5 Best Day Trips from Quebec City
Old Quebec is compact enough to see on foot in a couple of days, which leaves plenty of room on a longer trip for the countryside just outside the city walls. Here are the five day trips worth the drive.
1. Montmorency Falls
About 15 minutes east of downtown, Montmorency Falls drops 83 meters, roughly 30 meters taller than Niagara Falls, even though Niagara carries far more water. A cable car runs to the top, a suspension footbridge crosses the gorge near the crest, and a 300-meter zipline runs over the plunge pool. In winter an ice “sugarloaf” forms at the base and draws its own crowd of photographers.
2. Ile d’Orleans
Also about 15 minutes from the city, across the Ile d’Orleans bridge, this island is known locally as the garden of Quebec: roughly 95% of its land is farmed across six historic parishes. Strawberries are ready late June into mid-July, raspberries and blueberries through July and August, and apples from September into October, with cider tastings at spots like Cidrerie Bilodeau and black-currant liqueurs at Cassis Monna & Filles.
3. Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre
About 30 minutes from the city, the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre is one of the busiest active pilgrimage sites in North America, drawing over a million visitors a year. Its origins trace to a chapel built in 1658 on land donated by settler Etienne de Lessard; the current basilica dates to 1926 after fire destroyed its 19th-century predecessor in 1922.
4. Canyon Sainte-Anne
A few minutes past Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, this steep gorge carries a 74-meter waterfall, about 14 meters taller than Niagara, crossed by three suspension footbridges. The McNicoll Bridge sits 60 meters above the river, the highest suspension bridge in Quebec, and the site is open roughly May through October with wheelchair-accessible trails and eight lookout points.
5. Wendake
Wendake is home to Canada’s only recognized Huron-Wendat community, near the site of their historic village of Stadacona. At the Onhoua Chetek8e traditional site, visitors can tour a reconstructed longhouse and smokehouse, join a guided walk, canoe, try tomahawk throwing, and sample Indigenous-inspired dishes.
Planning the day
Montmorency Falls and Ile d’Orleans sit close enough together to combine into one half or full day, while Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre and Canyon Sainte-Anne line up along the same stretch of Route 138 and pair naturally with each other. A car is the easiest way to string any two of these together since public transit options thin out fast once you leave downtown; parking at each site is straightforward and far cheaper than anything in Old Quebec itself.
Read more: see the full Quebec City travel guide for getting-there logistics, or check the things to do in Quebec City guide for what to pair with these day trips back in town.