Quebec City Tours

[RONO]

The little lady and I are going on the Canada/New England 10 day cruise on the Jewel leaving on September 21. I was wondering if anybody went on the Grand Exploration of Quebec tour and is it worth while taking that tour. The tour says it is 7 1/2 hours long and the cost of the tour is $139 lunch included, I would like to surprise the little lady with it, is it worth the cost. Thanks RONO

[sjbdtz]

I don't think there's any need to be size-ist.... :eek:

 

 

Any tour of Quebec City is worth it, especially if you're not in the habit of visiting Europe.

[Brandy Kay]

Rono,

Join our roll call group...09/21/2010. Some of our group have done the NE/Canada cruise before and may be able to help.

[biker@sea]

The walled city is rather small you can do a tour on your own. Great little shops to go in and out of. The horse and buggy tours are fun.

[agabbymama]

Do the carriage ride of Old Quebec City. It's wonderful.

 

Then if your ship overnights in port, do a "Sugar Shack" tour in the evening with dinner. It is awesome to see how they harvest the sugar and go through the processes. Tasting some of the taffy, purchse some of the sugar products. The dinner is like a folk show, and you eat what the lumberjacks would for the meal. All in all a very entertaining evening.

[vickila]

The little lady and I are going on the Canada/New England 10 day cruise on the Jewel leaving on September 21. I was wondering if anybody went on the Grand Exploration of Quebec tour and is it worth while taking that tour. The tour says it is 7 1/2 hours long and the cost of the tour is $139 lunch included, I would like to surprise the little lady with it, is it worth the cost. Thanks RONO

 

I'm all for the tour if it takes you to St. Anne's Basilica and the Falls - two wonderful stops. You are there -- the tour is terrific and worth the cost. Vicki:)

[Host Caroline]

I "think" the port call on that cruise has been shortened by 3 hrs (ship leaves at 7p.m. and when we were going (cancelled months ago) I thought it was until 10 pm. At any rate, that's a great tour if in fact you do only have 12-hr port call.. leaves time for a meal at one of the great restaurants in the old city.

That being said, except for St Anne and Montmorency Falls, you can tour the old town by horse and buggy on foot and see a lot more of it for considerably less money. This port is very very walkable.. visit there often and nothing is more than 15 mins from the little hotel we stay in near the Chateau.

[maryann ns]

I would stick to the city, take the horse and buggy (caleche) ride for a treat and just enjoy wandering around.

 

There are wonderful shops and restaurants.

[World Gallery]

I would stick to the city, take the horse and buggy (caleche) ride for a treat and just enjoy wandering around.

 

There are wonderful shops and restaurants.

 

I would have to agree with this. The walled city was so beautiful and had so much to do (churches, a great museum, wonderful restaurants, etc). We did the grand tour and as we were leaving for the 2nd half of the tour outside of the city, we had wished that we hadn't done the grand tour. The waterfalls are nice but to us, the city was a gem with so much to take in. Our ship stayed overnight so after we returned to the city, we had to rush around to get to everything we wanted to see.

[World Gallery]

One other thing I forgot to mention. When booking any grand tour in Quebec, you may want to ask the tour compnay if they stop at the "copper engraving" shop (sorry, I can't remember the name of it). We were very disappointed that we were made to stop here on our tour. It wasn't in the description and I felt like it was only to the benefit of the store, which is probably giving kick backs to the tour company. It was boring but the worse part was, we knew that we were missing what we really wanted to see in Quebec!

[Host Caroline]

There are also so many quaint and unique shops and restaurants that you will miss on the "grand tour" but can enjoy ...even if only literally "window shopping" on your own. The lower town is just marvelous for that.

[gracecarmo]

We will be in Quebec overnight, Sept 20-21. Since we have been there before we plan to just wander and have a nice lunch in a nice un-touristy type restaurant, if there is such a place? We like French food, and would like to have an idea of what would be special in Quebec.

Any suggestions?

[Host Caroline]

Ancient Canadian is Quebecois/French i.e. French with a local flavor and is in the upper town - our favorite place.

