We’re taking you on a journey through Québec City, where old-world charm meets vibrant modern culture, visiting the iconic Fairmont Château Frontenac, Dufferin Terrace, and Petit-Champlain plus savoring Quebec’s farm-to-table cuisine and setting sail on an unforgettable AML River Cruise.
We also go beyond the city walls to take in the soft outdoors with a day at Strom Spa, Montmorency Falls, Canyon Sainte-Anne, Chutes Jean Larose, and kayaking on Ile d’Orleans.
Highlights of Quebec City in this episode:
- Where to eat & drink in Quebec City
- AML River Cruise
- Montmorency Falls, Canyon Sainte-Anne & Chutes Jean Larose
- Strøm Spa Nordique
- Sunset Kayaking on the St. Lawrence River
Our top recommendations for hotels in Québec City:
- Hilton Quebec
- Hotel Palace Royale Center
- Le Capitole Hotel
- Or check out these highly rated hotels in Quebec City
If you love Canada as much as we do, check out our episode on The Beautiful Banff National Parks – Turquoise Lakes, Unique Hikes, and Amazing Views too!
Looking for cheap flights to Quebec? Sign up for Thrifty Traveler Premium and get flight deals sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code TS10 to save $10 off your first year. Don’t forget to subscribe, share, and leave us a review if you love adventure travel as much as we do!
Quebec City- Episode Transcript
0:02
Welcome to the Travel Squad podcast where adventure meets inspiration where your host I’m Brittany.
I’m Kim.
And I’m Jamal.
Together, we explore international destinations, hike epic national parks, and share unforgettable travel experiences with you, one passport stamp at a time.
0:19
Our mission is to inspire you to travel by showing you how you can make it work, no matter your budget, schedule, or experience level.
We bring you along so that you can laugh, get excited, and start planning your own trip.
So grab your ticket and your passport.
And don’t forget your travel insurance.
0:35
And get ready to embark on a new adventure with us around the globe.
Hello fellow travelers.
Hey, Squatty.
Welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad podcast.
Today we’re taking you to Quebec City in Canada.
We were in Quebec City for a travel creators conference called TBEX, but we had the opportunity to explore the city quite a bit on our own while we were there as well.
0:59
Some of the stuff that we’re going to talk about we did as a part of TBEX North America and in partnership with Quebec City Tourism.
I loved it because it actually felt like we were traveling with someone that lived there with a local.
We always say that that’s one of the best ways to see a city, and it really felt that way.
1:17
But with this episode, we’re passing on all that local expertise and experience so that you can have that experience on your visit too.
And if you guys haven’t been to Quebec City, I highly recommend going.
From the moment that I looked outside of our hotel room window and saw the Parliament building all lit up at night in the Fairmont Hotel in distance, I just immediately fell in love with the city.
1:38
I knew that even though we were there for five days, we wouldn’t have nearly enough time to explore and I hope to be coming back soon.
So we have all been to Canada before, separately and as a squad, but this was our first time ever visiting Quebec.
Now Quebec as a whole is a province in Canada and if you are unfamiliar, when you hear Canadian province, just think our equivalent of what a state is.
2:02
So a province is a state, but one of the unique things about Quebec is that it is the only province where French is their main and official language.
So they speak French in Quebec, whereas the rest of the provinces in Canada and territories, they speak English.
2:19
So when you are there, you actually really feel like you’re in Europe because they’re speaking a foreign language and they speak French because they kept their French influence at one point in time when the French controlled that area.
So even the architecture, the streets are cobblestone.
2:35
You really do feel like you’re in Europe.
And this was the first first time I feel like that we’ve been to Canada where we truly felt like we were actually in another country.
Because when you go to Canada, sometimes, you know, I mean, you really don’t feel like you’re outside of the United States other than it’s just a different currency.
2:50
But you really do feel it when you are here.
Now, Quebec City is the province’s capital.
And like I said, it really does truly capture that European feel.
You could wander down the streets, imagine you’re in France again, the cobblestone streets, cozy cafes and the iconic Fairmont shut Frontenac Hotel, which is perched high above the Saint Lawrence River.
3:13
And the hotel itself looks like a castle.
Even adding more to that European feel, The historic heart of the city, Old Quebec is even recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
And it’s one of the best preserved examples of a fortified colonial city in North America.
3:30
So it’s still surrounded by its original stone walls, gates and fortifications.
And this city dates back all the way to the year 16 O 8.
I actually learned quite a bit of history about Quebec through fellow Canadians while on some of these experiences and it does have a very storied past.
3:48
The reason that French is so well preserved here is because of the pride of the people that formed this region.
Somewhere around the 60s there was a movement and they really instilled French as the main language and rejected English.
4:03
Really there was a little bit of an Anglo and, and Quebecois like battle, if, if you will, maybe not that dramatic.
But a lot of Anglos left the province and it wasn’t until maybe a couple decades later that they began moving back and businesses began moving back.
4:20
And the Quebec locals were very proud and then went from being so proud and wanting to hold on to it to shifting a little bit to being so proud and wanting to share it.
And that element of wanting to share it was so palpable everywhere we went.
They’re so proud and they just want to share it with with people that are coming in.
4:38
Yeah, that’s definitely how I felt.
Like I’m, I’m so glad that we didn’t visit in the 60s.
Not that we were alive to do it, but now it just feels so welcoming and it feels like they just are so proud and they want to share it.
And it was so nice to be a part of that experience.
But squatty’s Before we dive into everything that we did in Quebec City, we’re going to give you some tips for visiting one of the.
4:58
Tips that I’ll share is to stay at the Hilton Quebec.
It’s the only Hilton in Quebec and it’s in that downtown, very close to Old Town region.
We stayed here because of the conference that we were going to, but it was actually a fantastic location and a great hotel.
5:13
So even if you don’t stay necessarily at this Hilton, stay somewhere in that area.
Yes, central to Old Town and the Parliament building.
That is the best place that you could actually stay because another tip is the city is really walkable.
Of course, it is a large city, so you can’t walk everywhere, but everywhere that’s kind of central and the Old Town is walkable, you will enjoy it.
5:35
So that’s something that’s good to know.
