Two Weeks in Québec in Winter: Montréal, Québec City & Mont-Tremblant

BUSINESS

Aug 24

Written By Michelle Berkley

Is this normally a bookkeeping and business blog? Yes. Did enough people ask me for our Québec trip details that apparently we're talking about toboggans, oysters, savings buckets and Nordic spas today? Also yes. 😂

We spent two weeks in Québec during the first half of February traveling as five adults and one kid, and it remains one of my favorite trips we've ever taken.

Our route was:

Montréal → Québec City → Mont-Tremblant → Montréal

We intentionally chose February.

We wanted the snow. We wanted Québec Winter Carnival. We wanted the whole freezing, cozy, magical French-Canadian winter experience.

And I would 100% choose February again.

But before I get into where we stayed and what we did, I need to explain something important about how I plan vacations.

❄️First Things First: We Actually Didn't Have an Itinerary

If you're looking for:

9:00 — Breakfast

10:30 — Museum

12:15 — Lunch

1:30 — Next attraction

...you have come to the wrong woman. 😂

I HATE traveling like that.

I actually plan quite a bit before a big trip — but I plan the framework, not every day.

Before we left, I knew:

How long we were staying in each place
Where we were staying
How we were getting from one destination to the next
A list of things we might want to do
A handful of bucket-list things we definitely wanted to do

The exceptions were things that actually required advance planning. We made our Château Frontenac brunch reservation ahead of time and bought our Québec Winter Carnival tickets online.

Beyond that?

We woke up and decided what we felt like doing.

And, in my opinion, that's where the magic happens.

Maybe you wake up and it's freezing and nobody wants to do the outdoor thing you thought sounded fun.

Maybe everyone wants to wander around instead.

Maybe three people want to go somewhere and the other three don't.

Maybe you walk past a beautiful restaurant at 3:00 in the afternoon and suddenly you're drinking rosé and eating oysters.

Those little unplanned moments ended up being some of my favorite memories from the entire trip.

If you LOVE a beautifully scheduled vacation itinerary, you do you, boo.

But I don't want to spend my vacation checking the time because we're supposed to be somewhere else.

I want to actually be where I am.

So don't read this as exactly what you should do every day.

Think of it as:

Here's the route we chose, where we stayed, and a menu of things we loved.

Pick your bucket-list items. Reserve what actually requires a reservation.

Then leave some freaking room to wander.

📍Stop One: Montréal

🏠 Where We Stayed in Montréal

We originally stayed in a Sonder property at 300 Rue du St. Sacrement.

Sonder has since closed, which I was SO disappointed to hear because we loved our stay.

BUT — good news!

The same property is nowEurostars Old Montreal Suites & Apartments.

The location was phenomenal.

We could walk to so much of what we wanted to see, and the apartment-style accommodations worked really well for our family.

If I'm traveling with a group, I am a BIG fan of having more than a traditional hotel room.

Give me bedrooms.

Give me somewhere to sit.

Give me a kitchen.

Give everyone enough room that nobody wants to murder each other by Day 4. 😂

⛪Notre-Dame Basilica

Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal is absolutely gorgeous.

Even if churches aren't normally your thing, go inside.

It's beautiful and absolutely worth seeing.

🌹Brasserie 701: Oysters + Rosé

This was one of those perfect accidental vacation moments.

Brasserie 701 is basically a stone's throw from Notre-Dame Basilica.

We wandered in during that weird time between lunch and dinner and ended up having oysters and rosé.

DIVINE.

We were probably a little underdressed 😂, but everyone was incredibly nice and chill about it.

It wasn't some major thing I had carefully scheduled into our vacation.

We just found ourselves there.

And I still think about it.

THIS is why I leave room in my vacations.

🍻Pub Saint Pierre

Another Montréal favorite wasPub Saint Pierre.

It was right near where we stayed and was exactly what I want from a winter pub:

Cozy.

Delicious.

Full of locals.

After walking around Montréal in February, it was SO good.

⛸️ Mount Royal Park + Outdoor Ice Skating

We took an Uber up to Mount Royal Park and went outdoor ice skating.

Such a fun, quintessential Montréal-in-winter experience.

Could we have figured out public transportation to get there?

Probably.

But this is also part of my travel philosophy:

I will absolutely pay for an Uber when the Uber makes my life easier. 😂

We're on vacation.

