Getting to and staying in Quebec City

The famous Chateau Frontenac is probably the priciest hotel in Quebec City. Today, there are several hotels rated as high as the Frontenac and just steps away at about 35% of the cost. You can check Trivago.com for hotels and apartments. Because the Upper Town of Old Quebec is small and walkable—you can stay at any property as far as location goes, and still be close to everything.
Air fares to Quebec City are going to be higher than Montreal. There are direct, non-stop flights from Houston to Montreal taking less than 4 hours for $650 in early October. The 3-hour bus linking the two cities costs about $40, which is about half the cost of the train.
An out-of-the-box money-saving strategy is to book a Houston to New York City flight ( $180 roundtrip)! and later take the 8-hour train for about $75 to Montreal before continuing to Quebec City.
Montreal is a fantastic city to visit and worthy of a visit all on its own.

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www.Trivago.com

I stayed at Auberge Place d'Armes in QC a year ago, and loved it. Small French hotel vibe, good restaurant attached (Chez Jules), and this hotel is just across the square from Chateau Frontenac and right near the Boardwalk. I never considered staying at the Chateau due to $$, but had a fun meal in the bar (Le Sam) and wandered around inside, and also visited the gift shop. When I was there, the hotel seemed to be filled with cruise ship and bus tourists in large herds.

For dining, I enjoyed Cafe Buade (historic diner) for poutine, and cute Chez Temporal on a little side street a 10 min walk away. I wanted to eat at Le Petit Coin Latin but ran out of time. Also heard great things about Bistro St-Malo in Lower Town but didn't make a reservation in time.
I took two audio tours of the town via Tours Voir Quebec (they have several options) and enjoyed going at my own pace vs walking around with a tour guide. I shopped for local art in Rue de Tresor, an alley right near the Auberge.

I flew Air Canada right into the QC airport, and took a taxi to my hotel. Most of the locals speak English, but my driver truly did not, so I had the Auberge address in writing and we used Google Translate to visit with her. Locals tend to greet you with "bonjour, hello" so you can respond in your preferred language.
I went to QC specifically because I read and loved the Louise Penny book, Bury Your Dead, that is set there. Great pre-trip reading! Town is small, walkable, cute. Lots of steep streets, slippery pavement, cobbles and uneven surfaces. Have a wonderful time!

and later take the 8-hour train for about $75 to Montreal

The train from New York’s Penn Station to Montréal takes 12 hours assuming it’s on time.

Hi - reposting my response to another thread on QC below. You could look at flying into Boston, Portland, ME, or Burlington, VT, renting a car and driving. I don't know what the prices look like. We live a south of Boston and QC is maybe 6.5 or 7 hours for us by car.

We have been to Quebec City at least 8 times, it's our favorite place. Having stayed in several hotels (incl. the Frontenac), by far our favorite is the Hotel du Vieux Quebec, which is right in the old city, a 7 or so minute walk from the Chateau Frontenac. Each morning, they leave a basket on your door for breakfast - typically a few pastries (which are awesome), some fruit, yogurt, juice, etc. The rooms are very nice and the location truly cannot be beat. The HVQ is 4 stars I believe. However, on our last trip, we stayed at the Auberge St. Antoine, which is 5 star, and our stay was fantastic. This was in the lower city and it was truly a spectacular stay. I personally do not think the Frontenac is worth the price of staying there - my suggestion is to get a drink at the bar and walk around the public spaces.

If you have a car or find a tour, I'd recommend spending a day driving around Ile d'Orleans, which has tons of farms and is beautiful. On your way to or from, you could stop and see Montmorency waterfall (Les Chutes Montmorency).

The city itself has a ton to do. From right behind the Frontenac, I would highly recommend the Promenade des Gouverneurs, a beautiful walk at the top of the cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence, which hooks up with additional paths at the Plains of Abraham, a huge park. You could stop in the art museum if that was interesting to you, it's a nice enough collection.

Obviously you'll spend time in the walled-in old-city. On one of our more recent trips, we toured Parliament, which is a beautiful building and I thought was interesting, but perhaps I'm a little nerdy. That was free as of a few years ago, but we did need a reservation.

