Québec City is the closest thing to Europe in North America, and it is not really close — it simply is European, in a way that no amount of New World reinvention elsewhere can match. The old town is the only walled city north of Mexico, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of narrow stone streets climbing between the Lower Town by the river and the Upper Town on the cliff above, all of it presided over by the great green-roofed silhouette of the Château Frontenac. It is unapologetically, gloriously French — in language, food, and feel — and it is small enough to explore entirely on foot. Of all the cities in this guide, it is the one most likely to make you forget which continent you are on.
We have visited Quebec City just the one time. The upper town is outstanding and very photogenic from the river.
A Little Background
The site was the Iroquoian village of Stadacona when Jacques Cartier arrived in 1535; his attempt at a settlement failed in the face of harsh winters and conflict, and was abandoned. The St Lawrence Iroquoians had dispersed by the time the French returned for good.
That return came in 1608, when Samuel de Champlain established a fortified fur-trading post at the foot of the cliff — the first permanent French settlement in Canada and the cradle of New France. Québec grew as the colony’s capital, and its commanding position above the narrowing of the St Lawrence made it the most fought-over place in the country. In 1759 the British defeated the French on the Plains of Abraham just outside the walls, a battle that decided the fate of New France and, with it, much of North America. The city remained the heart of French Canada through everything that followed, and its fortifications — four gates, the star-shaped Citadelle, and 4.6 kilometres of ramparts — survive almost intact, which is why it looks and feels as it does.
What to See and Do
The whole of Old Québec (Vieux-Québec) is the attraction, and it divides naturally into two. The Upper Town, on the cliff, is anchored by the Château Frontenac — opened in 1893 and said to be the most photographed hotel in the world — and the long boardwalk of the Dufferin Terrace beside it, with sweeping views over the river. From here you can walk the city walls and ramparts, the only complete fortifications on the continent, and visit the still-active Citadelle, home to the Royal 22e Régiment, with its own changing of the guard in summer.
A funicular or a steep staircase drops you to the Lower Town (Basse-Ville), the oldest part of the city, where Place Royale marks the exact spot of Champlain’s 1608 founding and the Quartier Petit-Champlain is a tangle of narrow lanes, boutiques, and restaurants that is touristy but genuinely lovely. The food throughout is excellent and seriously French; the Plains of Abraham, now a great park on the heights, is worth a walk for the history and the views. If you can time a visit for the Winter Carnival in February or the summer festival season, the city is at its most exuberant.
Getting There
Québec City has a small international airport with limited direct overseas connections; many visitors fly into Montréal and continue by road or rail. VIA Rail runs frequent trains from Montréal (about three hours) on the central corridor. The old city is best explored entirely on foot — it is compact, and cars are more hindrance than help within the walls — though the streets are steep, so comfortable shoes matter.
Weather
Québec City has a cold, snowy continental climate, even more pronounced than Montréal’s. Summers (June–September) are warm and the most comfortable time to visit, with the terraces and festivals in full swing. Autumn is beautiful. Winters are long, very cold, and deep with snow — which is precisely the setting for the famous Winter Carnival and the nearby ice hotel, if that is what you have come for. For general sightseeing, late spring to autumn; for the winter spectacle, February.
The Bottom Line
Mid-range hotels run roughly CAD$180–330 a night, more in peak summer and during Carnival. Two days is enough to walk the whole old town thoroughly and eat very well; it pairs naturally with Montréal into a four- or five-day trip through French Canada. There is nowhere else quite like it on this side of the Atlantic.