Hi. I'm planning on surprising my girlfriend with a trip to Canada for Valentine's Day weekend, and I was trying to decide between Ottawa and Quebec City. If people who have been to either or both could offer me some advice, I'd definitely appreciate it!!!

Thanks,
-Mike

I think Qu�bec City wins out for the Valentine's Day weekend, but partly because I am longing to revisit that lovely little city myself! Both cities can be charming and romantic, especially if you can book a room in one of the historic hotels like the Chateau Frontenac or Chateau Laurier. Beautiful hotels (but pricey)!

Carnaval de Qu�bec is on in Qu�bec until February 16 so there will be fun and special events around town. http://www.carnaval.qc.ca
has information on the events but I don't know if they have much English on their site.

Not to be outdone, though, Ottawa has Winterlude! Same kind of thing, really.
Skating on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa is kind of unique! I enjoyed a lot of live theatre when I was there last, as well as art galleries and museums.

I think Qu�bec is a bit more colorful and has a bit more flavour, but others may disagree.

Ok, so I'm biased due to my pseudonym. Nevertheless, I recommend Qu�bec City. It's very romantic, albeit very cold.

However, I believe Valentine's Day weekend is the closing weekend to the Carnaval d'Hiver, as mentioned above, which is a very popular event. Getting a room may be very difficult as it is now so close to the weekend.

I have a room reserved for the HOTEL DOMINION 1912 on the evening of Feb 15 at the rate of C$189. I don't plan to use it. If I can transfer it to another person, you can have it. The hotel is located in the center of Qu�bec City.

Otherwise, Ottawa is very charming and there's lots to do including the Mus�e du Civilisation across the river in Hull.

But whichever city you choose, you come out a winner on two counts: The restaurants in both cities are great and the Canadian dollar is still weak (can't say that about the � ).

I'd go for Ottawa (although the festival would make Quebec fun). If the wind is howling and snow flying, as it's likely to be, Ottawa offers more indoors than does Quebec. I've also found Ottawa to have nicer shopping and a wider selection of restaurants than Quebec.

(If it were a spring/summer/fall trip, I'd go for Quebec.)