I'm not trying to win an award for Most Authentic Transportation Experience.

🚅 Take the Metro to Jean-Talon Market

That said — definitely take the Montréal Metro!

We took it toJean-Talon Market, and riding the Metro was honestly part of the fun.

If you like food, GO.

We wandered around, ate and explored.

Montréal's public transportation is really good, so during our stay we basically used a combination of:

Walking + Metro + Uber

We never felt like we needed a rental car.

You can check current Metro information throughMontréal's STM.

🕰️Pointe-à-Callière: Montréal Archaeology and History Complex

We also spent part of a day atPointe-à-Callière, Montréal Archaeology and History Complex.

It was really cool.

The museum incorporates actual archaeological sites into Montréal's history, and it was a great indoor activity to mix into a February trip.

It was also super close to where we were staying.

When you're planning a winter vacation, I highly recommend deliberately mixing indoor and outdoor activities.

You can love winter and still eventually want to feel your toes again. 😂

🍷Our Montréal Splurge: Monarque

My husband and I went off on our own one night and had a special dinner atMonarque.

If you are a foodie:

GO.

This was one of our intentional splurge meals and absolutely worth it.

And yes, we left everyone else behind.

Which brings me to another recurring theme of this vacation:

You don't all have to do everything together.

We'll get to that.

🚅 Montréal → Québec City: Take the Train

Instead of renting a car when we landed in Montréal, we waited.

We took VIA Rail from Montréal to Québec City, and I would absolutely do it this way again.

We didn't need a car in Montréal.

We didn't need a car in Québec City.

Why pay for a rental car, deal with parking AND deal with driving around two cities in February when we didn't need to?

We walked, used the Metro and Uber in Montréal, then hopped on the train to Québec City.

Easy.

We didn't rent a car until we actually needed one.

📍Stop Two: Québec City

If you've seen pictures of Old Québec covered in snow and wondered whether it really feels that magical in person:

YES.

This may have been my favorite portion of the entire trip.

We intentionally traveled during Québec Winter Carnival, stayed right in Old Québec and gave ourselves plenty of time to wander.

🏠 Where We Stayed: Le 31 McMahon

HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend.

We stayed at Le 31 McMahon, and this place was phenomenal for a multigenerational family trip.

My dad and his wife stayed in one of the smaller rooms, which was equally beautiful.

My sister, husband, son and I stayed together in the two-bedroom suite.

This setup was PERFECT.

We were all at the same property and could easily spend time together, but everyone still had their own space to retreat to.

The larger suite gave us bedrooms, living space and a kitchen, so it felt much more like having an apartment in Québec City than cramming four people into a traditional hotel room.

📝HOT TIP: Check the Hotel's Website Before Airbnb

Le 31 McMahon is available through third-party booking sites, but check their own website before you book.

I found booking direct cheaper.

Actually, make that a general travel rule:

Before booking a hotel through Airbnb, Booking.com or another third-party site, check the hotel's direct rate.

Sometimes you'll be surprised.

And BOOK EARLY.

More on that later.

🧖🏻‍♀️Strøm Nordic Spa

DO THIS.

There is something especially amazing about doing a Nordic spa when it is legitimately winter outside.

We went to Strøm Nordic Spa Old Québec, and it fit this trip perfectly.

Hot/cold Nordic spa experience + Québec winter?

Yes please.

🍴 Brunch at Château Frontenac

We did brunch at Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, and it was such a beautiful way to experience the Château.

We didn't need to stay there for a week to enjoy it.

Instead, we got dressed up, went for brunch and had the experience.

This was one of the things I DID reserve ahead of time.

🛝Au 1884 Toboggan Slide

Okay.

DO. NOT. SKIP. THIS.

Au 1884 is the old-school wooden toboggan run on Dufferin Terrace beside Château Frontenac, and it was SO FREAKING FUN.

This is one of those activities that sounds cute when you're researching your trip and then ends up being one of the highlights.

Adults.

Kids.

Everyone.

Get on the freaking toboggan. 😂

🎠Québec Winter Carnival

Québec Winter Carnival was one of the reasons we intentionally chose the first half of February.

We bought our Carnival tickets online ahead of time, but we didn't plan our entire Québec City stay around seeing every single Carnival event.

We enjoyed little pieces of it as we explored.

