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Sightseeing Overview
Quebec City is a delightful place for visitors to wander around for a few days. The main areas of interest are in Vieux-Québec (Old Quebec), which is divided between Haute-Ville (Upper Town) within the city walls and Basse-Ville (Lower Town) at the foot of the cliff on which Upper Town stands.

Attractions in the Upper Town include many museums devoted to recounting historic events and those set up by religious organizations, such as the Musée des Augustines de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Québec - recounting the history of the nuns who founded the first hospital north of Mexico.

In the Lower Town, the charming Quartier Petit Champlain is a cobblestone street filled with restaurants and boutiques. It is supplemented by history museums and the renowned Musée de la Civilization, which hosts excellent archaeological and anthropological exhibitions. The nearby Vieux-Port (Old Port) has a promenade bordering the St Lawrence River.

The imposing Citadel was added to supplement the fortifications guarding Old Quebec, protecting it from attack across the Plains of Abraham, which stretches as far as the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec. Parallel to the plains and separated from it by the bars and restaurants of Grande Allée is Parliament Hill, where the provincial legislature sits in the ornate Second-Empire Hôtel du Parlement.

Summer hours for attractions typically begin on the Fête St-Jean (24 June) and end on Labor Day weekend in early September. Visitors should note that most attractions are closed on Monday during the winter.

Tourist Information
Bureau d’information touristique du Vieux-Québec
835 avenue Wilfrid-Laurier
Tel: (418) 641 6290.
Website: www.quebecregion.com
Opening hours: Daily 0830-1930 (late Jun-early Sep); daily 0830-1830 (early Sep-mid Oct); Mon-Sat 0900-1700, Fri until 1800, Sun 1000-1600 (mid Oct-late Jun). 

 For information on Quebec City only.

Center Infotouriste
12 rue Ste-Anne
Tel: (514) 873 2015 or 1 877 266 5687.
Website: www.bonjourquebec.com
Opening hours: Daily 0830-1930 (late Jun-early Sep); daily 0900-1700 (early Sep-late Jun).

The Center Infotouriste, operated by Tourisme Québec, provides information on the whole of the province (including Quebec City) and shares its location with bureaux de change, tour operators and car hire and travel agencies. Accommodation booking is available on its website.

Passes
The recently launched Quebec City Museum Card (website: www.museocapitale.qc.ca/cartema.htm) is valid for three days and gives free entry to 23 museums and attractions, reduced entry at many other venues (including shops, restaurants and cruises), and free transportation within the city. It can be purchases at participating museums and attractions.

Key Attractions:

Vieux-Québec/Haute-Ville (Old Quebec’s Upper Town)
The first thing most visitors head for when they visit Quebec City is the Old Town’s Haute-Ville (Upper Town), where the towering Château Frontenac is located. This hotel was built in 1893, although the tower that gives it its distinctive appearance was added in the 1920s. Tours are available by reservation (tel: (418) 691 2166; website: www.tourschateau.ca). It sits between Place d’Armes (a central square with the narrow lanes leading off it filled with street artists and an artist’s market) and the Terrasse Dufferin - a wide wooden boardwalk offering a terrific view of Lévis, on the opposite shore. The Dufferin Terrace is filled with street entertainers and visitors milling around or promenading past the cannons and kiosks that predate the Château Frontenac.

Nearby, the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville contains the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) but is dominated by the Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Québec, the city’s main Catholic cathedral. This imposing edifice has suffered numerous disasters over three-and-a-half centuries.

Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Québec
20 rue de Buade
Tel: (418) 694 0665.
Website: www.patrimoine-religieux.com
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0800-1730, Sat-Sun 0800-1800 (May-Oct); Mon-Fri 0800-1600, Sat-Sun 0800-1800 (Oct-Apr).
Free admission (cathedral and tours); charge (crypt).

Vieux-Québec/Basse-Ville (Old Quebec’s Lower Town)
The oldest part of Old Quebec, Lower Town is clustered on the narrow streets between the ramparts of Haute-Ville and the Old Port, linked to the Upper Town by the funicular, the escaliers casse-cou (breakneck stairs) and the steep Côte de la Montagne. At its center, Place Royale has been faithfully restored to its former glory, the 17th- and 18th-century houses surrounding the one-time market square now in pristine condition. The Center d’interprétation de Place-Royale displays period artifacts and has panels that illustrate the area’s history. The historic Maison Chevalier recreates domestic scenes in the 17th century. Between the two, the Quartier Petit Champlain is a lively and crowded area of shops and restaurants along a romantic cobblestone street.

