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Dog-Friendly Quebec City: Our Dog’s First Road Trip

When you travel does your dog come too? This is the second dog-friendly trip we take with Henry, and although it takes a little bit more planning, it’s always super fun.

(Our first dog-friendly trip was to California and it was SO much fun! You can read all about it here.)

We just love traveling with Henry, and this time it was his first ever roadtrip. We traveled to Quebec City, which was much more dog-friendly than expected!

Included in this blog post is how we planned for the trip, our road trip packing list and of course, the dog-friendly spots we visited in Old Quebec.

Now, where to next?

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dog-friendly quebec city
dog-friendly quebec city

Where To Stay With Your Dog In Quebec City

Picking the right hotel for a dog-friendly trip anywhere is key. If you’re traveling with your dog for the first time, check out this blog post where I talk all about how to choose a pet-friendly hotel.

We were traveling with my parents and their senior dog, Lupo, a 10 year-old Coton de Tulear. Picking a hotel that was the right fit for all of us, and our dogs, was important.

We stayed at Hotel Port-Royal, right by the Port of Quebec, and in Old Quebec. We barely used the car at all throughout our 5-day stay, it was so conveniently located.

Other dog-friendly hotels we looked at were Le Germain, Fairmont Chateau Frontenac and Auberge Saint-Antoine.

The daily pet fee service was 25$/day (which was a little odd, considering they didn’t clean our rooms throughout our stay, due to COVID). But, pet fees are to be expected when traveling, so just a little heads up to plan for those.

I like that they had a little kitchenette in the room, including coffee maker, stove top and toaster. Very convenient, since we brought our own breakfast foods and snacks, but especially because we could store Henry’s food in the fridge and freezer.

Because we were on the first floor, we had our own private patio where we could all sit outside together with our dogs, without bothering anyone. This was a great place to eat breakfast and enjoy some down time together.

The neighbouring restaurant, Louise Taverne & Bar à Vin, was really good, and allowed dogs on their patio (as long as they didn’t bark).

dog-friendly quebec city
dog-friendly quebec city

Planning Ahead When Traveling With Your Dog

Actually, lots of restaurants are quite dog-friendly. By law, dogs aren’t allowed inside the actual restaurants, but the patios are for the most part dog-friendly, but you always have to ask, as we did get refused at one place.

Seeing as we were traveling with Lupo, our 10 year-old Coton de Tulear, we planned our days around how much walking it would be safe for him to do. Not to mention that it was super hot throughout the week!

Our days were spent exploring new streets and places, and for a couple of hours during supper time, our dogs would stay with Linda, a lovely pet-sitter we found on Rover, who took great care of our pups. This was a huge help for us, because we couldn’t leave the dogs alone in the hotel room.

Planning ahead was key. We made all our supper reservations before we left, so we knew what kind of schedule we could give the pet sitter. This also saved us a lot of waiting time at restaurants, and we didn’t have to struggle to find any either (Which is never fun to do when you’re hangry!)

I highly recommend planning ahead when traveling with your dog. Having your dog with you is an added responsibility and you want to make sure you’re a courteous dog owner.

If you’re looking for restaurant recommendations, I highly suggest Bistro Organique L’Orygine (we didn’t go to this one with the dogs, but omg it was delicious) & La Bûche, an elevated take on Quebecois favorites. We sat on the patio, and most likely would’ve been able to bring the pups. I recommend asking before you go, though!

As for desserts or a mid-day snack, check out Casse-Croûte Roquette! Plenty of dogs were hanging around the patio when we went.

dog-friendly quebec city
dog-friendly quebec city
dog-friendly staycation
dog-friendly quebec city

Chute Montmorency: A Dog-Friendly Adventure

If you’re looking for a great dog-friendly adventure while you’re in Quebec, visit Parc de la chute Montmorency. This historic, 83-metre-high waterfall has become one of the most popular tourist destinations of the region.

For an Instagram-able moment, walk across the suspended bridge. Now, I have a bridge phobia, and could not get across, especially with Henry (who was fearless, of course), but my parents said it was great!

The promenade by the waterfall (at a safe, ground-level) is where I preferred to stroll. To get to it, we took the cable car for a panoramic view of not only the waterfall, but the St. Lawrence River, Île d’Orléans, and Québec City as well. And YAY, it was dog-friendly!

The cable car ride is 14.75$CAD per person, roundtrip.

Parc de la chute Montmorency is a great place to walk around, explore and take photos with your dog, but make sure to pack lots of water for your pup, especially if you’re traveling here during the summer. We brought our portable water bottle. I liked that mine fit easily into my belt bag! (I’ll link a few at the bottom of the post!)

Chute Montmorency was about a 20-minute drive from our hotel. After seeing the waterfall, we headed toward Ile D’Orléans, a foodies dream. This was a 15-minute drive from Chute Montmorency.

We drove around, keeping the pups cool in the car. We stopped to pick up jam at Tigidou  and ice cream & chocolate at Chocolaterie de l’Île d’Orléans.

Among other things to see are vineyards, pick-your-own strawberry fields and lavender fields. Ile D’Orléans is a foodie’s dream, and we definitely need to go back to eat some more local delicacies!

dog-friendly quebec city
dog-friendly quebec city

Packing For A Roadtrip With Your Dog

This was our first road trip with Henry, so of course, we over-packed. Quebec City is a 3-hour drive and Henry loves car rides, so we didn’t have to worry. If your dog is not used to car rides, maybe consider a bit of training before you go.

A good place to start when it comes to packing is thinking of the items you use literally every day.

You also have to measure the right amount of food for the length of your trip. We had the extra consideration of keeping the food frozen (Henry is raw-fed).

On our list:

  • Medical records & ID Tags
  • 4 containers of food (with ice packs in the cooler)
  • 1 longer leash
  • 1 short leash
  • Seal (his favorite toy)
  • Treats
  • Snuffle mat
  • Blanket
  • Shampoo (I filled a smaller travel-sized bottle)
  • Ear cleaner & cotton rounds
  • De-matting brush
  • Poop bags
  • Wipes
  • Portable water bottle
  • Toppl
  • Travel bowl
  • Backpack
  • Belly bands
  • Backseat cover & seat belt
  • Maxbone City Carrier

Of course, there are some things on this list that are extra, because I knew Henry would be staying with a pet-sitter for a couple of hours a day. If you’re looking for any of the items above, I’ve linked them below:

Shop This Post:

We had a great time visting Quebec City, and were pleased with how dog-friendly it was! of course, there’s so much more to do and see, we’ll definitely have to go back.

If you’re planning a trip to Quebec City, check out quebec-cite.com they offer tons of ideas of what to see and do!

You can also head to our Instagram post here, to see a little recap of our trip!

Looking for more places to travel with your dog? We enjoyed a lovely staycation at The Four Seasons Montreal you can read all about here.

dog-friendly quebec city
dog-friendly quebec city
dog-friendly quebec city
dog-friendly quebec city

2 Comments

  1. Great post, lovely photographs! We bring our doggo every trip we go on 🙂

  2. I love qUEBec City… so good to hear it’s dog friendly.

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