The Marche du Vieux-Port is a must in my opinion, and it'll be really getting much more produce in during June. One of our favorite things to do is go there late morning and grab a baguette, some cheese, produce, etc., and make a picnic lunch. If the weather is good, we just eat along the river or in a park. Sometimes we take the food to La Barberie, a brewery not far from the Marche (as of a few years ago, they didn't serve their own food, so they allow folks to bring in outside food). PLEASE NOTE UPDATE - the Marche is no longer where it used to be. It's now a bit further away, perhaps not walking distance, from the area most people stay. I have not visited the new location.

As far as dining is concerned, it's hard to find a bad meal there. My two personal favorites, that we eat at every time we go, are Le Lapin Saute (in the lower part of the old city) and L'Affaire Est Ketchup (on St. Joseph-Est, outside of the old city). The former is a cozy little bistro with incredible, rich Franco-Quebecois dishes (their cassoulet is my absolute favorite), and a big focus on local products (you'll see that is a theme in Quebec). The latter is a trendier place, but totally no frills - they are alums of five star restaurants in Montreal and QC who wanted to do their own thing, and the result is a stripped down restaurant where they cook everything on electric stoves. The food is fine dining, but the atmosphere is like someone's kitchen. It became much more popular after it was featured on one of Anthony Bourdain's programs. I could rattle off another 20 restaurants that we've loved, but that would overwhelm. Two areas outside of the old city though that have a ton of great restaurants though are on Rue St. Jean, but west of Rte. 175, and along Rue St. Paul, "below" the old city near the Marche. The restaurant at the Auberge St. Antoine (Chez Muffy) is pricey but well worth it.

I love Quebec. If I can answer any questions, just shoot me a message. Enjoy!

Thank you all. Awesome info. This really helps a lot. Intriguing to fly in to NY or Boston or somewhere and rent a car to drive to QC. Will have to put a pen to it to see if it makes sense. Would imagine the drive might be a pretty one. Looking in to the hotel suggestions made here. We decided the $$$ the Frontenac wants is not worth it. Thanks again!!

Also check Albany, Hartford, and Manchester, NH as fly-to destinations.

ETA: if you decide to make this trip during Christmas season, make sure you consider winter weather as a factor. Would you be comfortable flying into a farther-away airport and driving through the mountains if the weather is iffy? For some people it's a dealbreaker, others not. Just a consideration.

Three recommendations:

1. Stay in Vieux Quebec, within the fortress walls. Its not car-free, but should be. Its just a delightful place to stay, as close as possible to how Quebec was in its heyday. Everything is walkable, the ramparts around the Chateau Frontenac have fantastic views, you can take the funicular down to Basse Ville, which is very artsy. Its an amazing city.

2. Restaurant recommendation: Aux Anciens Canadiens. Traditional Canadian hearty fare from the colonial era. https://auxancienscanadiens.qc.ca/

3. If you don't already, learn some basic French. Its a unilingual city, although every tourist place will speak English. Quebecers are touchy about language and "bonjour", "comment ça va", "merci" and "excusez-moi, parlez-vous anglais" will go a long way.

We have frequented France a lot in the past years, and look forward to Quebec City. The hotel recommendations here look awesome. We are foodies, love strolling, photo ops (not selfies) and shopping. Would love to go at Christmas time, but for now Fall Foliage may be the way to go. We are looking at end of September or after the 8th of October depending on airfare. Le Saint Pierre looks awesome, as does Hotel du Vieux and Auberge Saint Antoine. I think Hotel Le Priori looked interesting as well. Not knowing the Old Town at all, is one better located that the others?

Do you all think 3 nights is enough for Quebec City? Right now we are looking at flying to Montreal, getting in around 6 pm so probably staying the night there, then train early the next morning to Quebec, spend three nights, then train back to Montreal early and spend a full day and night there before flying back to Houston. Looking at cost, after flying in to Vermont, renting a car, parking etc. not sure we save a lot in travel time or expense. Still deciding.

