European Gem In Our Backyard

Take a funicular ride from Le Chateau Frontenac to the lower city to have a killer breakfast at Le Cochon Dingue (get the hot chocolate!!); walk amongst the snow sculptures at the winter carnival; toss back a few brews or pick from over 50 single malt scotches at Le Pub St. Alexandre; check out a bit of history (and warm up!) in La Musee de Civilisation; and have melt-in-your-mouth crepes at Casse-Crepe Breton on Rue St. Jean in the Old City.

Quick Tips:

Pack warm unless you're going to be there in July and/or August - even in June things can get quite chilly with the wind off the river, and in dead winter, it can be ARCTIC. Don't plan TOO much time, either; 5 days is plenty to take in the city. Any more than that and you might start getting a little bored. For all its charms, Quebec is not huge, both a blessing and a curse!

Best Way To Get Around:

Once you get there, whether you fly, drive, or take a bus or train, there's nothing in the Old City that can't easily be reached by walking. Park your car for the duration of the trip and wear comfortable shoes (or boots in the winter - it's COLD!!!), and Quebec is yours to enjoy. Do be aware, however, that it is quite hilly in Quebec, steep and hilly. Icy sidewalks can be a bit treacherous in deep winter, and people who are severely out of shape might be a bit overwhelmed.

This is less a hostel and more a pension, especially since they completed the renovation over the last few years. Rooms are spotless, if a bit lackluster, but the newer rooms with private bathrooms are one of the best bargains in the city for solo travelers who want a bit of privacy.

If you're traveling in a group, or really on a budget, the dorm-style rooms are CHEAP!!

Large community kitchen downstairs, and a game room/library with a pool table and Pac-Man (!!!) on the street level. Rooms are upstairs.

The location is unbeatable - on a small side street sandwiched right in the heart of the Old City, with a massive underground parking garage just a few streets over. Good place to meet other young people staying in Quebec. Can't beat it - highly recommended!

There are several of these - one in one of the huge malls on Boulevard Laurier in the new city, and one further down the boulevard toward the Old City, just outside the walls.

They specialize in Bretonese cuisine - the French onion soup and escargot are some of the best in the city, and the desserts are fantastic.

Servers wear traditional Bretonese costumes - corny, but fun.

A bit more expensive than my average Quebecois meal, but worth it for a little splurge.

I love this place! No menu - you go in and just order whatever filling you want for however many crepes you want. Prices are exceptionally decent - you can eat a late breakfast here and make it through the day easily on less than C$10.

Crepes are light and they don't skimp on the fillings - everything from veggies, cheese, and meats to fruit fillings and chocolate. Try chocolate, banana, and strawberry - my personal favorite.

Service can be a bit brusque and it can be crowded sometimes, mostly from locals, but if you make it here for your first breakfast, you'll be back before you leave!

Another of my personal favorites in Quebec...you HAVE to have breakfast here at least once - then come back later for dessert! There are three of these around the city, but this one's the best.

Breakfast portions are huge, and not unreasonable in terms of price - just make sure you get the hot chocolate. It's the best I've ever had! Almost everything is made in-house, from the jams (delicious) to all of the baked goods (sinful).

Lunch and dinner tend to be more crowded, and not as budget-friendly, but make sure to come back for some dessert. Their pies, especially the sugar pie, are outstanding. Quebec's finest!

This place kinda sucks, to be honest. It's one of those rotating restaurants near a hotel rooftop - takes a little over an hour to make a full swing. So right away, you know that there's more kitsch here than class.

Swank setting and eye-popping prices do not justify the mediocre food (although the kitchen has improved over the last few years under a new chef). I've been here twice, both for the New Years buffet, with two different groups, and I wasn't bowled over either time. Decent wine list, but put together more for length than substance, and the markup is ridiculous. Drinks are overpriced. Kind of cool at night for the view, but if you're gonna splurge, do it elsewhere.

One of Quebec's dining blights. The food is overpriced and mediocre at best. The wood-fired pizza isn't too bad, but we went for an early dinner one night (around 5pm), and the place was practically empty, and we waited almost an hour and fifteen minutes for our food after ordering. Service is rude at times, nearly combative when we asked for our food. Definitely not recommended.

