Why Quebec endlessly beckons those on a bicycle

The Montreal bike festival at the end of this month marks an unofficial start to the bicycling season in Quebec, a leading world destination for cyclists.

Why so popular? It's because of Route Verte, a sprawling network of trails and bike friendly-byways that offers more than 3,300 miles or 5,300 kilometers of cycling in verdant lands.

And the network, nearly a quarter century old, is about to get another growth spurt. Quebec is adding some 560 miles or 900 kilometers to Route Verte.

A cyclist takes in the St. Lawrence vista at Notre-Dame-du-Portage, Quebec, on Aug. 12, 2015. Along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River in this area of around Kamouraska, the panorama of river, sky, flowers and gardens defines the magic of bicycling the Route Verte network in Quebec. (AP PhotoCal Woodward)

In Montreal, a festive night ride on May 31 typically draws 10,000 cyclists. On Sunday, June 2, the Velo Quebec organization puts on its iconic tour of the city-island, with 25,000 taking part in the family-friendly tour and thousands more cheering them on.

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Paule Bergeron takes in the scene in Place-Royale in Old Quebec, Aug. 27, 2018. Quebec City offers compelling urban bike routes along the river, out to Montmorency Falls and through intriguing neighborhoods, as well as access to the Jacques-Cartier rail trail running through forest, farmland and meadows. (AP PhotoCal Woodward)

Cyclists on Velo Quebec's Grand Tour sweep along a trail in the Eastern Townships, Aug. 1, 2015. More than 1,200 cyclists took part in the ride, which dipped into Vermont. This year's Grand Tour is in the Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean region. Velo Quebec is steward of Route Verte, a vast network of bicycle routes that has made Quebec a leading destination for cyclists. (AP PhotoCal Woodward)

Quebec City's iconic Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac dominates the city skyline from the ferry crossing the St. Lawrence River, Aug. 15, 2015. Riverfront bicycle trails on both sides offer easy cycling and striking views, while the Jacques-Cartier trail outside the city runs more than 80 kilometers or 50 miles through forest and meadows with several towns along the way. (AP PhotoCal Woodward)

Cyclists chat beside a historical fresco in Old Quebec, Aug. 31, 2017. Nearby, the Promenade Samuel de Champlain path takes cyclists along the St. Lawrence River, past outdoor works of art and the lively waterfront, connecting them with a path across the river via the ferry or bridge. (AP PhotoCal Woodward)

In this Aug. 7, 2015, photo, Quebec and Canadian flags greet visitors at a shop on Isle-aux-Coudres, where a road circling the island shore provides a perfect loop for lovers of quiet roads, gentle hills, flats along the water and eye-candy vistas of mountains you don't have to climb. A free, 15-minute car ferry gets you to the island from Quebec's Charlevoix mainland. (AP PhotoCal Woodward)

Towering equine topiaries dominate a carpet of flowers at the Montreal Botanical Garden, Aug. 10, 2013. Montreal is a hotbed of bicycling, offering a bike festival that draws some 25,000 cyclists on a June 2 ride along with access to long-distance touring routes and the nearby rail trail, P'tit Train du Nord. (AP PhotoCal Woodward)

A bear takes a dip with a toy at Zoo Sauvage in Saint-Felicien, Quebec, Aug. 14, 2014. The zoo, notable for the wide open spaces turned over to its animals, is a favorite stop for cyclists circling Lac-Saint-Jean on Veloroute des Bleuets, the Blueberry Trail. The trail is part of Quebec’s Route Verte, a network of off-road paths and bike-friendly byways that stitches together wild places, pristine villages and a few buzzy cities in a French-flavored tableaux. (AP PhotoCal Woodward)

A view of the grounds at Manoir Hovey, outside North Hatley, Quebec, in the Eastern Townships, Aug. 30, 2017. Bill and Hillary Clinton vacationed with the Canadian mystery novelist Louise Penny at the inn along Lac Massawippi that summer. The Eastern Townships are laced with bicycle routes that make it a prime destination for cyclists sampling the Route Verte network of trails and byways. (AP PhotoCal Woodward)

Quebec in summer is a place of wildflowers, garden flowers and sometimes flowers in a boat, as seen in this Aug. 7, 2015, photo from Isle-aux-Coudres. A quiet road circling the island looks out on the mountains of Quebec's Charlevoix region and the broad St. Lawrence River, and can be accessed by a free car ferry. (AP Photo, R.M. Green)

A cyclist pedals on P'tit Train du Nord, a rail trail running through Quebec's Laurentian region outside Montreal, Aug. 11, 2013. The "little train of the north" trail offers well-spaced amenities, intriguing inns and a shuttle service to drop cyclists and their bikes at the northern end or places along the way. It's part of Quebec's vast Route Verte cycling network. (AP PhotoR.M. Green)

Visitors to Val-Jalbert, a re-created paper mill town from the 1920s along Lac-Saint-Jean, are dwarfed by the roaring Ouiatchouan waterfall, which once powered the mill. The spectacle dominates the town, both by day when visitors can stroll the streets, and by night when the waterfall is dramatically bathed in lights of changing colors and the town is reserved for guests who stay there. It's a popular stop for cyclists on the Blueberry Trail around Quebec's Lac-Saint-Jean. (AP PhotoR.M. Green)

Iran launched more missiles at Israel and U.S. bases as war in the Middle East enters a sixth day. Israel announced multiple incoming attacks early Thursday and said it was intercepting the missiles.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it began new strikes against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. At least eight people were killed there late Wednesday into Thursday according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry and the state news agency.

