Best Things to Do in Quebec City

Quebec City rewards slow exploration on foot through its 400-year-old cobblestone quarters paired with easy excursions along the St. Lawrence River. Here are the ten experiences that define a visit.

1. Stroll Dufferin Terrace beneath Château Frontenac and excavate Fort Saint-Louis. Walk the 430-metre cliffside wooden promenade, ride the 1884 wooden winter Toboggan Slide, and descend beneath the planks to see the 1620 ruins of the French governors' palace.
2. Wander Quartier Petit-Champlain, Place Royale and the Fresque des Québécois. Descend the Breakneck Stairs to stand on the exact spot where Champlain founded Quebec in 1608 and admire a 420-square-metre trompe-l'œil mural.
3. Walk the top of the 4.6-Kilometre Old Quebec Ramparts and tour La Citadelle. Follow the only intact city walls in North America past four stone gates to the active star-shaped fortress of the Royal 22e Régiment.
4. Cross the suspension bridge directly over 83-Metre Montmorency Falls and circle Île d'Orléans. Feel the roar of a waterfall 30 metres higher than Niagara under your feet, then taste strawberries, cheese and ice cider on a 17th-century farm island.

5. Take the Lévis Ferry Across the St. Lawrence River at Sunset. Skip expensive sightseeing cruises and ride the 12-minute commuter boat across the river for the finest postcard panorama of Old Quebec.
6. Picnic on the Plains of Abraham and tour the Second-Empire Parliament Building. Walk the cliff-top parkland where the 1759 battle decided the fate of Canada and admire the 26 bronze statues on the National Assembly facade.
7. Step inside the Victorian prison library of the Morrin Centre and the Musée de la Civilisation. Discover an 1808 British gaol turned atmospheric English library alongside Quebec's top waterfront museum.
8. Eat authentic squeaky-curd Poutine, Tourtière and Maple Taffy on Snow. Taste real French-Canadian comfort food along Rue Saint-Jean and Saint-Roch.

9. Visit the Indigenous Huron-Wendat community of Wendake and Kabir Kouba Waterfall. Twenty minutes north of Old Quebec, step inside a traditional birchbark longhouse and sleep at the Hôtel-Musée Premières Nations.
10. Hike the glacial valley of Jacques-Cartier National Park or experience the Winter Ice Hotel. Climb the Wolves Trail (Les Loups) 40 minutes north of the city or visit the Hôtel de Glace in winter.