Travel Diaries: Quebec City

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that we’re all in recovery mode from a fun and festive weekend. Am I right?

My family, for one, is keeping the New Year’s party going for a couple more days up in Tahoe, but I realize that many of you are stuck with facing work either today or tomorrow, so I thought I’d cheer you up a bit with a quick recap and LOTS of photos from my trip to Quebec City a few weeks ago. Sound good? Great, let’s do it!

First, the quick backstory. Ever since I started working for myself full time, my friend Johanna and I have been talking about planning a trip using her flight attendant benefits. Now that I don’t have to “report” to anyone (well, in person at least) for work, it’s much less stressful having to fly standby to take advantage of her airline employee benefits.

Because she flies for American, the closest airport we could fly into was Montreal, which is about a three-hour drive from Quebec City. We initially planned on taking the train into the city, but after some further research we decided to rent a car (well, SUV – we needed that four wheel drive!) This allowed us to make the trek from Montreal to Quebec City at our own pace, and it also allowed us to get out and explore a bit more than we would have been able to if we were relying on public transportation. It was such a good decision on our part!

We got in on a Wednesday morning and didn’t even end up checking in to our hotel until mid-afternoon. So, I’m going to pick up on our first half day (once we arrived in Quebec City) and go from there. And I’m going to let the photos do most of the talking!!

Day One

Checked into the Chateau Frontenac, where we stayed for just one night. Highly recommended. We were able to get the room on my credit card points so we didn’t have to shell out, and it is THE landmark hotel of Quebec City. Please, please, please be sure to stay here if at all possible. Plus, they have the cutest dog!! //

Explored the Old Town of Quebec City //

Had drinks and appetizers at 1608 – Chateau Frontenac’s wine and cheese bar //

Day TWo

Breakfast in bed //

Montmorency Falls //

Checked in to our cute loft we got on AirBnB //

Explored Le Marche Du Vieux-Port Quebec – A cute public market where we picked up snacks and a quiche for breakfast the next day. //

Dinner at Le Renard et La Chouette where we had the delicious Chilled Shrimp and Fennel Salad I recreated last week. //

Day Three

Enjoyed our quiche at the loft for breakfast //

Snowshoed through Parc National de la Jacques-Cartier //

Spent the afternoon warming back up at the Siberia Station Spa  (We don’t have any photos of this because we probably would have gotten thrown out for busting out our cameras, but trust me when I say this is a MUST DO. You pay for a day pass and get to hop in and out of their numerous hot tubs, cold tubs, saunas, steam rooms and yurts for as long as you want, as long as you’re quiet! This was so relaxing and the perfect thing to do after our morning of snowshoeing in 10-degree weather.) //

Grabbed a brewski at Archibald Microbrasserie //

Made our own version of “poutine” at the loft for dinner (I’m so sorry I don’t have pics of this, but it was basically hashbrowns topped with onions, raclette and a variety of sausages…so funny, but delicious!) //

Day Four

Breakfast from Paillard to get our croissant fix //

Explored Ile d’Orleans tasting at quite a bit of the local wineries and cideries because they were the only things open. It was a blast but I definitely want to go back in the spring, summer or fall when you can see all of the farms and crops.

Explored Basse-Ville, the “Lower Town” of Old Quebec with tons of cute shops and restaurants //

Rode the Funicular to Upper Town //

Drank Caribou at D’Orsay Restaurant Pub //

Wandered through the German Christmas Market //

Ate raclette at Le Petit Coin Latin //

And on the last day (Day 5) I was up at the crack of dawn to catch my flight home. The whole trip went by so fast and I can’t wait to go back and see more. Maybe in above freezing temperatures next time?