Québec City
Champlain's town of 1608 on its cliff above the St. Lawrence, still inside its walls, with the only two-star table in the province down by the old port.
- Arrival
- Jean Lesage International · YQB
- To the city
- About 17 km west of the city
- Private jets
- FBOs at YQB, open around the clock, customs
- Best time
- June to September
The city
Ramparts, a cliff and a river.
Samuel de Champlain founded Québec on 3 July 1608, and the old district is the one walled city north of Mexico whose ramparts still stand, on the UNESCO list since 1985. The upper town crowns Cap-Diamant, where Bruce Price's Château Frontenac rises over the river; the lower town and Petit-Champlain lie at the foot of the cliff, joined to the top by a funicular.
Warm weather is short and full: June to August is festival season, the Festival d'été among them, and by late September the maples begin to turn. Winter brings some three metres of snow and the Carnival in January and February, when the tourist board calls the old town at its most magical.
Arriving
Seventeen kilometres west of the walls.
Jean Lesage lies about 17 km west of the city and has two runways, the longer of 2,743 metres. It is a full airport of entry, with Canadian customs for international arrivals.
- Montreal 40 min
- Boston 1 h 00
- Panama City 5 h 50
- Vienna 8 h 20 long-range jet
- Lagos 11 h 00 long-range jet
When to go
June to September.
Snow lies from December into late March, and afternoons stay under zero for three months. June to September is the warm stretch, with afternoons from 18 to 25 °C; rain falls in every season and passes 100 mm a month from May to September.
- -8° J 85
- -5° F 70
- 1° M 84
- 8° A 81
- 17° M 110
- 22° J 111
- 25° J 118
- 24° A 113
- 18° S 123
- 11° O 97
- 3° N 101
- -5° D 109
What to see and do
Days in and around Québec City.
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Landmark
The Citadelle and the walls
A fortress begun in 1820 and still held by the army, anchoring the ramparts that ring the old town.
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Landmark
Plains of Abraham
The field where Wolfe beat Montcalm on 13 September 1759, now a park on the heights above the river.
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Landmark
Montmorency Falls
Falls on the edge of the city, best seen in spring, when the winter run-off swells them.
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Culture
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
Beside the Plains of Abraham, four pavilions hold more than 42,000 works of Québec art from the seventeenth century to today, with Inuit art in the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion.
Official site -
Culture
Musée de la civilisation
Moshe Safdie designed this museum in the lower town, opened in 1988, whose exhibitions trace the history of Québec and of cultures further afield.
Official site -
Opera & music
Grand Théâtre de Québec
Home since 1971 to the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and the Opéra de Québec, whose summer opera festival stages its main work here.
Official site -
Food & wine
Île d'Orléans
Across a suspension bridge from the city, farm country of six old villages ringed by the Chemin Royal, with cideries such as Verger Bilodeau and Cassis Monna & Filles.
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Nature
Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier
A glacial valley cut some 550 metres deep by the Jacques-Cartier River, with more than 100 km of trails and 26 km of river for canoe and kayak.
Official site -
Snow
Mont-Sainte-Anne
Seventy-one runs spread over three sides of an 803 m mountain, nineteen of them lit for night skiing.
Official site
Where to stay
Inside the walls and down to Charlevoix.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Auberge Saint-Antoine The Price family's Relais & Châteaux house, the only hotel in the city with two MICHELIN Keys, and home to the restaurant Coteau.
- Fairmont Le Château Frontenac The railway castle Bruce Price designed for Canadian Pacific, holding a MICHELIN Key in 2026.
- Le Germain Charlevoix Hotel & Spa A MICHELIN Key hotel in Charlevoix, for a few days in the country after the city.
Where to dine
Stars in the old town and beyond.
From the MICHELIN Guide 2026, shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these restaurants.
- Tanière³ Two Michelin stars Creative $$$$ Rue du Don-de-Dieu, Vieux-Québec
- Légende One Michelin star Creative, regional $$$$ Rue Saint-Paul
- Laurie Raphaël One Michelin star Modern, creative $$$$ Rue Dalhousie
- Kebec Club Privé One Michelin star Creative $$$$ Rue Saint-Joseph Est
- ARVI One Michelin star Modern, creative $$$$ 3e Avenue
- Le Clan One Michelin star Québec terroir, game and boreal Vieux-Québec
- Coteau MICHELIN Green Star Produce from its own farm and orchard Québec City
- Le Saint-Amour MICHELIN Guide Vieux-Québec
Elsewhere in Canada
More reasons to come.
- Toronto The financial capital, on the shore of Lake Ontario.
- Vancouver Stanley Park, the harbour, and floatplanes to the islands.
- Whistler Whistler and Blackcomb, joined by the Peak 2 Peak gondola.
- Montreal French in spirit, with an old port and a summer of festivals.
- Banff A mountain town inside the national park, among the Rockies.
Flying to Québec City?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.