I actually preferred it that way.

Carnival became part of the atmosphere of being in Québec City rather than another checklist we needed to complete.

Wander Old Québec

Seriously.

WANDER.

Go into the little shops.

Find coffee.

Eat something.

Walk around.

Look at the snow.

Go back to your room if you're tired.

One of my favorite little vacation rituals is actually going out by myself in the morning to find coffee.

There is something about walking through a place you've traveled all that way to see, completely by yourself, coffee in hand, with nowhere else you need to be.

Build THAT into your trip too.

✨The Thing I Wish We'd Done: Montmorency Falls

This is probably my biggest Québec City regret.

We didn't make it to Parc de la Chute-Montmorency.

If I recreated this trip, I would absolutely add it.

So learn from me and put it on your list!

Québec City → Mont-Tremblant: NOW Rent the Car

Once we were finished in Québec City, we rented a car and drove to Mont-Tremblant.

This worked perfectly for us.

One important caveat:

We are comfortable driving in snow.

My family grew up in the mountains, so winter driving isn't foreign to us.

If you've never driven in snow, please don't read "Michelle did it" and decide your Québec vacation is the perfect time to learn. 😂

For us, though, renting a car for this portion made perfect sense.

📍Stop Three: Mont-Tremblant

This was the exhale portion of our vacation.

We'd done Montréal.

We'd done Québec City.

We'd walked, explored, eaten, gone to Carnival, gone to a spa, gone to museums and generally had a freaking blast.

Then we checked into a big condo at Mont-Tremblant and basically said:

Okay. Nobody needs to accomplish anything now.

PERFECT.

🏠Where We Stayed: Tremblant les Eaux

We rented this exact five-bedroom Tremblant les Eaux condo on Airbnb.

It was fantastic for our group.

Everyone had room to spread out, we had a full kitchen, and we were close enough to the pedestrian village to easily explore without staying right in the middle of everything.

The condo even had a private sauna, and the development has additional spa amenities.

It was exactly what we needed for the final few days of the trip.

⛸️We Went to Mont-Tremblant and Didn't Ski 😂

Yep.

February.

Mont-Tremblant.

Didn't ski.

And we still loved it.

We exploredTremblant and the pedestrian village, wandered, ate and relaxed.

I was actually surprised by how accessible everything felt compared with some ski resorts in the U.S., which can feel like an absolute madhouse.

There was a grocery store nearby, so we stocked up on breakfast food, snacks, drinks and other essentials.

Then we just...

chilled.

After two cities, that was EXACTLY what we needed.

When it was time to go home, we drove back to Montréal, returned the rental car and flew out.

📝 How I Made Two Weeks With 5 Adults + a Kid Actually Feel Like a Vacation

THIS might be the most important part of the entire post.

Traveling with family can be amazing.

It can also turn into you project-managing six human beings in a foreign country while everyone asks what's for dinner.

No thank you. 😂

✅Pack LIGHT

We were gone for two weeks, but we were also moving between three destinations, taking a train and eventually fitting ourselves and our stuff into a rental car.

Nobody needed fourteen days of clothing.

We packed light intentionally.

And the reason we could do that was...

✅Washer + Dryer = Non-Negotiable

I was very methodical about looking for accommodations where we could do laundry.

Wash your clothes along the way and suddenly everyone can pack substantially less.

That made changing locations SO much easier.

✅Give Me a Kitchen

I also prioritized accommodations with a kitchen.

Not because I dreamed of spending my vacation cooking elaborate meals for six people.

Absolutely freaking not. 😂

A kitchen meant we could keep breakfast food, coffee, snacks, drinks, leftovers, random kid food — whatever.

We didn't have to find a restaurant every single time someone was hungry.

And because we weren't buying six restaurant breakfasts every morning, I felt much better about spending money on experiences we actually cared about.

✅Give Everyone Some SPACE

Even when you genuinely love your family:

You do not need to be on top of each other for two weeks.

My dad and his wife had their own room in Québec City.

We had our suite.

At Mont-Tremblant, we had five bedrooms.

People could retreat.

People could decompress.

You could close a freaking door.

This matters. 😂

✅My #1 Group Travel Rule: Don't Make Attendance Mandatory

You do not all have to do everything together.

If someone wants to do something you don't want to do?

Don't go.

😂

We split into smaller groups.

