I wish we had known about this beautiful island the last time we were in Quebec. It was one of our…read morehighlights on this trip. As it turns out the day was the only rainy one all week, but that didn't matter since we spent the afternoon driving from cidery to brewery to distillery, all within a few miles or less of each other. We even got to sit outside under a porch roof with blankets to keep warm while we had a wine flight as it poured. Quite memorable. Next time we will turn right when we get onto the island and see where it leads us.

Ile-d'Orleans is an island in the Saint Lawrence River. The island is about 3.1 miles east of…read moredowntown Quebec city. It is a nice day trip from the city and it can be combined with a nearby visit to Morntmorency falls and Basilique Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre. The island is 21 miles long and 7 miles wide. It is accessible from the the mainland of Quebec by the Ile-d'Orleans bridge. The Chemin Royale road encircles the entire island. While traveling the Chemin Royale road you will encounter small cottage industries specializing in various agricultural products. Cassis Monna & Filles winery has tours and tasting. Fromagerie Biese d' Epinelle specializes in cheese and dairy products. Chocolaterie de-Ile Orleans haschocolate, fudge and other chocolate based products with no preservatives. La Boulange-Saint-Jean-de-Ile-Orleans sells bakery goods and pasteries while LaCuisine d'Ete-Saint-Laurent-de-Ile'Orleans has exceptional maple syrup. There are also histirical stops along the way. The Manor Mauvide Genest built in 1734 was the home of Jean Mauvide, who was the surgeon for King of France. Stop by one of the many churches along the way. I recommend Eglise de Saint Jean Saint Pierre. With the Laurentian Plateau to the North, the Appalachian Mountains to the South and views of the Atlantic Ocean and Saint Lawrence Seaway, the Chemin Royale road is a scenic drive in it's own right. Enjoy small cottage industries in a rolling hills pastoral setting.

This was a fun apple picking place. Here are a few facts and opinions…read more... 1. Parking is tough on busy weekends. There is parking closer to the main building in addition to all the parking on the side of the road leading to it. 2. It costs 10$ for a small bag and 14$ for a larger one. I probably got 20-25 apples in a small bag. 3. While it can get crowded here, this is a nice alternative to fighting the traffic on the bridge on the bridge to the island on busy peak weekends. 4. There are a lot of very good apples left on the ground, which is kind of sad. 5. By Sunday afternoon many of the trees have been well picked over. The farm sections off various areas to allow multiple weekends of loaded trees. However, if you come late in the weekend, you may have to search a little more or reach a little higher.

We stopped at Vignoble Ste-Pétronille after visiting Montmorency Falls and had such a delicious…read morelunch. The setting is beautiful with gorgeous views, and we loved sitting outside at the picnic tables. We ordered the mushroom pizza, the island goat pizza, and the labneh appetizer. Everything tasted so fresh and flavorful. Such a relaxing and memorable stop while visiting the area.

Île d'Orléans (15 mins from Old Quebec) has wineries. Vignoble Ste-Pétronille is family-run…read more(organic grapes, white wines). Highlights: cozy patio, wood-fired pizza, affordable self-service wine tastings. Downsides: young-tasting wines, mostly French-speaking staff, no tours. Peaceful vineyard vibe.

We stopped at 2 markets. This was the better one in my opinion. The price was slightly lower and…read morethe berries we bought, especially the raspberries were the freshest and sweetest I have ever had.

The very best and freshest ice cream ever. Gorgeous views and perfect strawberries. A must go toread more

An absolutely incredible B&B !! My second visit to this beautiful island just east of Quebec City…read more The owners are very friendly and the inside of this B&B is beautifully appointed. The breakfast is a culinary delight each and every morning. Marc and Louise have built this B&B into the premiere establishment on the island.

We were looking for a place to spend our honeymoon in October. My wife found some bed and…read morebreakfast on www.quebecregion.com and compared photos of the accommodations. This one stood out as the best of them all. After reading all the positive reviews, we chose Dans les bras de Morphee. If you want a fabulous experience of the quiet countryside, then this is the place. We chose the "honeymoon room" and it was very clean and comfortable. And we totally agree with another reviewer that the breakfast is "out of this world". The place is owned and operated by two very sweet couple Marc and Louise. Marc has told us that he has had training as a chef. That explains why the breakfast was so good. We wish he also served dinner. He has his own bee-hives which he uses to make his special lavender honey and which they gave us a jar of. We didn't get to see most of his other farm animals because they had been taken somewhere else for the winter, but we got to see the quails that were still there. While we were on the island, we were looking for places to eat for dinner and their restaurant recommendations were excellent. We're definitely coming back here for one of our anniversaries.

