Emily T is a Marketing Manager in Explorica’s Boston
headquarters. She visited Québec City & Montréal on a
joint trip—and is here to tell us all about it!
Québec City and Montréal are popular destinations during the colder months when they turn into winter wonderlands, but these cities are just as amazing during the summer. Since Boston winters are enough for me to handle, I decided to spend 4 days visiting these destinations when it was still warm outside.
These two cities are only about a three-hour drive from each other, so it’s worth it to visit both locations during one trip.
Quebec City
After a six-hour drive from Boston, our first stop was Dufferin Terrace in Québec City. This large wooden terrace area overlooks the Saint Lawrence River where you can find the most well-known spot in Québec City: Chateau Frontenac. If you’re a princess (or prince) looking for your castle, you can find it here! This castle-looking building isn’t home to royalty — it’s actually a hotel that opened its doors in 1893 and is now designated a National Historic Site of Canada.
History is everywhere you turn in Québec City! Rue Saint-Jean is the oldest street in the area, and it acts as the entry into Old Québec like a guarded gate leading you to a street filled with restaurants and shops. While strolling down the street, you’ll find that the buildings and atmosphere resembles a European city.
Conveniently located on the way to Montreal, Montmorency Falls was the final stop on our Québec City tour. You can’t miss the main attraction of this park, the waterfall. Walk across the waterfall on a footbridge, or descend 487 steps to the foot of the falls. Feeling adventurous? You can zip line across the falls, too! This destination is a must-see before you leave Québec City.
Montréal
Montréal is significantly bigger than Québec City, so the majority of my travel days were spent here. You can spend multiple days exploring every neighborhood of Montréal, but I managed to squeeze everything into 3 days. After a three-hour drive from Québec, we dropped our bags off and hit the streets!
A cool thing about Montréal is that there are street murals all over the city. A lot of these are painted during the city’s MURAL Festival, which takes place every June. It’s neat to see all the art while you’re touring other attractions throughout the city. We ended the day by enjoying a Canadian staple — poutine! We stopped by a popular restaurant, grabbed it to go and enjoyed our food while sitting in La Fontaine Park.
The only full day we had in Montréal was spent in Old Montréal and the Old Port. Located on the water, this area has restaurants, museums, shops and ziplining and the observation wheel. Also located in Old Montreal is Notre-Dame Basilica Montréal — did you know it gets over 10 million visitors every year?
One of my favorite things in Montréal was Parc Jean Drapeau. The park is comprised of two islands that are easily accessible from the Old Port — we took the ferry (which runs every hour) from the Old Port right to the park. Once on the island, we walked around the grounds for a bit admiring the public art, but there was so much more to see than what we had time for. This island is home to an amusement park, the Montréal Biosphere, and — depending on the time of year — festivals, too. It’s safe to say we had a busy, full day exploring Montréal!
The next morning, after having breakfast, we spent our final day strolling along Sainte-Catherine Street. There are plenty of shops to check out along the way. Then it was time to head back to Boston!
Québec City and Montréal are great destinations for the summer months (winter, too, if you don’t mind the cold) and are perfect for a quick trip. You’ll get to experience each city’s unique sights and experiences while having the feeling of being in Europe.
If you’re interested in discovering more of Quebec City and Montreal, let’s get a conversation started! See some of these sites for yourself on an Explorica tour.