Quebec City help please!!

We're cruising out of Quebec City in Oct. Best flight times will bring us in between 10pm and midnight. Several questions...

How late do fast food/take away restaurants stay open?

Our ship will be in port overnight - Do the ships port in an industrial part of town or more in the business district?

What is close to the cruise terminal?

How far is old town?

Must see places? Foods to try?

Has anyone stayed at the Hotel Clarendon? Your feedback?

This will show where your ship docks when they post the schedule

http://www.portquebec.ca/en/cruises/vessel-schedules/seasonal-schedule

Most of the docks are within walking distance to Old Port

location of docks

http://www.portquebec.ca/en/cruises/information-for-cruise-ship-passengers/access-to-docks

Old port of Quebec city is right near pier 22

Some like to try poutine ;)

more info at

http://www.cruisesaintlawrence.com/EN/stopovers/passengers/3/Quebec.aspx

With any luck you will dock right in the 'Olde Town'. It is very friendly, and IMO the safest city after dark in North America. You may find teenagers at every corner, you will be greeted with a 'Good Evening, or Bon Soir'.

English is both understood an spoken. We went to the Falls, and also Maple Farms, two tours. One of these, I forget which, gives you a tour of the 'Olde Town'.

Have fun

john

Take a look at Tom Sheridan's port guide for Quebec City, recently updated. It address some of your questions--e.g, concerning dock locations and proximity to Old Town:

http://www.tomsportguides.com/QuebecCity-06-30-2014.pdf

In brief, the main docks are adjacent to the lower part of Old Town -- an easy walk. The upper part of the old city is up a steep hill, but an area you certainly should visit; Tom's Port Guide shows clear maps, photos, and directions. There is a funicular.

Note that when several ships are in port, some may be docked at Pier 103, about 1.8 miles to the southwest, distant from Old Town (downhill from the Plains of Abraham). In early Oct. 2014, when we did an overnight in Quebec City before departing on the 2nd day, our ship boarded at Pier 22 "downtown", but moved in the middle of the night to the more remote Pier 103. It was docked there until sailing late that afternoon. For a few hours in the middle of that night (when the ship was moving from one pier to the other), one could not get aboard -- something to be aware of if you plan to arrive late at night.

John

If you dock at the usual cruise terminal where Maasdam always docks, you will look right up the hills to the Chateau Frontenac. It's a beautiful sight. Go out of the terminal, through a parking lot, cross the street and you will be walking uphill through charming Old Quebec city. It is so beautiful in summer with all the flower boxes etc

Lots of wonderful food.

I won't duplicate any info about docks etc. but it doesn't look like anyone answered your food questions yet!

A lot of old town places, especially in the Upper Town, tend to shut early but you'll still have bars and fastfood available not too far from the docks. Apart from the typical international boring chains, which are unfortunately present even in the heart of Old Quebec (though McDs was forced to adopt a colour scheme in keeping with the local buildings, so it's one of the classiest anywhere - a subtle gold logo outside a stone building just like their neighbours).

I suggest that you treat yourself to a typical Quebecois late-night snack on arrival - poutine. Probably the most famous of all local foods unless you're a huge fan of relatively obscure cheeses - fries, gravy and cheese curds are the classic combo. It's filling, cheap, and extremely popular with the late night crowd so poutineries tend to be open until at least an hour after the nearest bar closes.

Assuming you want to get to the hotel you mentioned when you arrive, the closest poutineries I know of that are open until at least midnight are:

Chez Ashton (a chain, open til c.4am, not a stellar rep but within 5 mins walk)

Snack Bar Saint-Jean (independent, much better rep, open until 5am but more like 12 mins walk)

You're also just across the road from the D'Orsay which is open until c.3am - not a very local menu IMO, but pretty typical international pub grub.

Map with walking directions to all of the above here.

Thanks for the tips! Haven't booked a hotel yet. Seems like many hotels in old town are without elevators. How do you handle walking up stairs with luggage? We'll probably have 3-4 mid size bags for the layering of clothes in Oct.

Only take luggage you can handle. One medium case and one small carry-on each is plenty. My carry on is a small day backpack so I just have one suitcase to carry. You can wear the same things again and again. Take a wind/waterproof jacket and a good fleece zip-up to layer under it.

However, most places will offer to carry your luggage.

We stayed at the Hilton. It's a few blocks outside the old city and right across the street from Parliament. If price were not an object, We were fortunate that our flight got to Quebec before lunch, giving us a full afternoon and evening there before boarding the ship the next day. We also had an overnight on the ship. We did not get off the ship that afternoon since it was raining. We did get to see some of the things on the river level of the city. We had not gone down there the first day. There's a nice farmers market and some little shops and historic buildings.

Try the Chateau Frontinac. They have elevators. Take a tour in the morning and then have the tour operator drop you and your luggage at the ship. That's what we did and it worked out great.

Have a great cruise.

We are looking for a restaurant in Quebec City that serves horse meat steak. Hopefully they will have a menu printed in English as we do not speak nor read French. Relatively close to the cruise port would be nice. Thanks for any information.

I found a good guide that answers this:

http://QuebecCity101.com