I have been swooning over the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac for many years now. It has probably popped up on your IG feed at some point, like it did on mine, and that’s because it is the most photographed hotel in the world. It’s easy to see why. It sits perched right above the expansive Saint Lawrence River, with UNESCO’s historic district of Old Québec and the famous Quartier du Petit Champlain right below. Also, it is just stunning.
Over this past February school break, Elle, my parents, and I packed up the car, and headed north for a little Canadian adventure. My parents travel to Canada every August to celebrate their anniversary, and I remember looking through their photos of Old Québec from a few years back, and instantly falling in love with the charm of it all.
We decided to spend one night in Montreal—I haven’t been in almost 20 years, to break up the drive a bit (side note: it took us about 5 and a half hours from south of Boston to get to downtown Montreal; border patrol did take longer than expected). Montreal, especially the old part is really lovely. Lots of great shops and restaurants with amazing French food everywhere!
From Montreal to Québec, it was 2.5 hours, but a very easy, straight drive. As we were approaching Old Québec, we had the frozen Saint Lawrence River to our right, and it was truly a sight. It was mostly frozen over with giant chunks of ice slowly drifting along. Up ahead on the left, the Fairmont Le Château came into view. It truly is a modern-day castle, and Elle was mesmerized from the moment she saw it. We wound our way up through the historic district, right up to the hotel. Conveniently, all parking is valet, so we unloaded our bags (SO MANY BAGS), and made our way in, to check in.
If the outside looks grand, you have to step inside, because the lobby is spectacular. From the impressive rotating doors, to the expansive interior, all the way to the famous golden elevators. After checking in and getting the scoop on all the amenities and dining options (and the kids scavenger hunt!) we headed up to our room. We were on the 7th floor (same floor as the pool/gym/spa), which is great if you are traveling with children!
Our room was a Signature City View with two Queen sized beds; a large desk, fridge/mini bar, coffee maker, a very spacious front entry closet, and a bathroom with a shower/tub combination and amazing bath products.
After settling in and changing, we headed down to the lobby to walk around the hotel for a bit, before heading to dinner at Le Sam Bistro located on the main level.
We were seated at a spacious table by the window with two lounge couches on each side. The atmosphere at Le Sam is the type you see on the gram, and you say “I want to go there!” The navy and gold décor alone make me want to go back! Now the food… this menu was unreal. We opted for a lovely bottle of white from Austria, and for starters ordered oysters, salmon tartar, the French onion soup, andddd the appetizer tasting board suggested by our server. For our main courses, Elle and my dad had the cod fish and chips, my mom got the braised beef cheek (she said it was the best meat she’s ever had), and I got the truffle woodland mushroom ravioli. Everything was scrumptious, and I loved that nothing was rushed. We were at dinner for over two hours, just the way meals out should be, and truly got to enjoy our time together, as well as the culinary experience.
The next morning, we headed to breakfast at Place Dufferin, located on the Dufferin Terrace within the hotel. The breakfast menu offers a little bit of everything for everyone. From your “traditional” eggs, meat, potatoes, toast, and fruit, to the more “unique” options of smoked salmon eggs benedict, a vegetarian option with poached eggs and white bean puree, and of course crepes and French toast for the sweet tooth members of your party. We had breakfast at Place Dufferin every morning. The large windows facing the boardwalk outside made for great people watching, the food was always tasty, service prompt and attentive, and we enjoyed starting our day without having to “rush out the door”.
After breakfast, Elle insisted on heading to the pool, and who could argue with her? Also, it was in the negative degrees outside, and a mini blizzard was brewing, so we were happy to oblige.
At the pool, you are provided with towels, and there were lounge chairs for use as well. There is a wading pool connected to the main pool, as well as life jackets and pool noodles for use. One part of the pool is roped off for laps, and there is also a hot tub nearby. If you head to the locker rooms, you can store your belonging, shower, etc., but the best part is the steam sauna! My mom and I spent a good amount of time fully relaxing in there, while my dad and Elle swam lap after lap in the pool. To each their own!
