Step off your deck into the lagoon
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Quebec Winter Carnival · Quebec
Winter as a festival
1 / 6 · Yazmin Roman
Winter as a festival
Quebec Winter Carnival · Quebec
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Ready to make it real?
Book it yourself on the next step, or let a GoSmart specialist plan it with you.
Find things to do in Quebec Talk to a specialistWhy you’ll love it
Ice palaces, night parades, and hot maple on snow. A GoSmart specialist tailors the route, the stays, and the pace to you.
Why it works
Your breath freezes on your scarf as Bonhomme's parade winds past the old stone walls, snow squeaking underfoot and a plastic cane of caribou warming your hands. Somewhere a brass band is playing and the whole city has decided the cold is the point.
Worth knowing
The Carnival runs across roughly two weeks from late January into February. Buy the Bonhomme effigy, which is your pass to most events, and wear far more layers than you think you need for standing around outside.
Book a room inside or just outside the old town so you can duck indoors to thaw between events. The walkable core is the whole charm, and cabs get scarce when it is bitterly cold.
French is the working language here, though English gets you by fine in the tourist core. A few polite words in French go a long way with locals.
About the place
Quebec City wears its French roots on its sleeve, all cobbled lanes and copper roofs behind the only fortified walls left in North America. In deep winter it becomes the stage for one of the world's best-known winter festivals.