Where Paper Maps Reign Supreme
In a GPS world, AQPC feels like a dream.
Aux Quatre Points Cardinaux (From the Four Cardinal Points) is a map store in Montreal, packed floor to ceiling with paper maps, travel guidebooks, and globes galore.
When I stepped inside this charming, old-school shop a block from Montreal’s Latin Quarter, I felt like a time traveler—slipping into an earlier era. How can a place like this still exist? Who’s buying all these maps? How many hours could I spend here?
Named for the four points of the compass — N, S, E, and W — AQPC is filled with the pleasures of printed maps from every corner of the world.
For those of us who still love and miss the ubiquity of paper maps, Aux Quatre Points Cardinaux is paradise. The shop carries hundreds of road maps for destinations worldwide, as well as topographic maps, aviation maps, marine maps—even moose-hunting maps.
AQPC also carries GPS tools, “but at our core, we’re a map store,” said store manager Marie-Anne Rodrigue. “Everything in the store revolves around maps. Even our guidebooks and travel books have maps inside.”
AQPC is the only store of its kind in Montreal, and one of just a few in Canada, Marie-Anne said. I’d venture there are few map stores like it anywhere in the world—certainly none in New York City, where I live.
Maps—everywhere you turn. On walls, shelves, tables. Rolled, stacked, laminated.
The beauty of visiting this brick-and-mortar shop is that you can browse, unfold maps, and spread them across the huge counter in the back room to pore over them before you buy.
“It’s fine to order online, but there’s nothing like having the maps in front of you,” Marie-Anne said. “People like to open them up, compare them, and then choose the map they want.”
That’s exactly what I did during my visit to AQPC. Marie-Anne handed me a stack of maps of Montreal and Quebec, each one different. I opened them one by one, examined each map, and chose the two I wanted. It was a wonderful, tactile experience—handling the paper and taking in the details.
Globes galore—with more than forty types to choose from.
AQPC opened in 1988 with a focus on topographic maps. Today, it offers a vast range of maps and geographical guides for everyone from travelers and families to hunters, hikers, and cyclists. The shop also customizes and laminates maps, and prints and frames vintage maps. As for GPS devices, demand has declined as mobile phones continue to improve, Marie-Anne said.
Yet printed maps show no sign of losing their relevance.
“People still like to plan using maps,” Marie-Anne said. “I know that some people use ChatGPT and other apps to plan trips, but when you do that, you really miss out on something important.”
“With an app, you just follow blindly. But when you travel, you want to get to know a place—you want to touch the country. When you have a map, it's almost as if you’re already touching it.”
AQPC carries dozens of topographic maps from across Quebec. They’re essential for understanding the lay of the land—terrain, elevation, and natural features.
It’s especially important to use maps when traveling with children, Marie-Anne said. “A lot of kids struggle with geography because they don’t see a full map when they travel.” Instead, parents tend to look at a small fragment on a phone screen—or rely on GPS directions.
“When you show kids where you are and the distance you’ve traveled on a paper map, they can see scale and the real relationships between places. It helps them better place themselves in the world and grasp just how big it is.”
The beauty of this store is that you can take your time—browse, unfold and study maps, flip through travel guides, dream of your next destinations, and pick up the resources to help you plan.
I can’t imagine life without GPS. Still, nothing beats a good map in hand. As with all things analog, there’s something much more human and personal about using a paper map.
I love to unfold a map, stand over it and study it, circle things, mark it up, drag my finger across it, gather around it with travel companions—then shove it in my backpack or pocket and carry on. A paper map isn’t a replacement for GPS; it complements it and enriches travel in so many wonderful ways.
Next time you’re in Montreal, make your way to the shop on the northwest corner of Rue Ontario and Rue Berri. Choose some maps. Spread them out on the big counter in the back room. Take your time… and take in the world.
Along with road maps and travel guides, AQPC carries specialized maps for niche markets—like this one, used by moose hunters to identify habitat and feeding areas.
Why You Still Need A Map
We’re all so dependent on GPS, but there are plenty of reasons—from practical to romantic—to carry a paper map wherever you travel.
Your GPS device or smartphone can fail. It happens—signal loss, depleted battery, bad cell reception. You might lose your phone or damage it. A paper map will never let you down. It’s an essential backup when you travel.
GPS tells you where to go; maps let you wander. GPS finds the fastest route between points A and B; a map lets you take the roads less traveled and create your own itinerary. Use a map to choose scenic roads and chart your own meandering path of discovery and adventure.
A paper map invites interaction. In a café, a bar, a small restaurant—even on a street corner—an open map is an invitation for locals to stop, chat, and suggest truly authentic, untouristy places to explore. Open it and ask them to point out and circle their favorite spots.
Your map becomes an artifact of your journey—a keepsake that preserves your pen strokes, coffee stains, rips, and wrinkles from the real-life wear and tear of your trip. It’s a meaningful memento of your travels.
A paper map lets you step away from your device and be present. When you travel, you don’t want your face buried in your phone. The more analog you go, the more deeply you connect—with the moment, with a place, with the experience itself.
If you’re unable to visit in person, AQPC’s website features more than 50 pages of road maps from every corner of the globe and over 150 pages of travel guides online.
For the Love of Maps
Here are a few of Marie-Anne’s favorites. Beyond road maps and travel guides, the world of maps is vast, varied, and endlessly fascinating.
Exploration Map By Map: From Migrations and Encounters to Voyages and Discoveries
The World’s 300 Greatest Maps Explained
The Gulf of Maine to Baffin Bay An example of a marine map. “I find them beautiful,” Marie-Anne says.
The Equal Earth Map displays the world in true, undistorted relative size. Countries, continents, and oceans are proportional to their actual size on earth.