How much can you see in three-and-a

How much can you see in three-and-a-half days
in Quebec City?
May 28, 2015 42 Comments
Mind you, three-and-a-half days is not enough to see everything worth seeing in Québec
City and the area.
From its centuries-old stone buildings that look like they were transported straight from
France, to its many museums, this charming city of about half a million has a lot to offer
to visitors.
Unfortunately, we only had a long weekend for this visit, but if you have more time, do
yourself a favor and spend a few more days in this capital of the Canadian province of
Québec.
It’s an about six-hour drive from Boston, another old city worth seeing, but it’s very
different than any American cities you will see, including the also-French New Orleans.
We saw the following attractions in Québec City. You can decide whether you want to
put them on your to-see list as well.
Day One
Les Tours du Vieux Québec
Whenever we’re visiting a city for the first time, we like to do a bus tour, just to get a
general overview and feel of the city. In every city there might be streets and areas that
buses don’t go to, of course, and that applies to Québec City as well, but Les Tours du
Vieux Québec does a pretty impressive loop on their Ligne Rouge.
It’s is a hop-on-hop-off type of tour,
with 12 stops, but buses leave only
about every 30 minutes, so you’ll have
to time your visits to local museums
just right, so that you don’t have to
wait.
We did the whole loop the first day, and
it was a lot of fun getting this general
overview of Québec City from the
upper deck!
Rue Saint-Jean from the upper deck of the Les Tours du Vieux Québec bus
Funiculaire du Vieux-Québec
Funiculaire du Vieux-Québec is a type of elevator scaling up and sliding down the hill by
the famous Fairmont Le Château Frontenac on the top, and the colorful pedestrian-only
Rue du Petit Champlain.
The Funiculaire was built in 1879, and modernized in 1998. The ride isn’t long, but the
kids liked the view onto the river, and if you don’t want to face the stairs, it’s a fairly
cheap ($2.25 CAN) option to get you up or down the hill.
Funiculaire du Vieux-Québec scaling the hill
Lunch at Le Comptoir
Le Comptoir is located on rue Saint-Jean, a bit to the west beyond the walls of the Old
Québec. It was recommended by the concierge at the place where we stayed, and since it
was on our way, we decided to stop and try some poutine, of course.
(For those of you who don’t know what poutine is, it’s a traditional Quebecois dish of
french fries, topped with a light brown gravy-like sauce and cheese curds. It’s probably
incredibly unhealthy, but it’s also very yummy, when made well.)
All in all, Le Comptoir is a funky little restaurant, with nice, urban décor.
What did we order at Le Le Comptoir? Why, poutine, of course!
Bibliothèque Saint-Jean-Baptiste
While you’re on rue Saint-Jean, you walk a bit further west, to 755 rue Saint-Jean. The
building at that address looks like a church, and it used to be a church – an Anglican St.
Matthew’s church to be exact. In 1979 the building was purchased by City of Quebec to
accommodate a library. If the library, known in French as Bibliothèque Saint-JeanBaptiste, is open, go inside and look at the beautiful stain glass windows!
Bibliothèque Saint-Jean-Baptiste, an Anglican Church turned into a library
Observatoire de la Capitale
The Observatoire de la Capitale is located on the 31st floor of the Marie-Guyart Building,
and is the highest vantage point in Québec City. You can get an impressive panoramic
view from its floor to ceiling windows into every direction.
The Observatoire also offers touch
screen stations pointing out the most
important buildings, wall displays
illustrating the city’s history, and
audio stations where you can listen to
narratives about the area’s history
“told” by historical figures.
view of the Old Quebec from the Observatoire de la Capitale
Érico Chocolaterie et Pâtisserie Créative – Érico Creative
Chocolate Shop and Chocolate Museum
Either on the way to the Observatoire or on the way back to the Old Québec, stop at the
Érico Chocolaterie et Pâtisserie Créative, located at 634 Rue Saint-Jean. You can get
there some pretty yummy (though pricey) chocolates and ice cream, but make sure you
also walk around their one-room Chocolate Museum.
My daughter loved the “feel without seeing”
displays and trying to guess what she was
touching, and the chocolate whisk used by the
Mayans to whip up chocolate into liquid form.
reproduction of a Mayan whisk used to whip
chocolate into liquid form
Day Two
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec is located quite a bit to the west from the Old
Québec. If you’re staying within the city walls, it will take you at least 20 minutes by foot
to get there. You can drive there and park, of course, or you can try public transportation,
and use the trip planner Trajecto.
The museum features mostly modern art, but also has some pieces from the period under
British rule (1763-1867) and Native Canadian (Inuit) displays.
It’s not a huge museum, compared to some famous art museums you might have seen if
you traveled to London, New York City, or even Boston, but it’s worth visiting.
Make sure you don’t miss the “prison” wing – the Charles Baillairgé Pavillion was the
Québec City jail for more than a century and was incorporated into the museum in 1991.
Also, the new addition to the museum, that will allow it to show a larger percentage of its
collections, is scheduled to open in 2016.
one of the amazing pieces at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec – Alfred
Pellan’s “Jardin Bleu” (Blue Garden)
Musée de la place Royale
Musée de la place Royale, located at the original site of a trading post established in 1608
by Samuel de Champlain, offers a glimpse into the history of New France from its
founding in 1608 through today.
Don’t miss “Facing Champlain” – a 3D movie which in a quite artistic way offers an
overview of myths surrounding the founder of Québec City – Samuel de Champlain.
