Vieux-Québec: Haute-Ville The Upper Town of Old Québec, surrounded by thick ramparts, occupies the crest of Cap Diamant and overlooks the Fleuve Saint-Laurent (St. Lawrence River). It includes many of the sites for which the city is famous, among them the Château Frontenac, Place d'Armes, Basilica of Notre-Dame, Québec Seminary and Museum, and Terrasse Dufferin. At a still higher elevation, to the south of the Château and along the river, is the Citadelle, a partially star-shaped fortress begun by the French in the 18th century and augmented often by the English well into the 19th century. With most buildings at least 100 years old and made of granite in similar styles, the Haute-Ville is visually harmonious, with few jarring modern intrusions. When they added a new wing to the Château Frontenac a few years ago, for instance, they modeled it after the original -- standing policy here. The Terrasse Dufferin is a pedestrian promenade that attracts crowds in all seasons for its magnificent views of the river and its water traffic, which includes ferries gliding back and forth, cruise ships, and Great Lakes freighters putting in at the harbor below.
Vieux-Québec: Basse-Ville and Vieux-Port The Lower Town part of Old Québec encompasses Vieux-Port, the old port district; the impressive Museum of Civilization, a highlight of any visit; Place Royale, perhaps the most attractive of the city's many squares and where the small Notre-Dame-des-Victoires church resides; and the restored Quartier du Petit-Champlain, including pedestrian-only rue du Petit-Champlain. Petit-Champlain is undeniably touristy, but not unpleasantly so, and has many agreeable cafés and shops. Most visitors travel between Lower and Upper Towns by the cliff-side elevator (funiculaire) at the north end of rue du Petit-Champlain, or by the adjacent stairway.
Parliament Hill Once you pass through the walls at the St-Louis Gate, you're still in Haute-Ville (Upper Town), but no longer in the old city of Vieux-Québec. Rue St-Louis becomes Grande-Allée, a wide boulevard that passes the stately Parliament building on the right and runs parallel to the broad expanse of the Plains of Abraham off to the left, where one of the most important battles in the history of North America took place between the French and the British for control of the city and where the lively Carnaval de Québec is held each winter. Two blocks after the Parliament, the Grande-Allée becomes lined on both sides with terraced restaurants and cafés. The city's large modern hotels are in this area, and the Musée des Beaux-Arts is a pleasant 20-minute walk up the Allée from the Parliament. Moving southwest on Grande-Allée, the area becomes more residential and flows into the Montcalm district.
St-Roch Northwest of Parliament Hill and enough of a distance from Vieux-Québec to warrant a cab ride, this newly revitalized neighborhood has some of the trendiest restaurants and bars in the city. A dreary indoor pedestrian mall on the central rue St-Joseph est has been gutted -- with the roof removed, sidewalks widened, and new benches added -- and money has been given to artists to renovate the interior and exterior of their industrial buildings. All this adds up to a neighborhood with a youthful pop and an influx of new technology and media companies. Much of St-Roch, including what's referred to as Québec's "downtown" shopping district, remains nondescript and a little grubby. But the blocks gravitating from the corner of rue St-Joseph and rue du Parvis (where Hugo Boss moved in with a massive store) are increasingly home to top-notch restaurants and cute boutiques. (On older maps, rue du Parvis was called rue de l'Eglise.)