People went on their own little adventures.

My husband and I went to Monarque.

I'd wander out by myself in the morning for coffee.

Someone could stay back and relax.

Then we'd all meet back up later.

Travel with people you genuinely enjoy — AND give each other permission not to spend every waking second together.

You do you, boo. I'll see you at dinner.

🎫 BOOK EARLY

I booked almost all of our accommodations for this trip about a YEAR in advance.

Did I hit some magical pricing window?

Maybe.

Could I have just gotten lucky?

Also maybe. 😂

But I saved a BOATLOAD of money, and I watched prices start climbing not long after I booked.

There's another advantage to booking early when you're traveling as a group:

You get choices.

I wanted great locations, enough bedrooms, kitchens, laundry and space for everyone.

If you wait until the last minute, you're choosing from whatever is left.

But there's another reason we were able to book that early.

And since I am a bookkeeper after all...

Let's talk about the money. 😂

📝Okay, But How Did We Actually Pay for This?

Was this trip cheap?

Hell to the no.

Even with the deals I found, USD going a bit further in CAD, kitchens so we weren't eating every meal out, public transportation and being thoughtful about where we spent money, this was still a big freaking trip.

And I don't want to give the impression that we casually decided to take six people to Québec for two weeks and just... paid for it.

We are not wealthy.

We planned really freaking well.

Not only with the trip.

With the MONEY.

✏️The Biggest Hack: AUTOMATE IT

Specific word here:

AUTOMATE.

This is a principle I've used throughout my financial life — not just for this trip.

Yes, I own my own business, but I'm also on payroll.

I know how much of each paycheck needs to go into my regular account for normal life.

Then I have several separate savings accounts — usually three to five different savings "buckets" at any given time.

And money from my paycheck automatically goes into them.

I don't get paid and then say:

"Let's see what's left over and maybe I'll put something into savings."

Nope.

It happens automatically.

I made the decision ONCE when I set the system up.

Then payday does the rest.

✏️That's Exactly How We Funded Québec

About two years before the trip, we started contributing to a dedicated Québec travel fund.

We kept it in a high-yield savings account. We happened to use American Express, but the specific bank isn't really the important part.

The important part was:

The money was separate.

It was earning interest.

It had one job: QUÉBEC. 🇨🇦

And everyone contributed based on what worked for THEIR budget.

Each household figured out:

What can we realistically afford to contribute from each paycheck?

Then every two weeks:

Plunk.

Money went into Québec. 😂

Paycheck.

Québec money.

Paycheck.

Québec money.

Nobody needed to remember to transfer it.

Nobody needed to find thousands of dollars all at once.

We just kept contributing.

✏️Then the Really Cool Part Happened

By the time we were about one year away from the trip, we'd already been saving for approximately a year.

There was enough CASH sitting in that account for us to start putting down deposits on accommodations.

This was a DOUBLE WIN.

I wasn't only able to find great early-booking rates.

We were financially prepared to ACT on them.

I didn't have to find an amazing property and think:

"Crap. Do I put this on a credit card before the price goes up?"

Nope.

The money was already there.

We had saved it.

So I could book.

And then I watched some of those accommodation prices climb not long afterward.

Did I get lucky with the exact timing?

Maybe!

But this part wasn't luck:

Having the cash available gave us options.

We'd started saving a year before we needed to start spending.

✏️Don't Decide to Save 26 Times a Year

THIS is the part I hope people steal from me.

If you get paid every other week, don't make yourself decide whether to save money 26 different times every year.

Decide once.

Figure out what you can realistically afford.

Then:

AUTOMATE IT.

Maybe it's $25 every paycheck.

Maybe it's $50.

Maybe it's $200.

Maybe right now it's $10.

Who cares?

Start.

One $50 transfer doesn't look particularly exciting.

But $50 every two weeks is $1,300 after a year before we even talk about interest.

Give it two years?

$2,600.

Have multiple adults contributing toward a shared goal?

Now we're getting somewhere.

✏️This Isn't Just a Travel Hack

I use this same principle for other financial goals.

Travel is one bucket.

But you can use it for emergency savings, home projects, annual expenses, a future car, Christmas, something fun — whatever matters to YOU.

Give the money a job.

Give it its own bucket.

Automate the contribution.

Then give it time.

It's simple.

It's boring.

