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Artillery Park
The French chose this location for their army barracks because of its strategic view of the plateau west of the city and the St Charles River, both which could easily feed enemy soldiers into Québec City. English soldiers moved in after the British conquest of New France. The English soldiers left in 1871 and it was changed into a ammunition factory for the Canadian army.
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Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame-De-Québec
The interior is appropriately grandiose, though most of the basilica's treasures didn't survive the 1922 fire that left behind only the walls and foundations. Everyone from governors of New France to archbishops and cardinals are buried in the crypt below.
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Cathedral Of The Holy Trinity
This elegantly handsome Anglican cathedral was the first built outside the British Isles, oak was imported from Windsor Castle's 'Royal Forest' just to make the pews. The royal box is in the upper left balcony if you are facing the altar. (Look for the royal coat of arms.) The bell tower, 47m-high, competes for attention with the nearby Basilique Notre-Dame. A guide is usually around in the summer and gives free 10-minute tours.
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Centre d'Interpretation de Place-Royale
This interpretive center touts the area as the cradle of French history. The exhibits focus on the individual people, houses and challenges of setting up on the shores of the St Lawrence River. It goes a bit heavy on the random artifact displays (just how many displays of uncaptioned broken cups and saucers does one visitor need to see at a time?) but otherwise there are slick, worthwhile displays.
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Discovery Pavilion
This building houses the main Québec City tourist office, Centre Infotouriste, and the wonderful exhibition Canada Odyssey. In it, you move from theater to theater where the history of the Plains of Abraham are depicted through clever multi-media presentations and generous dollops of good humor.
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Église Notre-Dame-Des-Victoires
The oldest stone church in the USA and Canada, dating from 1688, Our Lady of Victories is a modest house of worship on the Place-Royale, Lower Town's principal square. It stands on the very spot where de Champlain set up his 'Habitation,' a small stockade, 80 years prior to the church's arrival. Inside a replica of a wooden ship hangs from the ceiling - the Brézé thought to be a good-luck charm for ocean crossings and battles with the Iroquois.
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Église St-Jean-Baptiste
This colossus completely dominates its area on the southwest end of rue St-Jean. The first church was built in 1842 but destroyed by fire in 1881. It was completely rebuilt by architect Joseph-Ferdinand Peachy and open again for business by 1884. In summer, the church presents modest but well researched exhibitions on church or neighborhood history.
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Église St-Roch
There are giants and then there is this, the biggest church in Québec City. Measuring over 80m (260ft)long, 34m (110ft) wide and 46m (150ft) high including the steeples, it was built between 1914 and 1923. Église St-Roch hosts the Festival des Musiques Sacrées de Québec (Festival of Sacred Music), a wonderful time to see it at its best.
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Fortifications Of Québec
These largely restored old walls are a national historic site. You can walk the 4.6km (2.9mi) circuit on top of them for free, from where much of the city's history is within easy view. The fortifications' Interpretive Centre by the Porte St-Louis has a small but interesting exhibit on the history of the walls as well as an old gunpowder building from 1815. The Centre also offers 90-min guided walks that include the Old Town.
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Hôtel Du Parlement
The National Assembly building is a Second Empire structure completed in 1886. It's home to the Provincial Legislature. Free tours are given in English and French year round. The 30-min visits get you into the National Assembly Chamber, the Legislative Council Chamber and the Speakers' Gallery. The grounds here are also used for staging events during Winter Carnival.
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La Citadelle
This massive star-shaped fort towers above the St Lawrence River on Cap Diamant. The excellent hour-long guided tours give you the low-down on the spectacular architecture and covers exhibits on military life from colonial times to today. The changing of the guard takes place daily at in summer. The beating of the retreat, with soldiers banging on their drums at shift's end, happens every Friday at from July 6 until early September.
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Louis S St-Laurent Heritage House
Louis St-Laurent (1882-1973) was Canada's prime minister from 1948 to 1957. He spent most of his life in Québec City at this address and the house is 'alive' with his life story. Literally. Each room is hooked up to motion detectors - just walk in and prepare to have family photos start talking to you or phones ring with urgent messages for you to pass on to Mr Laurent. It's all brilliantly done; interactive history at its best.
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Martello Tower 1
For some reason, many visitors balk at having to pay admission here perhaps put off by its small size. It's too bad because there's heaps of fascinating information packed into the tower's tiny package and it's well worth the money. The interactive exhibitions explore the engineering history of the structures and soldiers living conditions in them and children in particular seem to get a real kick out of them.
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Musée de l'Amérique Française
Right on the grounds of the Séminaire de Québec (the Québec Seminary) this excellent museum is purported to be Canada's oldest museum. (The Musée Scientifique du Séminaire de Québec opened here in 1806). Today's museum has brilliantly atmospheric exhibits on life in the seminary during the colonial era as well as religious artifacts and temporary exhibitions on subjects like endangered species.
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Musée de la Civilisation
The Museum of Civilization wows you even before you've visited the exhibitions. It's a fascinating mix of modern design that incorporates pre-existing buildings with contemporary architecture. The permanent exhibits, like one on the cultures of Québec's Aboriginals and one titled People of Québec: Then and Now, are unique and well worth seeing. Many include clever interactive elements.
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Musée des Ursulines
The fascinating story of the Ursuline nuns' lives and influence in the 17th and 18th centuries is told in this thoughtful, well set out museum. The sisters established the first girls' school on the continent in 1641 educating both Aboriginal and French girls. The Ursulines were also expert embroiderers and many examples of their work are on display. There's a lovely chapel on site. It dates from 1902 but retains some interiors from 1723.
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Musée du Fort
Not really a museum at all, the Musée du Fort houses a 30min multimedia show on the many attempts over the centuries to take Québec City, played out on a model/diorama that lights up in the middle of a mini-theater. The breathless narration and anaemic smoke puffs that pass for special effects are a bit hokey but it does give a quick, enjoyable, easy-to-grasp audio-visual survey of the city's battles and history, making a good introduction to it.
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Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec
Anyone curious about Québec art needs to carve out at least half-a-day for a visit to this museum, one of the best in the province. There are expert permanent exhibitions that range from art and artists in the early French colonies to Québec's abstract artists. There's also individual halls devoted entirely to the province's artistic giants of the last century.
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Nunavik Information Centre
Far in Québec's north, Nunavik is almost completely inhabited by Inuit. Most Quebecers know little about the Inuit culture or this fascinating region. This modest center was opened mainly to promote tourism to the area, but it also has interesting pictures and small craft displays. The friendly staff are more than willing to shoot the breeze for the genuinely curious, answering questions on anything from the Inuit language to Inuit culture.
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Observatoire de la Capitale
Head 221m (725ft) up to the 31st floor for great views of the Old Town, the St Lawrence River and (if it's clear enough) even the Laurentian Mountains. It all helps to get your bearings while the information panels along the way will get you up to speed on some of the local history.
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