The museum also has a small, but fun dress-up section for kids on the ground level.
my daughter trying on a reproduction of an old shoulder yoke for carrying water
Traverse Québec – Lévis
Traverse Québec – Lévis is a short ferry ride that connects Québec City and Lévis,
located on the opposite bank of the St. Lawrence River.
My daughter declared that was the most fun thing she did that day, and my son had a lot
of fun playing with my iPhone during the trip, making slow-mo and time-lapse videos.
Word of advice: take the ferry either in the morning, when the Old Québec will be
illuminated by the morning sun, or in the evening, when you can see the city lights.
Otherwise your photos might be not quite as attractive.
view of Fairmont Le Château Frontenac from the Quebec City – Lévis ferry
Day Three
Walk around the Old Québec and beyond
Québec City is such a charming place you have to set aside some time to just walk
around, even if you did the sightseeing bus tour.
From the quaint shops on the Rue Petit Champlain that looks a bit like the Diagon Alley
from Harry Potter movies, to the Hôtel du Parlement (the Parliament building), with
vegetables growing in front, the city offers plenty of interesting photo ops.
pedestrian only Rue Petit Champlain has a bit of a feel of Diagon Alley from Harry Potter
movies
vegetable garden in front of Hôtel du Parlement (the Parliament building)
the oldest house in Québec, built in 1675)
Musée de la civilisation à Québec (Museum of Civilization)
The Musée de la civilisation à Québec (Museum of Civilization) is an interesting place,
with very cutting edge modern exhibits on shantytown cities, as well as a fun dressing
room and play area for the kids.
While we visited, it also featured “Frame x Frame”
on animation, together with a hands-on room
where you could spend quite a bit of time making
your own stop-motion feature.
My daughter liked the dressing area the most, of
course. My son declared the “Earth Unveiled”
section, together with its simulator of scale 7
Earthquake room was the most interesting.
playing with a Native Canadian toy made of bones
and sinew at the Musée de la civilisation à Québec
Musée de l’Amérique francophone
Musée de l’Amérique francophone was nearly deserted when we visited. It’s not a large
museum, but if you like history, it offers a very interesting and artistically designed
glimpse into the life at the colony founded in 1540s, located at the site of the Old Quebec,
nearly 60 years before Quebec City was founded.
The museum is located on the site of the Séminaire de Québec, and before you get to the
exhibit area, you have to walk through the seminar chapel, deconsecrated in 1992.
chapel of the Séminaire de Québec, deconsecrated in 1992
Late lunch at Baguette Et Chocolat
Baguette & Chocolat at 36 Cote de la Fabrique isn’t by any means the most famous or the
most delicious place in the city, but that’s where we stopped when kids started whining
for ice cream, and we noticed they had an ice cream display just by the entrance.
When we went inside, it turned out they also have a deli and make crêpes. My son had
two of them. I had one, and can tell you that they are BIG.
Crêpe with nutella, caramel and strawberry-vanilla ice cream at the Baguette & Chocolat
at 36 Cote de la Fabrique
Day Four (morning)
Aquarium du Québec
In the morning of Day Four, on the way home, we stopped at the Aquarium du Québec,
something that all of us enjoyed very much.
The aquarium website says you can get close to the aquarium on bus routes 13, 25 and
400 (during summer only). We parked in the parking lot right outside the front entrance.
In addition to fresh and salt water tanks, the Aquarium also houses seals, sea lions, polar
bears, and polar foxes. We spent quite a bit of time there.
Personally, I found the jellyfish mesmerizing. The kids liked everything, from the
playground, and watching the polar foxes play, to touching the sting rays.
a giant Nautilus Pompilius at the Aquarium du Quebec
What did we miss?
I was hoping to see the 3D display at the Maison historique Chevalier, but it was closed
when we visited.
We also didn’t have enough time to go east to the Parc de la Chute-Montmorency, the
Huron-Wendat Museum, the geological museum Le Musée de géologie René-Bureau de
l’Université Laval, or the botanical garden Jardin botanique Roger-Van den Hende at
Universite Laval.
I was also hoping to walk down the in the evening and see the artistic giant lampshades
on Cartier Avenue aglow.
Obviously, we’ll have to go to Québec City again some time. I certainly wouldn’t mind!
Even with visiting historical and art museums, both my kids declared they liked Québec
City very much, even more than Madrid, Spain, which rather surprised me.
Office du tourisme de Québec / Québec City Tourism
In closing, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Office du tourisme de
Québec / Québec City Tourism who provided our whole family not only with passports to
the city attractions but also tickets to the bus tour.
Thank you!
As is customary to say in these cases, all opinions are our own, but I can honestly say we
had a fabulous long weekend!
You can create your own discount passport at the Discount Passport web site.
The Office du tourisme de Québec / Québec City Tourism is also on Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram. Give them some love by following them!
Québec City Pinterest Board
If you’re planning a trip to Québec City, feel free to repin my Québec City Pinterest
board where I included all of the attractions mentioned above, plus a whole lot of blog
posts by other travel bloggers. Enjoy!
Invitation to #WeekendWanderlust Link Up
#WeekendWanderlust, hosted by Chris & Heather from A Brit and a Southerner, Jessi &
Tara from Outbound Adventurer, Ashley from A Southern Gypsy, Justin and Lauren
from Justin Plus Lauren, and yours truly, is a collaborative effort to share travel blog
posts, and to discuss all travel-related things.
The hosts organize each week a link up through which travel bloggers from around the
world can promote their posts, in exchange for a promise to give some attention to other
travel bloggers. (One of the rules for linking up is to comment on three linked up posts.)
If the link up is still open, feel free to add a link to one of your posts below, then
comment on three linked up posts. And I welcome comments as well, of course!