Quebec Travel Guide

Bonjour! Can’t make it to Paris? Or simply prefer a completely bilingual locale a bit closer to home? Quebec, Canada’s mostly French-speaking province, offers a vacation as delightful as a café crème and croissant with all the forward thinking pleasures of the new world. Don’t speak French? Don’t worry! Québéquois, as the residents of Quebec are known, speak English, too. Montreal, the capital of Quebec, has all the splendor of a French city but with North American sensibilities. Indulge in spa treatments and delightful gastronomic tours. Then visit some of the richest historical sites in the region at Vieux-Montreal, the old French quarter. For a bit of rugged fun, shush down the slopes of Mont-Tremblant, Quebec’s premier ski resort.

Airports and Ground Transportation

Cheap flights to Quebec are going to be to Quebec’s main airport, located in Montreal, the Montreal-Trudeau Airport (YUL).  From Chicago (ORD) you might choose to fly United or US Airways, each of which offers cheap flights to Quebec starting at about $400 US round trip. Discount airfare to Quebec from Los Angeles (LAX) may be as low as $600 US round trip on Continental Airlines, while choosing to fly from San Francisco allows a discount airfare of as little as $475 US when using Northwest Airlines. Cheap flights to Quebec from New York (JFK) are available on a variety of airlines, including Delta, for about $450 US.  Discount airfare to Quebec from regional carriers, and Air Canada, are worth checking into from your locale as well.

Once in Montreal you can take a hotel shuttle or the efficient and friendly L’Aérobus from the airport to downtown Montreal. Taxis and limos are also plentiful, both to get to your destination and for transport around town. Going skiing, or just want to enjoy the walking-village charms of Mont-Tremblant? Rent a car, or take a Mont-Tremblant shuttle. Each makes reaching your destination goals simple, flexible, and accessible.

Best Times to Go, Best Things to Do

A Quebec vacation is sure to increase your joie de vivre no matter what time of year you decide to go. Because Montreal is decidedly chilly – maybe downright cold – in the winter, city planners built and entire metropolis underground! Underground City is a vast network of posh shops, fine dining, theaters and hotels all connected by easy-to-follow pedestrian walkways. Once above ground, take a guided walking tour down the narrow streets of Old Montreal (Vieux –Montreal). Sneak a peek into the past, when continental and colonial towns were more genteel. After you walk you might enjoy a fine French meal and pick up a souvenir for the English speaking folks back home. Old Montreal is also a famously romantic place to take a date.

Family-friendly activities might include a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts, with a large, renowned exhibit of contemporary Canadian and international arts. Spring and summer provides the perfect palette for nature lovers to stroll among the 20,000 plant offerings in the lush Montreal Botanical Gardens. Should you find yourself in Quebec in the fall, the Gardens offer a stunning Chinese Lantern festival with over one thousand Chinese lanterns as well as jugglers, singers, acrobats and other figures representing Chinese performance arts.

Hotels and Lodging

If you crave French comfort even while skiing then the luxurious Chateau Beauvallon in Mont Tremblant is for you. Play board games by the fire after a chilly day outdoors, or enjoy a fine repast at one of the many restaurants available nearby. While in Montreal you may choose the sleekly contemporary Hotel Gault or perhaps seek out the comfort of Maman at an Inn such as the Auberge de la Place Royale. Wherever you choose, whatever you do, your Quebec vacation is sure to make you wish for a longer stay next time, more “Bonjours” and fewer “Au revoirs”.