Why in the world would a family in New York City fly north to Quebec City for spring break?
It was still pretty wintery and gray in this Canadian city. But we did it because we found a fantastic off-season airfare-hotel package and nothing was very crowded.
With its sophisticated French food, and its focus on museums, culture and history, Quebec didn’t seem like the ideal place to vacation with a 4-year-old when we first arrived. But over the five days we stayed we found plenty of places to eat and things to do with kids. Rich, Tiny Traveler and I had a fun stay.
Check out the video to help with your itinerary for a Quebec family vacation. See more details below about activities in Quebec with little kids.
Planning This Trip:
• This article is now featured on GPSmyCity. To download it or offline reading or create a self-guided walking tour, go to Walking Tours and Articles in Quebec. Or read it in the app
• Stay in a charming apartment in the old town
• Book an airfare and hotel package for an easy weekend getaway
•••
More Ideas:
• Things To Do In Montreal
• Yummy Montreal Foods Kids Love
• 6 Places You Have To See In Canada With Kids
48 Hours in Quebec With Kids: Where to Find Quirky Winter Fun
Fun-For-All-Ages Things To Do
Exploring Upper and Lower Old Town
The Old Town, or Vieille Ville, is the heart of Quebec City. You’ll spend a lot of time wandering the narrow streets taking photos, eating, popping into sweet shops and window shopping. The chilly late winter weather gave us good reason to stop into cafés for very rich French-style hot chocolate.
Kids love the funicular, a diagonal glass elevator, that you take you between the Haute Ville (upper town) and Basse Ville (lower town). Plan to ride it a few times.
The promenade that runs along the upper quarter behind the Château Frontenac is a fine place to stroll and let your kids run loose a bit. We had it to ourselves in March. But in the summer it’s hopping with buskers and other activities.
We generally preferred the lower town. It was more picturesque. And we found more shops and restaurants that we liked. We stopped into a fudge shop for chocolat chaude and coffee.
The Château Frontenac Hotel:
This Fairmont hotel that towers over the Old Town looks like a castle. You can take a tour (given by a historic Quebecois character) that will tell you about its history, architecture and famous guests. I would have loved to do it.
Instead, on this visit, Tiny Traveler and I made a game of exploring the giant lobby. She was looking for the resident princess. I was admiring all the architectural details and decor.
Tip: Off-season you can find some surprisingly good deals on room rates. If you find one, absolutely stay here. The location and ambiance can’t be beat.
The Museum of Civilization:
This is a small cool museum that always has something new and interesting. On the main floor, at least one gallery celebrates and explores Quebec history and culture. Beyond that you’ll see exhibits that relate to greater Canada or world cultures, too.
The fun stuff for kids is on the lower level. Typically, half the space is dedicated to interactive science exploration. And half is dedicated to imaginary play, such as an elaborate fairy tale kingdom or large immersive playhouse.
In 2025, there’s also an exhibit on a group of exceptionally innovative Canadian teens.
If you want to explore the historical exhibits, do that first, as it will be hard to draw kids away from the hands-on fun here downstairs. With older kids and tweens the museum is small enough to let them explore downstairs while you explore upstairs if your interests diverge.
Tip: Be prepared for anything that speaks or anything you read to be in French, of course. But even with that, it’s an easy place to spend a few hours when the weather is not so great.
Explore Neighborhoods Beyond the Old Town
Quebec is a city of neighborhoods and the Old Town is not the only place with atmosphere.
Grab your stroller, scooters or a good pair of walking shoes and take some time to explore Saint-Roch, Saint-Jean-Baptiste and Haute-Ville. They all have their own unique collections of houses, restaurants and shops.
• Saint-Roch is particularly interesting. It’s an evolving neighborhood with newer boutique hotels, inexpensive ethnic restaurants and casual brasseries.
We stayed at the Best Western Plus in this neighborhood because it had a pool and seemed a good value. We were worried we would regret not staying in the Old Town, but we spent plenty of time there anyway.
It was nice to stay in a neighborhood with local restaurants and a more relaxed vibe. And it made us more inclined to visit other areas away from the touristy parts.
The area from Blvd. Charest to Rue St. Joseph, between Rue de Pont and Blvd Langelier is good in general for bistros, brasseries and various kinds of Asian and Middle-Eastern food.
In particular, your tweens and teens will be happy to spend a few hours at La Revanche, a game café where you can snack on poutine, pizza, and a variety of fritters while playing the games in it’s library.
Play on the Plains of Abraham:
This park has beautiful river views and plenty of green space for running around. There’s an ice-skating rink in the winter near the museum. The skating is free and you can pay to rent skates.
The Plains History Museum and La Citadelle de Quebec (the big fort) are popular attractions, but we didn’t think we could do them justice with a 4YO and skipped them.
Tip: The Hop-on/Hop-off bus offers an easy way to see the Citadelle and the Plains, and to visit some of the neighborhoods I mention here without having to navigate around on your own.
Take An Easy Ferry Ride
The Québec–Lévis Ferry across the St. Lawrence River was easy and cheap and we all liked it, despite a gray day. It’s a handy way to spend an hour. Plus, it offers some great views of Château Frontenac and Old Town.
If you want to spend more time on the water, you can book a boat tour that will give you these views of the Old Town, plus take you to Montmorency falls via the river for a unique view of those, and the surrounding countryside as well.
Our 2 Favorite Places To Eat
Le Lapin Sauté in Vieux Quartiers
We found a great lunch deal at Le Lapin Sauté, a Lower Old Town restaurant with a cozy French country cottage ambiance, and a set lunch menu.
Rich and I warmed up with French onion soup and cassoulet. There is rabbit on the menu if you can eat it with adorable stuffed rabbit toys looking at you. We shared the dessert of the day, a silky maple créme brulee.
