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Party On, Old World Style, in Snowy Canada

Updated December 22, 2003 -- Magnificent Quebec City, its once-fortified walls still circling cozily about you, holds its festive 50th Annual Winter Carnival starting this January 30 and lasting through February 15. The fete's 17-day run includes the Bonhomme's Ice Palace, a daily multimedia show, the International Snow Sculpture Show, ice fishing, snow rafting, dog sledding, sleigh and antique snowmobile rides, live music performances, a flapjack breakfast, soapbox derby, canoe race, parades, a painting symposium, snow bath and an official brunch. My favorite is the promise of a giant Fooz Ball game.

Away from the festivities, Quebec City itself is worth visiting, its twisted, narrow lanes and Grand Allee carrying four centuries of history, which it shares with its cannon-studded ramparts. (Nothing to fear here, the cannons don't work.) The whole walled city in fact is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Although some packages to Quebec City are already sold out, space remains on these at time of writing:

You get to stay at the Ice Hotel in North America's only walled city as part of a package from Maxxim Vacations, a Canadian-based firm, starting at only $699 out of New York or Boston on Air Canada. The deal includes a thee-night stay (one night at the Ice Hotel and two at the Manoir Victoria in the heart of the old city), three-day midsize car rental with unlimited mileage, welcome cocktail, four-course dinner and full breakfast.

The Ice Hotel is on Lake St. Joseph, a 30-minute drive west of the city. It has four-foot-thick walls, keeping the temperature inside between 28 and 33 degrees Fahrenheit. The furniture is carved from ice, and guests sleep in warm sleeping bags. There's a bar, a nightclub, on-site cinema and wedding chapel. Optional activities include snowmobiling, ice fishing, cross-country skiing, skating, tobogganing, dogsledding and even igloo construction. There's a private indoor room at the next-door inn for washroom purposes, luggage, and a place to go to warm up.

Examples of package prices from other US gateways:

  • Chicago or Dallas $749
  • Miami $759
  • Atlanta $799
  • Phoenix $839
  • Los Angeles $879

Ice Hotel Vacation packages are available between January 9 and April 4, 2004. If you travel on Winter Carnival Weekends, add $28 extra per person. Contact Maxxim at 800/567-6666 or 709/754-6666, website www.maxximvacations.com.

VIA Rail, Canada's unified passenger rail system, has two packages that include Quebec City during the carnival. The shortest combines a visit with Montreal in a six-night package; three in the fabled Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City, three in Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel, both Fairmont properties. The package also includes first class VIA one-train service between Montreal and Quebec City, hotel taxes and GST (General Services Tax, similar to the European Value Added Tax) as applicable, as well as city to airport or vice versa transfers in Montreal. Land-only rates are per person in a double room and range from $489 to $639, depending on whether you start in Montreal or Quebec City, and the date. Dates from Montreal are January 27 and 30, February 2, 6, 9, 13, 20 and 27, 2004. Dates from Quebec City are February 12, 17 and 24, 2004.

There's a nine-night package taking in Quebec City, Montreal and Ottawa, three nights each, with amenities as above, plus three nights at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa, and train VIA Rail first class to Montreal. Departure dates out of Ottawa are February 4 and 7. Land-only prices are US $789 and $939, respectively. For more information, contact the Snowbird Travel Agency at 888/654-7144 or via the net at www.snowbirdrail.com. You can also contact VIA Rail Canada directly at 888/842-7245 for reservations or visit them at www.viarail.ca.

You can book accommodations on the carnival's official website, www.carnaval.qc.ca, or by calling 866/422-7628. A full schedule of events will be made available online by on January 9.

Have you been to Quebec City recently? Do you have an insider's tip to share for an enjoyable trip? Tell us about it on our Quebec Message Boards.

 

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