Orientation

Almost all of a visit to Québec City can be spent on foot in the old Lower Town, which hugs the river below the bluff, and in the old Upper Town, atop Cap Diamant (Cape Diamond); many accommodations, restaurants, and tourist-oriented services are based in these places.

The colonial city was first built right down by the St. Lawrence; it was here that the earliest merchants, traders, and boatmen earned their livelihoods. Unfriendly fire from the British and Amerindians in the 1700s moved residents to safer houses atop the cliffs that form the rim of the Cap. The tone and atmosphere of the 17th and 18th centuries still suffuse these areas today.

Basse-Ville (Lower Town) became primarily a district of wharves and warehouses. That trend has been reversed, with new auberges (inns), small hotels, and many attractive bistros and shops bringing life to the area -- though it maintains the architectural feel of its origins, reusing old buildings and maintaining the narrow cobbled streets.

Haute-Ville (Upper Town) turned out to not be immune to cannon fire either (as the British General James Wolfe proved in 1759 when he took the city from the French). Nevertheless, the division into Upper and Lower towns persisted for obvious topographical reasons. Upper Town remains enclosed by fortification walls, with a cliff-side elevator (funiculaire) and several steep streets connecting it to Lower Town.

City Layout

Main Avenues & Streets -- Within the walls of Haute-Ville (Upper Town), the principal streets are rues St-Louis (which becomes Grande-Allée outside the city walls), Ste-Anne, and St-Jean. In Basse-Ville (Lower Town), major streets are St-Pierre, Dalhousie, St-Paul, and, parallel to St-Paul, St-André. Useful maps of Upper and Lower towns and the metropolitan area are available at any tourist office .

Finding an Address -- If it were larger, the historic district's winding and plunging streets might be confusing to negotiate. However, it's very compact. Most streets are only a few blocks long, making it fairly easy to find a specific address.