On our previous visit to Québec City, in the summer of 2022, I remember walking with Mike along the boardwalk of Terrasse Dufferin one night, looking in the windows of one of the restaurants inside Fairmont Le Château Frontenac thinking maybe next time. I remembered the ornate and sprawling castle-like structure that had served as a north star by which we could navigate the city while exploring, a guiding beacon perched high above the old town and the St. Lawrence River, a constant reminder of where we were and just how magical of a place it was.

This December, when our taxi turned onto Rue des Carrières, the reality of where we’d be spending the next few nights finally started to sink in and I could feel a little smile lifting my cheeks automatically. Fairmont Le Château Frontenac towered above and all around us with its collection of towers, gables, dormers, and turrets. We hurried across the snow and slush-coated road to reach the covered, revolving doors that would lead us out of the biting winter chill and into the hotel’s inviting lobby.

Fairmont Le Château Frontenac

An identifying symbol not only of the Québec province, but of Canada itself, Le Château Frontenac had been the backdrop to so many of our pictures from our previous trip to Québec City. Throughout its history, the hotel has played host to the likes of royalty such as Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Grace of Monaco, world leaders such as Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower, celebrities such as Alfred Hitchcock and Céline Dion, as well as many a visiting dignitary. This time, it would play host to us- just a couple of explorers from New Jersey.

As a little girl, I wasn’t above dreaming of becoming a princess one day, despite my overall lack of grace, responsibility, and fashion sense at the time, but let’s just say that walking into the lobby of Le Château Frontenac felt about as close to a real deal princess experience as a regular girl from New Jersey could hope to stumble upon.

We checked in with the help of the welcoming hotel staff and afterwards, waited by the gilded elevator doors to head up to our room on the 10th floor. Our room was pleasantly appointed and more than decent in size, with a lovely view of the hotel’s westerly towers. There was a gift of chocolates, a bottle of Acqua Panna, and a little card on the desk to welcome us, upon our arrival. We felt grateful for the deal that we had gotten through our credit card that allowed this magical experience to become a reality. All the princess dust around me just kept on sparkling, mes amis, even if only I could sense it.

With a little time before our dinner reservation for the evening, we decided to bundle up to brave the below freezing temperatures for a stroll along the snow-covered Terrasse Dufferin. Stuffed in our layers and our snow boots, we wandered back outside. The packed-down snow on Terrasse Dufferin glimmered in the warm glow from the hotel’s up-lighting and the triple globe lamp posts that lined the promenade. We walked to the Au 1884 toboggan slides to get a glimpse of what our future had in store for us on this trip and turned back around to be greeted by a beautiful view of the hotel all lit up and a Terrasse Dufferin covered in snow, all to ourselves.

La Buchette

It was difficult to narrow down restaurant options from this city’s plethora of enticing culinary offerings. In the end, for our first night, we opted for a dinner spot just a few minutes walk from our hotel called La Buchette. The restaurant exuded an elevated rustic ambiance, influenced by traditional Québecoise cabanes à sucre, or sugar-shacks. The decor featured a ceiling made of natural wood, chandeliers comprised of antlers and warmly-lit flame bulbs, steerable wooden sleds, buffalo check table cloths, and the side of a classic car mounted on the wall, because why not? We enjoyed some drinks as we waited for our dinner, happily taking in the cozy, quirky surrounds, a welcome respite from the cold.

At the end of our delicious meal, we ordered La Buchette’s signature dessert, a cake designed to emulate McCain’s Deep’n Delicious Cake, a Canadian past-time that, according to our server, inspires a sense of nostalgia and childhood for many Canadians. The restaurant makes “Le Bûcheron” from scratch and even serves the cakes in specialty packaging that they designed in order to best pay homage to the original inspiration source and to evoke the nostalgic experience for customers of eating the cake straight out of the packaging, just as they might have eaten the McCain cakes at home in their youth.

Old Québec

Descending from Terrasse Dufferin to the winding streets of Vieux Québec on foot took a little skill in balance. The path down had us navigating winding staircases, sloped walkways, and Québec’s steep staircase, L’Escalier Casse-Cou, the Breakneck Stairs, many of which were covered in layers of ice and snow. The journey on foot was worth it, however, as we gazed down upon the glowing streets of the old town from the top of the Breakneck Stairs. For those looking to minimize treachery on their vacation, there is also the Funiculaire du Vieux-Québec, a small tram that travels the steep slope between the upper and lower towns via rail for a small fee.