Also, when you’re visiting, make sure you check the weather in advance and if rain is on the forecast, make sure to dress appropriately and even have an umbrella.
We were asking people like, what kind of rain is this?
Is this, you know, like a drizzle?
Is it going to be all day?
5:50
And they’re like, no, but when it rains, it goes sideways and it’s serious.
So just make sure you’re ready for that.
And it was.
We got to experience beautiful sunny weather and rainy, stormy weather.
And we went in June, mid June.
Currency wise, the Canadian currency is of course different from the US dollar.
6:08
They have their own currency here in Canada, but while we were in Quebec, as well as the other time I have been in Canada, I never used cash.
Credit card is widely accepted.
Yeah, I’ve never pulled cash out in Canada.
I’ve always just used credit card, so you could get by with that.
6:25
But if you are going to pull out, of course get Canadian dollars out of the ATM.
But truly I don’t think you would ever need to pull more than $50 if you have a credit card.
And that’s just miscellaneous cash to have on hand.
And the final tip that we have for you guys is if we mentioned it earlier, they speak French here.
6:41
Brush up a little bit on your French and common sayings.
Yes, people do know English, but they are going to start speaking to you automatically in French.
So just brush up on it a little bit.
But of course, if you’re in the touristy areas, they do know English, some a lot better than others.
6:57
But nevertheless, it’s always respectful to do that.
Yeah, it’s part of that pride thing.
They’re proud of their language.
So if you attempt to communicate in French, it does go a long way in building the relationship.
Let’s start our Quebec City episode with some things to do in Quebec City.
7:15
First thing I’m going to recommend is of course, exploring Old Town Quebec City.
You have to see it.
It’s like we said to UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The roads are cobblestone, have this old vibey feeling.
There’s a lot of stairs that will take you up and down the different walkways where businesses are perched along.
7:35
There’s a lot of cute little shopping and the petite Champlain district.
I had a a wonderful time popping in and out of shops.
There’s also a lot of souvenir shops here, so if you wanted to get an ornament or something that said Quebec City, this is a great place to do it.
And just a few of the famous sights to see in this area is going to be the Fairmont Chateau Frantenoc Hotel.
7:55
You may say to yourself again, why am I actually going to go look at a hotel?
But this hotel is perched again high above the Saint Lawrence River.
It’s a beautiful historic hotel that looks like a castle.
But I’m going to get to it a little bit later as to why the Fairmont hotels, if anybody’s been to Canada, do look like castles and are stylized special.
8:16
But I’m going to get to that a little bit later.
But that’s one of the sites that you should absolutely go see.
Right outside that Fairmont is the Dufferin Terrace, which is a wooden boardwalk promenade and it goes along the river.
So it’s it’s a beautiful little place to have a stroll, especially if the weather is good.
8:33
When I was visiting the Fairmont area and exploring on my day, it was the rainy day.
It was still nice to walk along it, but I bet.
But it’s really nice when it’s sunny because it’s right along the river.
Other sights to see in this area are the citadel, the Parliament building, which going to the Parliament building as the sun setting and it’s kind of like glowing and all it up is really, really beautiful.
8:54
There’s a fountain in front.
It’s really pretty to see.
There’s also fortifications of Quebec that you can see as well, and the Stonewall surrounding the city dating way back to the 17th century.
So there’s a lot to see in this Old Town, Quebec area.
Actually, as we were, we’re walking from our Hilton over to Old Quebec.
9:13
You start to see those stone walls throughout the city and we’re like, is this the citadel?
It’s not the official citadel, but it is those city walls so you can see them without having to pay any admission.
Another real highlight to do is go on an AML river cruise.
AML is the company and brand, but like we’ve mentioned a couple times, Quebec City sits right along the Saint Lawrence River.
9:35
It gives you amazing views of the city and it’s just a fun trip.
The AML cruises, sometimes they’ll have dinner cruises.
You could go whale watching from this region because whales come up and through the river and you can go out into the Bay areas.
So there’s lots to do.
9:51
It’s not just, oh, go on the river.
The AML has different cruises and themes that you can do.
They have a brunch cruise that would be so fun.
Or the dinner cruise with the sunset.
Oh yeah.
They have a ton of different cruises.
We did the three hour 1 on the Saint Lawrence River with views of the Fairmont Hotel and it did happen during sunset.
10:10
It was part of our tea box experience.
But there are so many different cruises to choose from.
They have like 93 that they operate in the Quebec area.
Great food and drinks on board, I’ll tell you that.
Yes, stay tuned for our mini episode coming up where we’re going to talk more about our experience on the AML cruise when we talk about our time here at Tea Box.
10:29
So Kim had mentioned that we had gone on this trip because of the conference that we were in town for.
So one of the things that Jamal and I were able to do was go on an all day waterfall tour and we did this as a tour with Tourism Quebec, but there are a ton of different waterfall tours available through local guides on VIA Tour and we’ll link some in the show notes for you guys.
10:50
The waterfalls that we visited and we visited, three of them are in the Cote d’u Bupri region of Quebec and the first one that we visited was the Montmorency Falls.
These falls are stunning If you’re driving by the Quebec region and you’ll probably see them.
11:06
They’re just outside Quebec City and they stand 272 feet fall.
They’re actually taller than Niagara Falls.
And while we were here, we walked a boardwalk for views in front of it.
And then we took a gondola to the top of the waterfall.
We crossed a suspension bridge and then we took the 487 steps down.
11:27
So we spent quite a good of time at this waterfall and I do recommend visiting it.
I’m not going to get into it, but there is a storied history here at this waterfall.
When we were here, our guide was telling us that there was a battle between the French and the British.
The British actually tried to climb up the mountain when it was really muddy to take a fortress that was up top held by the French.
11:47
And it’s a very famous Canadian historic battle that took place.
So I thought that was pretty cool that some Canadian history has taken place here yet in front of this beauty.
And then from there we did end up going to a another area to see waterfalls.
We went to Canyon St.
12:03
Anne and Canyon St.
Anne is a natural wonder that’s been carved over 1.2 billion years and it creates a dramatic 243 foot waterfall.
This is a nature preserve area and they try to have a lot of families come here almost as a park right outside the city.
