Please tell us about Quebec City
 

Looking to visit the for three days in June.

The websites make it to be like Paris, does it compare? BTW: LOVE Paris.

We are empty nesters who walk Paris and rode the Metro. We will have a car in Quebec City however. I don't read French, will I be able to navigate?

We're not gourmets, so eating fancy is not important, but eating is, so what would be a typical casual evening meal?

We stay in very small hotels in Paris, because we are never in the room, and don't need all the extras... so $75 - $100 US is our range. However, your guidance here would be appreciated. Specific recommendations are very welcome.

Nightlife is unimportant to us, we're usually to pooped. (Unless there is a "must-not miss")

I guess we're just wanderers and gawkers and shoppers and munchers.

Would we enjoy this city?

You can PM me if you like, or post here...

Paris it is not. In some ways, thank God!

Quebec City has more of a rustic charm. Vieux Quebec, one of the few fortified cities in N. America, is filled with rustic charm, in contrast to both the glamour/elegance and grime of Paris.

Almost everybody will speak some English so that won't be a problem. Quebec folks are very friendly and helpful.

Eating out in Quebec is very reasonable. Take advantage of the very affordable prix-fixe lunch offered at many of Quebec's fine tables. At more casual establishments, definitely try the meat pie, la tourtiere; the Quebec provinicial dessert, la tarte au sucre; of course, la poutine!

In June, you will enjoy long, very long days of sunshine. Perhaps you may want to rent a car to drive to nearby Ile d'Orleans. It's very beautiful.

I love this city. It's a shame that airfares to this city are so high.

I agree with your assessment of the city and surroundings. I love driving around Ile d'Orleans. Depending on when you're there, it could be strawberry season... and there are tons of places to stop and eat fresh berries. Yum.

Too bad you won't be there at the end of July. There's an international fireworks competition that is fantastic. You can buy tickets or kayak/canoe in on the river. The backdrop is the Montmorency Falls, just outside of the city. The falls are beautiful any time of year, so you should go visit them.

There are tons of hotels to choose from.

So good luck, have fun, eat tons of croissants (they're fabulous in QC) and write a trip report for us, okay?
Rita

Fireworks????
 

OMG - may have change of plans here. Is the city just overrun with visitors because of the Fireworks Festival?

Thanks to both of you for great encouragement, links, and suggestions.

We plan to fly to Manchester, NH and drive to Quebec City because of the cheap WN airfares. So we will have a car and will be driving to Ile d'Orleans.

Any other suggestions are most welcome.

Here's a really unfair question: :D how many days would you spend exploring Quebec City? We like to hit the streets early - 8 a.m. and usually go all day until we crash at 10 p.m, with periodic breaks for munchies. Remember: we are wanderers and easily distracted ;)

3 days?

The city is very busy in the summer overall, so the fireworks just add to the general milling around of crowds. However, since the fireworks take place over a series of weeks, the visitors are spread over that time period too.

Incidentally, you can either take a bus from the city to the fireworks site, or drive and park. But which ever way you do, make sure you leave very early since thousands and thousands of people go. And the process of parking and walking to the site takes a long time.

Also, buy a ticket for a seat. There are place where you can picnic, but the seats are much better. Oh, did I forget to tell you that the fireworks are synchronized with music? Lovely!

I think 3 days is plenty for Quebec, depending on how involved you get in going to museums, etc, you may want more. But the old city is rather compact. There's also another part of the city (I think it's the Grand Allyee or something) that has a number of shops and nightclubs that is busy too.

But outside of the city is quickly rural.

Oh, and make sure you get accommodations that include parking for your car... especially if you stay in the old city, (which you should). Then once you're there, you can simply walk out and explore.

But since you're driving, on the way to Quebec City, once you're into southern Canada there are some wineries along the road. Also there's a town (Magog?) that is very very French. Lots of shops, restaurants and full of only french speaking canadian tourists since there is a lake nearby.

I know no French at all and it's possible to make your way around. Being friendly, polite and a small French/English dictionary should be fine. (Enter a shop, you: "Bon Jour"... leaving the shop, you: "Merci!")

Also, be very careful when you're leaving Quebec and heading "home". It is very easy to mistake the signs and incorrectly follow Rte 73 and wind up in rural Maine. If you don't already belong, you might want to get a membership to AAA and get triptiks for the drive. It is somewhat of a complicated drive with lots of switching of highways. Even we, who live in Massachusetts and have a place in NH have to be attentive when we make the route changes.

Oh, by the way, on the highway there are rest areas in Canada with restaurants. They're definitely better than the ones in the US. And very reasonable too. So if you're hungry on the drive, don't be put off that it looks like a typical US road stop.

Have a great trip. I always like to go to Quebec since it's so very different from life in the US. My husband is less anamoured with the area, so we probably go every 4 or 5 years. He did like the fireworks alot, 'tho. We were able to combine our trip with the fireworks and also cirque du soleil, although I don't know if anything's planned for cirque du soleil this summer. But if it is, don't miss it.

Rita

QC is a wonderful place, despite not being Paris! ;)

For one thing, it's much smaller! And a bit "quieter" too! ;)

You already have some great advice, and thanks for reminding me that I really need to return soon.

As noted, it's a seasonal destination, so there are many bargains in winter, yet the experience is not the same either.

