City walk Quebec City — Plains of Abraham, Canada

The Citadelle and the Plains of Abraham: Where Quebec Changed Hands

From the Château Frontenac along the cliff on the Governors' Promenade, into the star-shaped Citadelle, across the battlefield of 1759 and back down Grande Allée to the Parliament Building.

Duration: 1 day
Distance: 6 km
Difficulty: Easy
Best season: May–October, when the Governors' Promenade is open

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On the morning of 13 September 1759, British troops under James Wolfe climbed the cliffs west of Quebec in the dark and formed up on a farmer’s field outside the walls. The French under the Marquis de Montcalm marched out to meet them, and the battle was decided in less than an hour. Both generals were mortally wounded. Four years later France ceded Canada to Britain. The field, named for the 17th-century river pilot Abraham Martin, is now a 98-hectare park that Quebecers use the way New Yorkers use Central Park, and this walk strings together everything that grew up around it.

The route starts with the best cliff walk in the city, the Governors’ Promenade, a staircase-and-boardwalk path bolted onto Cap Diamant high above the St. Lawrence. It climbs to the Citadelle, the star fort the British built between 1820 and 1850 and still an active base of the Royal 22e Régiment. From there it is open parkland, monuments, a Martello tower and the national fine arts museum, then a walk down Grande Allée to the Second Empire Parliament Building and back into the old town through Porte Saint-Louis.

Allow a full day if you take the Citadelle tour and go into the museum or the Parliament; half a day if you only walk. The promenade is the only hard part: it is several hundred steps up in total, all of them in the first 30 minutes.

Getting there. Start on Dufferin Terrace, beside the Château Frontenac in Old Quebec. The Governors’ Garden, with its Wolfe–Montcalm obelisk, is just behind the Château, and the promenade begins at the south end of the terrace.

Permits & tickets. The promenade, the Plains and Grande Allée are free. The Citadelle is seen on paid guided tours (roughly an hour, in French and English), which also cover its museum. The Parliament Building offers free guided tours of about an hour; reserve online or on site, bring photo ID if you are 16 or older, and expect airport-style security. The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec charges admission. Hours and prices change, so check the official sites before you go.

Good to know:

The Governors’ Promenade is not cleared of snow and is generally closed in winter. Out of season, walk up Côte de la Citadelle from Porte Saint-Louis instead.
The Changing of the Guard at the Citadelle runs on summer mornings, roughly from late June to late August; confirm the dates and days on the Citadelle’s website.
The Plains of Abraham Museum, the park’s reception centre, is at 835 Wilfrid-Laurier Avenue and is the place for maps and the story of the 1759 and 1760 battles.

Tips & Insights for this route Planning this route? Read our practical tips before you go — 8 tips. Read the tips

Download waypoints (GPX) Points of interest in walking order — not a trail trace.

Day by day

DayDistanceAscentDescentWalking time

Day 1 Hardest dayDufferin Terrace to the Parliament Building

Distance6 kmAscentNot recordedDescentNot recordedWalking timeNot recorded

Day 1

Dufferin Terrace to the Parliament Building

Dufferin Terrace → Porte Saint-Louis 6 km

Navigate this day Print day

A loop from the Château Frontenac up the cliff to the Citadelle, across the Plains of Abraham, and back along Grande Allée and through the city walls.

Segments

Governors' Garden and the Wolfe–Montcalm obelisk 0.5 km Map

Château Frontenac → South end of Dufferin Terrace

Small park and wooden boardwalk

Before you climb, step into the Governors' Garden on the south side of the Château. Its obelisk, completed in 1828, is the oldest monument in Quebec City and one of very few anywhere that honours both the winning and the losing general of the same battle: Wolfe and Montcalm, who both died of their wounds. Then walk to the south end of Dufferin Terrace, past the ramp used as a toboggan run during the Winter Carnival. About 20 minutes.