Center d’interprétation de Place-Royale
27 rue Notre-Dame
Tel: (418) 646 3167 or 1 866 710 8031.
Website: www.mcq.org
Opening hours: Daily 0930-1700 (summer); Tues-Sun 1000-1700 (winter).
Admission charge; free on Tues (Nov-May) and Sat 1000-1200 (Jan-Feb).

Maison Chevalier
66 rue du Marché-Champlain
Tel: (418) 643 2158.
Website: www.mcq.org
Opening hours: Daily 0930-1700 (late Jun-early Sep); Tues-Sun 1000-1700 (May-late Jun, early Sep-mid Oct and mid-late Dec); Sat and Sun 1000-1700 (mid Oct-Apr).
Free admission.

Fortifications de Québec (Quebec Fortifications)
One of the city’s most unique features is the 4.6km (2.9-mile) rampart encircling the Old Town, making it the only walled city north of Mexico. It is possible for one to walk along the top of the fortifications, which offer sweeping views of the city and the St Lawrence River. Near the Citadel, at Porte St-Louis (one of the four surviving city gates) is the Center d’interprétation des Fortifications-de-Québec, which includes displays on the city’s history and a restored powder magazine. It is the departure point for 90-minute guided tours (from June to mid-October) by costumed Parks Canada staff and is also the best place for self-guided walkers to set off from.

Continuing clockwise, the walls adjoin the Parc de l’Artillerie (Artillery Park), which was built by the French to defend the city from attack, before becoming the garrison for British officers until 1871, when it was turned into a munitions factory. Today it comprises an interpretation center featuring the 1808 model of Quebec City inside the foundry, the 1712 Dauphine Redoubt, which housed French soldiers and now replicates the 19th-century British officers’ mess, and the 1818 British Officers’ Quarters. Further along, cannons are ranged along the wall, overlooking the St Lawrence River and the opposite shore. Beyond where the fortifications join the Terrasse-Dufferin, it is possible for walkers to continue along a boardwalk on the cliff below the walls that surround the Citadel.

Center d’interprétation des Fortifications-de-Québec
100 rue St-Louis
Tel: (418) 648 7016 or 1 888 773 8888.
Website: www.pc.gc.ca/fortifications
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700 (early May-mid Oct); open other days upon reservation.
Admission charge (guided tour extra).

Parc de l’Artillerie
2 rue D’Auteuil
Tel: (418) 648 4205 or 1 888 773 8888.
Website: www.pc.gc.ca/artillery
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700 (Apr-mid Oct); open other days upon reservation.
Admission charge (guided tour extra).

La Citadelle de Québec (Quebec Citadel)
The Citadel, dating from 1820, is one of Quebec City’s most distinctive features and a legacy of the British occupation. On the heights of Cap Diamant, the star-shaped fortress was built to withstand a repeat attack on the city from across the Plains of Abraham to the southwest. Today, visitors are given a compulsory one-hour guided tour of the site, which includes the Governor General’s residence, the powder magazine and a former prison that now houses a small museum. In the summer, the daily Changing of the Guard takes place at 1000, with the Regimental Band and the Citadel’s mascot (‘Batisse’, the regimental goat) joining the garrison personnel. The pomp continues on selected evenings, when the Royal 22nd Regiment performs The Retreat as part of the flag-lowering ceremonies.

Cap Diamant
Tel: (418) 694 2815.
Website: www.lacitadelle.qc.ca
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1600 (Apr); daily 0900-1700 (May-Jun); daily 0900-1800 (Jul-Aug); daily 0900-1600 (Sep); daily 1000-1500 (Oct); daily 1330 only (Nov-Mar).
Admission charge (guided tour included).

Parc des Champs-de-Bataille Nationaux (National Battlefields Park)
The National Battlefields Park, occupying the 108-hectare (267-acre) Plains of Abraham, situated to the southwest of the Citadel, is the site of the decisive battle of 1759, which saw the British, under General Wolfe, defeat Montcalm’s French forces. Today, it is a wide green space popular for summer concerts and as a place to stroll. For those with a taste for history, the Discovery Pavilion (in the same building as the tourist office) has a large diorama of the site and the Canada Odyssey historical multimedia exhibition. Midway through the park, Martello Tower No 1 has costumed guides who explain the role of these defensive structures (during summer only). Abraham’s Bus connects the sites, with the driver providing commentary as it winds through the park during summer days and autumn weekends.