We wandered through the snow-covered streets, past old, stone buildings, their windows adorned with piled evergreen boughs and glimmering ornaments here and there. Snow-flecked Christmas trees twinkled outside closed storefronts and residences, mesmerizing and magical with their lights. We turned a corner and caught our first glimpse of the beautiful Christmas trees in Place Royale, the spot where Samuel de Champlain is said to have founded the city in 1608. The square is surrounded by stone buildings and presided over by the picturesque Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church. In the cold and the muffled crunch of snow beneath our boots, there was quiet and calm.

Pub L’Oncle Antoine

We popped into this cozy little haven of a pub looking for a pint. Inside, a fire roared hot and bright in the stone hearth and animated conversations in English and French filled the arched, stone space. We shed our fleeces, our down coats, our hats, and our gloves. As we sipped locally brewed beers, we talked about Québec in the snow versus Québec in the summertime as well as of our other trips from this past year of adventure.

Breakfast at Le Château Frontenac’s Place Dufferin

I think I will spend the rest of my life dreaming about the crêpes with butterscotch sauce that I indulged in each morning at the Place Dufferin breakfast buffet, a service included with our stay. I am not sure if this is a service included for all guests of Le Château Frontenac or if it was simply part of the package that we got through our credit card, but I will admit that it only added to my sense of princess-y-ness and I may never be quite the same again. Please accept my apologies for this and direct any annoyance towards the crêpes, themselves.

Breakfast was delicious each morning and it’s very possible that we both came home a little heavier than we would have liked to be, but somethings in life are worth bending the rules for and when there are croissants and those magical dream crêpes on the table, there’s no telling what a not-princess might do.

The Place Dufferin restaurant overlooked Tarrasse Dufferin and happened to be the restaurant that we had seen through the windows of on our first trip, back in 2022. I enjoyed sipping my tea and savoring my magical crêpes while watching the passerby, all bundled up in their winter layers, as they drifted in and out of our view. I wondered if any of them were thinking, maybe next time.

Ice Skating in Place D’Youville

Mike and I took up ice skating as a hobby last winter. It was an activity we had enjoyed while living in New York and we invested in some new skates last year to marginally improve our limited skills in more comfort. I missed my Jackson Ultima Mystiques as soon as I slipped my feet into the rental skates at the Place D’Youville’s skate shop, but the rentals would simply have to do.

As we skated around the rink, snow drifted down in heavy, wet flakes and collected upon the surface of the ice. A Christmas playlist serenaded us through the rink’s speakers, projecting familiar melodies, the songs alternating between English and French. The backdrop of the old city wall and the closed stalls of the Christmas Market in the park enhanced the cozy, festive ambiance.

Q-de-Sac Resto Pub

Inside, Q-de-Sac Resto Pub looked nothing like it had on our last visit. The place had been a bit modernized and no longer had the same cozy decor and ambiance that I had remembered and been expecting prior to walking in. That’s on me, so no fault to them, of course. We shared an onion soup and a stracciatella pizza, both of which were delicious and the service was friendly and fast. Afterwards, we headed back to Pub L’Oncle Antoine again to satisfy my craving for ultra-cozy surrounds.

Terrasse Dufferin & Au 1884 Toboggans

The next morning, we caught some of the sunrise from Terrasse Dufferin. The ice floes in the river were plentiful and the ferries would have to carve their way through them later in the day. The Château beamed in the morning light and my stomach was already rumbling for breakfast and from nerves at the sight of the toboggan track that stretched out along the terrace.

As we waited to ride the Au 1884 toboggans later that day, our layers kept us comfortably warm. The only uncomfortable part about the waiting was the knowing that we would actually be following through on this activity, ourselves, in just a short while. We’d scoped out the toboggan run the previous night and decided that we would ride it as it seemed like too unique a Québec winter experience to pass up on. It was fun to watch the people as they glided to a stop on their sleds at the end of the track. It was obvious that the more people per sled, the faster the ride. We saw two sleds, each packed with four adult men, zoom by faster than any of the others had. Mike and I looked at each other and decided that, yes, we definitely should have eaten more at breakfast in order to make the ride even faster when our turn came. Eep!

My nerves kicked into high gear the moment I nestled into the toboggan at the top of the sled run. As instructed by the Au 1884 staff, my boots were wedged into the front curve of the sled, my knees splayed out to the sides like a frog’s- but, very graceful and princess-like; I know🙃. Mike sat behind me and held onto me tight, his boots balanced on top of my knees, as instructed. There may have been many an “Eep!” uttered at this point as I looked down from the top of the track.