12:23
And we got to ride a new attraction that they put in here.
It’s called the Air Canyon, where it’s a seated zip line.
It lasts about a minute at first, shoots you backwards and you start at a point where you can’t even see the falls or the Canyon, and then you fly over the waterfalls and the Canyon.
12:41
It holds you up there before it shoots you back down to the front.
So it’s a seated zip line experience.
So it’s really awesome.
That sounds frightening.
It was fun.
It was fun.
And they even take a video of you while you’re on it as well that you can get.
So super fun.
12:57
And then once we were done with the air cannon experience, we walked along a trail that had some viewpoints of the waterfall and then I continued on to a suspension bridge that gave really good views of the Canyon.
So this was a really nice nature area that is worth visiting as well.
13:13
Britt, you said I carried on to the suspension bridge.
Now where was Jamal?
Oh, Jamal was just hanging back and just chatting away with other people and he was like, oh, you want to continue on?
It’s hot.
You can go, just be back here on time.
13:28
Yeah, well, I mean, I walked around the area with Brittany, but she just wanted to see the opposite side of the Canyon that led to something.
And I was like, I don’t really need to see it from the other side.
I already saw it.
So that’s really more So what it was than anything else.
Wasn’t any fear of that suspension bridge.
13:46
No, not at all, Jamal.
Yeah.
Of suspension bridge.
No, I rode.
The I know how you get with heights these days.
I only if I am not held back.
If there’s something holding me back like an actual bridge, it’s fine.
My heights fear is really when we go hiking and Brittany, like a dummy, likes to go to the edge of a Cliff that’s.
14:04
And what about the Glass bottom boardwalk at Jasper Canyon?
Well, I don’t like glass bottom stuff that’s a little bit different.
So even though I’m held it’s it’s, it’s different, you know?
So you’re very correct.
My height issue is iffy, but I’m not scared of heights because I live for roller coasters and other type of heights.
14:21
So I really don’t mind.
But yeah, no, I just really didn’t feel like seeing it from that different angle.
But this is a beautiful area.
Again, Canyon St.
Anne, so not to be missed.
And what I really appreciate about this is these sites are only 20 to 25 minutes outside of the city.
14:37
I mean, you really get into a forested area right outside of Quebec City.
So there’s lots of nature around.
One of their most famous ski resorts is even in this area.
And one of the largest winter festivals in the world even takes place here right outside of Quebec City.
So you are having that European feel, but then nature right outside, which I appreciate.
14:57
There’s even a beach in Quebec City, a sandy beach along the lake.
As I was driving out this way, kind of near that waterfall, someone in the car had pointed across the river and you could see the beach from there.
Now they did kind of say we want to keep that a little low key, but Squatty’s, we had to tell you about it.
15:16
The last stop that we had on our 3 Waterfall tour was Shoots Jeanne La Larose and for this one, it was probably the most naturally where we actually had to do a hike down and we went down to the base of the falls and there was a whole bunch of like rock formations at the base.
15:33
We got to take pictures in front of it, climb up Jamal and I climbed up right in front of the waterfall.
It was a little breezy at the fall so we ended up getting completely soaked, but it was such a warm day.
It felt so good and just really beautiful area for like photos, so that was great.
15:50
It was the last waterfall that we had and then we hiked back up to head back to Quebec City.
Another thing you can do that is a little indoor outdoor, immerse yourself in nature experience, but on the high end of things is Strom Spa.
This is super conveniently located right in Quebec City.
16:09
It’s a Nordic spa and it is built right on the edge of the Saint Lawrence River.
It it’s a very serene experience.
The nature is all around.
Many of the pools are outdoors, and you’re overlooking the Saint Lawrence River, one of the main pools actually, which is heated to a comfortable temperature.
16:28
It’s not hot.
It’s not cold, it’s an Infinity pool that looks over the Saint Lawrence River.
It’s so beautiful.
The cost to get into the Strom Spa is about $70.00 US.
It depends on the day and the season that you go though, so that price can fluctuate.
It comes with a beautiful bathrobe, towels to use while you’re there, and access to everything I’m going to go through.
16:49
They do also offer facials and massages there.
I did not book a treatment, but it did seem like they had availability for walk-ins.
You didn’t have to necessarily book it ahead of time.
I would recommend booking your time slot for the thermal experience ahead of time though.
17:04
I had got in to Quebec City just a little bit earlier than I thought I would and I was wanting to go maybe a little bit earlier and when I looked online the earlier bookings were sold out.
So I did go 30 minutes earlier.
I got in but just spoke ahead just in case.
17:20
Especially if it’s a busier time or a weekend.
Now, Kim, I know when we travel lots of places, you’re always looking at spas.
Now I feel like when we’re not even traveling together, every time I see you post something on Instagram on your personal page, it’s always like, oh, I’m at a spa, which I, I’m not hating on.
17:35
So obviously, I’m sure you probably googled spas Quebec City and this came up as one of the best.
Or had you heard about this before and that’s what caught your attention?
I specifically was seeking out a spa in Quebec City.
I actually Third Tea Box had saw that there was a spa experience as one of the tours that was offered.
17:54
I didn’t end up getting that one.
So I had a hunch there was a good spa experience here and I was right.
Oh my gosh, this Nordic spa experience is so magical.
Like we went in June, so there’s no snow on the ground, but I’ve seen pictures of it in the winter.
18:10
Wow.
And so kind of what it’s like, you go in, you get your locker, you get your bathrobe on, get your sandals on, you head out, you’ll start to see different size pools from small to medium to large.
Some have waterfalls.
There’s different ranges of temperatures.
18:26
There’s some that are very cold for cold plunging.
There’s some that are kind of warm, lukewarm, comfortable, and then there’s some that are very hot and most of them are outdoors and you have trees around you, the river to look at.
Some of them are indoors, some of them are a little bit of both.
18:43
There’s one pool that you enter from indoors and floor to ceiling glass windows.
So even though you’re inside, you’re fully immersed with nature and the views of the river.
But this particular pool starts inside.
You grab yourself a pool noodle.
You float into the pool.
18:59
It leads you to the outdoor part of the pool, which turns into an amazing lazy river.
