Québec is a bit of a world of its own, and that makes it a charming place to visit. I did so together with fellow WH traveller Frédéric, who was born and raised here.
The historic center isn’t very large: we walked 9.5km in total, in just under 5 hours. Unfortunately, we didn’t see the city at its best due to persistent rain and (re)construction work going on.
Still, we managed to hit all the sights that I had prepared for:
Parc Montmorency: an important place in the city’s history (it has been a seat of religious and civil power, a strategic military site, and the site of the first and second Parliament buildings of the United Province of Canada between 1852 and 1866), it's now an underwhelming small park with a couple of statues.
Chateau Frontenac: the city’s icon will be in most of your pictures and you can see it from different viewpoints. It’s now a hotel, you can enter via the back. The historic boardwalk Dufferin Terrace lies in front of it.
Côte de la Montagne is a steep, winding street that connects Upper Town and Lower Town. You can take the funicular or the Breakneck Stairs (l'Escalier Casse-Cou).
Place Royale: the spot where Samuel de Champlain landed in 1608 and founded the first French settlement in North America. It includes the very fine Église Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, considered the oldest stone church in North America. The square and the church form the most cosy, European part of Québec (photo top left).
Forts-et-Châteaux-St-Louis: underground remains of the official residences of the governors between 1620 and 1834. Includes more than 120 artifacts found at the site and an icehouse (photo bottom left).
Cathédrale de la Sainte-Trinité (under scaffolding at the moment).
Chapel and Museum of the Ursuline convent: a nice place to shelter from the rain, the museum has 3 floors of exhibits including impressive embroidery works and teaching supplies.
Rue St. Louis historic residences: numbers 17, 34-36 (photo bottom right), 57-63. Only outdoor views are possible.
A hearty Quebecois lunch at Buffet de L'antiquaire.
Fortifications of Québec: they almost fully enclose the old city, although reconstruction work here prevented us from wandering the complete 4.6km path along the fortifications. It includes the Citadel, the outdoor areas of Artillery Park, and St. Louis (photo top right), Kent and St. John Gates.