Tiny Traveler munched happily on bacon-wrapped sausages. Kids could also opt for poutine, chicken in mustard sauce or salmon. She had a tough choice for dessert: 2 rabbit cookies or a pot de chocolat.
Les Halles du Petit Quartier:
Les Halles Cartier is a very nice food market on Avenue Cartier, near the Plains of Abraham. Vendors sell local and homemade charcuterie, cheese, coffee, bread, pastries and prepared food.
It’s a great place for breakfast or to stock up for a picnic on the Plains of Abraham, which we did despite the gray March weather.
Take A Quick Day Trip From Quebec
If you have an extra day, rent a car and head out of town to the impressive Montmorency Falls. The gondola ride to the top is fun for all ages.
There’s a long suspension bridge across the falls. You get great views and photos. But it’s not for the acrophobic. With older kids you can cross it and do some hiking around the falls on the other side. And a look-out perch you can walk down to. There’s also a boardwalk that takes you on a flat easy walk towards the falls and across the lake in front of them, for a different point of view.
We had a cold-weather picnic at tables inside the visitors center. There were big windows and a great view of the falls. And it was warm! So we felt quite cozy as we tucked into our baguette, cheese and saucisson.
There’s a snack bar in the visitors center, too, for those who don’t want to BYO it. The fancy Montmorency Mansion offers warm drinks in the winter and full restaurant service at other times of year.
It’s easy enough to rent a car and drive, but a guided tour will take you to other sites outside the city as well, and you can enjoy the scenery instead of having to navigate.
After the falls, take a drive around the quaint Ile D’Orleans in the middle of the St.Lawrence River.
The island is small and it was quiet when we were there in the off-season. It probably took us a bit more than an hour to circle the whole place with stops at a gourmet chocolate shop, roadside jam stand and for some scenic photo ops.
In the summer there are more shops to visit, as well as wineries and a cidery. And you might spend more time at the scenic spots. There might also be more cars on the narrow road. So allow more time.
You can take food-centric tours of Ile D’Orleans. Both include chocolate, wine and cider. Then you have to choose between visiting a shop that makes its own nougat or visiting a shop that makes products with black currants, including ice cream.
Practical Information
Where is Quebec?
Quebec City is due north of the Maine-New Hampshire border, but further north than you might expect. It’s about three hours from Montreal, four hours from Ottawa and Burlington, VT; five hours from Portland, ME and more than six hours from Boston.
It’s about nine hours from New York City. Unless it’s part of a road trip through New England and Eastern Canada it makes the most sense to fly—and to find a good flight/hotel/car package as we did.
How many days do you need in Quebec?
You can easily explore the Old Town and a bit beyond in a weekend. We spent four nights, which gave us time to get out of town to the falls and Ile D’Orleans for a day. And it allowed us ample time to explore several worthwhile neighborhoods.
Quebec makes for an easy weekend destination if you’re within driving distance or are near an airport that’s a short flight. But you can certainly plan a longer trip. A week would allow you to really explore Quebec Province’s countryside, too.
Stroller or no stroller?
We did a lot of walking in Quebec, and we navigated a lot of outdoor staircases, steep hills, narrow sidewalks and cobblestone streets. It’s not especially stroller-friendly.
If you are visiting Quebec with a baby or toddler small enough for a carrier, try to rely on that more than on your stroller, especially in the Old Town. If you do want a stroller, pack one that easy to fold and light enough to carry it easily up and down stairs.
Language:
Quebec is in the part of Canada where French is the first language. You’ll find more reluctance to speak English here than you will in Montreal. And you will encounter a few people who don’t know much English, especially if you travel into the countryside or are dealing with older people.
Money & Passport
The Canadian dollar is generally weaker than the U.S. dollar and prices tend to be lower, making Quebec a very affordable way to feel like you’ve traveled to Europe.
Your whole family will need passports if you fly into Canada. At the border, anyone over 15 needs a passport, passport card or enhanced driver’s license. If you have passports, the easiest thing is to just bring them, even by land.
Navigating Quebec City Jean Lesage Airport With Kids
Jean Lesage is a small airport and super easy when it’s not busy. We left our center city hotel, checked in and cleared security in 45 minutes flat, leaving us plenty of time to cool our heels.
Luckily, there was a great play area with a focus on pretend play and small toys (there’s one small slide). It’s clean and bright and we were dragging Tiny Traveler away from elaborate pretend cake baking when it was time to board.
Toronto Pearson Airport With Kids
If you’re flying to Quebec from the U.S., chances are you’ll have to connect and complete your customs and immigration in Toronto, both going there and coming home.
Navigating: This is a big airport with endless terminals. If you’re connecting and have kids in tow, give yourself time to get from point A to point B.
Moreover, if you’re connecting, leave ample time to claim your bags, go through immigration and customs, and place them on a connecting flight carousel on the other side.
Claiming Your Bags: Entering Canada, this is easy and straightforward. Heading into the US, our bags weren’t on the carousel with the rest.
Instead, we had to head upstairs to the US immigration/customs area, claim our luggage on a special carousel, go through all the bureaucracy and then recheck our bags.
No one explained this to us and no signs pointed us this way. Luckily a baggage handler noticed us waiting around and tipped us off.
Eating and Playing: The domestic terminal has options for eating and shopping and a small play area at the very very very far end of the terminal near gate D22 (above). It seemed like an afterthought, but made Tiny Traveler happy enough.
On the return flight, the information desk told us there was no play area in the international terminal and we didn’t find one. The airport website says there is one near gate D24 (info desks are often not good sources of information about family amenities so always check the website before you go). Worse, short of one very standard airport bar/restaurant, most of the shopping in that terminal was before security and on the other side of a glass wall, taunting us in a so-near-and-yet-so-far kind of way.