Winterapy: A Québec Winter Escape

Fly from the UK to Ottawa, then drive across the river into Québec, where Montebello and the first fire of the trip are waiting.

Arrive in Montebello, where the Ottawa River runs quiet under the snow and the château does the rest. You'll spend two nights at Fairmont Le Château Montebello, the great log lodge built around a vast three storey stone fireplace. Head out on snowshoes or behind a team of huskies, then thaw out fireside with something warm in hand.

Carry on to Montréal, where old stone streets, fresh snow and warm light make the city glow after dark. Two nights at Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth put you right in the thick of it. Wander the lantern lit lanes of Old Montreal, lace up for a skate at the Old Port, and catch the AURA light show inside Notre-Dame Basilica.

Press on to Québec City, where cobbled lanes climb between the ramparts and Château Frontenac watches over it all. Two nights at Hôtel Manoir Victoria leave you moments from Petit-Champlain. Take a soak at a Nordic spa, with hot pools, steam and cold mountain air taken in slow rotation. Also, ride the toboggan slide that has run below the Frontenac since 1884 close by for an afternoon of speed.

Just outside the city waits the Hôtel de Glace, sculpted from snow and ice and rebuilt from the ground up every winter. Spend a night inside it. Sip a cocktail from a glass carved of ice, walk the glowing corridors, then bed down in an insulated sleeping bag with a heated lounge close by.

Follow the St Lawrence northeast into Charlevoix, where the hills tumble down to the river and the pace turns wonderfully slow. Two final nights at Nordika Charlevoix put you in a heated geodesic dome with the winter sky overhead. Unwind in the Nordic spa, ski Le Massif with its long views to the water, or lose an afternoon among the galleries of Baie-Saint-Paul.

Drive back to Quebec City and fly home, snow rested and thoroughly warmed through.