Amazing love that.
While you were there, Kim, did you do any of the cold plunges?
I did do a cold plunge, yes.
There is a panoramic sauna.
It sits high above, so you have a really good view of the Infinity Pool and the Saint Lawrence River down below.
19:19
It’s actually very crowded when I was there, but I stayed in for as long as I could and immediately outside of it there is a cold plunge.
That is the way I like to do a cold plunge that doesn’t mess with my nervous system is sauna or hot tub.
Cold plunge and kind of go back and forth a little bit.
19:35
So that’s what I did.
How long were you in the cold plunge for?
I would say about 10 minutes.
No, definitely not.
Probably like 2 minutes.
Look, I am not trying to beat your record.
I am not a cold plunge person.
But it does feel good and it does have a lot of great health benefits when you pair it with hot and cold and back and forth and.
19:53
How long would you say you stayed at the spa?
I was there for a good 5 1/2 hours.
So I got there on 530.
I left at 10 when it closed.
But look, I’m not even scratching the surface on what this place has.
I thought, OK, I’m, I’m just going to do 3 hours like it’s late.
I don’t want to stay too long.
20:10
No, no, no.
I could have stayed many more hours.
There was so.
So much to do.
So I’ve talked about the Infinity pool.
That was gorgeous.
There was another pool that was a little bit cooler than that, still looked out at the river, but a little bit smaller.
Off to the side.
There’s saunas.
There’s nap rooms.
20:25
One of the panoramic nap rooms had great beds and blankets.
There was a room with these like swinging chairs and blankets and a fire pit that you could be by.
There were cocoon hammocks right along the river that you could lay in and just cocoon yourself in and swing weightless body.
20:43
There was a really big hot tub.
It’s more like a pool, but it was a hot tub with fountains coming in, very hot water, and it had a fire pit in the middle of the pool.
That was really cool.
They had a room with infrared sauna pair beds.
20:58
Then you just go into that room.
There’s probably like 6 or seven of them in there.
I did that one twice because I loved it so much.
Very close to there.
They also had a shower area with a big tub of lemon salt scrub so you can scrub your own body and then shower it off.
21:14
And they had a cold plunge and a sauna right there by that one, too.
My gosh, you could literally spend all day here and I’m really sad that I missed out on this experience.
But let me tell you, when we go back to Quebec City, I’m going here.
I’m going here too.
When I go back to Quebec City, I.
Know who knew Quebec could have such a amazing spa scene?
21:34
So that’s pretty cool about that.
We didn’t do it because you arrived the day before us.
So you did this on your arrival day, but you got in early enough the day we were flying in to Quebec City, you were doing something else and you kind of alluded earlier like, oh, there’s a beach.
21:50
They don’t really want people to know.
So point being, with that, there’s water activities, which leads into something that you did, I would have loved to do that day if we were there early enough.
So what did you do, Kim?
I also went kayaking on the Saint Lawrence River, and you can also get tours for this on Viador.
22:09
We’ll link some in the show notes here.
And this is a really cool experience.
If you have the time, I recommend doing it at sunset.
And So what you’ll do is you’ll take a drive from Quebec to Elder Orleans.
It’s a pretty short drive, about 20-30 minutes.
And along the way, you can actually see that Montemore Marcy falls before crossing the bridge over to that island.
22:30
So I got to see it from the road before you guys.
There you go.
And it’s a really, really pretty kayaking.
But before you actually do that, I would recommend spending a little bit of time in this area.
On this tour we stopped at the Manor Mavi Janess for a quick tour of this 400 plus year old Manor.
22:48
And we got some history about the area, about this island and how it came to be what it is now.
Then we went to Resto de la Plage, which is a waterfront restaurant with a really great menu.
I actually would recommend getting an early dinner here before you do your kayaking.
23:04
They have one thing on the menu that just warmed my soul to the ultimate levels and that was their Tour de la Plage.
So you get to choose four different starters.
They have many different to choose from.
It also comes with a salad and some really good focaccia bread.
23:20
And get this, it is served on the most beautiful 3 tiered tray.
Kevin heard three tiered trays.
It’s almost like it was high tea but dinner time for you, but still kind of in the way that it’s apps because you said realistically you’re getting a choice of their starters that they have then, correct?
23:36
They were so good.
There was like a corn dog with some cheese at the very bottom of it.
There were chicken wings.
There was different salads and dips and so good you’re.
Making me hungry.
I would recommend if you don’t go with a tour you can still rent your kayak with Quatre natures.
23:51
Very friendly wonderful guides there.
They have great equipment and this was my first time see kayak kayaking.
So it’s principally the same as regular kayaking with how you paddle, but the kayak is different.
It’s very long, it’s pointy on the ends.
You get equipment to support your kayaking adventure.
24:08
You know, depending on the time of year you go, it could be a little colder.
So we got some neoprene socks that zipped on.
We got a skirt, and that skirt actually folds over the kayak.
So no water will ever get on your clothes, which is pretty cool.
24:24
And then of course, you have a life jacket in your paddle.
Do a little training session, carry your kayak out, launch into the water, paddle down to where you can see Quebec City skyline and watch the sunset from there.
And pro tip that I learned from the guide, bring yourself a little bottle of Maple liqueur and have a little bevy while you’re out there watching the sunset.
24:46
That’s so Canadian Maple liqueur.
Just have it out on the water.
Typical.
But that is a good tip nevertheless.
It’s really pretty out there and there’s boats on this river too, so when a big fast boat comes through, it actually creates pretty big waves, which makes the kayak even more exciting.
25:03
Oh yeah, you get that little up and down and get to ride the wake that’s created by it.
So that it.
That does sound pretty cool.
I’m jealous that we did not get to experience that.
But the perks of arriving early for you, Kev.
Another experience that I did in Quebec without Brittany and Jamal was a food and beverage tasting tour.
25:22
I want to do more food and beverage tasting tours in the destinations I go to.
I learned so much about Quebec City and its history and its modern culture and a lot of this Quebec qua pride from the people I met and talked to on this tour and from the tour guide, whose name was Allison Van Russell.
25:39
She’s a food columnist and a local to Quebec, so she was extremely knowledgeable.
