7 Hidden Gems in Quebec City
1. The glass viewing prisms on Dufferin Terrace
Set into the boardwalk in front of the Chateau Frontenac, these glass prisms let you look straight down into the Saint-Louis Forts and Chateaux National Historic Site, an active archaeological dig uncovering the remains of the old governors’ residences. Most visitors walk right over them without noticing.
2. The Governors’ Promenade
At the far end of Dufferin Terrace, a staircase climbs to a quieter promenade that runs along the Citadelle walls and connects through to the Plains of Abraham, a good way to reach the battlefield on foot without doubling back through the crowds on Rue Saint-Louis.
3. The floor markings at Notre-Dame-des-Victoires
Built in 1688 on the exact site of Champlain’s original trading post, this is the oldest stone church in North America, and archaeologists have marked the foundations of Champlain’s second house right on the floor in front of it, a small detail almost nobody stops to read.
4. The Fresque des Quebecois mural
A few steps off Place Royale on Rue Notre-Dame, this 420-square-meter trompe-l’oeil mural, painted in 1999, packs in around 15 historical figures and Quebec artists spanning 400 years, hiding in plain sight on the side of the Maison Soumande.
5. Musee de la civilisation’s Indigenous nations exhibit
The museum’s headline exhibit on Quebec’s history draws most of the foot traffic, but its permanent exhibit on the province’s 11 Indigenous nations, from paleohistory to today, is just as strong and consistently quieter.
6. Parc lineaire de la Riviere-Saint-Charles
This linear park follows the Saint-Charles River well outside the tourist core, with paved paths for walking, running, and cycling in summer and cross-country skiing once the snow sets in, a genuine break from Old Quebec’s cobblestones and crowds.
7. Wendake
A short drive from downtown, Wendake is home to Canada’s only recognized Huron-Wendat community. At the Onhoua Chetek8e traditional site, a reconstructed village near the historic site of Stadacona, you can tour a longhouse and smokehouse, hear traditional stories, and try tomahawk throwing well off the usual Old Quebec circuit.
Read more: see the Quebec City travel guide for the headline sights these gems sit alongside, or check the Quebec City day trips guide for more spots outside downtown.