Five ideas for guided tours in Quebec City

• The must-see Old Quebec

  Essentially, but not only, it is inside the ramparts that we discover Old Quebec.
  Inside these walls, streets drawn 350 years ago (for us, it’s old…), along which religious institutions (Augustines, Ursulines, Recollets and Jesuits) were established. The first ones arrived from France at the very beginning of the colony to take care of the lost soul of the natives, to save them from their ignorance of only one god…
  It is while strolling through these streets that one discovers the architectural wealth acquired during the two political regimes. And the impressive views of the St. Lawrence River from the glacis of the Citadel. Or, stroll on the Dufferin Terrace adjacent to the impressive hotel “Le Château Frontenac” (which is a castle in name only). From there, you will see the narrow part of the river, between Quebec City and Levis, whose Algonquin toponym Kebec, was adopted by the French: “Where the river narrows”.
  At the bottom, the lower town: Place Royale and Petit-Champlain street. On the left bank of the St. Lawrence, a neighborhood that was completely revamped 40 years ago to give tourists the impression of being back at the turn of the 17th century. The inhabitants have gradually abandoned the neighborhood but the merchants have kept the authenticity of the period exterior facades.

• The Museums

  Quebec City, its streets, are a museum in itself. But some are worth the trip. After all, for those who want to understand the place, the culture, the creative subtleties of a people, the museums are another gateway to the discovery of Quebec and its artists of genius. The “Musée des Beaux-Arts” brings together the ancient and the modern of visual art, the Québécois and the Inuit the essentials of decorative art and a few prestigious exhibitions passing through Quebec City.
  In the lower town, the Museum of Civilization for the sociological and playful sides of the society here.

• Montmorency Falls

  About ten kilometers north of Quebec City, an 82-meter high waterfall attracts attention. Well, it doesn’t have the size of Niagara Falls in terms of flow and beauty, but… it is higher.
  From the top, from the bottom, it is still impressive, summer and winter. If you want to do both observatories (upstream and downstream), there is a cable car and for the more fit, the 486 steps staircase…
  From Quebec City, you can get there by car, by tour bus (or minibus), or by bike, accompanied (or not) by a guide.

• The Island of Orleans

  Right in front of the Montmorency Falls, the only bridge that allows you to cross the St. Lawrence River to get to a heritage jewel of Quebec: Île d’Orléans.
  65 kilometers on the only road that surrounds the island, 6 villages, many stops required to taste and visit the many production areas, which of cider, cheese, wine from our region, bread and pastries in the Quebec style, maple syrup and local beers. Ouf! The list can be long, so a good day of discovery for you.

• Wendake (pronounced : ouennedaké)

  Decimated by the diseases coming from Europe and the incessant wars imposed by their enemies the Iroquois, the Wendat took refuge in the region of Quebec in 1649.
  They have always tried to keep their culture but the language died out in the middle of the 19th century. Today, the Nation is trying to find its landmarks, the language, preserved in the dictionaries of the Recollets and the Jesuits. Go to the First Nations Hotel to visit the museum and the Long House (their ancestral home) or to the reconstructed village of Onhoua Chetek8e to learn about them, but also to unlearn the Hollywood myths.