Here's a quick runthrough of some what you'll go by. There are certainly other places along the route that may worth stopping at, depending on your time and interests. The more scenic route is 138 along the river, then 170 up to Chicoutimi. Not 175 cutting directly inland towards C. Fly along the route in GoogleEarth low enough, and visit any cluster of photo dots to see what might be there
In Quebec City, touristic views along the board walk beside Chateau Frontenac and Plains of Abraham and looking down into Lowertown.
Visit Lowertown (walk 10 minutes down the steep road from the Chateau, then a wide set of stairs descending on your right. Good restaurants there and the street immediately below that, and impressive view back up to the illuminated Chateau at night.
Leaving Quebec City along Hwy 138 (Boulevard St. Anne), pass the MontMorency Falls. Heavily commercialized. Better when they were wild.
A bit after Hwy 360 branches off (to Mont St. Anne ski hill), continuing along Hwy 138, les Sept Chutes. Photos on GoogleEarth. A medium-small river that drops in seven step and old hydroelectric plant. The cluster of photos are slightly above the Sept. Chutes red dot, not right at that location. Hey, I just noticed another cluster a bit south along the river, in the area somewhat enclosed by the early part of hwy 360 and hwy 138, the Canyon St. Anne. Now I need to go there myself.
Baie St. Paul (small town) - pretty; as you descend the steep hwy towards the valley, the road into the town is a right turn before the last straight part of the descent. Otherwise you remain on 138 and bypass the town. Galleries along an art street perpendicular to the "main" st, near the church. Speaking of descents and hills, don't rent a subcompact.
Back on the road. Have you noticed that the landscape is basically green? Limited variety of trees, mostly evergreens. However there are churches everywhere. Most of the highway will have views of the irregular hilly terrain, with some side roads getting you closer to overviews of the St. Lawrence.
La Malbaie; nice town, large bay, more of a simply commercial area than Baie St. Paul.
Across the bridge, continuing along 138. Within a few minutes, on the inland side, the Cabot Gardens, one of the most impressive private gardens in Canada. Google with cabot, garden, quebec, charlevoix. One hit is
http://www.etpanorama.com/Cabot_Garden_dem...rden_Intro.html another is
http://www.cepas.qc.ca/jardin.php Open to the public on a few days each month. Arrange your schedule accordingly. Perhaps look up the book "a greater perfection" on Amazon.
St. Simeon; you can head inland on hwy 170 up to Chicoutimi, or continue to Tadousac, cross the ferry, have lunch again, then head up 172. Seems to be more access to the Saguenay by going up 170. Closer to Tadousac you'll encounter many whale watching outfits. The whale population varies each year, last year there were few. Belugas, minkes, fin, and others. If you're only expecting to be there once, may as well take 170 one direction and 172 the other direction, so you do go through Tadousac and it's views, plus the brief ferry ride.
Along 170, take a detour to L'Anse St. Jean and out to it's wharf for a view of the Saguenay. Or maybe at the next cluster of photo dots, at Baie Eternite. Visit one of those to see the size of the river, and the fjiord walls. The river is enormously deep.
You should find boat tours of the Saguenay starting from Chicoutimi, which will give another perspective of the fjiord.
Hope you have good weather!
Andy
