My husband and I decided to spend our first married Christmas by traveling somewhere to celebrate just the two of us! We spent a lot of time googling the top cities around the world to celebrate Christmas and Old Quebec City kept popping up! We were so intrigued by this quaint little area of the city that was decked out for Christmas. I’m not going to lie, coming from Florida we were a little intimidated by the negative temps, but I can attest that it was 100% worth it!
What to Pack
Layers! Layering is so important especially in negative temps and snow. While we were there the weather ranged from 28 to -2 degrees Fahrenheit. We both wore fleece lined leggings and long johns, wool socks, turtlenecks, sweaters, jackets, hats, scarves, mittens, and boots. You want to make sure your fingers, neck, and ears are covered and that your feet stay dry.
Where to Stay
We stayed at Hotel 71 and I cannot say enough wonderful things about this place and their staff. I would say that everything we did that week was within a two mile radius of the hotel so we could walk or take a quick uber ride there. The hotel has a free espresso bar in their lobby for guests, a wine bar in the lobby, and an Italian restaurant inside. Both their room service and the restaurant have gluten free pasta in case you were wondering! We ate breakfast at the hotel each morning and then ventured out for the day. When we returned to our room every night the beds were turned down, the heat was on, and there was classical christmas music playing. How magical is that! You can even rent movies at the front desk and they’ll bring popcorn up to your room. We loved coming home from a chilly day exploring to watch a movie with popcorn!
Where to Eat
We ate at the Italian restaurant inside our Hotel called Matto which was incredibly good. We ate at La Buche twice which is traditional food for the region. They had gluten free options and my favorite was the shepherds pie. They also do the maple syrup taffy there as a dessert option (our favorite)! We ate at Bols et poké, Le Petit Château (they have raclette and fondue), The Billig (Crepes), and Le Veravin (whole menu can be made gluten free).
What to Do
We went to the aquarium to see the walrus, polar bears, and arctic foxes! It is indoor/outdoor and takes about 2 hours to walk through. This was about twenty five minutes from Old Quebec City where we were staying.
We walked around Old Quebec City and got maple syrup taffy, walked around the little shops and went to Christmas mass at the Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church at Place Royale in old Quebec City. We walked around this area on Christmas Eve and we were one of the few people out but all the lights were on. It was so magical. We walked to mass from the hotel on Christmas Day morning and the streets were quiet which was so perfect. Then on Christmas afternoon to when we left it started to pick up with tourists. From here you can also take the Furnicular which is like a chairlift (sort of) up to the top where the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac is. There are also stairs or you can walk up the streets, but they are steep! There is a little coffee shop at this hotel which looks like a castle on a mountain, they have a spa and restaurants, and outside is where the huge toboggan ride is! We also enjoyed walking around Rue Saint Jean and the Grande Alle.
If you get there in early December the German Christmas markets should be set up, but the Market Old Port of Quebec is open through the whole month. They have many different vendors selling food, desserts, crafts, and trinkets.
We spent a week in Old Quebec and it was so magical! It was the perfect place to celebrate Christmas together, but I highly recommend visiting in December if you can! Especially for my New England readers the flights are about an hour long and relatively cheap so save a weekend next year to make it up there. You won’t regret it!
Xo Sara
