Québec City is the cradle of French culture in North America and the historic heart of Québec. Since 1985, the city's entire Old Town has been placed on the UN's prestigious World Heritage List. This magical 17th-century city of cobbles, turrets and gables is the only walled town in North America and is chocolate-box pretty, ribboned with meandering alleyways distinct to the neat grid system that is the Canadian urban norm. Spend days soaking up the culture, wandering around the plethora of museums and little galleries and sampling the delicious food.

FAIRMONT LE CHATEAU FRONTENAC
1 rue des Carrières (00 1 418 692 3861; fax: 692 1751; www.fairmont.com). This castle-like building is said to be the world's most photographed hotel. The 618 rooms seem meagre in comparison with the sheer scale of this mighty edifice. But if you want excellent service and to stay at the address in Québec, the Frontenac can't be faulted. £££

HOTEL DU CAPITOLE
972 rue Saint-Jean (00 1 418 694 4040; fax: 694 1916). Set just outside Porte Saint-Jean and the city walls of Vieux Québec, this retro-chic establishment is part of a complex that includes a lavish showbiz theatre and a bustling Italian restaurant. There are 40 funky, art-deco-style rooms. £

AUBERGE SAINT-ANTOINE
10 rue Saint-Antoine (00 1 418 692 2211; fax: 692 1177; www.saint-antoine.com). This boutique hotel is set in an elegantly refurbished warehouse in the old port area. The 31 rooms are whimsically furnished and offer such varieties as a James Bond suite and a pretty, garden-motif room. £

HOTEL DOMINION 1912
126 rue Saint-Pierre (00 1 418 692 2224; fax: 692 4403; www.hoteldominion.com). Also in the old port area, this is probably the classiest establishment in town. The 60 rooms range from lavish suites to slightly cramped doubles with showers. £

ICE HOTEL
143 route Duchesnay, Pavillion l'Aigle, Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier (00 1 418 875 4522; fax: 875 2833; www.icehotel-canada.com). It's best to check that the hotel has actually been built before you try to stay: construction depends on the weather but should start around mid-December. Beds are blocks of ice coated with deer skins and sleeping bags (heated bathrooms are in an annexe down the corridor). ££

AUX ANCIENS CANADIENS
34 rue Saint-Louis (00 1 418 692 1627; fax: 692 5419). This comfortable restaurant, in one of the oldest houses in Québec (dating from 1675), panders unashamedly to the tourist market, but it's fun to come here and sample traditional Québec staples such as soupe aux pois (pea soup) and tourtière (meat pie in a flaky pastry).

LE CHAMPLAIN
Fairmont Le Château Frontenac (00 1 418 692 3861; fax: 692 1751). Jean Soulard's acclaimed dishes include hors d'oeuvres such as fresh scallops from the Iles de la Madeleine with honey and spices, and entrées such as melt-in-the-mouth caribou cooked with foie gras. The food is served in elegant, early-20th-century surroundings.

LE CHARBON STEAKHOUSE
(00 1 418 522 0133; fax: 522 6404; www.charbonsteakhouse.com). Opened in 2000, this serves good steaks and burgers to a carnivorous crowd.

LE CONTINENTAL
26 rue Saint-Louis (00 1 418 694 9995; fax: 694 2109). This 1845 house has been a restaurant since the 1950s and has become a Québec classic. House specialities are flambés, concocted with due drama by a small army of waiters evidently well trained in pyrotechnics.

LA GRANDE TABLE
A La Maison Serge Bruyere, 1200 rue Saint-Jean (00 1 418 694 0618; fax: 694 2120). Don't be deterred by the breeze-in, breeze-out café on the ground floor. Serge Bruyere is an enterprising establishment with a choice of eating outlets to suit all tastes (and wallets). La Grande Table offers serious cuisine, such as ricassée de chanterelles et ris de veau deglacé au balsamique followed by tournedos de caribou aux morilles et cognac flambé.

LE LAPIN SAUTE
52 rue du Petit-Champlain (00 1 418 692 5325; fax: 692 2195). This country-style restaurant tends to fill up quickly, so it's best to book. Rabbit is not the only dish on the menu: the steak frites are also excellent.

LAURIE RAPHAEL
117 rue Dalhousie (00 1 418 692 4555; fax: 692 4175). Daniel Vezina's restaurant is probably the most costly place to eat in town, but you can expect a spectacular feast. Starters include Sevruga caviar with blinis; entrées, such as roasted leg of venison with juniper berry and cranberry sauce, look like works of art.

POISSON D'AVRIL
115 quai Saint-André (00 1 418 692 1010; fax: 692 1664). Lots of exposed brick adds atmosphere to this old warehouse, now specialising in fresh-fish dishes. The moules frites come with a choice of 15 sauces.

GALLERIES

MUSEE D'ART INUIT BROUSSEAU
39 rue Saint-Louis (00 1 418 694 1828; www.inuitart.ca). From tender mother-and-child images to dancing polar bears and daunting, shamanistic sculptures, there's an absorbing wealth here. Open daily.

