Some of you may know that I live in Texas. I detest Texas in late August. I am looking for a beautiful place in a cool climate to visit in late August to escape the temps which tend to be in excess of 100 degrees here. I love France, but that is not in the cards this year. Someone suggested I might like Quebec city, and it sure meets the criteria for weather.
Can any of you tell me of your experiences in Quebec? Should I combine a Quebec City trip with Montreal? What have been your experiences? Last summer, DH and visited the Vancouver area, and loved it. I would love to return to Canada, but see a different area. D1 is lobbying us to visit Nova Scotia, where she and her SO traveled last year.
I visited the Maritime Provinces and Montreal about 40 years ago, so YMMV.
The Maritime Provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island) are beautiful and, at the time, reminded me of New England, but as in the old, slower days. They was lots of gorgeous scenery, and the places were all very relaxing. The people were genuinely polite. Montreal is, of course, a city, so it’s an entirely different experience. The French influence makes it almost feel as if you are very far away, in another country. (Well, in fact you are, in Canada, but you know what I mean.)
It’s all great - Montreal, Quebec City, Nova Scotia. It depends if you are looking for more of a city experience or something more scenic, relaxing, and nature oriented. If it was me in August, I’d vote for seaside, either Nova Scotia or along the Maine coastline. Late August can be a great time. Things start to slow down by then and aren’t as busy as July/early August. Do you like lobster?
Quebec City is lovely - I got engaged at the Chateau Frontenac 21 years ago! Plenty to do and summer would be a perfect time to visit. The food is fantastic and a huge variety of restaurants to suit everyone’s budget. 3 miles outside the city is Ile de Orleans which has some beautiful countryside - think in the summer you can visit the wineries and they have strawberry and apple festivals.
Montmorency Falls Park and Parc de la Chute are worth a visit - you can zip line and hike.
OMG I LOOOOOOVE lobster. D1 told me you can get it everywhere is NS, cooked in all manners.
I do speak French, and love all things French, especially the food. Of course, I’m sure it’s a different vibe in Quebec since it’s not actually France.
As far as how long, I doubt it would be more than a week to 10 days max.
Quebec is on my list, but I have been to Montreal and loved the experience and the FOOD! Canadians and French Canadians see themselves almost as two distinct nationalities.
I love the idea of also traveling to the eastern seaboard!
The cities of Québec and Montréal are radically different places. If you’re more into urban vacations than rural ones, it might be worth seeing if you can swing both in a single trip—maybe a week in Montréal, followed by a week in Québec. Either way, try to stay downtown (and in Québec at the Château Frontenac) if at all possible.
Also, beyond the cities themselves, there are gobs and bunches of day trips you can manage, e.g., Odanak is about midway between the two cities and is home to the Musée des Abénakis, which bills itself as the first museum in Canada focusing on a First Nations people.
(If you prefer rural and semi-rural settings, though, go for the Nova Scotia option.)
Visited Quebec City and Montreal several years back with our kids. We really preferred Quebec City. Absolutely beautiful. Agree with a visit to Montmorency to see the falls. We also visited the Laurentians on this trip, renting a chalet/condo at Mont Tremblant.
It’ll be too early for your visit but in case others are reading - there is an international fireworks competition that takes place every year late July/early August at Montmorency Falls.
The Montreal International Film Festival takes place late August/early Sept. as well.
For lodging in Quebec City, in addition to the Fairmont Frontenac previously mentioned, I also highly recommend Auberge Saint-Antoine.
I would describe Quebec City more quaint/touristy and Montreal as more urban/stylish/trendy.
I have gone several times to both as well as to Nova Scotia. Depending on how long the trip is for and what you want to do, you can easily split a week between Quebec City and Montreal. You can rent a car for driving to the Ile de Orleans and Montmorency Falls and the parc de la chute and then depending on the car rental, you can drive to Montreal and fly home from there. There is fine dining in both cities. Old Montreal and of course all of Quebec City are delightful. There are historic sites to tour in both places and there are fine museums as well. I was most recently in Quebec City in mid-June and apart from one rainy day (visited the Quebec Museum of History(?) designed by Moshe Safdie so that was on our agenda to see anyway, the weather was ideal. If interested there is also fine shopping in both cities. In Montreal you have the Biodome and Olympic Stadium and the botanical gardens also.
H and I went in late October several years ago. I had lobbied for Quebec as a destination for years. I was not disappointed. We flew into Quebec and picked up a rental. Our first destination was Charlesvoix. It was nice getting out into the countryside. We stayed at the Fairmont and it was a beautiful spot. They had bikes we were able to borrow.
Next stop was Quebec City with a day spent on Ile de Orleans. I bet in summer it would be a nice place to ride a bike. Much was closed already in late October but it was beautiful with all the fall colors. We stayed at a small inn which was nice and in a great location but the decor was dated. We both loved Our stay.
We finished our trip in Montreal. I’m glad we went but we found it a bit busy for our style. We stayed at the Fairmont and it was nice but not luxurious like the other Fairmont we stayed at. One of our kids at the time worked for Fairmont Otherwise they would have been over our budget.
I think you will love it.
I started a thread about Quebec last year. I tried to link it, but wasn’t successful. I think it’s called Quebec in late September of you want to look for it.
Agree with all the above - great food, easy city to explore, stayed at the Frontenac. Our other destinations from Quebec City are listed in #4 of the older discussion. Still one of the easier vacations for planning and executing that I’ve taken for a while. Only downside was no direct flight from ORD - we went through Montreal.
One more thought: Now is the perfect time to visit Canada (or many other countries) from the USA, simply because the US dollar is so strong. It’s a medium-term issue for several US-based businesses, but for the US-based traveller, it’s wonderful!
I loved Quebec. It really does feel more European than any city I’ve visited in North America. About half hour away is the Basilica du St. Anne de Beaupre. Worth a visit and it’s free to tour.
I also highly recommend Auberge Saint-Antoine.>>>>>>>>>>
This is where we stayed and it really was fabulous. The year we went, they were doing renovations at the Frontenac so I chose not to chance them being unfinished. We were very happy being “down the hill” in the oldest part of the city. Completely charming.