Quebec City

A hotel of 1893 that looks like a castle and ends up in every photograph of the city. Its terrace faces the river, and a wooden slide is built below it for winter.

Among the oldest commercial streets in North America and narrow with it. In winter lights are strung overhead and the glow falls onto the snow.

A star shaped fort still garrisoned by a regiment. A changing of the guard runs on summer mornings, and a goat stands with them as the regimental mascot.

A timber boardwalk along the clifftop, the river running wide below it. Beneath the planks the excavated seventeenth century governor's residence lies under glass.

At 83m it stands thirty metres higher than Niagara and far narrower. A bridge crosses the top, so the water is watched from directly above.

A farming island joined by bridge, sixty seven kilometres around. Strawberry and apple farms sell at the roadside, and there are cheese makers as well.

February brings ice carving, snow slides and night parades. A snowman mascot appears on the streets throughout the run of it.

A battle was fought here in 1759, and the ground is now a large park beside the centre. Cross country tracks are cut in winter, and concerts fill it in summer.

A car climbs the slope at an angle between the upper and lower towns. The walls are glass, so the river widens as you rise.

Rebuilt each January in ice and snow, then allowed to melt away in March. The rooms hold around minus three degrees, so a sleeping bag is issued to each guest.

A museum on the Lower Town waterfront, opened in 1988 and designed by Moshe Safdie of Habitat 67. Its permanent galleries cover Quebec's history and Indigenous cultures. An old merchant's house was kept whole inside the new building.

Where Champlain built his first settlement in 1608, a small square ringed by stone houses. On one side, Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, begun in 1688, is among the oldest stone churches in North America. A model sailing ship hangs from its ceiling.

A trompe-l'oeil mural covering a whole Lower Town wall with painted windows, stairs and people. A dozen-odd historical figures pose on its balconies and at windows. Painted in 1999, it is hard to tell from a real facade when seen from the small park opposite.

About 4.6km of wall still rings the Upper Town, and you can walk along the top. The route passes gates such as Porte Saint-Jean and Porte Saint-Louis, looking down on streets inside and out. Going up costs nothing.

Completed in 1886 in Second Empire style, with statues of Quebec's historical figures stacked in the facade niches. Free guided tours visit the green members' chamber and the red former upper chamber. Its fountain square doubles as a summer festival stage.

Up on floor 31 of the Marie-Guyart building, 221m above sea level, this lookout is the city's loftiest vantage. The walled old town, the St Lawrence and distant ranges circle the windows. At dusk the Chateau Frontenac lights up below.

A narrow lane near the cathedral where artists hang their own prints and watercolours along the walls for sale. It has worked as an open-air gallery since the 1960s. Buy a piece and the artist signs it on the spot.

Cathedral of the oldest parish in North America, rebuilt after several fires. In 2013 it opened the first Holy Door outside Europe, and pilgrims pass through it to enter. Governors of New France lie in the crypt below.

A riverside pilgrimage basilica 30km east of the city. Crutches and canes left by pilgrims who say they were healed are stacked on the entrance pillars. Crowds peak around the feast of Saint Anne in July.

In the woods north of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, a river plunges 74m into a deep gorge. Three suspension bridges cross it, showing the falls from above and below. A zipline also runs across the canyon.

The regular passenger ferry from the Lower Town dock across the river to Levis. In midstream the Chateau Frontenac on its cliff and the walled city fit into a single frame. It keeps running in winter, pushing through the ice.

Steep iron stairs linking the Upper Town with Petit Champlain, and the name means exactly what it says. People have climbed this passage since the 17th century, making it the city's oldest stairway. In winter ice coats the steps, so hold the rail.

A museum in the Huron-Wendat community of Wendake, a 15 minute ride north from downtown. Next to it a bark-covered longhouse has been rebuilt, and guides explain daily life inside. The hotel restaurant in the same building serves Indigenous cuisine.

Site of the first hospital in North America north of Mexico, founded by nuns in 1639. A museum shows the sisters' apothecary and medical tools. The old cells now serve as quiet guest rooms, with a breakfast eaten in silence.