Québec City Overview

A city of superlatives: one of Canada’s most historic and picturesque; site of its most famous battle; on the banks of its mightiest river. Add excellent dining, shopping and entertainment, throw in surrounding mountains and forests, and you have Quebec.

Districts

Quebec is one of the most beautiful cities in North America. Founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, this fortified city has a rich history, architecture and culture, which can be discovered and enjoyed on foot.

The Old City is one of the most popular areas for both tourists and locals, not only because of its charm but also because of its many restaurants, pubs, hotels and boutiques. St-Jean Street is the main entrance to the Old City. This street is at the heart of the social and cultural life of the city, with Place d’Youville and the Palais Montcalm Theatre on the south side and Le Capitole hotel on the north. A little further down is the historic St-Jean Gate, where one can find many small shops, boutiques, pubs and restaurants.

City Hall is on Côte-de-la-Fabrique, where the strip of restaurants and boutiques continues. This street leads to the Place de l’Hôtel-de-Ville, the Petit Séminaire de Québec and the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Québec. The Rue du Trésor, where local artists show and sell their works, is a few steps away and leads to the Château Frontenac and the Dufferin Terrace boardwalk.

Entertainment

Quebec may be a small city but there’s always plenty to do, even during the cold winter months. Its rich history and culture are effervescent, making residents and visitors want to enjoy their city even more.

Culture is behind each and every stone wall in Quebec City. There are plenty of theatres, presenting a wide variety of shows. During the summer, Quebec City becomes one giant theatre. Artists perform in the streets, in parks, and pretty much everywhere a crowd can gather.

During the winter, Québécois find a way to entertain themselves despite the cold with their famous Winter Carnival. For more than 47 years, they have enjoyed many sporting, artistic and cultural activities during this magical carnival, which allows them to rediscover each year the wonders of winter.

Although Quebec City offers tons of outdoors activities, those who prefer to stay inside won’t be disappointed. There are plenty of museums, malls and movie theatres, and Quebec City's beautiful churches are well-known, in part for the wonderful concerts hosted.

At night, the Grande-Allée is the place to be. This is Quebec City’s busiest street, filled with restaurants, cigar rooms, cafés, pubs and nightclubs. As a general rule there are no cover charges to get into nightclubs, which means that people can go from one to the other all night long.

In the end, a walk in the Old City, especially on the Dufferin Terrace, is for some the best entertainment available in Quebec City. The view is absolutely gorgeous. Wander through the streets, watch a clown draw a smile on people’s faces, enjoy the afternoon in a nice café or dance the night away.

Dining and Drinking

No visit to Quebec City would be complete without sampling its famous culinary institutions and its renowned, even notorious nightlife. For a metropolitan area of fewer than 700,000 inhabitants, Quebec boasts an uncommon number of superb restaurants, charming cafés, seething dance clubs and quiet little hideaways.

Most visitors will naturally gravitate towards the city's sensational French bistros and restaurants. Indeed, most of Quebec's truly world-class eateries serve some kind of French cuisine. This blending of traditional French cuisine with local ingredients and techniques such as game meats, local cheeses, cranberries, maple syrup products, and so on, is characteristic of many restaurants in the area. Few kitchens in Quebec City entirely escape the hearty, stick-to-your-ribs influence of Quebecois fare.

All in all, the dining and nightlife in Quebec City exude a decidedly French charisma—much more so even than in Montreal. Though cosmopolitan in appearance and attitude, Quebec is less multicultural than many other Canadian cities, and English is rarely—if ever—heard outside of tourist areas. It is, literally and spiritually, the capital of French Canada. As such, this relatively small city manages to remain at the forefront of the North American restaurant scene, which only strengthens its uniquely European feel.

Where To Stay

Few North American cities combine the old and the new as effectively and attractively as Quebec. Because of this mixture, the city offers many different kinds of accommodation—from modern luxury high-rises to stately historic hotels, tiny inns and bed and breakfasts. In fact, many visitors choose to mix and match, perhaps splurging for a night at the Château Frontenac, before retreating to more reasonably priced options in or around the city.

Did You Know?

In the city of Quebec the people have a festival called Quebec City's Carnival each winter. The festival has been celebrated since 1880. Quebec is one of the most intriguing cities on the North American continent. As the major center of French Canada, Quebec has more than a touch of European charm, with most of the population being bilingual--capable of speaking French and English.

Orientation/Geography

Quebec lies partly on the Atlantic seaboard in the far east of the USA's northern neighbor. Quebec City, located in the south of the province near the border with the US state of Maine, is pooled on top of and below the cliffs of Cape Diamond (Cap Diamant) at the confluence of the St Charles and St Lawrence rivers.


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