“Vous êtes tous prêts?” said the staff member at the top of the toboggan run, “Are you all ready?”

“Eep!“

“Un. Deux. Trois! Have fuuuun!“

And just like that we were off, sliding down our lane much faster than it had appeared from our earlier recon mission. It was scary and fast and lasted longer than I expected it to, but it was also a thrill and tons of fun!

Marché de Noël Allemand de Québec

Québec’s German Christmas Market is comprised of five market locations that are freckled about the upper town. The market stalls are typically open Thursday through Sunday during the holiday season and are a fun and festive way to explore the offerings of locally made artisan products and foods. We were in the market for some hot chocolate, a warm pretzel, and some gingerbread and along the way picked up some other little samplings of potato and vegetable stew, mulled wine, churros, and macarons. This was such an enjoyable way to grab lunch at Christmastime in this city and despite the crowds and the touristy areas, this did not seem like an attraction that was exclusively targeted toward tourists. We heard mainly French as we walked around the markets and interacting with the people running the stalls was a fun way to put some of my own French to use. C’était très amusant pour moi!

1608 Bar

With a late dinner reservation at a nearby restaurant and a credit to use at our hotel that was part of our reservation package, we decided to pay a visit to Le Château Frontenac’s 1608 Bar. We checked in with the host and waited to be seated at the bar, a spectacle of a tower set inside a circular bar within library-like environs. I ordered a Jameson Old Fashioned and Mike ordered something called 1943, a scotch-based cocktail similar to an Old Fashioned, but with hints of smoked cinnamon and cinnamon-anise. Yum!

Bello Ristorante

For our final dinner of our trip, we decided on Bello Ristorante. We were seated at the bar with complimentary prosecco, as our table was not yet ready, and we were happy to remain there and let the host know we would. As with all of our other culinary experiences in this magical city, Bello did not fail to impress. I ordered some red wine and we shared a Caesar salad. I opted for the half portion of Linguini al Pesto for my meal and was so content there eating my pasta in the glow of the warm, pizza oven, sipping my wine, and talking to Mike that I forgot to take any pictures. You’ll just have to try it for yourselves someday, I guess! 🙂

Final thoughts

Mike and I decided pretty early on into this trip that it was our favorite destination out of all of our trips this year. Maybe I’ll do a post with my ranking of all the places we visited this year. Maybe not. That remains to be determined. Still, if you are looking for the ultimate Christmas-y destination for your future winter travels, I can’t recommend Québec City enough. From the snow to the lights to the peaceful streets of the old town after dark to the flavors and cozy environs all around, we were enchanted the entire time.

A note on dressing for Canada in winter:

Leading up to our trip, I watched many a YouTube video trying to figure out how to pack for Québec City in winter and came across a very useful video from a channel called Must Do Canada that really helped to determine our travel wardrobe for this trip. As Matt and Karla explain in their video, the key to enjoying Canada in winter is to be prepared with the appropriate layers for all of the activities that you plan to do.

At the very least, you’ll want to make sure you have a set of base thermals that are lightweight and close-fitting, a breathable, moisture-wicking mid layer, a proper winter coat, and waterproof snow boots. As we live in a climate that reaches below freezing temperatures in the winter, we knew we would use any pieces that we invested in beyond this trip, so we did some research and bought some pieces that we were very glad to have when it came time to walking around in the cold for hours at a time in Québec. If you do not live in a climate that reaches below freezing temperatures and do not want to purchase special gear, there are also services available in the city where you can rent winter gear and have it delivered to your hotel so it is ready for you when you arrive.

Polyester, wool, and down or down-alternative products are great materials for keeping you warm and dry in cold, snowy conditions. Pair these with accessories like a wool hat, waterproof gloves or mittens, and wool socks, and you’ll be comfortable despite harsh winter conditions.

Happy New Year!

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this post as well as my other posts from this year! I wish you all a very Happy New Year full of health, joy, fulfillment, and peace. Always remember, it is enough to be you without bells and whistles. Success appears in different ways to different people and I think that was a big learn for me this year. Be good, be kind, be happy if you can and know that you deserve that whether you accomplished your 2025 goals or not! Sending love and positivity your way as we close out this holiday season! Thanks again, all!💖