Bonjour! Québec City is a beautiful and extremely walkable city. So get your walking gear on and prepare yourself for a full day of exploring and sightseeing! We did our walking tour split into four sections; Lower Town, Upper Town, and The Fortifications. We used the Fodor’s self guided tour book with the map and educational information included (2018 edition so a little dated but you can’t beat a half price book). We only had one full day to do the self guided tour as the previous day there was a level two rainfall warning so we drove around Île d’Orléans. We tried to walk for about an hour, but the wind and rain made it impossible. Fortunately, we had already seen some sites from our arrival day when we were just simply walking around to look and eat.
If you aren’t familiar with the city or if this is your first time going, I do recommend you look into a guided tour. We typically start any new city off with a guided food tour, but we felt like we could accomplish Québec City on our own. Boy were we wrong! While we enjoyed the freedom of being able to wander as we please and learn at our own speed, it would have been nice to learn the history of the city from someone more informed and full of knowledge. We felt like doing the self guided tour was lacking in the important information and we could have gained more by doing a guided tour.
However, if a self guided tour is more your speed or you’ve been to the city before and feel familiar enough, then keep reading to learn our routes and how I recommend going on the self guided tour. I’ve organized the routes into three sections and in the order I think works best.
For more information, I do recommend looking at Québec City’s website. It is loaded with resources to help guide and educate any visitor.
The Fortifications
Because of time, we did a very small section here. We walked down from breakfast, which was at Au Petit Chalet, straight to The Plains of Abraham. We walked down the Promenade des Gouverneurs river walkway through the forest and back up and around to the Citadelle. We didn’t go to the Citadelle, but we did walk around the area and enjoy all the overlooks.
We would have loved to of had time to hit the museums and the Citadelle, but there is so much to see and do in one day it just wasn’t possible! You could dedicate a whole day just to the Fortifications area.
The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
Upper Town
We were able to see so much more in Upper and Lower Town. Québec City. really is a stunning location with so much to see and do. There are many opportunities for museums, shopping, food, and simply stopping to take it all in. Word of warning, both Upper and Lower Town tend to get extremely busy as the day goes on so I recommend early mornings or late evenings. If you don’t plan on doing any shopping. Late evening is my preferred time as the sun is setting and hitting the city in the more gorgeous light.
Terrasse Dufferin & Saint Louis Forts and Châteaux National Historic Site
We walked down from the Promenade des Gouverneurs walkway to the Terrasse Dufferin. This is basically a massive boardwalk overlooking the St. Lawrence River and the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac with city views. This is also where the Saint Louis Forts and Châteaux National Historic Site can be found. We found ourselves coming back to this area over and over. We really loved sitting and people watching and just looking out over the river. The view of the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac never gets old either. There are also gift shops, the entrance to the funicular (going down, but I recommend riding it up), ice cream vendors, the wooden slide for winter tobogganing, street entertainment, and if you’re coming from lower town you’ll find stairs that will take you to the Plains of Abraham with the best view of the city (in my opinion).
While we did not have the time to visit the Saint Louis Forts and Châteaux National Historic Site, they are right on the Terrasse Dufferin so if you have time I highly suggest checking it out!
Jardin des Gouverneurs & Wolfe-Montcalm Monument
You’ll find up from the Terrasse Dufferin the Jardin des Gouverneurs and Wolfe-Montcalm Monument. The Wolfe-Montcalm Monument is dedicated to Marquis Louis-Joseph de Montcalm and General James Wolfe, both died on the same battlefield but on opposite sides. It is a reconstructed version, done in 2010, of the original.
Fairmont Le Château Frontenac
There is a reason the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac is the most photographed hotel in the world. It really is that stunning! We walked around it looking at its exterior and went inside to the lobby to see the interior. Really neat hotel, but unless you’re staying there it simply is just a stunning piece of architecture! The restaurants did look incredible and we heard nothing but fantastic things about the spa. I believe they are starting to limit tours inside based off conversations we had, so be prepared for that if you are wanting a tour!
Place d’Armes
Place d’Armes is a beautiful public square that is surrounded by restaurants, shops, and stunning architecture. There is a beautiful fountain in the middle and the space is full of history.
For other upper town locations that I did not get the opportunity to explore, but still feel it is important to include, scroll down to the bottom!
Lower Town
After we finished Upper Town, we walked down to Lower Town and, if you didn’t know, Old Québec City has been a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. Instead of immediately beginning in Rue du Petit-Champlain like you might think, we went towards Old Port so we could end at Maison Louis-Jolliet and take the funicular up.
Old Port
We walked around Old Port, away from the growing crowds, enjoying views of the Saint Lawrence River and marina as a whole. We also had been walking for a while at this point and decided to pop into La Cale of the Port of Québec. What a unique restaurant/bar! We loved this spot and getting off our feet for a while. We also walked through Place Des Canotiers while in this area. It’s a really nice park!
Musée de la Civilisation
While we did not have time to visit Musee de la Civilisation, it is recommended everywhere so I wanted to make sure to include it here.
Place Royale
As with many travelers, Place Royale was one of my favorite locations during our trip. We spent a long time exploring this area, enjoying the views, a scoop of ice cream from Cotard Chocolatier Glacier, and just simply people watching. The mix of French and British architecture was mesmerizing and you can find the oldest stone church in North America here. This is also where the first French settlement was in North America. The reconstructed buildings here now host restaurants, bistros, and shops but it is not hard to imagine what life in the 1600’s would have looked like here.
Notre-Dame-Des-Victoires
While in Place Royale, we went inside the Notre-Dame-Des-Victoires (oldest stone church in North America). A gorgeous church with an incredible interior.
Rue du Cul-de-Sac
We kept walking to Rue du Cul-de-Sac to see the beautiful display of rainbow umbrellas. This is also considered the oldest commercial district in North America. If you are feeling hungry, there are loads of restaurants and cafes to pick from in this area. I do want to note that the umbrellas are only up during the summer (June through October), but in January and February you can find hockey sticks in place of the umbrellas!
L’Escalier Casse-Cou & Rue du Petit-Champlain
On our first night in the city, we actually walked to the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac and down past L’Escalier Casse-Cou & Rue du Petit-Champlain. We were on our way to dinner so we didn’t have time to stop and explore, but on our way back from dinner we walked down and back L’Escalier Casse-Cou & Rue du Petit-Champlain. While all the shops were closed, it was just as the sun was setting and no one else was around. It was a really beautiful way to experience this location especially since we didn’t plan to do a lot of shopping. When we explored it two days later, it was PACKED with people and you could hardly move around comfortably. We felt so grateful to have experienced it peacefully first and not just with crowds of people. If there is one thing to take away from my blog, it is to really try and visit the most popular sites early in the morning or late in the evening. It really does make a huge difference when trying to explore a city peacefully!
Maison Louis-Jolliet (The Funicular)
We knew we wanted to ride the funicular at least once so we ended our time in old town by going to Maison Louis-Jolliet and taking the funicular up. It was a cute ride and we enjoyed the views!
That completes our walking tour! Clearly a lot of walking (we clocked almost 30,000 steps) and packing a lot into one day. We didn’t see and do it all, but that just means we get to come back one day. We loved this city and its rich history. The people in Québec City are so kind and we loved learning from everyone we talked to. I’ve included a few locations below that I wish we had been able to explore, but even though we didn’t I feel they are still worth mentioning. Profiter de la ville de Québec!
Other Locations
Musée et Monastère des Augustines
Basilique Cathedral Nore-Dame de Québec
Seminaire de Québec
Quebec City-Lévis Ferry
Guided By Curiosity 
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