Best time to visit Québec City without the crowds

Best match

In-between month — fall foliage done, Christmas Market not yet open — but the cheapest mid-week stays of the year.

#1 for without crowds

Best match

Lowest crowds and prices of the year — but lingering snow, closed terraces and many tourist sites still on winter schedules.

#2 for without crowds

Worth considering

Christmas market and holiday lights still up early-month, then the city quiets — Hôtel de Glace opens at year's end.

#3 for without crowds

Best match

Sugar shack (cabane à sucre) season opens — maple syrup harvest at farms around Île d'Orléans.

#4 for without crowds

Best match

Terraces open across the Vieux-Québec, lilacs bloom, and the long pre-summer window has the city without the August queues.

#5 for without crowds

Strong option

Fête nationale du Québec (24 June) — Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day — fills the Plains with the biggest free concert in Canada.

#6 for without crowds

Strong option

Peak fall foliage along the Saint-Lawrence — Montmorency Falls and Île d'Orléans turn fire-coloured in the second week.

#7 for without crowds

Strong option

Cruise ship peak — 100+ ships dock through September and October — but the leaves are just beginning to turn.

#8 for without crowds

Strong option

Fêtes de la Nouvelle-France — costumed 17th-century re-enactment fills the streets — the New France Festival owns the first week.

#9 for without crowds

Worth considering

Festival d'été (Summer Festival) — 11 days of headline concerts on Plains of Abraham — turns the city into Canada's biggest music party.

#10 for without crowds

Worth considering

German Christmas Market and the Saint-Lawrence at sunset turn Vieux-Québec into the closest thing to old-world Europe in the Americas.

#11 for without crowds

Worth considering

Carnaval de Québec — the world's largest winter carnival with the ice palace, night parades and Bonhomme presiding for 17 days.

#12 for without crowds