Sept-Iles Airport (YZV) serves the port town of Sept-Iles on Quebec's Cote-Nord, a vast and sparsely populated stretch of the province's north shore along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and car rental here is the gateway to some of the most remote road-tripping available in eastern Canada. Pickup is handled through a small counter near the terminal, and from there Route 138 becomes the main artery for exploring both east and west along the coast.
Heading west on Route 138 toward Baie-Comeau runs several hours through forest and small fishing communities, while heading east the road eventually gives way to more limited infrastructure as it approaches Natashquan, beyond which the coastal communities of the Lower North Shore are reached by ferry rather than continuous road. Distances between towns here are genuinely large by most drivers' standards, and fuel stations, while reliable in the towns themselves, can be spaced well over an hour's drive apart on the longer rural stretches, so topping up whenever the option appears, rather than waiting for a low tank, is the standard local habit rather than excessive caution. Canada drives on the right, and Route 138 is entirely toll-free, as is typical of rural Quebec.
Most visitors can drive on a home-country license for a temporary stay, and an International Driving Permit is a sensible backup for non-English or non-French licenses, especially given how limited services and connectivity become on the more remote sections of the route. Quebec's winter tire law applies here as elsewhere in the province, requiring winter tires on passenger vehicles during the designated winter period, and Cote-Nord winters are long and serious, with heavy snow, ice and Gulf-driven wind that can close sections of Route 138 temporarily. Cell coverage thins noticeably outside the towns, so a paper map, a full tank before any long leg, and a flexible schedule all matter more here than on almost any other route in this list.