My family and I ended up at Ranch Chez Ti-Gars after a dream morning of dogsledding across the…read morefield at Adventure Plein-Air Inukshuk. Normally Inukshuk offer a full day package of sledding in the morning, a hot lunch, and then sleigh riding a at Ti-Gars in the afternoon, but over the Christmas break they weren't doing lunches and so couldn't offer us the full package--but told us we were more than welcome to organise a sleigh ride ourselves for the afternoon. Firstly, I was on crutches with a broken ankle, so I wasn't going to be able to trek through the field to get to Ti-Gars from Inukshuk--that's how you normally get over there. The lovely old man from Ti-Gars was kind enough to come pick me up in his car. Every kindness shown to me while I was busted up just gave me extra appreciation for a place! We'd booked our sleigh ride a couple of days in advance and asked if there was somewhere warm where we could eat our packed lunches after our sled ride, so when the old gentleman brought us over to the ranch he led us into a warm room full of tables and chairs and a little touch of Christmas (lights and a tree, it was Christmas Eve after all). He didn't speak much English and we didn't speak much French but we got by just fine. My sister suspects the old man was actually Santa Claus, as around halfway through our lunch he reappeared from behind the stable door, threw three fluffy and enthusiastic barn kittens into the room with us, and closed the door again. BARN KITTENS! Just moments earlier I had remarked that on a day full of puppies and ponies (fine, whatever, "dogs and horses"), all we needed was kittens to make the day complete, and HERE THEY WERE, all up in our lunch business. They were nuts, just little furry bundles of energy and we got the giggles. The magic didn't end there, though--a short while later the old man summoned us into the stable on the premise of watching him gear up the horses for the sleigh ride. We came along willingly... and entered a farmyard wonderland. How do farm animals survive the winter? By all living together in harmony inside a barn, apparently! Pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, geese, rabbits, kittens, all of them hanging out--and most of them pregnant? I later read that Ranch Chez Ti-Gars is a baby animal farm, so all the pregnant animals made a bit more sense after that, haha. We patted some of them, cooed at others, got a walking tour of the stable's tack rooms with wonderful attempts to understand from both sides of the broken conversation, and ended up out on the other side of the stable--where the horses were. The old man encouraged one big beautiful old palomino over to us and introduced it as Ti-Gars. The ranch's namesake! The sleigh ride itself was slightly underwhelming, a balancing act on a big steel block on skis with a couple of rugs thrown across it as the two horses dragged said block through the same forest we'd earlier dogsledded through. But the horses were wearing bells that constantly jingled, and the forest was covered in snow. But by gosh, we were freezing! We weren't exactly dashing through the snow, the horse count was two and not one, forests not fields, freezing not laughing... but hey folks, it's not like you can try this at home. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingled all the way. I'd give the sleigh ride a 3/5 but our entire experience at the ranch well and truly deserved a 5/5. Possibly 6/5. Magic Quebec at its most magical.

My family and I have visited Verger Victorin nearly every year for almost a decade…read more This orchard changed hands many times, but stayed a beautiful and bountiful place. You can pick apples, pears, and plums, depending on the season. There's not much to do apart from picking fruits. There used to be a mini-farm a few years back, but it was removed. This year, we went a little too late, so pears and plums were not available any more. Instead, we bought different varieties of apples (mainly Honeygold, Lobo and McIntosh - other varieties were a bit too acidic). The weather was flawless, and the kids had a lot of fun tasting different types of apples. The trees looked healthy, and so did the fruits. There's few experiences as nostalgic as biting into fresh, crisp apples on a cool, sunny autumn day, especially if one grew up in Quebec. Verger Victorin is a great place to make that kind of memories.

This was our breakfast place of choice for 4 out of 5 days that we were in QC. Such an amazing…read morearray of pastries, plus coffees, breakfast sandwiches and more, that we were able to try something new each day. Such was the allure of Paillard that we are now craving croissants and lattes back home.

So we technically stopped in as someone wanted a iced matcha. I was going to get some unhealthy…read moredrink then my eyes spied a Nutella eclair! I've never had such a thing and just had to try it. It was delicious. The outside chocolate crush was like a candy bar while the cool cream inside was like a super soft ice cream. All together a wonderful dessert and a must try! Oh, the Matcha was okay ... But whatever, the Nutella eclair is where it's at!

Best quality tea on the planet. Staff was very helpful. Small shop with an area for enjoying a cup.read more

Located in the more eastern part of the St. Roch district. They have a partnership with 5 other tea…read morecompanies called the Tea Studio, which has a series of tea originating from Southern India in the Nilgiri region, where all the tea leaves are managed by a community of women that are paid a living wage. The teas here are organic, fair trade, and or either: vegetal, floral, fruity, woody, earthy, or spicy. From the lightest and sweetest white teas, to sencha or matcha green teas, to wulong teas, to black teas, and even lattes, this place caters to restaurants and other Cafés here in Quebec. About 200 tins of tea line up the wall behind the counter. The little tea house has a small sit down area where there is peaceful, naturist music in the background. My matcha soy milk latte was really well done. The usual bitterness from the matcha is balanced out by the sweeter taste of the soy milk. My beau likes a stronger tea, so he ordered the Manzi Hong Cha, which is a black tea with leaves from 80 year-old trees. Both teas soothed us right away. Perfect for cooler Autumn or colder Winter weather. The host is bilingual and super knowledgeable of all the teas here. Upon arriving, he asked us if we wanted to sit down or to buy tea to go. Once seated, he immediately gave us a menu with all of the history and origin of their teas, followed by a description of their taste and qualities, and also a sample of tea on the house. I am so in love with Quebec City. Everywhere you go, there is Québécois French and still everyone here is pretty fluent in English as well, and the service is just impeccable. I felt welcomed here. Great place to relax. Highly would recommend if visiting Quebec City and you are a tea lover!!