Sample Travel Itinerary: Quebec City and the Hôtel De Glace

Below you will find the Sample Travel Itinerary for a week long vacation that Yoshi and I will be taking to Quebec City, including and overnight visit at the Hotel de Glace just outside Quebec city.  I am really excited to have the opportunity to practice my French (Je viens de commencer l'apprentissage avec un camarade de classe) and to explore "the most European city in America).  If you are planning your own roadtrip, be sure to check out our road trip planning tips! (This trip has been completed, so comments, modification and revelations will be posted in blue)

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5 January, 2010 Drive the 7 hours from Boston to Quebec City.  Looking forward to driving through northern Vermont, and Quebec in the winter.  We'll be trying to leave early enough so that we can enjoy the drive and scenery during the daylight hours.

We will spend the first night of this sample travel itinerary at the Hotel de Glace Ice Hotel, taking advantage of the "Icy and Urban Adventure" two day package.  Tonight we will check into the hotel, do our best to warm up in the outdoor hot tubs (or spas, as they are known in Quebec) have a drink at the Ice bar, and then bundle up for the night.

One advantage of the packages is that they include a back up room at the Hotel Duchesnay, so if the ice hotel is too cold, you have somewhere to go
We ended up switching our itinerary up quite a bit.  The first change that we made was swapping our day 1 and day 2 itineraries, which worked out very well—we got started late because of a GPS snafu, and then on top of that got caught in nasty driving conditions, so we didn't get to Quebec City until around 10 PM.  Fortunately, the restaurant was still open in the hotel, and we were extra pleased to find out that the restaurant was of the revolving roof-top variety.  We were lucky to get an amazing view of the entire city and the St. Lawrence as we enjoyed our meal. 
6 January, 2010 The 2nd day of our sample travel itinerary continues our package arranged through the Ice Hotel at Loews Hotel Le Concorde.    Before we leave the Station Touristique Duchesnay we will be taking a dogsledding tour!  I am very excited about this, having read far too much Jack London and having met some sled dogs up in Alaska (it was summer, so there wasn't much snow to sled on).
Part of the reason that we changed departed from the original sample travel itinerary, was that we wanted to go dogsledding before our stay in the Ice hotel.  This was, I can honestly say, one of the coolest experiences I have ever had.  The utter quiet as we plowed our way through the woods was amazing, and it was a lot of fun taking turns driving the sleds and riding in them.  We had so much fun, that I think I may have to plan a sample itinerary for a dogsledding vacation.  Greenland, anyone?
7 January, 2010 After a night at the chilly Ice hotel and then dogsledding, I can't imagine that we are going to be desperate to get outside today.  Therefor, we are planning to spend the day hitting up some of the museums that Quebec City prides itself on, including the Musee de la Civilisation, and the Musee de l'Amerique Français.  
We will be staying at the Hotel Chateau Laurier and sampling their options with their outdoor hot tubs.  As far as I am concerned, when it comes to battling the winter blues, the cure is not sun lamps or beaches, but outdoor hot tubs! Winter is beautiful, and sitting in a warm tub keeps the chill from getting in your bones.
So, once again, the sample travel itinerary has changed: We spent most of the day at the Ice Hotel.  In particular because we wanted to go on a tour of the hotel, which being still under construction allowed us to see the process of building, carving and designing the hotel.  Trés cool.  It also ended up being the case that the Scandinavian Spa that we planned on going to was right next to the Ice Hotel, and it felt great, more about this in a moment.
Sleeping at the Ice hotel is quite the experience.  I strongly recommend that you get one of the package deals, if only because in addition to the back-up room and dogsledding, you are provided with a hot thermos of coffee, tea or cocoa delivered to you in your room at 7am.  The rooms average about -4 C.  Think about those winters when your bed was warm and cozy and it seemed like torture to get out from under the warm covers...now multiply that feeling by about 100.  The warm drink is just the ticket to get you out and moving again.
Now, as for the spa, it was a very special experience.  The treatment consisted of three phases.  For the first, you started out in an outdoor hot tub, and then would alternate between the hot tub and a pool of unheated water outdoors.  It sounds insane, but it was deeply relaxing.  The next phase involved alternating between a wet sauna and a cold waterfall.  Lastly there was an hour massage.  Heavenly.

8 January 2010 Today we will spend exploring the shopping centers and the old city of Quebec.  What sort of sample travel itinerary doesn't take into count an opportunity for collecting some souvenirs?  Quebec city is known for having countless boutiques with cafes interspersed creating an amazing opportunity to explore the various local goods for sale and duck out of the streets for a coffee to warm you up!  In the evening we'll take a horse drawn carriage ride through the city.
Today we had to go to Montréal to attend to some personal business, unfortunately it took up the better part of the day.  We did get to check in at the Hotel Chateau Laurier, which in addition to have 4 beautiful outdoor hot tubs, also had a very newly installed Sauna and an indoor pool with salt water instead of chlorine.  The room were a bit on the small side, but the location just outside the walls of the old city is unbeatable, and really there's no reason to spend a lot of time in your room anyways.
9 January 2010 Today we continue our search for the best outdoor hot tub by getting out of the hotel offerings and hitting up the Siberian Station Spa, a Scandinavian style, outdoor spa with hot tubs, saunas and more.  We'll plan to spend the better part of the day there enjoying the country setting and the weather while we soak our stress away.  My goal: forget what a law school casebook even looks like by the time the day is over.
The old city of Quebec in decidedly walkable, even in the middle of winter, and we had a wonderful time wandering the shops, taking advantage of all the prix fixe meals (two adults can eat very well for $60, including the house wine) and the incredible fondue! Next sample travel itineray: fondue tour!
10 January 2010 Drive back to Boston.  This is the end of this sample travel itinerary.  If we were going to extend the trip by a couple days more, we would drive back by way of Montreal (only two hours from Quebec City, and about 6 hours from Boston) and spend another couple of days there.  Check out some things another visitor to this site did in Montreal.


Also, be sure to check out our other North America and Winter vacation ideas!
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