But even if you do a different tour with a different guide, I’m sure you’ll have a fantastic experience.
But I just want to tell you about some of the places we went because each and every one of them was amazing.
25:56
And I would highly recommend, even if you don’t go on a tour that you stop in and visit some of these, the 1st that I’ll recommend is on your way towards Eel de Orleans.
It’s actually a place called Chef Maude Epicure.
It’s actually a grocery store, but it’s also a cafe.
26:14
They have coffees and they have bites.
The owner here is so friendly and just so passionate about her mission to bring good quality farm to table food to this area.
It’s not a neighborhood that a lot of tourists will think immediately to go to in Quebec City, but it is 100% worth the visit that we ate here.
26:36
A waffle that was stuffed with cheese and an onion and apple confi and it was topped with Maple syrup and candied pecans and Oh my God, I’m still thinking about it that.
Sounds absolutely delicious, so good.
My mouth is watering honestly thinking about it.
And I just want to say, Kim, you said we did not join you on this one.
26:54
This was one of our Prebex tours though.
And again, we’re going to be talking about our Tea Bex experience on our upcoming Just the Tip episode.
But we wanted to do this tour with you, but this is the day that we did the waterfall tour at that point in time.
And to your point of this was a great way to get to know and learn Quebec, I feel like this adage is very true regardless of where you go.
27:17
And it really resonates here.
Also, one of the best ways to get to know a place and its culture is through its food.
And even though you’ve just mentioned one spot now and I know you’re going to get into it, even when you were talking to us about it, like I really felt like, yeah, you got a sense of the culture by just doing this tasting tour.
27:36
And that’s one of the things that I like to do and I want to do more of when we travel other places, is start really doing food tasting tours.
Absolutely.
After this one, I’m totally hooked.
I learned a lot about how Quebec is very farm to table.
They’re very proud to use ingredients from Quebec in the food and drinks that they make, and they want to share it.
27:55
It’s part of the change that’s happened here in Quebec.
They just want to share their food, drinks and culture with you.
They’re so happy to do so.
Especially this next place, Casis Mona and Feliz.
It’s a blackcurrant farm, winery and shop.
It’s a gorgeous property.
28:11
The huge sprawling lawn on one side has tables and chairs.
We can sit on the other side of the shop.
On the other side of the street is the sprawling vineyards of the blackcurrants.
And it’s just a beautiful place.
It will make you want to stay a while.
So if you’re on a time crunch, try to build in a little extra time for this place.
28:30
The owner and all of the staff here are so friendly, so kind, and here they have many different things that you can try with blackcurrant.
I had tried some wines, A blackcurrant gin that was a very limited edition limited stock product, sangria that was really, really good, and then the All Star item that if you look up like best things to eat in Quebec City, this will very likely show up.
28:54
Blackcurrant and vanilla swirl ice cream.
I saw the pictures of this, it looked really really good and I was very jealous because it was such a hot day at the waterfalls and that looked so refreshing to have.
Yes.
Oh, on a hot day, this is absolutely perfect.
29:10
Definitely make your way over here.
And I said Quebec City, It’s a little bit outside the city, right?
You’re going over to the island.
It’s kind of at the entrance of the island, but it’s not that far of a drive.
Next place, this is really cool.
Chef Mag snack Bar.
It is a roadside small building snack bar.
29:26
Chef Mag and his family as parents that actually opened this roadside snack bar years ago, back when roadside food was more of something for labor workers.
The food wasn’t really anything to write home about.
They really flipped the script on that.
They started making really high quality farm to table food.
29:43
They’re really well known for their lobster rolls because the lobster is really good and they have very generous, delicious portions of it.
I don’t even eat lobster and I was looking at it like, maybe I’ll take a bite, but did you?
I did not, but everyone there on the tour with me was just eating it up.
29:59
They really do look like huge servings too, but they also have poutine and burgers and a few other things.
I did try the poutine here.
It’s actually made with a chicken gravy or at least chicken stock in the gravy, which changes the flavor of a traditional poutine.
30:15
But I who really liked it.
I love me some poutine.
We’re going to talk about poutine a little bit later with one of our food recommendation spots.
But poutine’s very famous in Canada, but not a lot of people realize it’s not truly authentic poutine unless you get it in Quebec because they use specific cheese curds.
30:31
So you could get it other places in Canada because of course it’s spread around.
It’s very common that all this is a Canadian thing.
But if the cheese curds themselves do not come from Quebec, it’s not authentic.
So you’re only really going to have it here.
Do you know how you can tell a good quality cheese curd in your poutine?
30:47
Tell me you learned it on the tour.
I guess I don’t even know.
It’s that it squeaks while you’re chewing at your mouth.
Oh look at that, it has that type of texture that makes that noise then.
Interesting.
Yeah, and so Chef Mag snack bar is so popular now that there’s typically a line that wraps around the street, but it moves fast, your food comes out fast, and it’s well worth the wait.
31:08
And it’s a quick stop on the side of the street.
So definitely go to it if you are in this area or make your way out there for special visit.
The next place we went to was the Noble St.
Petrini.
It is a gorgeous rolling hill vineyard and tasting room.
Oh my God, it’s so beautiful.
31:24
You really feel like you’re in the vineyards in the wine regions.
Here I tasted some delicious red wines, white wines, a rose wine, and had really, really good pizza.
Here they had brought out some oven roasted spicy burrata pizza, a Margarita pizza, and a really unique goat cheese pesto pizza.
31:43
I wish I could have stayed longer here.
This is like the Casa Simona where you want to stay a while, just relax, kickback, give yourself a little extra time here.
And then at this point in our tour, we started heading back to Quebec City.
So once we got back into the city, we went to La Souche, which is in the Limulu neighborhood of Quebec City.
32:03
It is a brewery that has deeply Canadian roots.
Again, all of its beers are made with local Quebec ingredients, natural ingredients.
In fact, our tour guide, Allison Van Russell, she owns a coffee shop in Quebec, and they collabed on a tiramisu cream stout.
32:22
And when I hear stout, I don’t really gravitate towards it.
They’re heavy beers, right?
Yeah.
You’re.
Thinking dark, heavy kind of beer.
