parking in Quebec
 

Holy cow, parking in downtown Quebec is so expensive. Every hotel I have looked at shows at least 20 CAD per day for parking. There are less expensive public parking lots but are they safer? Any advice?

My wife and I vacationed in Quebec City last October, and stayed on the Ile d'Orleans (about 20 miles away). We had no trouble finding short-term street parking in town; there is limited curb space near the Chateau Frontenac, right in the middle of everything. But I believe the street parking is restricted to 2 hours during the day.

The second day, we were in town all day so paid $13 (IIRC) to park in a private lot right off of Rue St. Louis.

You could also consider taking cabs and/or RTC buses instead of driving. I noticed taxi stands everywhere in Old Quebec (just as many as in Montreal, it seemed!)

Quebec is an extremely safe city, I wouldn't be afraid of leaving my car anywhere, except for maybe a couple of shady areas that tourists don't ever get to. Take the usual safety precautions - don't leave any visible objects in your car and lock your doors, but other than that, there's no need to worry, any parking you find should be absolutely safe.

Other options - take the bus. If you're flying in, you'll need to take a cab to and from the airport and it's expensive (it's pretty annoying that we still don't have any kind of shuttle!), but other than that, the buses work great and will take you anywhere you need to go, unless you're looking at day trips outside the city and its suburbs. The RTC offers several types of passes that you could look into.

Otherwise, stay outside the center. It takes about 10-15 minutes by bus to get from the hotels on Boulevard Laurier to Old Quebec. The location isn't as interesting, but depending on how long you're staying, the savings might be worth it, since both your hotel room and parking would be way less expensive than in the center (in fact, I'm pretty sure parking is free at most of these hotels).

Whatever you do, try and avoid cabs as much as possible, as they get expensive quickly when you factor in tips and the like, especially when the buses work just as well! Enjoy your trip!

Welcome to Quebec :D

Some parking lots with rates here:

https://www.vincipark.ca/search

thx to all... found this post very helpful. Thought I would add that there's a lot behind the Chateau Laurier (note: not the Chateau Frontenac) off the Grand Allee that had 12 hr parking for 8$. This was weekend, not sure about weekdays. There's a VinciPark under the Chateau Laurier that had 7$ for weekday evenings and weekends but 6 hr limit. Enjoy!

street parking option
 

Updating with info from a recent visit.........

The big Vinci parking lot (500 cars) beside the Levis ferry is gone for re-development. Overnight parking in the area now costs $12 per night & is only good till 6-7 am.

I checked out the on street parking options near the Chateau Frontenac and this is definitely the way to go. Till 9 pm its $2.25/hour. After its free until 9 am. We parked two blocks from the castle, very safe. That's what the locals do.......