Also La Crémaillère on Rue St Anne (upper town) and Le Lapin Saute in the lower town are two that we like.. Le Lapin is "rabbit" in case that makes a difference;) ..when my friend and I were there for Winter Carnival a few years ago we got inside and she was a bit "surprised" to see rabbit on the menu.. I've eaten there b4 and it never occurred to me to tell her ahead of time:eek::rolleyes:

[maryann ns]

Our favorite is Le Patriarche. It is a few blocks from the Chateau Frontenac on a little side street. It is in an old stone building and has a wonderful atmosphere and great, interesting food. Most people eating there have been francophone (local) when we have gone.

http://www.lepatriarche.com/en/index_en.html

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g155033-Quebec_City_Quebec.html

 

Aux Anciens Canadiens is great, but very pricey I think.

[Host Caroline]

Ancient Canadian is a bit pricey but they do have a wonderful "fixed price" menu at lunch that features many of the dinner a la carte items (you get 3 courses) which is what we often do since those prices are good until approximately 4:00 p.m. Several of the smaller restaurants have the same fixed price option... Trip Advisor's a great resource to read up on some of these!

 

http://www.auxancienscanadiens.qc.ca/home.php

[biker@sea]

Do try to ride the Funicular for a great view!!

[Host Caroline]

Do try to ride the Funicular for a great view!!

 

Definitely!!! and also bec. the walk up from the lower town is pretty steep to navigate for some people...

Another great view is to take ferry across the river and then right back again.. pics you get of Frontenac, fortress etc. are awesome!

[poulsbomary]

Thank you for all the help. Have been reading tripadvisor review for restaurants and the following sound interesting. Have any of you tried these restaurants?

Cafe Bistro du Cap

La Pain Beni

Cafe do Monde

Cafe Le Hobbit

Versa

 

We are looking for something that is moderately priced for the two nights we will be in Quebec at the Auberge le Vincent (rue Saint-Vallier est) Thank you for any help. Mary

[gracecarmo]

The Ancient Canadians restaurant really looks interesting, especially with the history that comes with it.

 

I looked at menus from several of the restaurants in Quebec, and all look rather filling for lunch.

 

What we had in mind was to have a soup (French Onion or Pea), some nice French bread and some nice wine.

 

Is there a place that would specialize in lighter lunches?

 

Another question: is there a Genealogy research building near Old Town?

[Host Caroline]

I can't for the life of me remember the name of the place but my friend and I found a great little crepe place in lower town during our sub-zero temperature winter trip that had great soup -- small, family type place and I will see if she remembers!

I can say that portions at Ancient Canadien and some of the small restaurants are not huge

[poulsbomary]

Caroline, the small crepe place sounds like it might be Cafe Bistro du Cap. It is a small place with only about twenty seats, serves crepes for lunch and french cusine at dinner. Run by husband and wife. Does this sound like the place, if so did you like it? Thanks.

 

Mary

[jplewis]

Is the fenicular easy to find ? We stayed in Quebec years ago and did a lot of walking but I don't remember seeing it. Does the ship dock close in to the city? Thanks, Patsy

[Susie51]

Is there a bus near the Comfort Inn Airport that goes to the lower part of the Old City? Thank you for your info on this thread.

[Host Caroline]

Caroline, the small crepe place sounds like it might be Cafe Bistro du Cap. It is a small place with only about twenty seats, serves crepes for lunch and french cusine at dinner. Run by husband and wife. Does this sound like the place, if so did you like it? Thanks.

 

Mary

 

That may very well be it bec. it was a very small restaurant.. and yes, we loved it.. the temps were zero or lower and we had soup and french bread and cafe lattes (bec. we were too chilled for wine;)) To be honest with you I've never eaten anywhere in old Quebec that I didn't like but some I like better than others~!

[Host Caroline]

Is there a bus near the Comfort Inn Airport that goes to the lower part of the Old City? Thank you for your info on this thread.

 

I think there is only one public bus that runs from the airport into town. I would just take a cab unless you are going back and forth. The bus takes maybe an hour?