Québec City is the soul of New France. It was the first significant settlement in Canada, and today it is the capital of politically prickly Québec, a province larger than Alaska. The old city, a tumble of slate-roofed granite houses clustered around the dominating Château Frontenac, is a haunting evocation of a coastal town in the motherland, as romantic as any on that continent. The St. Lawrence makes a majestic sweep beneath the palisades on which the capital stands, as gray as gunmetal under dark skies, but silvered by sunlight when the clouds pass. Because of its history, beauty, and unique stature as the only walled city north of Mexico, the historic district of Québec was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 -- the only area so designated in North America.

Québec City is almost entirely French in feeling, in spirit, and in language; 95% of the population is Francophone. But many of its 167,000 citizens speak some English, especially those who work in hotels, restaurants, and shops where they deal with Anglophones every day. Québec City and adjoining Sainte-Foy are also college towns, and thousands of resident young people study English as a second language. So although it is often more difficult in Québec City than in Montréal to understand and be understood, the average Québecois goes out of his or her way to communicate -- in halting English, sign language, simplified French, or a combination of all three. Most of the Québecois are an uncommonly gracious lot, and it is a pleasure to spend time in their company and in their city.

In the following chapters are tips on where to stay, where to dine, and what to do in the city itself. After exploring Québec City, consider such excursions as a day trip around the Ile d'Orléans, an agricultural and resort island within sight of the Château Frontenac, extended, perhaps, by a drive along the northern coast past the shrine of Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré to the provincial park and ski resort at Mont Ste-Anne, and on to Charlevoix and the dramatic Saguenay River, where whales come to play.