Quebec City

[texifornia 56,961]

Going for four days around the last weekend in August to get some culture and natural beauty in before football starts and I transition to a beer-and-nacho based weekend diet. Any recommendations on activities and food and all that?

If Johnny's still an Alouette I'll see if I can find a jersey to not buy.

[Spoosner 86]

The best meal we had was at Le Lapin Saute.  We were there during winter so a very different (and cold) experience.

[texifornia 56,961]

20 minutes ago, Spoosner said:

The best meal we had was at Le Lapin Saute.  We were there during winter so a very different (and cold) experience.

Oh that looks great. And I do really like rabbit.

[chitwood 155]

My wife and I are going for a week in October.  Let me know of any recommendations you may have after your trip.

[texifornia 56,961]

59 minutes ago, chitwood said:

My wife and I are going for a week in October.  Let me know of any recommendations you may have after your trip.

Will do! Last time I was in Canada during football season was UT @ Notre Dame while I was in Toronto. I had a very angry hangover the next morning.

[staboner 4,969]

I went last August and loved it. Not sure how long you have or if you have your flights, but I got to Montreal and then flew up to the Fjords north of Quebec. Drove the way down back to Montreal in the week. The St. Lawrence is great. Lots of small towns, food, stuff. Feels like being in Europe.

As for QC. I just looked up reviews on my phone and found some places downtown. All were great. Hard to really go wrong. Be warned though that it gets crazy crowded during the day, on a weekend, when the sun is out. 

Have fun. I love that part of the world. 

[DalTxHornFan 3,101]

It's been a long time since I've been there, so I doubt I can help on specific restaurants and such, but as said above -- it feels like being in Europe.  Quebec City (say "K-beck") is way better than Montreal if you don't speak French.  Folks are way more friendly and understanding than in other parts of Quebec.  Focus on the Old City, take the tram down to the river village area.  Have late afternoon cocktails at the Chateau Frontenac (better if you are staying there!) each evening and enjoy the ambiance. Chat up the bartenders and concierge desk. They will have some good ideas for dining.  Have a great trip and be sure to post about it here.

[chitwood 155]

Going for a week in mid-October for our 20th anniversary.  Booked an Air BnB right on Rue du Petit Champlain for a week and just made reservations at Le Lapin Saute for our anniversary night.  Other than that, going to play it by ear.  Cocktails at Chateau Frontenac definitely on the list.

[chitwood 155]

texifornia, how was Quebec City?

On 7/24/2018 at 3:09 PM, texifornia said:

Will do! Last time I was in Canada during football season was UT @ Notre Dame while I was in Toronto. I had a very angry hangover the next morning.

 

[texifornia 56,961]

5 minutes ago, chitwood said:

texifornia, how was Quebec City?

 

Wonderful! Did a lot of exploring, both up on the plateau (Old City, St-Jean, Rue Cartier) and down in the less touristy neighborhoods (St-Roch, St-Saveur, Limoilou), plus took the ferry over to Levis and the bus to Montmorency Falls and got enjoyably soaked.

I ate and drank like a king, so here's some specific recommendations

Le Clocher Penché (wonderful French bistro): http://www.clocherpenche.ca/en

Patente et Machin (very very cool hipster-y dinner - the duck was the best bird I've ever had): https://www.facebook.com/Patente.et.Machin/

La Planque (Chic spot, really buzzy on a Saturday night - I got a chef's table seat which was fabulous, and had great venison tartare): http://laplanquerestaurant.com/en/

Korrigane (Super fun microbrewery - tasty beer, friendly English-speaking bartender, excellent poutine): https://www.korrigane.ca/fr/

Le Corsaire (Another microbrewery, right off the Levis ferry - very French-speaking, full of locals and a nice sunny porch): https://corsairemicro.com/

Both Paillard (https://www.paillard.ca/) and St. Henri (https://sainthenri.ca/) were A+ breakfast choices

[chitwood 155]

6 minutes ago, texifornia said:

Wonderful! Did a lot of exploring, both up on the plateau (Old City, St-Jean, Rue Cartier) and down in the less touristy neighborhoods (St-Roch, St-Saveur, Limoilou), plus took the ferry over to Levis and the bus to Montmorency Falls and got enjoyably soaked.