Oh no, this one was so good.
It was like that cream style was like light, but had that that sweetness like it was the perfect combination.
32:39
We tried a few different beers that they had brought out, Groupine St.
Mitchell New England IPA Marinissi, which was my favorite, a dessert sour and it had apricot, blueberry and vanilla.
It was so good.
That sounds really good.
I love sours so I would have definitely been interested in this one.
32:57
And it was a food and beverage tour here, so we did get poutine here as well.
And their poutine actually won a poutine competition because of one thing that they do differently to their poutine.
I know I told you about it, but do you remember what it was?
33:13
I do not remember Kim tell us.
It’s for the lumberjack balls that they put on top of their poutine.
So it comes as standard with the gravy, the cheese curds, the fries.
And then on top of it is a lumberjack ball, which is essentially a deep fried battered cheese curd.
33:31
And then it has this delicious BBQ sauce on it.
Like I could just eat a bag of lumberjack balls.
Now that sounds really good.
Now that you say that, I do remember the deep fried cheese curd.
That sounds delicious.
I was going to say, you know, in America we have chili cook offs, but here in Canada they’re having poutine contests.
33:50
I need to get the info on the next poutine contest and attend.
Yeah, definitely do.
I’d like to be a judge.
I am qualified to be a judge now after this food tour and the last place that we went is Via Carre.
Now this is a very special place.
34:07
It is a Speakeasy cocktail bar that sits above the two Michelin star restaurant La Tanne, and it has gorgeous views of the Saint Lawrence River from the outdoor patio.
They have extremely curated craft cocktails and mocktails, again all using local ingredients.
34:25
They actually source their ingredients in season and then they’ll turn them into shrubs and different things to use over the course of the year.
Since during the winter time it’s snowing, you can’t necessarily access some fresh ingredients.
They managed to source everything throughout the the year when it’s in season and use it.
34:41
That’s it in their cocktails.
Nothing from outside of Quebec is used here, so that was really cool.
It’s a really beautiful place.
When we got here, one of the staff members, his name was Gabriel.
He was a gorgeous man and very nice man.
He gave us a little tour.
34:57
He made our mocktail, which is really, really good.
It was like a sparkling, just honestly better than alcohol.
It was so good.
We all did a cheers together.
That was really nice.
Sante, that’s how you say Cheers in Quebec.
And on top of that though, we weren’t expecting to go to La Tanya, but we did get a tour of it and Squatty’s.
35:18
If you are coming to Quebec City, as soon as you know you’re coming, go onto their website, reach out to the restaurant and book a reservation.
You need to do it well in advance because it is A2 Michelin star restaurant.
They only have a certain amount of seats and a certain amount of people that they can serve each night.
35:36
There’s two options.
One is the chef’s table dinner, which is about 10 seats, 10 gorgeous like king style seats around the chef’s table.
And then they have more of a traditional dining experience where you move from room to room.
He told us the price on it and it was around 3 to 400 U.S. dollars depending on kind of what you booked with.
35:55
And for now, what I know about it and being that multi course tasting experience, I think that is well of a reasonable ranged.
I honestly think they could charge a lot more for it, so Squatty’s book it as soon as you know and as far advanced as you can.
36:10
It’s just a beautiful establishment.
There’s multiple different rooms, so along the experience they’ll take you from room to room for different courses.
Like 1 room was kind of very dark and Moody and all of the tables were these shapes that fit together like puzzle pieces and then there were like white almost like butterflies hanging everywhere.
36:30
Another room had a completely different style of decor and the room with the chef’s table and where the kitchen is, where they’re preparing the meals, you feel like you’re in a cave and there’s another room with the tables that’s also very cave like.
So it’s really, really cool.
And if you do anything in Quebec City, go to La Tanya and Strum Spa in my opinion.
36:52
But there’s so much to do in Quebec City.
Like I know we were there for, I was there for about 5 days, but it wasn’t enough.
We need to go back.
Yes, definitely need to go back and Squatty’s we need your help.
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37:10
We’ll send you a special discount for 50% off the itinerary of your choice.
So Kim, those were some of the highlights of your food tour.
We obviously ate out together at a couple places.
So we’re just briefly going to list a few standouts that we would recommend for you guys just as well.
37:28
Again, we’re listing a lot of food places because Quebec City really is a foodie city.
And when you go to Europe, you really want to eat a lot of good food too.
You have those same type of vibes and atmosphere here in Quebec City.
So that’s why we’re really highlighting it.
37:43
One place that we went just kind of casually was to a brewery called Noctum Artisans.
Brassur’s I believe is how you say it.
Again, part of the French on all of our ends over here.
But what a unique cat themed brewery.
And when I say cat themed, of course the names of their beers, etcetera.
38:00
But you do have indoor outdoor seating.
It is in a cool alleyway area as well.
That really gives you those European vibes.
Yeah, we each got a flight here, got to try a few of their different beers, got to sit outside and enjoy the nice summer, and it’s just a nice place to get a cool cup of beer.
38:19
Another iconic spot to try in Quebec City is going to be Snack Bar Saint Jean.
You’re coming here for the poutine.
Now, Kim, I know you said you ate some award-winning poutine when you were on your tour and I don’t doubt it, but we all ate here and everybody that we asked of where’s the best place to get poutine in Quebec City all said Snack Bar Saint Jean.
38:40
So I think this is your go to every day.
Sure, maybe there’s going to be different varieties and other highly recommended ones, but if you’re just going for a standard poutine that’s of high quality snack bar Saint Gene.
This was the first poutine that we’d had in Quebec on this trip, so it hits different when it’s that first bite.
38:58
When it’s that first bite and all together nevertheless too.
It is the perfect late night snack, especially if you’ve been drinking during the day.
And Kim had mentioned if you stay at the Hilton Quebec, that’s a great area and we were able to walk here from our hotel.
Jamal mentioned that, you know, if you just want an original poutine, come grab it here.
39:16
But they also have a ton of different add-ons that you can have.
So they have not just regular poutine, but they have it with sausage.
They have some different options so that you can mix it up if you want something a little bit different.
And it stays open pretty late.
Do you remember if it was like 345 AM?
