Happy Tuesday friends! I hope that your week is off to a wonderful start! This week I am excited to share with y'all one of our first stops that we took on our Holland America Cruise, Quebec City!
It was our first time being in Quebec City and I look forward to sharing more about this charming city that reminded me so much of Europe this week! Today I wanted to share with y'all a bit of history and about our time touring around this beautiful area of the world!
Old Quebec (sometimes referred to as the Latin Quarter or Old Town Quebec) is a UNESCO World Heritage treasure as it is the only fortified city north of Mexico. With more than 400 years of rich history, this beautiful area of the world is sure to remind you of the charm of a quaint European city right in North America.
As it was our first time visiting I wasn't sure what to expect and was completely enthralled with the city and definitely plan to go back to spend more time here. If you love European cities but are looking for something in North America to explore you will want to add this to your bucket list!
There is an "upper town" and "lower town" section of Old Quebec City and you can access both by walking up the cobblestone windy hills (reminding me of our visit to Heidelberg after touring Heidelberg castle in Germany) or taking a funicular to the top, or by taking a taxi between both areas. If you are coming from a ship like we were and are short on time, I would suggest taking a taxi to give you the ability to spend as much time in the city itself.
We sort of did a combination of using the transportation and walking and for our short period of time that we were in Old Quebec City it worked well for us.
We first spent time exploring the Upper Town walking around the fort area, watching music performances that were going on and then going to the Historic Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac (you can read about it HERE) for a brief tour.
After this we walked back out to the Upper Town square and just took time enjoying this beautiful place we were in!
You could see our ship from the upper area and it was such a beautiful view!
After this we walked around a couple of the side streets surrounding the Historic Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac. All of the colors of the buildings and flags and architecture reminded me so much of the European cities that we visited on our Rhine River Cruise!
If you are into history and learning more about the cultural background of the places you are visiting then Old Quebec City is definitely for you! There was so much history in this one place it was amazing!
As we started to make our way down to our cruise ship we enjoyed walking slowly and meandering down the different streets. Many of them were cobblestone (something y'all know just makes my little heart smile *smiles*) and it was lovely.
This square area was one of my favorites to explore. I loved the vivid pops of red on this roof against the other buildings and it was truly just an amazing day!
Important tip: When you leave the square above that I just talked about take the side alley with all of the artists and artwork. It was truly an art lovers dream and the people were so sweet. I love picking up pieces of art along my travels - they decorate my living space with special memories (like this trip) and are truly one of a kind treasures!
We spent our time walking down the streets towards our ship, just stopping in and out of shops, reading through the historic plaques that are all throughout the streets and just enjoying our time in this quaint place.
It really was the perfect day in Old Quebec City and I can't wait to return! It is definitely a place I would recommend a visit to! I know that I said this a lot in this blog post, but often times I hear from people that want to go explore more in Europe but can't afford to leave North America. As it was our first time visiting I wasn't sure what to expect and was completely enthralled with the city and definitely plan to go back to spend more time here - maybe even spending several days by grabbing a rent a car such as Globe Car & Truck Rental of Montreal to visit Montreal as well. If you love European cities but are looking for something in North America to explore you will want to add this to your bucket list as it will give you a beautiful taste of European charm and quaintness!
Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to read today! I can't wait to share more with y'all regarding our Holland American Cruise adventures and about the beautiful Quebec City this week!
Happy Tuesday friends! I hope you have a wonderful day!
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