About this place

The Wolfe–Montcalm Monument is in Governors' Garden beyond the southern side of the Château Frontenac, Quebec. Completed in 1828, the obelisk is the oldest monument in Quebec City and the second-oldest war monument in Canada, the oldest being Nelson's Column in Montreal, which was completed in 1809. The monument commemorates the gallantry of two generals, James Wolfe from Great Britain and Louis-Joseph de Montcalm of France, who led armies which fought against each other in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham outside of Quebec City, and who both died during the battle. It is one of very few monuments to honor both the victorious and the defeated general of the same battle.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Jeangagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0
The Governors' Promenade 0.8 km Map

South end of Dufferin Terrace → Plains of Abraham, near the Citadelle

Boardwalk and long flights of wooden stairs on the cliff face

The promenade clings to Cap Diamant below the walls of the Citadelle, climbing in flights of stairs with lookouts over the river, Lévis and the Île d'Orléans. Jacques Cartier took the glittering quartz in this cliff for diamonds in 1542, which is where the name comes from. It is the steepest part of the day and the most beautiful. The promenade is seasonal and generally closed in winter. About 30 minutes.

About this place

Cap Diamant is a cape on an edge of the Promontory of Quebec and on which Quebec City is located, formed by the confluence of a bend in the St. Lawrence River to the south and east, and the much smaller Saint-Charles River to the north.
Read more on Wikipedia
The Citadelle 0.6 km Map

Top of the Governors' Promenade → Citadelle parade ground

Park paths, then the fort's grounds

The Citadelle is an uneven star fort of four bastions, built by the British between 1820 and 1850 to hold Quebec against the Americans, and it is still an active military installation: the Royal 22e Régiment has its headquarters here, and it is an official residence of the monarch and the Governor General. You visit on a guided tour that includes the regimental museum in the 1750 powder magazine. In summer, the Changing of the Guard happens on the parade ground in the morning. About 90 minutes with a tour.

About this place

The Citadelle of Quebec, also known as La Citadelle, is an active military installation and the secondary official residence of the governor general of Canada. It is atop Cap Diamant, adjoining the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, Quebec. The citadel forms part of the fortifications of Quebec City, which is one of only two cities in North America still surrounded by fortifications, the other being Campeche, Mexico. It is also an official residence of the monarch of Canada, when they are in Quebec.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Musée Royal 22e Régiment · Public domain
Across the Plains of Abraham 1.5 km Map

Citadelle → Wolfe monument

Lawns and park paths

Walk west along the clifftop across the battlefield. The park, created in 1908 and run by the federal National Battlefields Commission, stretches about 2.4 kilometres along the plateau above the river. Look for the Cross of Sacrifice, where Remembrance Day ceremonies are held, and the column marking the spot where Wolfe is said to have died. It is hard to picture a battle here now: on a summer afternoon it is joggers, picnics and the odd open-air concert. About 45 minutes.
Martello tower, Joan of Arc Garden and the fine arts museum 0.9 km Map

Wolfe monument → Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec

Park paths and formal garden

Cut across to the northern side of the park. One of the round stone Martello towers the British built in the early 19th century to cover the approach to the walls stands here, and nearby the Joan of Arc Garden sets an equestrian statue of the saint among formal flower beds. At the western end, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec holds over 40,000 works, most of them by Quebec artists, in four buildings, one of them a former provincial prison. About 30 minutes outside, two hours if you go in.

About this place

The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, abbreviated as MNBAQ, is an art museum in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The museum is located in National Battlefields Park and is a complex of four buildings. Three of them were purpose-built for the museum and one was originally a provincial prison.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec · Public domain
Grande Allée to the Parliament and back through the walls 1.7 km Map

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec → Porte Saint-Louis

City boulevard

Walk back east along Grande Allée, the city's grand avenue, to the Parliament Building of Quebec: a Second Empire building by Eugène-Étienne Taché, built between 1877 and 1886, where the National Assembly sits. Twenty-four statues of figures from Quebec's history stand in niches on its walls, and above the main door Taché had the province's motto, Je me souviens, carved beneath the coat of arms in 1883. Take the free tour if you booked one, then go back into the old town through Porte Saint-Louis. About 40 minutes, plus an hour for the tour.

About this place

The Parliament Building of Quebec is an eight-floor structure in Quebec City, Quebec. It is home to the National Assembly of Quebec. The Parliament Building was designed by architect Eugène-Étienne Taché in a Second Empire style and built between 1877 and 1886, in the heart of Parliament Hill. The National Assembly first met there on 27 March 1884, even though the building was only fully completed two years later, on 8 April 1886. From the 1910s to the 1930s, the government built several adjacent buildings to expand its office spaces, creating a parliamentary complex, of which the Parliament Building is the main edifice. This structure is a successor of several earlier buildings, the earliest of which was built in 1620 and among which there were two other parliament houses that served as legislatures.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Wilfredor · CC0