Hi Nonrevvers!
I just thought I'd share a successful quick trip to Quebec City. We originated in PHL, took AA to Montreal and gulp, stood by for a ZED on Air Canada. It was around the second week of December. This is what I learned:
1/ It can be really COLD in Canada in early December. Our first day was 2-15 degrees F and then we were grateful for the next few days at a balmy 30F! Walking around the charming Quebec City at 30F was much more do able than at 10F.
2/ Air Canada was great. Very nice, easy and pretty transparent, as much as a neutral face on Travel ID can be. My airline requires you to call AC to list, and the agents were very nice about telling me my chances. Nice flight attendants and pilots. I always bring chocolate and little plane staff really seem to like that!
3/ Travelling in the two weeks before Christmas is a treat. Having been burned once, I waited until we had our boarding passes to Quebec City to call the B&B I'd been eyeing on line. They showed availability, but you never know. As a rule, I like B&Bs for personal travel. Staying in convention style hotels for layovers makes me do a 180 with my own dollar. They tend to be a great value with many inclusions besides just breakfast, and I have had wonderful interactions with the hosts. They're very patient and knowledgeable. I always book direct, and I'd say 90% of the time the price is better. The only downside is, I can't bring myself to do reviews, because usually the host becomes such a friend, and friends can't review friends! Sufice to say, they were inside the wall, very near the Chateau Frontenac on a street with a lot of B&Bs with a great breakfast and well rated on TripAdvisor. It was a good choice, comfortable beds, lovely staff and the only criticism is it was a bit worn, but that doesn't really bother me as it was very clean.
3/ Quebec city is charming! We basically wandered and ate. The Augustine Museum is worth doing. Views of the St. Lawrence river are beautiful and I just kept marveling at all of the ice. Apparently in the old days it would freeze solid and one could walk to the other bank and back. Now they have ice breakers for commerce.
4/ LOTS of nice restaurants. We didn't get to do it, but a restaurant called "The Continental" was highly recommended by our host. Old style table side service, apparently really nice. We need restaurants with gluten free options and that wasn't a problem most places. The Petit Chateau crepe place does gluten free crepes!
5/ The port market is worth a visit, we bought some Christmas ornaments, ice wine and Canadian wine. I would've bought some Canadian wine to take home but alas, not on a connecting ZED. There was also a German Christmas market near the Frontenac. Got a gluwhein, but I thought it was pricey as it was tiny for $5.
6/ Slamming through the beginning of December flying to accommodate this trip resulted in me conking out early every day, so we had a nice lunch and then got stuff at the little grocer near the Frontenac in the evening. Prices are high but you're paying for location. The restaurants were not overly expensive, pretty commensurate to what you'd pay in a US city. Don't look at the taxes.
7/ We used Uber from the airport and once to get back to the B&B when we wimped out to the 2 degree temp. Easy and reasonable.
8/ Quebec City has a really nice Priority pass lounge. Our B&B host woke up early to make us breakfast, but we were able to sit by a nice fireplace and have coffee in the lounge before the flight. I left my travel companion to sit out near the gate as the boarding time came close, the flight was delayed, and I was preparing to be bumped but the agent just transferred us to another flight. Again, AC staff are really nice.
9/ You'll both enter and exit Canada with security and passport control. Entering was easier than I thought, and I was really worried about our connection to Quebec City. They have a transit pathway. Montreal is a pretty big airport, and of course AA flights were a hike away. Still, we made it! Like I said, gotta love early December. We were wondering about Global Entry and Nexus compatibility, but apparently they aren't linked, so we went through normally. The process in Montreal to leave Canada took a bit longer, and again a hike. If you can print your boarding passes, I'd recommend it. I relied on our phones, and we had a few bad moments in Montreal when the Security people couldn't get their scanner to read the bar code. They have Global entry.
10/ For Montreal being so big, there isn't a Priority pass lounge available for domestic or US bound flights, we didn't have time anyway, but I thought it was odd.
Quebec City is definitely worth a trip and a nice city break! You can also drive from Montreal, which I would do in the summer as there's a scenic route that goes through some nice villages.
Hope this is useful!