Tehran has warned of the destruction of the Middle East’s military and economic infrastructure, and the war has rattled financial markets, with most taking their cues from what the price of oil is doing. Early Thursday, oil prices resumed their ascent.

Here is the latest:

Israel’s military said Thursday morning it had begun a “large-scale wave of strikes against infrastructure” in Iran’s capital, Tehran.

Oman’s top diplomat said Thursday that the sultanate was working with countries around the world to organize flights home for stranded foreigners.

Badr al-Busaidi wrote the message on X, just after Qatar Airways said it would start flights from Oman’s capital, Muscat.

“For everyone hoping to fly home from the Gulf, the Omani government is working with your governments and international airlines to organize flights to get you home,” he wrote. “We mean everyone, whatever passport you hold. The citizens of all countries have the human right to safety and security. People matter. Let’s stop the war now.”

Oman, on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, has come under attack off its coast and at its seaports, but has not seen a strike on Muscat International Airport in the war.

Qatar Airways said Thursday it will start operating a limited number of “relief flights” as the war in the Middle East goes on.

The airline said on X that the flights will include departures from Muscat, the Omani capital, to Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, London, Madrid and Rome. Another route will be from Riyadh to Frankfurt, Germany.

The flights will “support passengers who are stranded due to the current situation across the region.”

Airspace in Qatar remains closed over Iranian fire into the region.

Qatar Airways is a key East-West carrier.

Indonesian immigration authorities in Bali have granted emergency stay permits and waived overstay fines for foreign nationals stranded after air route closures in parts of the Middle East disrupted international flights from the resort island.

Nearly 6,000 of passengers traveling from Bali to Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi had their flights canceled over four days at Ngurah Rai International Airport, immigration officials said.

Ambassadors of Iran and Israel held separate news conferences Thursday in South Korea’s capital, trading sharp accusations as their countries continued an escalating war in the Middle East.

Speaking through an interpreter, Iran’s Ambassador to South Korea Saeed Koozechi demanded Seoul — a key U.S. ally — to be more vocal in demanding a halt to what he called an illegal aggression by U.S. and Israeli forces, which launched attacks despite active negotiations.

He said “many coffins would return to the United States” if it decides to deploy ground forces, and defended Iranian strikes on Gulf states hosting U.S. military bases as unavoidable.

The Israel ambassador in Seoul, Raphael Harpaz, said the joint U.S.-Israeli military operations aim both to destroy Iran’s nuclear development facilities and ballistic missile sites, and to help free Iranian people from oppression.

South Korea has supported U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions but has not explicitly endorsed the U.S.-Israeli attacks, instead calling for a swift restoration of dialogue.

The Saudi Defense Ministry said it destroyed a drone in the kingdom’s al-Jawf province, which borders Jordan.

The Israeli military struck a building in the Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp in the coastal city of Tripoli, killing two people, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

The strike, which hit the area without prior warning and marked the northernmost strike so far, wounded another individual, the Health Ministry said.

The Israeli military did not immediately say who it targeted in the strike.

Located about 85 kilometers (53 miles) north of Beirut and more than 180 kilometers (112 miles) from the Lebanese-Israeli border, Beddawi was targeted during the 2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Despite a ceasefire reached in November 2024, the Israeli military said in July it struck a Hamas figure in the camp.

An overnight Israeli drone strike targeted a vehicle on a coastal highway in southern Lebanon, killing three people, Lebanon’s state news agency said.

The highway connects the city of Tyre to Naqoura, a border town near Israel.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military warned residents to move north of the Litani River, which serves as a key buffer line with villages south of it lying closest to the Israeli border.

The number of people killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon in the four days since the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah reignited has risen to more than 70, with over 430 people wounded, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Wednesday.

It is not clear how many of those killed in Lebanon were civilians, but the Health Ministry said Tuesday that they included seven children.

Officials with Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group were also killed.

Healthcare workers unload from a vehicle the bodies of Iranian sailors who died when their IRIS Dena warship sank outside Sri Lanka's territorial waters, in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Israeli tanks maneuver near the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Tracer rounds light the sky as people fire live rounds into the air during a televised speech by Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)