantic will experience a long totality — the sky will go dark for around three minutes and 30 seconds. That’s a windfall for the astrotourism capital of Québec, already a key destination for enthusiasts. With limited light pollution and great opportunities for stargazing, in 2007 Mont-Mégantic became the world’s first International Dark Sky Reserve, a designation recognizing efforts to keep starry nights pristine.

• Courtesy of Charles Dion
• Even beyond eclipse day, the Mont-Megantic Dark Sky Reserve draws passionate sky-watchers—its Astrolab is open to the public for daytime programming and evening stargazing.

On April 8, the park will host a four-hour outdoor event at its ASTROlab, the museum and astronomy center located at the foot of Mont-Mégantic. (Note: As of the date of publication, the French-language event is sold out for in-person attendance. A live broadcast of the eclipse and related presentations will stream online and on big screens at several nearby locations, including the town of Lac-Mégantic, the Robert Fournier Arena in East Angus and Parc Pomerleau in Ascot Corner.)

If you go: The Cabane à sucre Mégantic does old-school, all-you-can-eat Québécois feasts from March 1 through mid-April, featuring pea soup, baked beans with bacon, maple tarts and eggs in maple syrup.

Magog

• Courtesy of NASA & Aubrey Gemignani
• The path of totality in the April 8th total solar eclipse will pass across portions of southern Québec.

The Eastern Townships’ lakeside community of Magog might be the only Québec town where some eclipse viewers will don petticoats and bowler hats. At its 1821 Maison Merry, the oldest house in town and a local history museum, a two-hour éclipse à la ancienne (old-fashioned eclipse) event, starting at 1:30 p.m., will feature performers in late 19th- and early 20th-century garb. Visitors will have a chance to view the eclipse the using a small box with a pinhole that projects the image; totality will last for three minutes and 28 seconds. Staff will share stories (in French) about the 1932 total eclipse that took place in both Québec and Vermont, sparking a flurry of travel and widespread enthusiasm amid the Great Depression. (Modern eclipse glasses will also be sold on-site.)

Access to the outdoor site is free, while admission to Maison Merry, plus a pair of eclipse glasses, is CA$13 for adults, and CA$32 for families. Within Maison Merry, which has been restored in period style, find exhibitions on both Indigenous and settler cultures in Magog.

If you go: A 20-minute drive from downtown Magog is the Benedictine Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, a monastic community known for its housemade cheeses, hard ciders and pick-your-own apples. Tours of the abbey don’t kick off until late June, but the shop is open year-round; all are welcome at daily services, including lauds, mass and vespers sung in Gregorian chant.

Sherbrooke

The Eastern Townships’ vibrant capital will host eclipse watchers at the Centre de Foires de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke Exhibition Centre) from noon to 4 p.m., bookending the three-minute, 23-second totality with educational presentations by astronomers. BYO chairs and make a reservation online; entry is CA$10 per car and includes eclipse glasses. (While the details are still under wraps, rumor has it that Sherbrooke’s poutine and burger joint OMG Resto will have a special eclipse-themed lunch menu for the occasion that comes with a pair of viewing glasses.)

If you go: The Sherbrooke outpost of Strøm Spa Nordique is perched at the edge of Lac des Nations, with open-air hot pools, a beach and saunas. The on-site Nord Restaurant serves Nordic-inspired cuisine using Québécois ingredients.

Montréal

• Courtesy of Sociéte du Parc Jean-Drapeau
• Presenters from the Montréal Planetarium will host an eclipse-viewing event at Parc Jean-Drapeau.

Québec’s largest city is at the path of totality’s northern edge, so the sun will reemerge more quickly there than in some locations. Complete darkness in Montréal will range from a fleeting 39 seconds to one minute, 48 seconds, but the city’s going all out anyway.

A free gathering at outdoor events complex Espace 67 in Parc Jean-Drapeau, on Saint Helen’s Island, will see a one-minute, 26-second totality along with spectacular views over the Saint Lawrence River and the city skyline. Food and drink vendors will be on-site, and French-language presentations on the science of eclipses — by experts from the Planétarium and Espace pour la Vie — will kick off at 11 a.m., along with musical performances. (Parking is limited, so consider taking public transportation; the Jean-Drapeau metro station is a three-minute walk away.) At the Montréal Science Center in the Old Port, a free viewing event will take place from noon to 5 p.m. Eclipse-viewing glasses will be available at both events.

If you go: You can get a taste of the Québécois sugar shack experience in Montréal, too. In early April, restaurants around the city will feature maple-themed menus — Québécois restaurant Caribou Gourmand has you’re-not-in-Vermont-anymore sugar-shack brunches starring deep-fried salt pork and maple-poached sausages, Friday through Sunday from March 15 until mid-April.