FIRST-TIMERS TO QUEBEC CITY

Roundup of Our Recent Trip to Quebec City with Teenagers 

Happy New Year! Embarking on a journey with teenagers is an entirely distinct phase when it comes to family travel. The dynamics shift, interests evolve, and the experience feels a little different.

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Quebec City with our two teens, it was our first time there.  It is the closest thing you can get to feeling like you are in Europe but we DROVE there! No airplane flight was needed for us to get here (but they do have an airport if you want to fly). Brush up on your French and grab your passports. I am sharing here a round-up from our Quebec family trip as well as advice for traveling with teenagers on this post.

On the teen front, here are some simple tips we put together:

• Do not overschedule, they like downtime.
• Do not plan to wake up early, they like their sleep.
• Let them help plan some activities they want to do.
• Everything you do will embarrass them so live your life and be you.
• Divide and conquer. Charlie and Jeff like history so they visited the Citadelle and the Plains of Abraham while Blaine and I went shopping and hit the steam room.
• Things will happen out of your control like the weather (there was barely any snow there), so come up with backup plans.
• Talk about everyone’s favorite parts of the trip so you know more about what they like.
• Try local food since teens will usually try new stuff, plus some of your best memories together end up being food-related.
• Things will go wrong on the trip, nothing that hot chocolate or churros can’t fix.
• Start planning where they’d like to go next. 2024 is officially here now and we all like to have trips to look forward to.

In this new phase of family travel, flexibility and communication are your best allies. 

Now here are a few highlights from our itinerary that I want to share.

Hotel: The Fairmont Le Château Frontenac

In the chateau style, Château Frontenac is an imposing hotel with five brick and stone wings and a central tower erected in seven stages between 1892 and 1993. It is prominently located on a cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence River, within the Québec historic district. We highly recommend this hotel! The concierge staff was extremely helpful with lots of great ideas and can help with reservations. The hotel also does a rather famous afternoon tea service that is great as well.

Tubing: Village Vacances Valcartier

We had a great time going tubing at Village Vacances Valcartier. It is an easy 35-minute drive from Quebec City.

It is also where the famous “Ice Hotel” is located, which is also worth a quick visit and a quick drink at the frosty bar.

Dog Sledding

We were supposed to do this, but unfortunately, there was not enough snow during our visit to make the dog sledding happen. They normally have lots of snow at Christmas time, so this was highly unusual. But here is the website so you can check it out. Several places offer dog sledding in the area.

Ice-skating Outdoors

• Place D’Youville skating rink
• Plains of Abraham skating rink
• There are also Forest Skating Trails outside of Québec City you can look into if you want an excursion.

Food

Try Poutine! We weren’t sure at first, but we all tried it and loved it. And try Fondue! We loved the cheese fondue. A couple of great restaurants we loved: 

• Conti Caffe 
• Le Continental

There are lots of hot chocolates, coffees, and churros all around the city too. 

• Best hot chocolate: Bistro 1640
• Best coffee stops: Smith’s Cafe
• Best churros: outdoors at the Christmas markets

Don’t forget to try to find the maple taffy stations set up in the city as well.

A friend asked how many days you need for Quebec City. We feel like 3 days in Quebec City is enough, but plan to add an extra day or two if you are planning excursions like skiing. We did not go skiing on this trip, but Quebec is known for some great skiing. (Hopefully, they will get some good snow soon!)

Thank you for coming along with us on this beautiful trip that felt like something out of a Hallmark Christmas movie! We are already planning our 2024 trips with our teenagers. You can always email me with questions or tell me where you’re heading in 2024. I’d love to hear from you.

Happy New Year and here’s to more adventures for all of us,

xoxo NBC