Getting there & Getting around

Getting there

Jean Lesage International Airport is the aerial gateway into Québec City and is located about 10km (6mi) west of town. It fields international flights from several US destinations, including Boston and Newark, as well as from Mexico and Paris. The main domestic carrier touching down here is Air Canada, which forges connections with other chief Canadian cities such as Ottawa, in the neighbouring province of Ontario.

Montréal is the place where buses trundle into Québec province from the USA - there are no international coaches running direct between Québec City and the international border to the south. The bus trip between Montréal and Québec City takes three hours with vehicles shuttling between the two almost hourly throughout the day and night. The Québec City bus terminal is on Rue Abraham Martin, in the section of Lower Town to the west of the Old Port. Besides waving goodbye to coaches travelling west to Montréal, the terminal also bids adieu to vehicles east-bound for Edmundston in New Brunswick (five hours) and those heading north up the St Lawrence river to Tadoussac (four hours).

Next door to the bus station is the most central of Québec City's three train stations, the strikingly renovated Gare du Palais. It's a three-hour chug from here to Montréal (then on to points further west). Ferries navigate the breadth of the St Lawrence River between Québec City on the north shore (docking at Place Royale) and Lévis (technically now part of Greater Québec) on the south, a trip that takes only 10 to 15 minutes.

Getting around

The only transport mode between town and the airport is taxi. Québec City is covered by a reasonably priced and efficient bus system, the hub of which is Gare Centrale d'Autobus on Boulevard Charest Est in St Roch. Horse-drawn coaches (calèches) are a much more expensive treat. Finally, those who like to get around under their own steam can rent a bicycle for a day and explore the city's network of cycle paths.