Quebec City, Quebec

Mephistopheles

So, for the first week in June, my parents and I are going to be in Quebec City. I'm looking for some interesting places to go, and things to do. This is my first trip to the great white North Country, and none of us are francophones, so keep that in mind. Again, I'm going with my parents, so not really looking for anything crazy.

I personally am interested in seeing the architecture of the city, and am wondering if there are any great museums there.

I'm guessing we could take at least a one day trip to another part of Quebec, if such a need arises.

MisterAlex

Well, you picked a great time to go. This year is Quebec's 400th anniversary, and as such, there are a ton of events going on. This is the official website for events http://monquebec2008.sympatico.msn.ca/MonQuebec2008/?module=calendar&id=11&lang=en-ca (english version). Obviously, most of the events are in french, but that shouldn't stop you from participating.

Korlash

Museums you say?

We have a museum of arts!
http://www.mnba.qc.ca/Home.aspx

It's a great place to visit, and there's a special event starting June 5th.

I think just walking around the city should be a pretty good experience, I'm sure you'll spot some nice things. I sure did when I last went there.

If this is your first trip to Canada, I think you should immerse yourself in the culture and buy some maple syrup.:D

Ok actually, it was a pretty bad season this year for maple syrup, but I'm sure you can find some. Quebec's maple syrup is the best in the world, no contest.

EDIT: I just saw the part of your post about going to another part of Quebec. If you don't mind driving a bit, go to Montreal. Really. It is one of the cities with the most places of culture and science in the entire world. There, you'll find:

The planetarium: http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/planetarium/index_a.html

The Biodôme:http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/biodome/site/site.php?langue=en

The botanical garden: http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/jardin/en/menu.htm
(there's an insectarium inside the botanical garden, too!)

The museum of fine arts: http://www.mmfa.qc.ca/en/index_flash.html

The Canadian centre for architecture: http://www.cca.qc.ca/

The museum of contemporary arts: http://www.macm.org/en/index.html

The museum of history: http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=2759,3090844&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

The centre of science: http://www.centredessciencesdemontreal.com/en/index2.htm

And honestly, I could go on. Seriously, if you have to consider going anywhere in Quebec, go to Montreal.

Manda

My fiance and I went up there for the first time last summer and had a great time. Old Quebec is a great place for tourists, plus it's right by the St. Lawrence River. The down side is that we spent so much time there we have no clue what the rest of Quebec looks like, but we had a total blast there regardless!

Mephistopheles

Great suggestions, we're going to try to make it to Montreal one day.

What kind of weather can we be expecting this time of year?

Djiem

Really, the weather is completely fucking random here.
But let's assume we stay in the norm, I'd expect humid and very sunny days, temperature well above 20C. If there's some wind, it'll be bearable as the air will feel less thick and it'll be easier to breathe.
With some bad luck, you could get rain and very cold days, but I'd prepare myself mostly for killer heat.

Old Québec is simply beautiful and has many interesting locations to visit.

As for others parts of Québec, you could always visit Montréal if you can. The city part of Québec is basically Montréal-lite while the old Montréal is old Québec-lite. Meaning, Montréal's more of a huge metropolis with some interesting tourist locations and Québec city is THE place for tourists with a pretty big city attached to it.

I don't live near Québec city, I live near Montréal, so I can't really help you as much as some others here with the locales you should visit in Québec city, but if you decide to make a stop by Montréal, I'm your man.

Nakatomi2010

Don't go to Montreal... That roads in that city scared the shit out of my wife and I when we had to go the American consulate for goverment paperwork to get me into the US...

Both timesI've been a passenger or driver in a personal vehicle (Not a school bus) my memories are always of the horrible roads, the most recent memorable memory being a ramp going from waaaay up high to waaay down low, at a pretty steep slope, didn't use it, but I saw it and all I could think was "Holy shit"...

Korlash

I've gone to Montreal a few times and it's hardly as scary as you say...

Ok it's a big city, so drivers aren't as polite as they could be, but it's hardly life-threatening.

shutz

If you go to Montréal, just find a place to park your car, and use public transportation, especially the Métro. It's much safer than whatever you might have heard about such underground transportation as New York subways, and it's much less confusing, because there's less of it. The Métro will get you within 10-15 minutes' walking distance of most interesting things in the city, and in some cases, you might not even need to step outside.

Also, if you go to Montréal, and you're not vegetarian/vegan, you must try the local smoked meat sandwiches. People come from around the world to have some. The best place to get it from is Schwartz's.
The place might look old, and it's pretty small (expect to stand outside for 30-60 minutes around lunchtime or suppertime before you get in... it's better to show up outside regular meal hours.)

It's a pity you're coming in the first week of June. Starting around the end of June, there's a succession of high-profile festivals in the city that a are all worth experiencing, The Montréal Jazz Fest (great outdoor music), Just for Laughs (lots of fun stuff to do outside as well), Les Francofolies de Montréal (mostly-French music and shows, but you could still like the music) and many others.

saggio

You really need to check out La Citadelle. When it was built, along with the walls of Old Quebec City, it was the only fortified city in North America north of Mexico City. Which I think is one of the most badass things ever.

You may also want to check out the National Assembly. Even if you aren't into politics, the building is pretty cool.