This was my first trip into the province of Quebec in Canada. My main plan while travelling through this province was to see Montreal and Quebec City. I have wanted to visit both of these cities for many years and have finally made it.
The first thing I noticed when entering Quebec was the French signage. Canada is a country with “co-official “ languages. English and French have equal status as the official languages. While growing up I did not learn to speak French as the language was not prominent in Western Canada. I did take a few years of French in high school but that was many moons ago. In Quebec I was definitely at a disadvantage not knowing French.
Montreal
When I first arrived in Montreal I had to pull out my translation book to see if I could park on the street I was on. I enjoy taking the tourist bus tours when in a new city as I find it is a great way to get familiar with the city and what I want to see more of.
Montreal is a large cosmopolitan city. It is the largest city in Quebec. I did not realize it was set on an island in the Saint Lawrence River and named after Mt. Royal, the triple-peaked hill at its heart. The bus tour took me through several neighbourhoods with stunning architecture and history. The cobblestoned streets and fabulous parks were beautiful. One of the highlights of this city is Notre-Dame Basilica.
I toured downtown Montreal for the day and spent the night at a Walmart just on the outskirts. The next day I headed to the suburbs to visit with my stepdaughter and her kids. A wonderful catch up as we had not seen each other for a few years.
Out of Control Feeling
As I was heading out of the city I needed to buy groceries. This is usually such an easy task but here I felt out of control with the self check out screen all in French. Thank goodness for lovely English speaking staff/attendants when I was trying to buy anything. I knew Quebec is the main French speaking province in Canada but now I was here I got first hand experience. It felt like I was in a different country which made me feel a little lost.
Quebec City was just under 3 hours from Montreal so I headed that way taking 2 days to travel. A major rain storm and the French signage made the trip a tiny bit stressful. A somewhat quiet gas station was my first night spot just outside of Montreal. Figuring it might be more difficult to find a place to park in Quebec City I decided to spend the second night at a beautiful church in Donnacona, which was just on the outskirts of the city. I headed into Quebec City first thing the next morning.
Quebec City
It was fairly quiet being early on a Tuesday morning so I drove around exploring a bit and to get the lay of the land. Unfortunately it was another rainy stormy day and definitely was not touristy weather. I found a beautiful spot along the St. Lawrence river to park for the day. A little coffee shop nearby was a refuge for a hour or so outside of my van. I found a spot near Victoria park to spend the night. Thank you Ioverlander.
The weather the next day was still cloudy but better so I decided to head into Old Quebec City. First I did a walking tour of this beautiful historic city. I could feel the history in all these stunning buildings, narrow cobblestoned streets and stunning gardens. Definitely coming again, hopeful in the sunshine next time.
I then took a bus tour around both Quebec City and Old Quebec City, which gave me some beautiful views and many historical facts that I was not aware of. I learned Quebec it on the most narrow spot on the St Lawrence river. Quebec got its name in 1608 and was derived from an Algonquian word meaning “where the river narrows”.
A wonderful city and I would highly recommend visiting this stunning Canadian city. There were several spots for the vanlifer to stay which was lovely to find.
Where I stayed in Quebec
- Sept 16 Harvest host near Saint Telesphere – Ferme Lafleur
- Sept 17 Walmart in Salle
- Sept 18 Irving truck stop north of Montreal
- Sept 19 Church parking lot Donnacona 1/2 hr from Quebec City
- Sept 20 Near Victoria Park in Quebec City
- Sept 21 Rest stop east of Quebec City
My travelling through Quebec was fun and educational even though I felt a bit out of control at times not knowing the French language. I just experienced a tiny slice of this massive province and will enjoy exploring more next time. Onward to Canada’s Maritime Provinces.
Loved Quebec City. We stayed in a boutique hotel in Old Quebec. Would definitely love to go back
It was a lovely place to just wander around.
Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular article! It is the little changes that will make the largest changes. Many thanks for sharing!
I am happy to hear my article was helpful for you. Happy travels.