Quebec Travel With Kids
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Most of the rides and play areas at Méga Parc, 5401 boulevard des Galeries inside Les Galeries de la Capitale, are for youngsters, who can ride on bumper cars, planes and trains. The park also offers two rollercoasters, ice skating and virtual reality, and the mall has an IMAX theater.
Teens
Go shopping. Head to Old Québec’s quaint streets like rue du Petit-Champlain and rue Saint-Jean for boutiques. Budding artists looking for fun places to go should check out rue du Trésor, where local artists sell their works in the pedestrian-only street. These areas are great for sightseeing and budding photographers as well, who will love taking photos in this pretty area.
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Dufferin Terrace (La terrasse Dufferin), 16 rue du Petit-Champlain, is cool for several reasons: history (you’ll see cannons and monuments), street performers and great views of the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, the St. Lawrence River and Old Lower Town. The boardwalk leads to Place-Royale , 27 rue Notre-Dame, and Battlefields Park (Parc des Champs-de-Bataille), 835 av. Wilfrid-Laurier—great historical sites. You’re in Québec City, after all—visiting some historical sites is a must-do!
The Citadel
Explore The Citadel of Québec (La Citadelle de Québec), 1 Côte de la Citadelle. You can watch the changing of the guard, check out the museum exhibits and take a guided tour of this mid-19th-century fortress. Join a lantern-lit night tour led by a guide portraying a British corporal from the past.
If you like your history with a dash of entertainment, take a ghost tour. Both The Ghost Walks (Les Promenades Fantômes) and Ghost Tours of Québec (Les Visites Fantômes de Québec) feature costumed guides, but the former’s ghostly leaders are a bit more dramatic. Picture ghostly white faces, scars and blood that show the intense ways these historical characters lived and died. Neither attraction is intended to be too scary, though.
All Ages
To explore Québec on your vacation, you should understand its geography. The city is divided into the historic section and the newer part outside the old town walls. The old section (Vieux-Québec) has two segments: Upper Town (Haute-Ville) extends up the hill from Place d'Armes and Dufferin Terrace to just past rue d'Auteuil, and Lower Town (Basse-Ville) below centers on Place-Royale at the foot of Cap Diamant.
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Begin in Basse-Ville at Place-Royale , 27 rue Notre-Dame, site of Samuel de Champlain's 1608 trading post and restored 17th- and 18th-century buildings surrounding the small cobblestone plaza. Facing the square is the 1688 Our Lady of Victories Church (Église Notre-Dame-des-Victoires), 32 rue Sous-le-Fort. Its name is derived from 1690 and 1711 French victories over the British. A trompe l'oeil mural covers one side of a five-story building adjacent to the church.
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Take a stroll through nearby Quartier Petit Champlain in Lower Town below Dufferin Terrace and bounded by boul. Champlain, rue du Petit-Champlain, rue Sous-le Fort and rue du Cul-de-Sac; you'll feel like you're in a quaint centuries-old French village. The narrow street, filled with charming galleries, bistros and boutiques, is especially magical in winter when the shops are bedecked in twinkling lights and the streets dusted with snow. It's one of the most fun things for couples to do.
It's a short walk to the Museum of Civilization (Musée de la civilisation), 85 rue Dalhousie. Though this architecturally striking building is contemporary in style, it blends seamlessly with its older neighbors. Exhibits examine the province's history, including the Québécois relationship with their land and the 11 First Nations tribes that call Québec home.
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When you're ready to head to Haute-Ville (your afternoon will be spent in Upper Town), you have two choices—walking up the steep Escalier Casse-Cou, or “Breakneck Stairs,” or riding up the embankment in the glass-enclosed funicular.