24 hours in Québec City
It's always so hard to pick which cities to visit during a trip to another country. Canada is so big that first I had to narrow down the number of places to visit. Since I only had a 2-week vacay, I decided to stay in the Province of Québec only. After visiting my hometown and the Magdalen Islands, there were only 4 days left to our trip. Even though it was slightly short, we decided to go to Québec City for 24 hours, and then finish by visiting Montréal for 3 days. At first, I thought we would be on a super tight schedule, but everything turned out working great!
If you like culture, nature, and food, here's a suggested itinerary for 24 hours in this gorgeous city during summer.
*Note: Like most places in Canada, I highly suggest renting a car to visit.
Start the day with a good brunch
Having brunch is always a good idea, especially if you know you're probably not going to have time to eat at noon. We had a copious brunch at Bistro 1640 in the Old Town and it was delicious. Just see for yourself (menu here); I recommend having their Pulled Pork Benedicts.
Go for a hike at Parc National de la Jacques-Cartier
One of the most famous parks in the region is Parc National de la Jacques-Cartier. It is located in Stoneham, and there are many hiking trails of different levels and durations. We opted for a short hike since we wanted to be able to do other things during the day. We thus headed to the park around 11:30AM, and did the Sentier de l'Éperon trail, which took about 2.5 hours round trip. There is a $8.60CAD entrance fee per person to enter the park, and the park is a 45-min drive from Québec City.
*Don't get discouraged if it rains. We had such a memorable hike even though it was pouring rain! The sun even showed up at the end :)
Admire the stunning Montmorency waterfall
One our way back to Québec City, we stopped at the famous Montmorency waterfall, located just 15-min from the city center. There are two ways to access the site; one parking lot is located at the top of the waterfall, and another one at the bottom. There's a whole walking path (Via Ferrata) that goes all around the fall, as well as a bridge that enables you to cross the waterfall. There is also a cable car, if you don't want to climb all the way up using the staircase, or if you want to get a different view. All prices can be found here. No matter what option you pick, I really suggest visiting this place if you haven't seen it, it's gorgeous.
Walk around the Old Town & Petit Champlain
We then headed back to the Old Port, and parked the car (one of the most difficult things to do in Québec City is probably trying to find a parking lot). We walked around the Old Town for about an hour. There's the famous Petit Champlain neighbourhood that's really cute with lots of gift shops (this place is also full of tourists though). Then you can head to Terrasse Dufferin for a nice view on the Chateau Frontenac and St. Lawrence River. If you have some time and energy left, you can walk up to reach Les Plaines D'Abraham.
Treat yourself with a well-deserved dinner on Grande Allée
One of the most lively streets of Québec City is Grande Allée. You'll find lots of bars and restaurants there. Even though Québec City has a multitude of very high quality restaurants (Michelin star rated), we were clearly not in the mood for that. First, we were still wearing stinking hiking clothes, we had already spent a lot of money during our trip, and we were exhausted. Therefore, we just stopped at the first restaurant that looked good while walking on Grande Allée. Turns out it's a place I had been wanting to try out for a bit: Bistro L'Atelier. They specialise in Cocktails & Tartares. They found us a nice table on their patio, and we enjoyed a really good dinner before heading back to Montréal.
