This weekend, I was in Québec City with Beth, a woman I tutor in French. Her husband and her were kind enough to offer me the trip.
Beth proceeded to pay for everything while on the trip (Tom stayed behind, probably to revel in bachelorhood and let us speak French all the time). As a result, this trip wasn’t my usual eating-fruit-and-bread-two-meals-a-day, researching-the-heck-out-of-stuff-to-find-the-cheapest-options travel experience.
There are, however, a few relatively painless ways to save money on a trip to Québec City.
Stay at the hostel.
I know what you are thinking: sketchiness and bunk beds.
Well, some of the cheapest rooms do have bunks but of all the times I stayed there, the rooms are never completely full so you can pick top or bottom. But this hostel is not only cute, clean, secure, and reasonably priced (start at $28 for the dorm room and go up to $87 a night for a room with private bath and breakfast), it is also right in the middle of Old Québec.
When I’ve stayed there alone, I also found it fun to go on some of the activities they held, like tours and pub crawls, which are usually free and a good way to meet people.
Beth and I had a private room at the hostel. It had some furniture, really dark curtains (excellent sleeping), and everything else you’d expect in a basic hotel room like a luggage rack, alarm clock, and mini soaps. And just like everyone else, we had access to the kitchen where we were able to keep some chilled cheese and crackers for a little afternoon snack.
Go a little outside the old city for some cheap (restaurant) food.
Saint Foy is the “borough” where the Université Laval is and where there are students, there is cheaper food and entertainment. The buses run from the Vieux Québec to Saint Foy but you can also drive there in less then 10 minutes. I remember eating at a good and relatively inexpensive Algerian restaurant the last time I was there. It makes sense that you’ll pay more for the same thing in town because of convenience and probably higher rents, but if you are willing to venture out of Old Québec, it’ll probably be worth your while, saving moneywise.
Don’t scoff at free breakfast.
Our hostel had a free breakfast with our room. It was your usual continental fare with cereal, fruit, coffee, juice, bread products, and hard boiled eggs. This sounds moderately unimpressive but walking around the city I saw signs for $9 breakfasts and $2 coffees. Hey, one less meal I have to buy is something I can appreciate!
Knowing French is helpful and may score you a deal or two.
You know, most everyone in Québec we saw spoke English but boy, did I notice people being nicer and more helpful to me (a French speaker) then English speaking tourists. So if you don’t want to full blown learn a language, try a few simple phrases. It’s polite and trust me, polite can get you far and save you money!
I can’t believe such a wonderful place is less then 300 miles from my house. I’m glad Québec and I reconnected after a few years, and I’m glad to have had such good and generous company.