Ville du Québec (City), QC
The oldest French city in North America, still walled and still French
Québec City is the capital of the province, founded by Champlain in 1608 on a cliff above the narrowing St Lawrence, and the only walled city north of Mexico. It is smaller, quieter and almost entirely francophone beside Montréal, and prettier than either has any right to be.
Samuel de Champlain founded the Habitation at the foot of Cap Diamant in 1608, where the St Lawrence narrows — Kébec, in Algonquin — and it became the capital of New France, the seat of its governor, bishop and intendant, and the port through which the fur trade and the colony passed. The British took it in 1759 after the battle on the Plains of Abraham, in which both generals, Wolfe and Montcalm, died; the walls and the Citadelle were strengthened afterwards against the Americans, who had already failed to take the city in 1775. Capital of Lower Canada and briefly of the united Province of Canada, it lost commerce to Montréal in the 19th century and settled into its role as the provincial capital and the seat of the Church. The old town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, and the city has been the pride of French Québec ever since.
The city is in two levels. Haute-Ville, the Upper Town, sits on the cliff inside the walls: the Château Frontenac hotel on the Dufferin Terrace, the Citadelle, the seminary and the cathedral, the Plains of Abraham park stretching west, and the Parliament building just outside the Saint-Louis gate. Basse-Ville, the Lower Town below the funicular, is the Place Royale where Champlain built, and the Petit-Champlain quarter of stone houses and shops running along to the Old Port and the market. Outside the walls, Grande Allée is the boulevard of bars and ministries; Saint-Jean-Baptiste is the bohemian neighbourhood on the hill; Saint-Roch, in the lower town to the north, is the old working-class district reborn as the tech and restaurant quarter; and Limoilou across the Saint-Charles river is where young families are moving. Sainte-Foy, with the university and the malls, is the suburb to the west; Lévis is across the ferry.
It is a French city in a way Montréal no longer quite is — around 95 per cent francophone, Catholic in its bones if not its pews, and given to civic celebration. The Carnaval de Québec in February, with Bonhomme, the ice palace and the canoe race across the half-frozen river, is among the largest winter carnivals in the world; the Festival d'été in July fills the Plains of Abraham with big-name concerts for eleven nights; and the Christmas markets and the lights make December the best month for the old town. The food is tourtière, pea soup, maple everything and a serious bistro culture, with Saint-Roch and Saint-Jean-Baptiste the neighbourhoods to eat in. The Remparts play major-junior hockey at the Centre Vidéotron to a fervour the city has never been able to convert into the NHL team it wants back; the Nordiques left in 1995 and the wound is still open.
The hard parts are the winter, which is longer and snowier than Montréal's — three metres or more of snow in a normal year, and real cold from December to March — and the language: English will get you through a hotel and the tourist streets, but living here without French is close to impossible, and the city expects the effort. It is a government and tourist town with a smaller job market than Montréal's, and in July and August the old town is thick with cruise passengers and coach parties. Housing is cheaper than in Montréal, though rents have risen. Against that, it is one of the safest cities in North America, beautiful in every season, walkable, well run, with skiing at Mont-Sainte-Anne and Stoneham forty minutes away, whale-watching down the river and the Île d'Orléans across the bridge. People who leave tend to come back.
Where People Live
Vieux-Québec — Haute-Ville
Inside the walls: the Château Frontenac, the Dufferin Terrace with its view down the river, the Citadelle and the changing of the guard, the seminary and the museums. Touristy, and worth it.
Petit-Champlain & Place Royale
The Lower Town at the foot of the funicular — the 17th-century square where the city began, the narrow shopping street under the cliff, and the church of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires.
Saint-Roch
The old industrial lower town north of the hill, reborn since the 1990s as the district of tech offices, microbreweries, restaurants and rue Saint-Joseph's boutiques. Where the city's young work and drink.
Saint-Jean-Baptiste
On the hill outside the Saint-Jean gate — rue Saint-Jean's cafés and bookshops, the J.A. Moisan grocery that claims to be the oldest in North America, and the city's small gay village. Bohemian and steep.
Montcalm & Grande Allée
The Plains of Abraham, the Musée national des beaux-arts, the Parliament, and Grande Allée's terraces and nightclubs; the streets behind are the city's handsome, well-off inner neighbourhood.
Limoilou
Across the Saint-Charles river: 3e Avenue's cafés and bars, the Centre Vidéotron, and tree-lined streets of duplexes that young families have made the most talked-about neighbourhood in the city.
Sainte-Foy & the west
Université Laval, the shopping malls, the bridges to the south shore and the aquarium — suburban, car-based, and where much of the city actually lives.
Lévis & Île d'Orléans
The ferry across to Lévis for the classic view of the Château; and the island upriver of farms, strawberry stands, cider and cabanes à sucre, joined to the city by a single bridge.
Restaurants & places to go
Airports
Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB) 8.9 km to the centre
Quebec, QC, CA — You board from the indoor waiting area — no need to plan for the weather. ✈ 8 airlines (Air Canada, Air Transat, Arik Niger, United Airlines…) · direct flights to 18 destinations incl. Montreal, Sept-iles, Baie Comeau, Chicago, Philadelphia… (OpenFlights route data).
