1 Le Pleasant Hôtel & Café

The white button-back leather chairs nestled against the sleek grey walls at Le Pleasant Hôtel & Café will have you wondering whether you’re in the Eastern Townships or on the Upper East Side. The vibe extends to the suites, where exposed brick is a warm contrast to the velvet daybeds. Ditto the restaurant menu: tapas like black-bean tortillas topped with mousse de canard and their signature Le Pleasant martini (Grey Goose vodka spiked with local ice cider). “You’ve never had anything like this,” say owners (and enablers) Michel Gagné and Bertin Jacques about their banana cheesecake – a sinful plate justified by the promise of a hike the next day.
1, rue Pleasant, 888-538-6188, lepleasant.com

2 Mont Sutton

“Let’s start with the Witches’ Cauldron,” says our guide Clothilde, whose job it is to navigate the 80 kilometres of trails that criss-cross the mountain. A 45-minute hike gets you to the top (10 minutes on the chairlift) for the best view of the changing leaves. And during the Fall Festival, live music and local sausages roasting on the barbecue greet you at the base.
671, rue Maple, 866-538-2545, montsutton.com 

3 Kokûn

If Kate Spade and Marie-Antoinette opened a home-furnishings store designed by David Hicks, this would be it. Moroccan food tents sit atop oversize ebony bowls, flanked by embroidered Scandinavian felt throw pillows and exquisitely wrapped TokyoMilk soaps. We spotted a stuffed monkey and dinosaur – hand-knit in Nepal – that made the trip home.
12, rue Principale N., 450-538-6116

4 Les Sucreries de l’Érable

A 10-minute drive away in the heart of Frelighsburg, this general store-cum-bakery’s claim to fame is its maple sugar pie – an oozing slice of liquid bronze topped with crystallized maple syrup that we dub the crème brûlée of pies. Locals also flock here for the maple-smoked-salmon bagel topped with capers.
Frelighsburg, 450-298-5181, lessucreriesdelerable.com

5  Arbre Sutton

Adventurous leaf-peepers find a more up-close-and-personal approach to the fall foliage at Arbre Sutton, where you can zip-line right under the tree canopies. The treetop experience offers varying degrees of difficulty, so we channel our inner Jane for the Giant Tarzan Rope (chest-beating yell included).
429, ch. Maple, 450-538-6464, arbresutton.com

 

 

 

 

 

3 Ways to Drink in the Local Colour

 

Rich golden ice cider is served up at Domaine Pinnacle alongside a million-dollar view of the Appalachian foothills rolling into Vermont and beyond.

150, ch. de Richford, Frelighsburg, 450-298-1226, domainepinnacle.com

Sip on a pint of Wit-Blanche belge, an orange-and-coriander-infused ale, or the caramel and coffee-flavoured stout, brewed on site at bustling Brasserie Dunham.

3809, rue Principale, Dunham, 450-295-1500, brasseriedunham.com

Savour the sweet finish of Chapelle Ste Agnès’s icewine in the frescoed tasting room or in the turret designed as an homage to an Old World manor complete with Romanesque chapel.

2565, ch. Scenic, Sutton, 450-538-0303, vindeglace.com

 

 

Flight Planner

- Sutton via Montreal

Air Canada and Air Canada Express operate more flights to Montreal than any other carrier from a host of Canadian, U.S. and international cities. From Montreal, Sutton is a short drive away.