It freaking works.

✏️The Money Already Had Permission to Be Spent

By the time we arrived in Québec, we'd spent two years telling those dollars:

Your job is this trip.

So when my husband and I sat down at Monarque?

I didn't want to worry about what dinner cost.

I wanted to enjoy the freaking dinner.

When we had brunch at Château Frontenac?

I didn't want to spend the afternoon thinking about my credit card bill.

We had saved for this.

The money already had permission to be spent.

We splurged on things we cared about.

We saved on things we didn't.

We cooked some meals.

We took the Metro.

We also went to Monarque, had oysters and rosé, went to a Nordic spa and had brunch at Château Frontenac.

Being intentional with money and enjoying money are not opposites.

📝One More Thing: Slow Down

One last thing I think is worth knowing — especially if you're coming from the U.S.

At least in our experience, the pace in Québec felt slower and more relaxed than what we're used to at home.

Your waiter might not appear at your table the very second you sit down.

Dinner might take a while.

Things aren't always going to move at the frantic GO GO GO, what's next? pace that a lot of us Americans are used to.

And you know what?

GOOD. 😂

Don't sit there getting irritated because nobody has brought the check yet.

Look around.

Talk to the people you're traveling with.

Finish your wine.

Enjoy your coffee.

Watch what's happening outside.

ENJOY THE MOMENT.

Go with the slower flow.

We're so conditioned to think faster automatically means better.

Faster service. Faster meals. Get the thing done so we can move on to the next thing.

But you're in freaking Québec.

Where exactly are you rushing off to?

If you need every meal to be quick, every server to materialize immediately and everything to happen on your preferred schedule...

Well...

Maybe don't go to Canada. 😂

Or better yet, go — and let Canada teach you to chill the hell out for a minute.

Order another coffee.

Sit there.

Talk.

Look at the snow.

You're already where you're supposed to be.

❓Would I Go to Québec in February Again?

IN A HEARTBEAT.

Yes.

It's cold. 😂

Bring actual winter boots, base layers, warm gloves, hats and a legitimate coat.

This is not a "cute California winter coat" situation.

But I would NOT move this trip to summer simply because the weather is warmer.

Winter was part of the experience.

Outdoor skating at Mount Royal.

Taking the Metro to Jean-Talon Market.

Snowy Old Montréal.

Québec Winter Carnival.

Sitting in a Nordic spa in February.

Flying down an old wooden toboggan beside Château Frontenac.

Then ending the whole trip in a condo in the mountains.

THAT was the trip.

🌿If I Were Planning It Again

I'd follow essentially the exact same framework:

Fly into Montréal
↓
Stay in Old Montréal
↓
Walk + Metro + Uber
↓
Train to Québec City
↓
Stay in Old Québec
↓
Rent a car when leaving Québec City
↓
Drive to Mont-Tremblant
↓
Stay in a condo and CHILL
↓
Drive back to Montréal and fly home

And if you can swing it, give yourself the full two weeks.

But please don't interpret two weeks as:

OMG I NEED 14 DAYS OF ACTIVITIES.

You don't.

Actually, don't do that to yourself. 😂

My entire travel philosophy is basically:

Plan the infrastructure. Don't over-plan the experience.

Book the accommodations.

Figure out transportation.

Make the reservations you actually need.

Know your bucket-list things.

Pack light.

Have laundry.

Have a kitchen.

Give everyone space.

Automate the money.

Then...

leave room for the trip to happen.

Because yes, I remember the big things.

But I also remember randomly having oysters and rosé in the afternoon.

A cozy pub full of locals.

Riding the Metro.

Walking alone through a snowy city to get coffee.

Splitting off from everyone for dinner with my husband.

Sitting around our condo in the mountains doing absolutely nothing.

Those little moments weren't on an itinerary.

And that's exactly why I remember them.

We planned the route.

We planned the accommodations.

We automated the money.

We handled the boring shit ahead of time.

And then we got to actually enjoy Québec.

Apparently that's also how my bookkeeping blog became a travel blog.

Enjoy. 😂❤️❄️

None of the hotels, restaurants or experiences mentioned in this post sponsored us, and these are not affiliate recommendations. They're simply places we genuinely stayed, ate and enjoyed. Always check current rates, hours, seasonal availability, transportation schedules and winter conditions when planning your own trip.

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