By air
Québec City Jean Lesage (YQB), ~15 km
North America · Canada
Quebec City, Canada
A walled old city on a cliff
Getting there
Best time to visit
June to September; February for the Winter Carnival
Don't miss
The Château Frontenac
The Petit-Champlain quarter
The Citadelle
The Plains of Abraham
Things to do
Old Quebec's lanes
The Winter Carnival
The Dufferin Terrace
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0
What to pack
Layers, warm gear in winter
A quieter corner
Montmorency Falls, taller than Niagara
Questions travellers ask
When should I plan a Quebec City trip?
June to September, or February for the Winter Carnival. Bring layers, and warm gear in winter.
What are Quebec City's highlights?
Wander Old Quebec's lanes and the Petit-Champlain quarter, stroll the Dufferin Terrace, and see the Château Frontenac, the Citadelle and the Plains of Abraham.
Is there a waterfall near Quebec City?
Yes — Montmorency Falls, which is taller than Niagara.
What food should I try in Quebec City?
Tourtière and maple treats.
About Quebec City
- Riverside
Where it is
Quebec City, the capital of the province of Quebec in Canada, stands on the cliffs of Cap Diamant above the St Lawrence River, north-east of Montreal, at the point where the river narrows, which gave the city its Algonquin name.
History
Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec in 1608 on the site of Stadacona, a long-abandoned Iroquoian village, and it became the capital of New France. British troops took it after the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759, and its old town, the only fortified city north of Mexico whose walls still stand, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
People
Quebec City is overwhelmingly French-speaking, and its people keep up French-Canadian traditions such as spring feasts at the sugar shacks, where maple sap is boiled into syrup, and the Winter Carnival with its snowman mascot, Bonhomme. The Huron-Wendat Nation lives at Wendake, on the city's northern edge.
Known for
- The Château Frontenac above the river
- The walled Old Town and the Citadelle
- The Petit-Champlain quarter
- The Quebec Winter Carnival
- Montmorency Falls
Did you know?
During the Second World War the Citadelle and the Château Frontenac hosted the Quebec Conferences of 1943 and 1944, where Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt planned Allied strategy.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.