I ate and drank like a king, so here's some specific recommendations

Le Clocher Penché (wonderful French bistro): http://www.clocherpenche.ca/en

Patente et Machin (very very cool hipster-y dinner - the duck was the best bird I've ever had): https://www.facebook.com/Patente.et.Machin/

La Planque (Chic spot, really buzzy on a Saturday night - I got a chef's table seat which was fabulous, and had great venison tartare): http://laplanquerestaurant.com/en/

Korrigane (Super fun microbrewery - tasty beer, friendly English-speaking bartender, excellent poutine): https://www.korrigane.ca/fr/

Le Corsaire (Another microbrewery, right off the Levis ferry - very French-speaking, full of locals and a nice sunny porch): https://corsairemicro.com/

Both Paillard (https://www.paillard.ca/) and St. Henri (https://sainthenri.ca/) were A+ breakfast choices

Thanks a bunch, this is great!  We are staying in an AirBnB right at the  base of the funicular on Petit Champlain.  So far we just made reservations at Le Lapin Saute, and are playing it by ear otherwise.  My wife found this place https://www.lerepaire.ca/?lang=en, mainly because it is really close to our place and looks good.  Will definitely check out your recommendations. Really looking forward to it.

[texifornia 56,961]

3 minutes ago, chitwood said:

Thanks a bunch, this is great!  We are staying in an AirBnB right at the  base of the funicular on Petit Champlain.  So far we just made reservations at Le Lapin Saute, and are playing it by ear otherwise.  My wife found this place https://www.lerepaire.ca/?lang=en, mainly because it is really close to our place and looks good.  Will definitely check out your recommendations. Really looking forward to it.

I walked by there - it looks nice! Since I was there on a summer weekend, Petit Champlain was paaaacked, so I was intentionally eating in the outlying neighborhoods to avoid the crowds. Hopefully in October it's calmed down a bit and you guys have some room to really enjoy how pretty it is.

[chitwood 155]

I bet it was swamped.  I'm hoping October should be far less crowded.

[creasy 6]

chitwood, do a day trip to the Basilica Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre. It's about 30 min out of the city and the Montmorency Falls is on the way. The church is spectacular. You could actually do Montmorency/Ste Anne/Ile d'Orleans in one day. Craft brewery Microbrasserie des Beaux Pres is near the church, off of the main road.

In the city, there's a great little restaurant, Bistro Boreal, on Rue St Jean, inside of a hotel (can't remember the name). It's Nordic cuisine. And definitely wander around the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac for the historic architecture. I think they have guided tours if you're interested. We had lunch in the cafe overlooking the river and it was excellent. 

Have a great trip, it's a beautiful city. 

[chitwood 155]

3 minutes ago, creasy said:

chitwood, do a day trip to the Basilica Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre. It's about 30 min out of the city and the Montmorency Falls is on the way. The church is spectacular. You could actually do Montmorency/Ste Anne/Ile d'Orleans in one day. Craft brewery Microbrasserie des Beaux Pres is near the church, off of the main road.

In the city, there's a great little restaurant, Bistro Boreal, on Rue St Jean, inside of a hotel (can't remember the name). It's Nordic cuisine. And definitely wander around the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac for the historic architecture. I think they have guided tours if you're interested. We had lunch in the cafe overlooking the river and it was excellent. 

Have a great trip, it's a beautiful city. 

Awesome, thanks a bunch.  So sounds like renting a car for a day would be a good idea?  We weren't planning on renting one, because there really isn't any parking where we are staying, and we were planning on walking/ubering everywhere.

[texifornia 56,961]

2 hours ago, chitwood said:

Awesome, thanks a bunch.  So sounds like renting a car for a day would be a good idea?  We weren't planning on renting one, because there really isn't any parking where we are staying, and we were planning on walking/ubering everywhere.

The falls is easy via public transportation, but it's the last stop, so the basilica would require a car. Then again if you arrive during peak foliage you'll probably want to see the countryside down the St. Lawrence.

[creasy 6]

3 hours ago, chitwood said:

Awesome, thanks a bunch.  So sounds like renting a car for a day would be a good idea?  We weren't planning on renting one, because there really isn't any parking where we are staying, and we were planning on walking/ubering everywhere.

Renting a car for one day is exactly what we did. We were at the Hilton and they had a rental car counter in the hotel. 

[chitwood 155]

DP

Edited September 11, 2018 by chitwood
DP

[chitwood 155]

18 hours ago, texifornia said:

The falls is easy via public transportation, but it's the last stop, so the basilica would require a car. Then again if you arrive during peak foliage you'll probably want to see the countryside down the St. Lawrence.

 

17 hours ago, creasy said:

Renting a car for one day is exactly what we did. We were at the Hilton and they had a rental car counter in the hotel. 

Thanks to both of you. Think we will definitely rent a car for a day. Trying not to do tons of planning. Really want to go where the day takes us (which will be many bars and restaurants). 

[DDD Dad 14,339]

1 hour ago, chitwood said:

DP

NSAA is over there ---->

[chitwood 155]

Been in Quebec for 7 hours. Already love this place. Great local beers, cool architecture, and poutine almost stopped my heart. 

