Montreal & Quebec City for Dummies

We've used Montreal and Quebec City (Eyewitness Top Ten Travel Guides) very successfully in Montreal, which is a much larger city than Quebec City and where the photographs and maps are very handy indeed. We read through the sections of the Dummies for Montreal and consider it a useful and interesting, but not an essential, guide for a visit there. However, Dummies really shone during a recent trip to Quebec City. Our concierge at the Hilton praised the book, and it was a great ice breaker meeting folks in shops, museums and restaurants. The lack of maps and photographs are not a serious problem given the concentrated nature of the city, and the excellent maps, which are available free everywhere. The text and especially the top ten lists of sights and activities were really excellent. Whatever guide book you use, we suggest you start out at the visitor's center near Château Frontenac, a wonderful Victorian pile in the heart of the city. [Meals or just drinks are very reasonable there, and the views of the river are extraordinary.] The visitor's center has tons of literature, including great maps, tour information, and over 500 brochures on attractions. Next door lies the essential Musee du Fort. This is a homemade diorama that allows you to see the geography of Quebec City. The diorama is well done, albeit cryptic on some details, but with six major attacks covered in a half hour allowances must be made. It concentrates on the six military campaigns against the city (Wolff and Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham was the fourth, and the attack during the American Revolution was the sixth). Nonetheless, even people with little interest in warfare will learn a great deal about the city and how to get around. There was an early blizzard when we visited and I spent a day reading some very interesting books obtained at the Musee du Fort, including a very nice inexpensive picture book (the ones on offer at the museums are cheaper and better than those on offer at news stands and book stores): Canada Traveller's History by by Robert Bothwell. A Short History of Quebec by John Alexander Dickinson. The French in North America 1500-1783 W.J. Eccles. The Illustrated History of Canada by Craig Brown. La Nouvelle France: The Making of French Canada--A Cultural History by Peter N. Moog. And for another rainy/snowy day, the massive Champlain's Dream by David Hackett Fischer. (I had packed Why I Hate Canadians by Will Ferguson, a tongue in check "attack" especially on the culture shock of Americans dealing with French Canadians.) In the event, we had a day and a half of reading and two and a half days of touring this endlessly fascinating city. Dummies added a real depth of richness to the visit. Robert C. Ross 2008