MUSEE DE LA CIVILISATION
85 rue Dalhousie (00 1 418 643 2158; www.mcq.org). This interactive theme museum takes 'civilisation' as its broad remit and presents changing exhibitions of a sometimes dynamic, sometimes bizarre, nature. Free on Tuesdays, closed Mondays.

MUSEE DU QUEBEC
Parc des Champs-de-Bataille (00 1 418 643 2150; www.mdq.org). There are more than 20,000 works here. Some of the haunting sculptures and paintings may leave you wondering why you may never have heard of Jean Paul Lemieux, Paul-Emile Borduas and Armand Vaillancourt before. Free admission, closed Mondays.

MUSEE DES URSULINES
12 rue Donnaconna (00 1 418 692 2492; www.museocapitale.qc.ca). There are still about 60 Ursuline nuns teaching at the convent next door to this museum, which charts the work of their predecessors, who arrived here in 1639. Open afternoons only, closed Mondays.

SHOPPING

ARTISANAT GROS-LOUIS
30 boulevard Maurice-Bastien, Village Huron, Wendake (00 1 418 843 2503). You'll get the genuine article here, made in a Huron village (and sold without tax). The loquacious owner specialises in snowshoes and moccasins, although he also sells fur hats, charms and beaded bracelets.

BIBI & COMPAGNIE
40 rue Garneau (00 1 418 694 0045). In a neat little shop on one of the intriguing side-streets, an engagingly sardonic proprietor specialises in hats: real fur, fake fur and simply woolly.

GALERIE D'ART ROYALE
53 rue Saint-Pierre (00 1 418 692 2244). This is one of three modern-art galleries in the city owned by the Beauchamp family and mainly showcasing Québec artists. The building is well worth visiting for its architectural merits. Set in a 1647 fur trader's house, it became a hardware store in the 1960s and has since been refurbished to show off its original brickwork and vault. Opposite is another of the group's galleries in a revamped bank.

L'IROQUOIS
39 and 41 Sous le Fort, Place Royale (00 1 418 692 3366). There's a wide choice of First Nations crafts here, from bear-tooth pendants to moccasins, Indian rugs and rabbit-fur hats.

JA MOISAN
699 rue Saint-Jean (00 1 418 522 0685). An atmospheric, old-fashioned grocery store selling Québecois cheese and other delicacies such as a paté of Arctic caribou with mushrooms.

Serious shoppers should head for the malls on the outskirts of town. The biggest are Galeries de la Capitale (5401 boulevard des Galeries; 00 1 418 627 5800; www.galeriesdelacapitale.com) and Place Laurier (2700 boulevard Laurier, Sainte-Foy; 00 1 418 651 5000; www.placelaurier.com).

HIVER EXPRESS
(00 1 418 525 5191) operates a daily shuttle service from Québec to three ski resorts. Departures from most major hotels.

LE MASSIF
1350 Principale, Petite-Rivière-Saint-François (00 1 418 632 5879; www.lemassif.com).About 50 minutes east of Québec, Le Massif offers 20 runs open from December to late April.

MONT SAINTE ANNE
(00 1 418 827 4561; www.mont-sainte-anne.com) is one of Eastern Canada's largest sports resorts with 56 downhill trails for skiers and snowboarders. Skiing usually starts in December and continues to early May. Night skiing (4pm to 10pm) is possible from the end of December to mid March. There are also 224km of groomed cross-country trails.

STONEHAM
1420 chemin du Hibou, Stoneham (00 1 418 848 2415; www.ski-stoneham.com). Twenty minutes north of Québec, this resort has 30 downhill trails, including 16 trails for night skiing. Skiing is possible from December to mid April. For other ice adventures, contact Aventures Nord-Bec (00 1 418 889 8001), Tourism Jacques Cartier (00 1 418 844 2358) or Station Ecotouristique Duchesnay (00 1 418 875 2122). The city's annual ice festival, Carnaval de Québec (00 1 418 626 3716), takes place from 31 January to 16 February. It is a wacky celebration with ice carvings, dogsledding competitions and canoe races across the icy expanse of the St Lawrence Rive

AIRPORT
Montréal has two airports, Dorval 20km west of downtown, which serves most domestic, US and overseas flights and Mirabel, 55km northeast of downtown, which serves mostly charter flights.

AIRLINES FROM THE UK
British Airways (0845 773 3377; www.britishairways.com) flies daily from Heathrow to Québec, via Montréal. Air Canada (0870 524 7226; www.aircanada.ca) flies daily from Heathrow to Québec, via Toronto or Halifax.

Although the city is in one of Canada's milder regions, winters can still be daunting. So unless you want freezing conditions, go in summer.

The main office is Centre Infotouriste (00 1 418 649 2608), 12 rue Ste Anne, Place d'Armes opposite the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac hotel. A second equally large but less crowded tourist office is at 835 avenue Laurier (00 1 418 649 2608) at the entrance to the Plains of Abraham.

Always consult the Foreign Office before travelling.