Quebec City
After our time in Montreal we rented a car and made our way to Quebec City. This city makes you feel as if you’ve been transported to someplace in Europe as you stroll through the cobblestone streets dating back to 1608.
We found a cute Airbnb along Rue Champlain, right across from the St Lawrence River. It was a great place to stay and walkable to all the main attractions.
Our place was located in lower town. The city is split into lower and upper parts of the city. We soon realized that this meant exploring Quebec City would involve many stairs and hills to climb. Quebec City has nearly 30 sets of stairs that link lower and upper town. One set of (dreaded) stairs that we climbed multiple times was cap-blanc stairs, Quebec City’s longest staircase at 398 steps. So I’d say we got our workouts in!
Quebec City is a really cool spot to explore any time of year. We went in August which turned out to be perfect weather, 70s and sunny, all week.
Here are some our favorite things we stumbled upon while exploring the city.
Petit Champlain: One of the oldest commercial streets in North America. This home to the famous Breakneck Steps, boutiques, and beautiful French stone architecture.
We explored this area multiple times during our stay. This is typically a pretty busy area but we came earlier one morning and had the place almost to ourselves. We realized the city doesn’t really start bustling until about 10am.
One place you definitively cant miss in the Petit Champlain area is Umbrella Alley!
Place Royal: this is where Samuel de Champlain founded the city of Quebec in 1608. This area is home to cafes, art galleries and the oldest church in North America. This is where we found an alleyway that we were obsessed with photographing due to the bright yellow windows and beautiful flower boxes as you gaze to the end of the alley. We also frequented Maison Smith for coffee and pastries three mornings during our stay. We felt very spoiled as we leisurely enjoyed our coffees in the beautiful courtyard.
Dufferin Terrace: A boardwalk with views of Chateau Frontenac and St Lawrence River. We stumbled upon some street performers all along the boardwalk.
We luckily stumbled upon the terrace for the perfect sunset! We got some amazing views of the hotel and river with beautiful purply pink and golden hues.
Chateau Frontenac : This is the most photographed hotel in the world and it is easy to see why as you take in the magnificent views.
Old Port: This is a great spot to explore art galleries, antique stores and great views.
Saint Jean Baptiste Neighborhood
Rue de Tresor: alleyway filled with many local art tents and vendors. A great spot to explore and support local artists.
Isle d’Orléan’s: during your stay in Quebec City we’d highly recommend a day trip over to Isle d’Orléans. This island is home to local artists, farms, wineries, restaurants and some of the prettiest views in Quebec. It’s a great spot to spend an afternoon or day exploring. Isle d’Orléans is about a 30-minute drive from Quebec City. I would recommend a car so you can explore at your leisure but there are tours available to explore the island.
There are many spots to explore here and we unfortatly were not able to go to all the spots we wanted. But A few that’d we’d recommend include:
Cassis Monna Filles for an amazing lunch with great views of St Lawrence river. While here be sure to try the sangria (we had a frozen sangria) in the lawn chairs while you are waiting for a table for lunch. This is a small restaurant so there can be a bit of a wait.
Vignoble ste-Petronille where you can grab a bite to eat, explore the beautiful vineyards, and sample and purchase their wines.
Confiturerie tigidou for local jams made from berries right on the island and jam tastings are available! They also have a coffee shop and a back deck where you can relax with some beautiful views.
Once we arrived back in Quebec City after our day in isle d’Orléan’s we set out of a picnic at Pierre-Dugua-De-Mons Terrace. Here you will get a sweeping view of Chateau Frontenac and St Lawrence river. Earlier in the day we stopped of at the oldest grocery store in north America, J A Moisan, for local meats and cheeses and got some delicious strawberries from a farm stand on isle d’Orléans to enjoy at our picnic. This was my favorite evening of the trip as we took in all the beautiful sites and .
If you need a nature fix on this trip don’t miss the impressive Montmorency Falls, just a few min drive from donwtown Quebec City. There is a suspension bridge that goes over the falls and an impressive set of stairs that goes down to the base of the waterfall. Due to how many stairs we already tackled in the city we did not feel inclined to attempt more. We went down about one flight for few photos and then called it good haha
Our last couple days in Quebec we found an Airbnb farther north to spend some time in nature. Our Airbnb was located near the town of Baie Saint Paul. This is a very cute town and worth a stop to wonder the main street filled with many shops, restaurants and cafes.
We arrived at the Airbnb that afternoon and had the rest of the day to relax by the firepit and enjoy the beautful house and peaceful surroundings. The house is a little isolated so we brough our own food to cook some pasta that night. It was a great way to spend our last couple days in Quebec.
