4-day winter
itinerary

Arrive mid-morning. Coffee and a croissant at Paillard on rue Saint-Jean or Maison Smith on Place-Royale, then Place-Royale and Petit-Champlain before the lanes fill — garlands up, lamps lit all afternoon.

The one thing everybody remembers: the Au 1884 toboggan slide on Dufferin Terrace — three lanes, 70 km/h, straight at the Château. Go twice, then hot chocolate at the kiosk beside it.

Walk the Promenade des Gouverneurs while the river ice glows, then cheese fondue at Le Petit Château or La Bûche, nightcap at 1608 in the Château Frontenac.

Breakfast at Le Cochon Dingue in Lower Town, then Montmorency Falls — still thundering, but wrapped in blue ice, with the pain de sucre ice cone piling up at the base. The suspension bridge over the top stays open all winter.

On to Village Vacances Valcartier for the snow-tube slides — thirty-five of them, plus a skating loop and the rafting run — thirty minutes from the old city.

The Hôtel de Glace next door: ice rooms, an ice bar, ice chapel and a slide cut from a snow vault — rebuilt from scratch every January, open to day visitors.

Back in town for steak frites at L’Entrecôte St-Jean, or the old-Québec cooking at Aux Anciens Canadiens. Book before you leave home.

Snowshoeing on the Plains of Abraham — groomed trails in the middle of the city, rentals at the Discovery Pavilion, and an hour is enough to feel like you have left town entirely.

Skate at Place D’Youville outside the Palais Montcalm — open-air, music playing, the Saint-Jean gate right behind you. Rentals on site, free admission.

Twenty-five minutes north in Lac-Beauport, Domaine Enchanteur cuts a skating trail through the pine forest and lights it at dusk, with a woodstove cabin at the end of it.

Ghost-lantern walk through the old streets with Les Visites Fantômes, then a late plate at La Taverne de Louise.

Buffet breakfast at the Château Frontenac or Café Les Mordus at the Clarendon, then the Citadelle — the winter tour goes inside the mess and the vaults rather than out on the parade square.

Down the funicular into Petit-Champlain — the most photographed street in Canada, and never better than under snow. Warm up in the Musée de la civilisation if the wind comes up. Lunch in whichever town you end up in.

One last hour on rue du Trésor, and maple taffy rolled on fresh snow at the Marché du Vieux-Port.