39:32
I thought it was like 4:00 AM.
Yeah, I think it was 34 AM.
Something like that.
I agree, and I actually realize that Quebec City is huge for nightlife.
Like you might not think about nightlife when you hear Quebec City, but after having actually immersed myself in the nightlife, they stay up late here.
39:51
Like I feel like they never close.
The bars do apparently close around 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, but I felt like it was never going to shut down.
In fact, one night we all went out to Bar Maurice, which is a really fantastic place for late night dancing.
It’s kind of got this lounge vibe.
40:07
It’s in downtown Quebec City, specifically along this vibrant St. called Grand LA.
So much good night life here.
Like I left around 1:30 in the morning and people were lining up for other spots.
What’s funny about this night is Kim told me that her curfew was 10 PM, and then I want to say around 11.
40:30
Jamal and I are like, all right, we’re going to go back to the hotel only because we had a 5:30 AM flight and.
I told you to just stay up.
Yes, and we needed to leave the hotel by 3:00 AM.
So Jamal and I are like, all right, Kim, it’s past your curfew.
40:47
Kim’s like, no, no, no, I’m just going to finish this drink, is what she said.
We’re like, OK, OK, but we’re leaving at 11.
You know, it’s funny because after that drink I was just going to finish.
I got this massive cocktail that it was an after all spritz, but it was in this massive goblet cup.
41:07
And as we were leaving our hotel at 3:00 AM, people were just starting to come in from the night, you know, ’cause there were people from the conference we were at that were just starting to come in to go to bed.
They’re like, you’re leaving already.
We’re just going to go to bed now.
Kim was one of those, she strolled in maybe like 30 minutes before our alarm went off, so you know she got in pretty late that night.
41:27
But good for you Kim.
Point being, this is a nice area.
Even if you don’t go to Bar Maurice, the Grand LA area is a great area in Quebec to just stroll for nightlife.
There was another night that we went out and I can’t remember the places we went to, but it was me, Jamal and another person from our conference that we’d met and we were out until like 3:30 in the morning and it did it feel like it was going to shut down.
41:52
It did not feel like it was going to shut down.
It felt like my body was going to shut down more than, but the bars were going to shut down.
But nevertheless, yeah, really fun and Nightlife City, absolutely.
The next few places that we’re going to mention to eat are in the Upper Old Town of Quebec City.
42:08
So we stayed again at Hilton Quebec.
And so this was just a really walkable area.
We walked past the Parliament building and we’re heading towards the Fairmont and along the way there are some really good places to eat at.
There’s also just the most beautiful architecture and you really have so many choices of good restaurants along this pathway, in particular all of Old Town, but this one pathway.
42:33
I stopped and took so many pictures of the buildings and I wish we had more time to just eat out more.
Every place we ate at was so good.
So the first place I’m going to mention is a restaurant called Bello.
This is an Italian restaurant and it’s known for its homemade pasta and fresh baked bread.
42:49
Jamal and I went here without Kim after the waterfall tour before we got on the boat cruise and I got 1/2 portion of the mushroom truffle pasta and Oh my gosh it was some of the best pasta I’ve had.
It was a really good pasta.
43:04
I ended up getting a carbonara style pasta.
Really really good.
I enjoyed it.
Bello is a good restaurant for sure.
Another great restaurant in this area is going to be La Boucherbe.
We all had dinner here one night together.
It is a rustic Canadian Log Cabin Field vibe.
43:23
When you’re in there, you really feel like you have that flannel print with the white, the red, those kind of Canadian colors that you’re really used to on the walls.
You feel like you’re in a log cabin because you have some taxidermied animals.
You have snowshoes and all sorts of things hanging in there.
43:38
Really winter vibes in here.
The food is absolutely delicious.
You ladies got a cocktail here that you really did like, correct?
Yes, it was delicious.
The shore de LAN Sheila for land.
Do you know what that translates to Kim?
43:54
Tell me, Jamal.
It translates translates to New Year’s Day in the furlance, whatever the furlance is.
I think it’s a region here in Quebec.
So that’s what that translates to.
But you ladies got the Quebec shepherd’s pie.
So it had mashed potatoes, creamy corn, bacon, red wine, braised beef, delicious.
44:11
And I ended up getting a beef Patty with mashed potatoes, caramelized onions that was also really good.
And it had some bacon in with its sauteed peas and something that’s very unique to this region.
Maple Haffy.
I had never even heard of this.
44:27
And apparently it’s a thing you take concentrated.
Well, I don’t even want to say Maple syrup, but it is Maple syrup.
But it’s really the SAP from the Maple tree specifically.
But they’ll take it and they’ll put it on ice to harden it.
And then they roll it on a stick and you just eat it raw, almost like it’s frozen.
44:44
And then it melts on you as you’re eating it with the warmness of your mouth and tongue on it.
It’s kind of a messy eat, but it is a treat and something that people like.
And this place here is very popular for at Boucher.
I think if you were actually eating it in the winter and made it truly on a pile of ice, it maybe wouldn’t melt as much because it’s the cold air.
45:04
But of course, in the restaurant wasn’t as cold as it gets in the winter.
Correct.
I think you are very right.
You need that cold air to prevent it from melting on you.
The authentic experience.
But this restaurant, everything we ate was so good.
That cocktail was delicious.
My only suggestion would be on our shepherd’s pie that they put those peas in it.
45:22
I took some of your peas and added them to my plate and it was like so, so good.
But that would just be taking it from like an A+ to an A+ plus, yeah.
Really random too.
Kim and I went down to use the bathroom, which you just go down these stairs and there’s just a whole bunch of stalls.
45:39
So it’s like kind of Coed, but in the middle is a bathtub, and that’s actually their sink to wash your hands.
And that was really unique as well.
Yeah, we walked down there and we were like, are we in the right place?
Because all of the stalls are wooden and then covered in like, graffiti, and you can’t really see that they’re actually doors to individual stalls.
46:00
It took us a minute to get our bearings, but it’s cool.
It’s one of those bathrooms you have to go visit.
And the last place that we’re going to talk about that we ate out in the Upper Old Town is we all had afternoon tea at the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac.