[BearSchlong 8,094]

Bumping thread, wife has a cruise that ends up in Quebec City and is staying over a few days to sightsee.  Will share the aforementioned but does anybody have any updates?

[chitwood 155]

My wife and I loved it.  Rented a car for a day and drove up the the national park and drove around Ile d'Orleans.  It was beautiful.  We didn't do a ton of sightseeing in town, we stayed on Petit' Champlain (very close to the cruise terminal) and just wandered around there.  Some great places to eat and drink.  Definitely get a drink at the Fairmont.  I would wander around Petit champlain and see what looks good.

[Nueces River Rat 5,538]

Bumping this up instead of starting a new one.....     

Thinking about QC for next summer.   

 

[cafe society 2,871]

On 7/24/2018 at 6:34 PM, staboner said:

I went last August and loved it. Not sure how long you have or if you have your flights, but I got to Montreal and then flew up to the Fjords north of Quebec. Drove the way down back to Montreal in the week. The St. Lawrence is great. Lots of small towns, food, stuff. Feels like being in Europe.

As for QC. I just looked up reviews on my phone and found some places downtown. All were great. Hard to really go wrong. Be warned though that it gets crazy crowded during the day, on a weekend, when the sun is out. 

Have fun. I love that part of the world. 

This.  Le Champlain, Le Sam, Le Continental all located in Old Town.  Enjoyed them all.  You won't be sorry you visited Quebec City.  The only city in Canada that hasn't won me over is Winnipeg.  And Toronto, while nice,  was like all huge cities.  Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver are all fabulous.  Calgary was nice, too.  Nice foody and cinephile community.

Oh, haven't been there, but Bleu Marine gets really good reviews,  and a friend and his wife loved it.  

Edited July 26, 2022 by cafe society

[pch 1,259]

We had three days in QC and wish we had just come here for the entire 10 days we have been in Canada. The streets are alive with outdoor dining options and it truly does feel like Europe in so many ways.  The greatest benefit we enjoyed was when two of our tours were cancelled due to the Pope being in town to speak.  This allowed us to take our time seeing Montmorency falls, a river cruise down the St. Lawrence, and even got a video of the Pope when he passed by me on his way to the Fontenac.  And don't even get me started on the weather-highs of 75-82/lows of 62-66, sheeeeeeit.

[BearSchlong 8,094]

Bumping thread, wife has a cruise that ends up in Quebec City and is staying over a few days to sightsee.  Will share the aforementioned but does anybody have any updates?

Flying in on Wednesday morning, on Friday we’re doing the same cruise but in reverse - QC to Boston. My first, her 2nd. NCL Gem, top front center balcony.

I fucked up and booked the Marriot with the incorrect dates so had to scramble but found this place - Hotel Du Vieux Quebec https://hvq.com/ in the old city which looks really cool so I'm excited.

My wife’s mom was on the trip/post I bumped from 2018 and we had her funeral this past weekend, so this is a much needed getaway.

[6th Street 6,403]

Went two weekends ago and had a good time. The recs here are spot on. I would just add that the old city super busy after 9a and pretty dead in the evenings. So would advise checking out some other parts of town for dinner. 

[Js1 85,337]

19 hours ago, 6th Street said:

Went two weekends ago and had a good time. The recs here are spot on. I would just add that the old city super busy after 9a and pretty dead in the evenings. So would advise checking out some other parts of town for dinner. 

 

This.  I stayed in Saint Roche and was much preferred - good options for food and drinking and an extremely short walk to the Old City (or a bus ride for the lazy). 

Everyone who has gone after me ended up doing the same and much preferred it to staying in the Old City

[BearSchlong 8,094]

Well, we had a splendid time in the old city, at the Hotel du Vieux which was pretty luxurious. I didn't believe a place could have 2000+ reviews with fewer than 10 negatives but it was legit. I don't know how one lives without heated bathroom floors. The restaurant there was Bistro Hortus and it was amazing. Hiked the falls which was neat. Walked through the holy door at Notre Dame and lit a candle for my late MIL.

Rented a car and explored the isle De Orleans for a full day, then did the NCL Gem (Haven level) to Charlottetown, Sydney, Halifax (Peggy’s Cove) Portland, Kennebunkport, Bar Harbor (Acadia NP), Boston, and Salem. Ate so much fucking lobster I'm about to grow an exoskeleton.

Had a weird dream last night where me, Kyrie, and Brisket were the GCs in charge of renovating a sorority house. Weird.

[DDD Dad 14,339]

5 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

Had a weird dream last night where me, Kyrie, and Brisket were the GCs in charge of renovating a sorority house. Weird.