Québec proudly reflects a tradition of French culture, never more so than in the restaurants and cuisine of the province. French food here is as excellent as in Europe. Immigrants from many countries provide a vast selection. English, Greek, Italian, Japanese and Spanish cuisines are all available in Montréal and Québec. International menus are found at all the larger hotels, but the best food is found by wandering around the backstreets of the cities and sampling the small but excellent restaurants scattered throughout both cities. The Île d'Orléans is an island northeast of Québec City that provides abundant fruit and vegetables for the city. Québec follows French tradition in having excellent standards of wine and spirits to complement the high standards of cuisine. Some spirits and rarer wines are imported from Europe.

Things to know: Taverns and brasseries serve alcoholic beverages from 1200-0300 every day. Cocktail lounges and cabarets stay open until 0200 and 0300, respectively, in Québec and Montréal.

Regional specialities:
• Pork dishes such as Ragoût de boulettes (pork meatballs with seasoning), Cretons du Québec (chilled minced pork) and beans and pork baked in maple syrup.
• Poutine (French fries with cheese curds and gravy).
• Game, such wild boar, venison, and even caribou and wapiti (deer).
• Tarte au sucre (maple sugar pie).
• Queues de Castor translates as 'beaver tails' but are actually a fast-food delight of deep-fried pastry, either sweet with cinnamon and sugar or raspberry jam, or savoury, such as with garlic butter or cheese.

Regional drinks:
• Wines and spirits based on maple sap are a speciality of the region, among them maple cider, ice cider and maple whiskey.
• Local mead.

Legal drinking age: 18.

Tipping: It is customary to tip between 10 and 15% at bars and restaurants in Québec.

Québec City and Montréal offer some of the best nightclubs and cabarets to be found anywhere in Canada. In Montréal, the action seldom begins before 2200 and usually continues until 0300 the next morning. Nightlife is concentrated in the western part of the downtown area along Crescent and Bishop Streets and around Ste-Catherine Street, where there are many bars, restaurants and clubs of all kinds. For a particularly French flavour, try the many clubs, bars, restaurants, cafes and bistros further east around Saint-Denis and Saint-Laurent.

Québec City and Montréal have excellent shopping facilities, both in large department stores and small street markets. Specialities include furs, Native American crafts, haute couture, antiques, specialist fashion boutiques and discount retail outlets.

Shopping hours: Mon-Wed 0900-1800, Thurs-Fri 0900-2100 and Sat 0900-1700. Most shops are open on Sunday.