46:15
And Jamal had mentioned this is the hotel that looks like the castle.
Why does it look like a castle, Jamal?
Well, you know, when we were all in Canada before, specifically when we were in Banff and Jasper, which is in the province of Alberta, in these National Park regions, which of course Banff and Jasper are, they have Fairmont hotels and they are all stylized to look like castles.
46:37
And we were wondering it while we were there, but I never really did the research to figure it out.
But then when we were here, I said to myself, why is this?
I’m Googling it like, why do all the Fairmont look like this?
Now, when these hotels were created, they weren’t originally Fairmont’s.
Fairmont as a chain really did buy these out.
But just like in the US, Canada also has a storied railroad history of the expansion across Canada.
47:00
And so when they were building the railroad to Unite East and West and the middle, one of the draws of it, because of course, traveling by train was considered to be a luxury, the railroad companies wanted a luxurious place for people to stay in these areas where they were going to have stops.
47:16
So it was actually the Canadian Pacific Railway who when they were building the railroads, decided, hey, these are the places we’re going to have cities or really beautiful stops.
So we’re building the hotels here.
And to keep with the theme of the luxury travel of the railroad, they built their hotels to look like that.
47:32
And they want them stylized like castle.
So people really felt like they were traveling five star.
So that’s why they all look like that.
That’s really cool.
I like that they are a sight to see truly.
Just the building itself and then inside it feels so regal and royal.
47:49
They have along the walls different like art and things that describe the history of the hotel itself, which is kind of cool to look at.
Little museum in there.
Yeah, the US Fairmont hotels need to step it up a little bit like this Canadian ones.
They need to step it up a big bit.
So we had afternoon tea here and we actually did it separately because of our schedules while we were here in Quebec.
48:11
I did it by myself and you 2 did it together.
So how was your experience?
We had a really great experience.
We got a window seating where you could see people walk along the wooden promenade right above the Saint Lawrence River, and we started with a cold tea blend served in a wine glass and then they started us with a small rice pudding with fresh fruit and orange zest that was actually really tasty.
48:35
The next thing that came out was the scones with the clotted cream, orange marmalade and the blueberry jam.
I loved the blueberry jam.
It was amazing.
I wish I could bottle it up and take it home.
I know when you were telling me about your experience when we were there, you would mention there was that orange marmalade.
48:52
I actually really liked that one too.
Not a fan of the orange marmalade, I only used the blueberry on that one.
But I’m glad you ended up liking it.
And I know you’d love this because you probably had the same exact experience except modifying some of the stuff that came out that was seafood to be non seafood.
49:07
But we got the remainder of our food on a three tiered tray.
It had small bites with, of course, the traditional afternoon high tea accompaniments, which are going to be little bites of sandwiches as well as desserts.
And then they even brought out more desserts afterwards of some gummies, chocolate bites, etcetera.
49:27
So I’m assuming pretty much you had exactly the same thing.
I don’t think they really switch it up.
The only thing that gets switched up is what tea do you want?
Yeah, there were a couple of seafood options that you all had.
They swapped up for me with equally as good little bites.
The tea that I got was the Canadian Ice Wine tea.
49:45
Oh, that sounds good.
Yeah, it wasn’t alcoholic.
I was kind of craving that creamy Earl Grey that you got.
But because it was so unique and they said so specific to this Farebot, I wanted to try that Canadian ice wine tea, and it was really good.
That sounds really good.
50:01
Yeah.
Like you mentioned, we got a creamy Earl Grey and then we also got an oolong tea.
Both were really good.
The teas were fantastic and we had gone before Kim and we had seen that some of our small bites were seafood based.
But when we asked them about dietary restrictions and allergies, they said that they can accommodate anything.
50:21
So if you’re worried about that, they say that they can accommodate any food allergy or restriction, so they can make up a afternoon tea just for you.
And you too had me a little bit nervous because you were like or are they going to bring out your food on the three tiered tray?
50:37
If it’s just for one, it’s going to look weird.
Maybe they’ll have a smaller tray for you.
Jamal said that.
Yeah, it was a genuine thought.
It was a genuine thought.
You were fear mongering but but I can confirm even if it’s just one it will come out on that beautiful 3 tiered tray.
50:53
Amazing.
They also had a live pianist playing while I was there.
Did you all have that?
We did, yes.
Oh, so maybe it’s every day.
It was very lovely.
Yeah, it was a great experience.
It’s really nice, especially when you get into a classic hotel.
Being in the Fairmonts when we’re in Canada reminds me of almost being like in the Hotel del Coronado here in San Diego, not quite as old because it was built in the early 1900s, but just in that wooden Victorian style.
51:17
So just classic hotels, that’s our equivalent that I can say.
And so something about just being in classic hotels is always really nice and appreciated.
Absolutely.
And look, we did a lot while we were on this trip.
Even between actual going to a conference, we still managed to see a lot of the city, which was fantastic.
51:35
But there’s so much more to see in Quebec and outside of Quebec City.
It’s such a Food City that I just want to go without an agenda and eat out breakfast, lunch and dinner, try all the local cuisine.
Even more so than I did before.
I want to explore more of the architecture, more of that modern culture, and I really, really want to come back for fall and winter.
51:56
Fall because the fall colors go crazy here, and then winter again for that amazing gigantic winter carnival and the only igloo hotel in the world.
It sounds like an experience, honestly.
I think Quebec City is a great place to visit any time of year.
52:13
As we’re talking, and you didn’t even mention to more the nature that’s just right outside the city.
So this place really does have it all.
And it’s like, again, going to Europe without really being in Europe.
And I think a great place for people to go who want that type of experience.
52:29
And even on a shorter trip, we’re talking about how we could have spent longer here.
Very true, but even in a couple days if you have two full days, I still think you will enjoy it enough if you could find cheap enough flights out there, which I don’t think would be terribly too expensive if you find the right deal at the right time.
52:44
Yeah, I mean, we always say even if you have 8 hours, go see the destination.
If you’re doing a stopover in Quebec City, use as much time or as little time as you have and go get something to eat.
See the beautiful architecture and come back again and see it later.
Thanks so much for tuning in to our Quebec episodes, squaddies.
53:02
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53:22
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