city guides

If you have a free hour…

Rain or shine, sleet or snow, walk along the Dufferin Terrace next to the Chateau Frontenac and enjoy the best view Quebec City has to offer. Then walk over to ultra-narrow rue des Trésors and buy a painting or print of what you’ve just seen from one of the many vendors there. You can try to haggle, but don’t expect much.

If you have a free day…

Visitors come from everywhere to see the Old City, and so should you. Spend a morning wandering the narrow streets of the Upper Town to admire the many historic homes, churches and other buildings. In the afternoon, meander down to the Lower Town and shop for souvenirs along tight rue de la Petit-Champlain, which is clogged with stores. In summer, there are often street performers in the square in front of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires church, one of the oldest in North America.

If you have a free weekend…

Devote your first day to exploring the Old City. The next day, you might slip out into the surrounding countryside. In spring, summer or fall, a drive around nearby Orleans Island is a popular pastime for locals and tourists alike. In early spring, when the sap flows and maple syrup production is in full swing (Quebec produces 80 percent of the world’s supply), sugar camps abound there. For around CDN$20, you can enjoy a syrup-soaked meal of eggs, crêpes, ham and beans, plus all the French-Canadian music you’ll need until the following spring. In summer and fall, the island is famous for its successive harvests of strawberries, raspberries, vegetables and apples (including several you-pick operations). A number of vendors also sell farm-made wines and ice-cider, made from the juice of apples harvested in the dead of winter.