After about two and a half hours at the pool (this was daily, ha!) we finally convinced Elle that it was time to head back and get ready to head out, explore Old Québec, and have dinner in Quartier du Petit Champlain.
There are two ways down from the hotel to Petit Champlain. You can exit the front of the hotel, and take the stairs all the way down to this part, however in the winter it does get VERY slippery, so just be prepared to hold on to railings, and wear good boots.
The other way to get down (which we did the following day) is to take Le Funiculaire down from the back of the hotel. It’s a quick one-minute ride down, and costs $4 CAD per person.
Once we made our walk down to Petit Champlain, I just stood there in awe at the quaintness, and fairytale feeling of this historic place. Everything was covered in snow, including the streets. The boutique storefronts were adorned in “winter” décor, with Elle proclaiming “it’s still Christmas here!” in the most exuberant way. Some of the restaurants had café tables outside with heater lamps warming up guests enjoying their beverages, and French onion soup. Everywhere you looked, it felt like you traveled back in time. We walked around for a solid hour, before deciding that we needed adult beverages and French onion soup to warm up as well.
We opted for indoor dining at a Q-De-Sac Resto Pub. A super cozy place with a brick oven, high top tables, and a laid-back vibe. Once again, our service was wonderful, our waitress chatted with us for quiet some time, made great menu recommendations, and made us feel right at home. We had our first poutine, Elle had baked mac and cheese, I ordered a white brick oven pizza, we got French onion soup (because when in Canada!), and my dad and mom split the braised beef cheeks. Again, ahhhmazing!
Bellies full we ventured outside as the storm was picking up. We made our way around a few more times, and decided it was probably time to call it a night.
The following day, after breakfast, we made a plan to head out early (it was sunny and no wind), to do the toboggan slides, located on the Dufferin Terrace. What’s really neat is this structure is one of the oldest attractions in town, and has been there since 1884. You can get your tickets (and hot cocoa) at Au 1884, and wait for a toboggan to become available. You then walk it up to the top of the hill, and once seated (it holds up to 4 people), you “race” two other toboggans at around 43 mph. Yep! You fly. We had so much fun going down, (by we, I mean, Elle, my dad, and I—my mom is a scaredy cat), we went down twice.
Then armored with hot cocoa, we took the Funiculaire down to Petit Champlain to check it out in the day time, and stop into some boutiques.
We then made our way back up to the castle, and walked around Old Québec’s “upper” district.
We found a local-esque spot, La Bouche, and headed inside for some drinks and apps.
Afterwards we headed back to the hotel, and off to the pool we went!
That evening, I made a reservation for us at Bistro Sous le Fort in Petit Champlain, and we had a fantastic meal. Seriously, French food in Old Québec was superb, and our service was excellent everywhere we went.
On our last morning, we enjoyed a little game of Rat-A-Tat-Cat while waiting for breakfast at Place Dufferin, then packed our bags, loaded into the car, and drove 20 minutes to nearby Parc de la Chute-Montmorency. Highly recommend stopping here, parking the car on the lower level, walking out to the waterfall, and then taking the cable car up to the top where you will find a suspension bridge that takes you across the waterfall. Truly spectacular, a bit frightening, but a great 1-2 hour stop right outside of Old Québec.
Our ride home was smooth sailing (we missed a huge snowstorm arriving in New England the next morning), so we made great timing from Old Québec, across the Canadian border into Vermont, and to my parent’s place in a little over 6 hours.
This trip was so different than so many of our other adventures, but it will stay with us for a long time. I can’t recommend staying at the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac enough, being there was an unforgettable experience of its own; you really never have to leave the property if you didn’t want to! But do venture out, because Old Québec is such a treat, especially in the winter!
xx,
Anastasia