This is my - and everybody's! - favorite bar in Quebec City. They have an enormous selection of bottled beers, rotate many on tap, and list over 50 single-malt scotches. Beer is reasonable, while drinks are a tad pricey.

Decor is very British-pub, dark wood and brass, but comfortable and warm. The atmosphere is laid back and the crowd tends to be younger - there's live music on most nights, and the house band (the Cape Breton Barbarians) plays folksy stuff that you don't have to scream to be heard over.

Some of the best pub food in town, but be prepared to pay a little more for it, and make sure you're in the mood for a crowd - it's usually packed. Service is friendly, if a bit harried.

Not to be missed - a quintessential Quebec City experience!

Loud, noisy, packed, and hot. I'm not a huge clubber anyway, but this place is on everybody's list in Quebec, so I went to see what all the fuss was about.

I guess, as clubs go, it's pretty cool - there are three floors so you can always try to find someplace a bit less raucous. The music is ear-piercingly loud, and by midnight, there's barely room to breathe, not that you'd want to considering how stifling it can get.

If you're into clubs, this one is supposed to be fantastic, but I can't stand the noise and crowd and heat. Drinks are relatively reasonable. And, this is THE young scene in the city. Worth a look, but, if you're not into clubbing, don't plan a whole night around the Dag.

...the "castle-like bed and breakfast" at Chemin de la Canardiere & Henry Bourassa, run by Monsieur Gilles. My girlfriend (Rachel), her sister (Laura), her sister's boyfriend (Mike), and I booked two rooms at this B&B through the website bbselect.com (property Qc-Qc-6) for three nights, New Years 2002 and 2003. (http://www.bbselect.com/countryinns/canada/quebec/quebeccity/0006.html) I can't give a more specific name because the website doesn't provide one.

Regardless, here's our story. We got there the day of our reservation, after having confirmed our reservation a week earlier with bbselect.com, and the inn informs us not only that he has positively no record of the reservation, but that he has only one room left, and it is not either of the two rooms we reserved. At this point, it isn't quite a crisis because Monsieur Gilles very kindly leaped into his car and went rocketing down the road to another B&B nearby, owned and operated by friends of his, where Mike and Laura got a room. Rachel and I took the room at the original B&B. No big deal.

Laura and Mike left a day earlier than Rachel and I, and paid their room at their inn before leaving. So imagine mine and Rachel's surprise when we went to check out and Monsieur Gilles informed us that the charge for Mike and Laura's room...at the OTHER BED AND BREAKFAST...was on our bill, and that he would, "see to it," that the other innkeepers got the money. First of all, he was trying to charge us HIS room rate ($110/night) for the room at the other B&B (which was only $80/night). We told him that they had already paid their room at their inn, and, finally, he dropped that charge. Then we noticed that he charged us not for the small room we ACTUALLY stayed in ($95/night), but for the larger room with an en-suite living room that we were SUPPOSED to have from our bbselect.com reservation ($125/night). After arguing with him about this for another 5 or 10 minutes...at which point he has now become infuriated at the fact that we weren't easily riped off...we finally get the right charges, and go to put it on the Visa.

Now, bbselect.com said that this inn accepted Visa. Monsieur Gilles informed us that, in fact, he only accepted Mastercard. So now we have a bigger problem - we don't have Mastercards, we have Visas. And, being a Sunday, of course banks are closed. He then told us to go ahead and write him a check from our AMERICAN bank accounts with the price in Canadian dollars and write "CAD$" on the check, which we did just to get out of there, since, at this point, it was half-an-hour since we had tried to check out.

We got home and checked with bbselect.com, and they were mortified. They not only sent us copies of the confirmation sheet they got back FROM HIM about our reservation, but they sent us a copy of his agreement with bbselect.com stating that he accepts Visa. They advised us to immediately stop payment on the check (which we had planned anyway), and we ended up paying THEM directly, and they disbursed it to Monsieur Gilles - minus their booking fee, which was supposed to be deducted from the total bill and wasn't, and also very graciously covered the $15 to stop payment on the check.

The moral of the story: http://www.bbselect.com is a great website to work with if you're trying to find a bed and breakfast in Canada, but avoid Qc-Qc-6 and Monsieur Gilles like the plague.