Any hotel suggestions for Montreal as well?

Has anyone ever taken the flight from Montreal to Quebec? Leery of small planes.

Mmmm, why would you do 2 layovers in Montreal? I realize I can't see the flight schedules to Houston, but if you are already considering flying one way from Quebec City to Montreal, why fly in one and out the other? Is a return Houston -Montreal that much cheaper? (If thinking October 2024, perhaps it is)

If you aren't aware, there is a train stop near YUL(Montreal) airport. It is listed as Dorval, QC. They run a bus from the train station to the airport every 30 minutes, or take a taxi for the short distance. This could allow you to depart Quebec early morning and depart YUL noon or early afternoon.

Maria, It looked like the only viable option from Houston. Flying in to Quebec City requires a connection in Montreal anyhow, so we figured use that as the stop over. The flight we are looking at arrives at 5 pm, so we would either have to then take the later train directly to Quebec City or stay the night There is only one non-stop from IAH on Air Canada and that doesn't get in until 5. The departure back to IAH is at 8 AM on return - only non-stop. The arrival of the 5 pm flight would have an hours layover and leave at 6 pm arriving in Quebec City at 6:54 (short layover in my opinion in case flight is late). And wouldn't we have to go through immigration/passport control or something? Then the fare jumps $177 each for one way. (Air Canada's pricing is all over the place when it comes to checking air fares at different times of the day.) Thanks for the train/bus info. That is VERY helpful. Maybe we will try and go straight to Quebec City instead of overnighting in Montreal and then on the return spend a day and night there.

If you are concerned with costs, I can’t imagine why in the world you would consider the Frontenac ! I cam assure you that the hotel I’m staying at is a whole lot less expensive ! I agree that dealing with Air Canada is a pain. They changed my flight so that I will be driving to the airport at 4:00:A.M. %@&#*

A slightly different suggestion, I stayed at the Hilton and had a room that faced east and wow! Fantastic harbor views, we watched cruise ships come and go, and instead of being in the Frontenac we were looking at it! It's just next to the walls, and wasn't too terribly far from the train station. That's how we got back and forth from Montreal and the ride in the fall is just wonderful.

At least at the time, if you're in their frequent flyer program there was a special lounge with an afternoon drink/food spread that was better than most buffet restaurants. Breakfast too.

Stephen, Frontenac is not in our considerations, If you play around with their dates, you can get a room the first weekend in November for under $200, other nights over $1000 or even $1500 for the same room. Insane.

Phred - good info, thank you.

We have been there twice. First on our honeymoon we flew into Montreal and rented a car, because we were also doing a driving trip to Tadoussac and Chicoutimi - a driving trip might be lovely for fall foliage. Second trip we flew into Quebec City in mid-winter, before the winter festival, with a change in NYC. Then a taxi from the airport - no car on that trip. Both times we stayed at the Chateau Frontenac and got reasonable, though a splurge to be sure, rates - certainly nothing like $1,000 per night. There must be some event going on at your dates. I am sure other hotels are a better deal, but on our second trip we wanted to stay where we had honeymooned. Even if you don't stay there, it's worth going inside for a look around, a meal or a drink.

I don't remember our restaurants, but you can find those on trip advisor or the like. One thing we did which was very cool, was snowshoeing in the park. Your trip may be too early for that, but it was memorable. There is also the possibility of ice fishing right in the harbor for an hourly rate if you are there in the winter.

Visited Quebec City back in May for three nights, we’re frequent travelers to France.

We splurged and stayed at the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, was apprehensive spending that much but the history of the hotel along with the perfect location was well worth it. Should you decide to go, take full advantage of the free tours they offer, all given by natives with a wealth of knowledge. If you cannot find a way to splurge, stay as close as you can to the Fairmont in the old section.

L'Affaire Est Ketchup was incredible food, difficult to get reservations, and you show up wondering if you’ve made a mistake, place looks kinda like a dive, but one of the best dinners we had in our month in eastern Canada.

Three nights was plenty.