Quebec City Travel Guide

A centuries-old city wall encircles a thicket of spires and a web of cobblestoned streets, charming bistros and horse-drawn calèches abound and a grand copper-roofed hotel overlooks an historic river: given all of these riches, it's easy to argue that Quebec City - the ‘cradle of New France' and a UNESCO World Heritage site - is the most charming city in North America.

The walled Upper Town sits atop strategic Cap Diamant, overlooking the spot where the St Lawrence River narrows. Those narrows - known as the kebec to the original Algonquin inhabitants - gave the city its name.

At the foot of Cap Diamant lies Lower Town, where Samuel de Champlain founded the city in 1608. Today, visitors strolling around the restored Place Royale can easily imagine they're back in the 1600s.

Although nearly all of the city's present residents are of French descent, nearly a third are bilingual, offering a friendly, warm welcome to visitors in English, as well as in French. Their joie de vivre is infectious and never more so than during the summer festivals, when the whole town seems to be one continuous stage.