I would caution about going at Christmas time: there is a cute little winter market in the old City, BUT it's both frigid cold already, and not necessarily snowing at all. Some of the snowy must do activities were closed, like the historic slide at Chateau Frontenac, skiing on the Plaines D'Abraham. My kids really missed out on this sort of fun, and we should have gone in February instead. We stayed at the Hilton which was walking distance to the old city, stunning view of Parliament. We drove to this sugar shack and did dinner and a show there: https://erablierelacbeauport.com/

we drove and made it a fun rode trip. Isle de orleans was a great day trip. Don't miss those chocolate dipped ice cream cones. OMG does not compare to anything we have here.

We flew a few years ago. But by the time we got there, we could have basically driven. And then we would have had a car which would have been nice. I would drive next time.

We stayed in the historical center, right in the action. But we stayed for about 5 days, so I think staying in that part of the city may be more appealing for a 2-3 day stop. That part of the city was so crowded, and we had to go a few miles away for the good food at night. I wish we had stayed in a regular neighborhood and just headed into the historical part of the city for sightseeing during the day, and then been able to walk to dinner (and not have it be an overpriced tourist trap place).

We drove to Montreal first, with a pit stop in Ithaca, NY. After Montreal, drove to Quebec City. We stayed at the big Hilton, across the street from the Old City. Hotel was kind of non-descript, but was comfortable and a short walk to historic area. Quebec City is amazing. Lots of great food, history and beauty.

We drove from DC and it was a miserable drive. I loved QC but next time I’ll fly.

DD9 loved it. It feels European and is a lovely city to wander and explore. We went during the summer and it was filled with tourists but ça va. We did a tour of the fort, enjoyed the nice views of the river, walked around a battlefield, saw art installations, there was a festival of some sort, went to a toy store, ate rabbit …

We stayed in a fine little airbnb in the old town. There was parking a couple blocks away and we never used the car while we were there. It’s not necessary to stay in the old section- the surrounding neighborhoods seemed nice and were not as swarmed with tourists.

Anonymous wrote:We did a summer halt there, similar to PP's (we did the via ferrata at Montmorency Falls). By a complete coincidence, it was the day the Pope was driven around the city, so we got up from our restaurant table to watch him pass. I have a nice video.

I would love to return there for Christmas!

I was just going to ask how it would be Christmas week.

Unbearably cold? 🥶

And what about flying to Montreal and taking the train from there (in the winter ? 🤔)

I like the apartments you can rent at Les Lofts (they have several locations). It was a great amount of space for my family.

L'Affaire est Ketchup was worth the hype and I highly recommend the experience. Anthony Bourdain goes here in Parts Unknown and we went about a decade later and loved it. Food is excellent. You probably need a reservation because it is so small, I cannot imagine walks in would get lucky.

They still had a tiny electric stove in the back and they actually allowed my young son to go back there and cook with them for a few minutes (don't call the health department). The hostess stands on a chair and yells out the menu to everyone. The staff is so friendly.We are a franco-american family so I am not sure if that helped with how well we were received. The neighborhood did not match the cool factor of the restaurant but we didn't care.

Highly recommend.

We've driven there from DC for the past two summers. We stop and spend the night in Troy NY and then continue on. Both times we've stayed for a week. What's interesting is this summer, we hardly repeated the activities we did the previous year. After our week this summer, we continued on further north to La Malbaie/Baie St. Paul and Tadoussac. I think your kids would have a lovely time in QC.

I'll pop in later on with a list of activities.

One decade later, all I remember is that we asked for directions to a landmark and a local pointed us west—it was actually located in the east. Rude people.

We drove there by way of Niagara Falls and Montreal when our kids were 10 and 12. Had a great time, Montmorency was great! I think we were there 3 or 4 days.

Drive or fly is personal preference...but once you're past NJ it's a very easy and pretty (in places) drive.

The Museum of Civilization is good.

We did a summer halt there, similar to PP's (we did the via ferrata at Montmorency Falls). By a complete coincidence, it was the day the Pope was driven around the city, so we got up from our restaurant table to watch him pass. I have a nice video.

I would love to return there for Christmas!

Excerpts from some notes I typed up for a friend after we went in I think 2017:

We flew from DC to QC around 1 on Saturday. Got checked into our B&B (near the old city) and dropped off our stuff before taking off to explore. Came back and rested for a bit and then went to the "lower town" for dinner at Cochon Dingue. We ended up being a bit rushed to finish up and see free fireworks over the river at 10 pm. Info about the fireworks: https://lesgrandsfeux.com/en/

Sunday we went to the Citadelle for the Changing of the Guard at 10 am. It was really neat to see but we were baking. It was on a huge asphalt parade ground and it was probably 85 at 10 am. Then we toured the Citadelle and headed to lunch at a burger place (Chic Shack). Did a fun river cruise that afternoon. We wanted an earlier night so we went to the great deal prix-fixe offered before 6 pm at Aux Anciens Canadiens - worked out really well.

Monday we wandered around the Plains of Abraham and then came back to the Citadelle for a tour of the Governour's residence. That was a neat tour. After that we wandered around, had lunch, happened upon a musket firing demonstration, etc. We had drinks at L'Oncle Antoine and dinner at La Pizz.

Tuesday we took the bus to Montmorency Falls and hiked around there for a while. Ubered back. We went back to the Farmers Market for lunch and then went to the ruins of the older chateaux (in the walls of the fortification). We went to the free circus that runs Tuesday-Saturday. It started off kind of "artsy" but was fun to see their acrobats and such.

The next day we took the train to Montreal for a few more days. That was about the right amount of time to do Quebec. My kid was a little younger, probably 7, hence the comments about needing earlier nights, etc.

It's a neat city - have fun!

drive or fly from DC?
where did you stay?
what did you do?
is it a good trip for kids? (age 14 and 10)
how long should we stay?

thanks!