Do you mean Quebec City or are you making a go-round of the entire province? If the former, I HIGHLY recommend a visit. It is a beautiful place. Not a heck of a lot to do (as I remember, I was only there on a day trip) outside of strolling the boardwalk on the St. Lawrence River and maybe taking a cruise on that river. But it is a BEAUTIFUL place. Check out the Montmorency Falls on the city's outskirts. You can see the Plains of Abraham - the entire city is walled. Horse and buggy rides in the old city are recommended and there are some nice streetside cafes and restaurants. If you are going around the Province of Quebec, go to the scenic Gaspe Peninsula and/or the Laurentian Mountains. Montreal has stuff to offer too. The interior of the Notre Dame Basilica (not to be confused with Notre Dame de Bonsecours Church in Old Montreal - also worth a visit) has to be seen to be believed. The hand-carved altar is simply magnificent. St. Joseph's Oratory is also worth a visit - in fact, I highly recommend it. Old Montreal is worth a look. You can take a speedboat ride or a cruise on the St. Lawrence River. Montreal also has a casino and there is also a 18th Century (?) ship/museum called the Pelican that you can go to. You can also catch Montreal Impact A-League games - not sure if they are still playing at the Stade Claude Robillard or the same stadium as the Alouettes gridiron team. Anyway, wherever you go in the province, I wish you and your wife a pleasant and safe journey. Send me a PM and let me know how you liked your trip, okay? Bye for now.
Check out this web site. You can get info on Quebec City or any other place in the province that you might want to see. http://www.bonjourquebec.com/anglais/
Thank you. We are staying in Montreal and hope to take day trips around the province. We're going up for the beer festival .So hopefully we will get to see a bit more of the province.
Some good day trips out of Montreal,but I really suggest taking part of a day going around on the Metro.Very nice subway system. Concur on St.Joseph's -very lovely. There are several nice malls that you can send your wife to,leaving you free to check out "the ballet" on St.Catherine's Street .(nudge nudge)
Gentlemen's club,exotic dance emporium,strip joint,adult entertainment complex,erotic performance art,tittie bar... You know, "the ballet"....actually,that's more of an Eastern Ontario phrase. Holy crap.I just realized I could get over to Cornwall ,take via rail to the train station and BE AT A BEER FESTIVAL!!!
If you indeed visit Canada's smoking section (Montreal), I suggest you have some poutine and Montreal Smoked meat on rye. You’ll also find some great croissants, wine, baguettes, crepes, cheese, etc. Great food is easy to find in Montreal, it has the largest amount of restaurants and cafes per capita In Canada I believe. You might also be there during the F-1 Grand-Prix, there are a lot of festivities downtown definitely worth a look. Check out: St Denis, Crescent, Ogilvy's, St-Catherines, etc. Mont-Royal, the old port, old Montreal, the casino, etc. Try to catch an Expos game, tickets are dirt cheap and you'll always find tickets at the gate. Any specific questions you can PM me.
Bah, why go to the Expos when you can go to the Impact and have more fun outdoors(more people too )? Unless you want to see the Big Owe up close (which is quite impressive). The ultimate sporting experience in the summer remains the Grand Prix and the Alouettes (CFL) however. The main 3 "party & shopping" streets in Montréal are Ste-Catherine, St-Laurent and St-Denis. For the best smoked meat, check out Schwartz's (an institution) on St-Laurent and Rachel. For the equivalent for bagels, go to Saint-Viateur Bagel, on Saint-Viateur and du Parc. And something REALLY fun to do on Sunday afternoons is to go to the "Tam Tams" on the West side of the mountain, at the statue (du Parc avenue), where hundreds of people gather to play tam tams, sell stuff and chill out.
Yeah, the Al's put on a great show, but with 16,000 season ticket holders and an 18k stadium, tix are hard to find. The Impact and the Expos are a sure bet for landing tickets. As for the GP, general admission tix would be the only option.