✈ Airlines & flight paths — 8 airlines, 18 direct destinations
- Air Canada AC (Dash 8-100, Dash 8-300, Dash 8-400, ERJ) · 6 routes: Chicago*, Gaspe*, Montreal*, Ottawa*, Sept-iles*, Toronto*
- Air Transat TS (310, 330) · 3 routes: Montreal, Paris, Punta Cana
- Arik Niger Q9 (BEH) · 2 routes: Baie Comeau, Sept-iles
- United Airlines UA (ERJ) · 2 routes: Chicago*, Newark*
- American Airlines AA (CRJ) · 1 route: Philadelphia*
- Porter Airlines PD (Dash 8-400) · 1 route: Toronto
- US Airways US (CRJ) · 1 route: Philadelphia*
- WestJet WS (737-700) · 1 route: Toronto
Routes and aircraft from OpenFlights (open data; a point-in-time snapshot). * = codeshare. Linked destinations open their own guidebook. Flight numbers are not in the open data — they come from the airline or a paid schedule feed.
Getting there by ferry
Québec
Ferry terminal · 5.9 km from the centre · Société des traversiers du Québec
Gare fluviale
Ferry terminal · 5.9 km from the centre
Lévis
Ferry terminal · 6.9 km from the centre · Société des traversiers du Québec
Québec - Lévis
Ferry route
Lévis -> Québec
Ferry route · Société des traversiers du Québec
Québec -> Lévis
Ferry route · Société des traversiers du Québec
Local transit
RTC
Bus · Québec City's bus network, including the Métrobus lines. · Fares: OPUS card
Réseau de transport de la Capitale
Public transit · Schedules & GTFS data
Trains & rail
VIA Rail Canada
National rail
Coaches & shuttles
Orléans Express ← Montréal, QC
Frequent coaches between Montréal and Québec City, about three hours. · Montréal, QC guide →
Ebus
Intercity coach
Rider Express
Intercity coach
Private aviation
On-demand charter, jet cards and the semi-private scheduled carriers that serve this city.
AirSprint
Fractional · Praetor 500, Citation CJ3+, Legacy 450 · Canada's fractional-ownership operator, based in Calgary.
Chartright Air Group
Charter, management · Light to large-cabin · Toronto-based charter and aircraft management.
London Air Services
Charter · Learjet, Challenger · Vancouver-based charter operator.
Skyservice
Charter, management, FBO · Managed fleet, Challenger, Global · Canada's largest business-aviation company: charter, management and FBOs in Toronto, Montréal, Calgary and Vancouver.
Air Charter Service
Broker · Any aircraft via operators worldwide · Global charter broker with 30+ offices; private jets, group charters and cargo.
Living Here
Getting about
- The RTC bus network, including the frequent Métrobus lines (800, 801, 802, 807), is the transit; pay with an OPUS card or by tapping a bank card. A tramway has been planned, cancelled and replanned for the better part of a decade.
- The old town is for walking — steep, cobbled and slippery in winter; the funicular and the Breakneck Stairs link the two levels. The àVélo bike-share and the riverside path work well from spring to autumn.
- Jean-Lesage airport (YQB) is about twenty minutes west by taxi or the 76 bus; the Gare du Palais has VIA trains to Montréal (three hours) and the Orléans Express coach to Montréal and the regions. The Lévis ferry crosses in about twelve minutes.
- A car is unnecessary in the centre and useful for the Île d'Orléans, Charlevoix and the ski hills; the winter parking rules for snow removal are strictly enforced.
Health
- The CHU de Québec–Université Laval groups the main hospitals — the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec (the oldest in North America), the Enfant-Jésus, the CHUL and Saint-François d'Assise; the Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie is the heart and lung centre. Québec's RAMQ covers residents.
- Dial 911. The 811 line gives nurse advice in French and English; pharmacies (Jean Coutu, Familiprix, Brunet) are everywhere. Family doctors are hard to find, and walk-in clinics fill the gap.
- Visitors should carry travel insurance; non-residents are billed for care. Winter ice on the hills is the real hazard — buy the crampons the locals wear.
Work & study
- Université Laval in Sainte-Foy is the oldest francophone university in the Americas and the city's intellectual engine; the Université du Québec's head office and its INRS and ENAP institutes are here too, and the cégeps feed them.
- The provincial government and its agencies are the largest employer; insurance and finance (iA Financial, Desjardins across the river in Lévis), technology and video games, optics and photonics, defence, and tourism make up the private economy.
- French is required for almost every job and for dealing with the province; the Charter of the French Language applies to workplaces. Unemployment has been among the lowest in Canada for years.
Money & manners
- Canadian dollars; cards and tap are universal. Tip 15–20% in restaurants; GST and QST together add roughly 15% at the register. Bring-your-own-wine restaurants exist here too.
- Start in French and stay there if you can; the city is warm to those who try and cooler to those who assume. The Fête nationale on 24 June is the big day, and 1 July is moving day rather than Canada Day for most.
- Winter runs from November to April, with Carnaval in February the point of it; summer is short, warm and full, and the autumn colours in Charlevoix and the Laurentians draw the second crowd of the year.