Enjoy the trip! :)

Mark

We live in Quebec and visit Quebec City often, we love it. Three days is perfect. My fav hotels are The Chateau Frontenac for a big outrageous splurge and Auberge St Antoine for awesome service, both hotels have the most important thing, location. You can literally park up and walk for days.

The city has many, many stairs to climb, so you will be able to eat a lot. Lunch at Aux Anciens Canadiens, right next to the Chateau, is a steal at $15 CAD for 3 courses and a glass of wine or a beer. Also dessert at the Cochon D'ingue is a must. There are so many great places to eat, you'll run out of time before you run out of choices.The buffet lunch at the Chateau is incredible, and well priced for the quality, about $28 CAD.

A caleche ride is a great way to see the city and learn about the great history. Take the public ferry, $3 CAD, to Levis from the old port at nightime, you will enjoy the most incredible veiws of the city at night. Montmorency Falls, 15 mins by car, are a pretty spectacular sight and a nice place for lunch too.

The citadel offers great guided tours with stunning views and more good history. In the Place Royal there is also an interpretation center, worth a visit. You will find the streets filled with performers, atists and artisans of all kind. Quebec is a very friendly, French feeling city.

As for driving, it is not too complicated, but be warned the streets inside the walls are windy, narrow and often steep. You really feel like you are in Europe.

Enjoy your trip!

Ok, its a go... we're heading to QC 6/30 and will leave 7/4.

Disappointed that we can't make the fireworks festival, but any other advice is welcome. Still looking for a place to stay in the $75 - $100US range.

We will have a car so staying outside the old city is doable, I guess, but looking for alternatives because of parking problem in old city.

We will be flying Southwest to Manchester, N.H. and driving from there because we have free tix. Anybody done this?

Any other advice is welcome.

Thanks in advance.

We used to live in Southern NH and still have a vacation place in central NH. We've made the drive a bunch of times and it's an easy ride, as far as 4+ hour trips go. Straight up through NH, a quick cross over into VT, then directly up into Canada. Drive, drive, drive and then at some point you get on the trans-Canada highway heading east, right into Quebec City.

Manchester is a nice airport. Used to be the kind of place you could park and walk across the street into the terminal. But it's grown tremendously over the past 15 years. However, it's still a managable terminal/airport and it's only a mile or so south of the interstate on "Brown Ave".

I checked the hotel we stayed at in Quebec and I can't say that it's under $100. http://www.maison-acadienne.com/en/accueil.asp Choose the Hotel Acadia out of the list. It was very nice with the proprietress baking homemade croissants every night for the next morning's (included) continental breakfast. They have a sweet rooftop patio where you can eat breakfast. The waitresses were kind enough to bring extra croissants... which I could have kept eating and eating and eating... but my conscience (husband) was beside me, so I stopped at 2.

We did buy a package they offered which included a fixed price meal at a city restaurant nearby. We decided afterward that it wasn't a good deal afterall. The fixed price choices were not particularly appealing, and the restaurant treated us as afterthought guests.

I checked their site just now and it's full of info for the Winter Carnival, so it's not specific about summertime prices. Also to get a quote you have to fill out a form... sort of backward in today's internet design... so that's probably the best way of getting a bead on the price.

Our hotel did offer parking at a lot nearby which was great. It was maybe 2 blocks away and afforded us the flexibility to stay in the old city, or jump in the car and head out to the hinterlands at will.

The rooms at the hotel were small. Definitely small. But very very nice and clean as can be. I believe the Quebecquois (sp) are a very clean and tidy group, so the cleanliness is probably not remarkable. But it was definitely clean. And as with most inner city buildings, there wasn't much of a view, although that didn't matter to us.

Oh, oh, I also remember some years ago stopping at a hotel on the Gran Allee and checking out the room, to find that it was torn carpet and very down-on-the-heals. But I don't remember whether or not their price was dirt cheap. Just not appropriate for what we wanted at the time.

I'd stay in the old city if I were you. YOu will definitely want to be there in the evening when it has great charm. And no matter when you do... you'll face the issue of parking at that point. It would be far far better to be staying at a hotel which includes area parking than trying to find an available spot during the summer tourist months. I don't know where else you can park at a city parking lot if you're outside the old city.

If the Hotel Acadia is more than you can afford, I do have the name of another hotel that is adjacent to the stairs that goes down to the lower part of the old city. It's in a fairly busy area, so it might be loud at night (maybe not), and unfortunately for it's overall charm, it is nearby a couple of sex shoppes. So you'd need to blind your eye to that. But here's the link to that hotel. The hotel itself looks quite charming. http://www.quebecweb.com/gitecotedelamontagne/

I can't find the english language version, but I didn't search too much. So that'll be your contribution.

Best of luck. Let us know where you choose.
Rita

I second the idea of Ile d'Orleans. It's truly special. There's a chocolate shop there that is perhaps my favorite in the world. Ask anyone on the island where to find it (just a couple of miles if you turn right when you come off the bridge).

Chocolaterie de l'Île d'Orléans

150 chemin du Bout de l'Île, Ste-Pétronille

http://www.beauxvillages.qc.ca/angla...ronille_a.html

Nice to have that link - thanks! Mmm... chocolate!

It is rather high season there. Can you move to, say, $150 Cdn per night? That brings in places like the Delta (just across the street from the old city).

It all used to be better when the exchange rate was $130 Canadian for $1. US.

R.

We're close to making reservations at Hotel Acadia - hotelacadia.com - any thoughts?

It's in our price range, parking is $11 per day. Site pix look good.

Thanks.