Québec City is a bit like Paris only without the transatlantic flight — or at least the closest you’ll come this side of the St. Lawrence. The cobblestone streets, the 17th-century stone facades, the language (bien sûr): it’s a city that leans hard into its European twinship while maintaining a quieter, quainter rhythm. Make the most of the city with our two-day itinerary, introducing you to a selection of MICHELIN Guide restaurants and hotels tracing the city’s story, from French colonial outpost to postcard-pretty capital of Francophone Canada, with plenty of indulgences along the way.
Day 1
Where to Stay
Two options set the tone, depending on which fantasy you prefer. The Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, all turrets and battlements, is as close as North America comes to Versailles cosplay, looming over Old Québec since 1893. Or go boutique at the MICHELIN-Two-Key Auberge Saint-Antoine, where archaeological artifacts unearthed during construction are baked into the design — a little history lesson with your turn-down service.
Lunch
Slide into a table at Buvette Scott, a cozy wine bar with a daily-changing, well-priced menu that has earned it a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand. The food is local, inventive and low-key enough to ease you into the city’s culinary tempo.
Afternoon Activity
Walk it off with a ramble through Old Québec, a UNESCO-protected district where the cobbles feel imported wholesale from across the Atlantic. Terrasse Dufferin gives the best vantage on the Frontenac’s Disney-like silhouette. If time and legs allow, extend to the Plains of Abraham, where a decisive battle in 1759 rewrote the city’s fate.
Dinner
For dinner, pick your level of pomp. Tanière3 delivers a Two-MICHELIN-Star tasting menu in a vaulted 17th-century cellar, all foraged delicacies and theatrics. If that feels a little too formal, Laurie Raphaël, around since 1991, balances modernity with heritage, and remains one of the city’s flagships.
Day 2
Morning Excursion
Québec is not only city; it’s also landscape. Fifteen minutes out, Montmorency Falls plunge higher than Niagara. A cable car will do the ascent, or you can test your nerve on the zipline. A side trip to the Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Shrine, with its mosaics and stained glass, keeps the theme of grandeur intact.
Lunch
Back in town, ARVI is the move: a MICHELIN-Starred newcomer celebrated for its fresh, inventive cooking and its inclusion on Canada’s best new restaurants list in 2019.
Afternoon Reset
Afterwards, recover at Strøm Spa Nordique. Rivers, pools, saunas, salt-float tanks — the full Nordic thermal cycle with a view across the St. Lawrence. Alternatively, lose yourself in the Musée de la civilisation, which pairs the province’s long history with a sharp, contemporary curatorial eye.
Dinner
End at La Planque, a bistro where the food is seasonal, the room buzzy, and the cocktails come as confidently as the mains. You’ll leave convinced you found the city’s sweet spot: refined but relaxed, historic yet modern, and French but firmly Québécois.
Hero image: Mélanie Jean, Destination Québec cité
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