Discovery Pavilion of the Plains of Abraham
835 avenue Wilfrid-Laurier
Tel: (418) 648 4071.
Website: www.ccbn-nbc.gc.ca
Opening hours: Daily 0830-1730 (end Jun-early Sep); Mon-Fri 0830-1700, Sat 0900-1700, Sun 1000-1700 (early Sep-late Jun); Canada Odyssey from 1000.
Free admission (Discovery Pavilion); charge (Canada Odyssey and Martello Tower).

Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (Quebec National Museum of Fine Arts)
The most important collection of paintings and sculpture by Québécois artists is held by the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec. A selection of works are displayed in three chronological exhibitions - the earliest dates from the beginnings of Québécois art and is largely influenced by religion, the second covers the European-influenced modernist period up to 1945, and the third showcases figurative and abstract art from the mid-20th century. These are supplemented by traveling shows and permanent exhibitions that focus on painter Jean-Paul Lemieux and abstract painter and sculptor Jean-Paul Riopelle, as well as the new Brousseau collection of Inuit art. The museum’s site at the southwest end of the Plains of Abraham is dotted with sculptures.

Parc des Champs-de-Bataille
Tel: (418) 643 2150 or 1 866 220 2150.
Website: www.mnba.qc.ca
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1800 (Jun-mid Sep); Tues-Sun 1000-1700 (mid Sep-May); Wed until 2100 (year-round).
Free admission (permanent collection); admission charge (temporary exhibitions; free on Wed in winter).

Musée de la Civilization (Museum of Civilization)
One of the city’s strongest museums, the Museum of Civilization, situated in Lower Town, hosts excellent temporary shows in addition to its two permanent exhibitions. One of these focuses on life in the province of Quebec throughout the centuries of European inhabitation, with displays of artifacts, photos and recreations of historic and domestic scenes. The other is a tribute to the First Nations peoples who live in the province, with videotaped oral histories, birch bark canoes, teepees and many smaller artifacts.

85 rue Dalhousie
Tel: (418) 643 2158 or 1 866 710 8031.
Website: www.mcq.org
Opening hours: Daily 0930-1830 (summer); Tues-Sun 1000-1700 (winter).
Admission charge; free on Tues (Nov-May) and Sat 1000-1200 (Jan-Feb).

Further Distractions:

Observatoire de la Capitale (Capital Observatory)
The best view of the city itself is from the Capital Observatory, 31 floors above the Hôtel du Parlement. Information panels give a good recap of Quebec City’s history, linking events to the buildings spread out below. From here, the plan of the defensive fortifications stands out, as does the layout of the Citadel.

Marie-Guyart Building, 31st Floor, 1037 rue de la Chevrotière
Tel: (418) 644 9841 or 1 888 497 4322.
Website: www.observatoirecapitale.org

Musée de l’Amérique Française (Museum of French America)
The Museum of French America occupies part of the vast Séminaire de Québec. The museum details the history of the seminary and showcases part of its diverse collection of artworks and religious and scientific objects. Summer concerts take place in the former chapel. For American visitors, the highlight is the exhibition on the dispersal of their ancestors from New France throughout the USA.

2 Côte de la Fabrique
Tel: (418) 692 2843 or 1 866 710 8031.
Website: www.mcq.org

Musée des Ursulines de Québec (The Ursulines of Quebec Museum)
Marie Guyart de l’Incarnation arrived in Quebec City in 1639 to found the first Ursuline monastery and girls’ school in North America. Much is off limits, but visitors can see the chapel and its early 18th-century décor. The museum itself includes artifacts from the settlers’ early days as well as religious paintings and other artworks.

12 rue Donnacona
Tel: (418) 694 0694.
Website: www.museocapitale.qc.ca/014a.htm

Insectarium de Québec (Quebec Insectarium)
Opened in April 2007, this brand new museum is already proving popular with children of all ages. From spiders to beettles to butterflies, the museum boasts a world class collection of insects and arthropods. There are sections on entomophagy (the habit of eating insects in food... think juicy worms and crunchy crickets) and ethnoentomology (the study of relationship between humans and insects), as well as several live exhibits, including a butterfly house.

Center de plein air Notre-Dame-des-Bois
335, boulevard du Lac
Tel: 1 866 689 8748.
Website: www.insectariumdequebec.ca

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