Wife and I and kids (14 and 11) went to QC last August. Best vacation ever. There was tons to do in and around the city. We spent a couple of days in the old city which is really great. Wonderful atmosphere, great shops, great food ... Went to the Montmorency Falls and Beaupre and the Ile d'Orleans. ... There were bike rentals and whitewater rafting that we didn't get around to ... Went to a great waterpark with the kids that was about 45 min outside of town. ... Drove about two hours north of the city to go whale watching on zodiac rafts out in the St Laurence (some 30 mi wide at that point). The area up there is called the Charlevoix and is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life. There are may many B&Bs up there and you'd be nuts IMO not to spend a day there if you can. (Apparently it's where people from Montreal go to get away for the weekend) All this might be a bit much if you're planning just to day trip out of Montreal. We spent a week day tripping out of QC (and never did make it to Montreal!). You might want to think about spending more time in QC than just a day. Most relaxing and satisfying vacation I ever had. Daniel: Have you ever been to any of these places?
Re: Re: Re: Quebec No it was Village Vacances Valcartier http://www.valcartier.com Everest waterslide -- 110 ft drop "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeee-haw!"
Montreal is our nearest "big city" so if we are looking for a weekend getaway, we usually go there. It's a nice town but the streets can be a little confusing. So, leave extra time when you are going places. If you are looking for a high-end restaurant for a nice romantic dinner, try Toque!. It's on St. Denis and is an easy walk from a lot of the large hotels. We get the "Chef's Choice" which is a collection of six small courses that the chef chooses. You have no idea what is going to come out next but it is always delicious. Sometimes, you don't even get the same thing as the person you are dining with. With wine, you'll spend between US$100 and US$200 but for a special evening, it is great. Murf
You must spend more than one day in Quebec City. The old city is walled, and fantastic. I wish I got to go inside the Hotel Frontenac. And the food's too good to describe. Also, try to see the ceremonial changing of the guards at La Citadelle (we missed it), part of the Plains of Abraham park.
Thanks for your help, everyone. We haven't decided where else in Quebec province we are going to go (if any). We're going to play it by ear when we get to Montreal. Although we will miss the grand prix as it happens the day after we leave. Anyone know of decent places to eat in Montreal?
I was in Montreal last weekend and had a blast. My cousin took me to this one street where it's known for the clubs and bars. I don't remember the name but apparantly celebrities go there to hang out too. I'm thinkning either St. Laurent or St. Denis. Anyone else know? French Canuck chicks are cute, especially when they speaking francais.
I spent a few weeks last summer taking French courses up at Laval University, which is about a 20 minute bus ride from downtown Quebec. Let me tell you, the city is wonderful. Whenever I had the opportunity (and the money), I took a trip into the city and walked around all the little side streets and back alleys. I never got to go into the Citadel, but i managed to walk up to the edge of the fortress and look out over the St. Lawrence and the Plains of Abraham (which is basically one giant hilly meadow - great fun to just hang around there in the warmer months). I personally liked all of the stuff inside the city walls (look for one of 3 gates in the city wall - those are the only ways in) - very Old World style streets, pretty architecture, and the people were rather friendly. I managed to get into a tour group and go into the Chateau Frontenac, and it was even nicer inside than on the outside - especially the pricier suites. I took several rolls of film in the city (most of them seemed to include the chateau - I hear it's the most pohotgraphed building in the world), and they all came out pretty well. If I can figure out a way to get them online, I'll put them up. There are 3 things I should warn you about, though: 1) Winter is a real pain in the ass up there. It last about 6 months, too. Spring last about 2 weeks, but summer is very nice up there. Great weather. 2) Taxes. The conversion rate is a little low right now, which sucks anyway, but factor in the fact that the provincial sales tax is 7% (and if you are in the city of Quebec itself, they tack on an additional 7%), and you do have to watch your wallet a bit. That's why it can really suck for American college students up there - tuition is really low, but the cost of living is so high that the two usually offset each other. 3) The language. You must have some connaissance of the French language, because that's all you're gonna see up there. They love the language and culture (even though they tend to bastardize both), so make sure you can say what you want. If those 3 are no problems for you, then by all means, enjoy yourselves up there. It's definitely a great place.