The laurels keep coming in for Québec City! La Vielle Capitale has just been put near the top of Vacay.ca’s list of the best places to travel in Canada. Beaten only by Charlottetown, PEI, our fair city has everything needed for the discerning tourist. Some of the adjectives employed in the on-line magazine’s write-up: romantic, vibrant, and fascinating. Hardly a surprise for this Québec City tour guide!
It is important to note that this list has a particular bent: it is focused on 2014, and all of the things that will make the city an attractive destination this calendar year.
For example, in 2014, and only in 2014, visitors will be able to enter Notre-Dame de Québec, the Catholic cathedral within the city walls, via a newly-constructed holy door. The right to a porte sainte is an honor bestowed upon a cathedral or a basilica by the Vatican. The addition of a holy door may not sound like much to some, but consider the fact that there are only seven such doors in the world. The next closest one is in Santiago de Compostela, in northern Spain. A pilgrimage to Notre-Dame de Québec is a much more affordable option for North Americans.
Also this year: the 60th installment of Québec City’s winter carnival. Founded in the 1950s, this festival stamps a vintage on the Québec winter. The city will be alive with activity during the first two weeks of February as the natives come out to celebrate the weather that helps to define this place. Home-grown songster Gilles Vigneault famously crooned that his country IS winter. You will have to visit at carnival time to fully appreciate that Québec BEING winter is a wonderful thing.
This latest ranking is good news for Québec City…and great news for this Québec City tour guide!
Tu as tout à fait raison, Neil, de t’émerveiller de la beauté de cette ville en hiver, sa luminosité hivernale si particulière, la chaleur de ses habitants. Je suggérerais une photo de Québec sous la neige, avec les glaces qui envahissent le majestueux St-Laurent, sans oublier notre Hotel de Glace ! ! ! Que du bonheur pour les guides professionnels que nous sommes, n’est-ce pas, amoureux de leur ville d’adoption ! Bravo Neil…quel ambassadeur !
Happy New Year to you Neil. I think this is good news for all of Quebec City’s tour guides. Now I am going to have to go and brush up on my 1864 confederation meetings history!
No kidding, Simon! Every anniversary requires us to become experts in something new!
I think this will be the year for my long overdue visit to Quebec City!
Wow! I feel proud to live in Québec City, one of the best places to visit in Canada. Thank you Neil for this new.