Exploring Quebec City on a double decker bus: Old Quebec Tours Review
An honest review of my experience with Old Quebec Tours in Quebec City
Over the years, I have visited Quebec City a few times, mostly in the winter for the Carnival de Quebec festival but I had never explored the city in the summer months.
When I had the chance to return for the day in the summer of 2021, I thought a guided bus tour would be a nice way to start my visit and get oriented without getting too tired from walking up and down all the steep hills and walls the city is built around.
I booked this one hour guided bus tour as part of a package with a bus tour from Vieux Quebec/ Old Quebec Tours and I paid for it myself, so this is a completely independent review.
You can read a detailed summary of all the experiences I had with Old Quebec Tours on this express double decker bus tour or jump straight to my final recommendation at the end.
Go to final recommendation
Keep reading to find out what I thought of this guided bus tour of Quebec City!
Quick Overview of the Old Quebec double decker express bus tour
Destinations: This tour focused the main tourist attractions in Quebec City, including the Old Quebec, Plains of Abraham, and lower town and we passed by several major parks, museums, and historic buildings as well.
How long was the tour: This guided bus tour of Quebec City lasted about 1 hour.
Who was on the tour: There were about 20 people on this double decker bus tour and there was space for everyone to sit on the upper level open deck if they chose to, so the bus was not at full capacity.
Who was the guide: This Quebec City bus tour had one driver and one tour guide. He was easy to understand and completely bilingual, providing commentary in both English and French. The staff were organised and had a printed list with everyone who had signed up for the tour.
How did we travel: This tour took place entirely on a double decker bus. The upper level is accessed via a narrow stairway and there was some accessible seating on the lower level. The was a speaker system with commentary and I had no issue hearing anything.
When did I take this tour: August 2021.
Meeting the Old Quebec bus tour
The pre-departure information specified where to meet the tour bus, directly across from the tourist information centre and the Hotel Chateau Frontenac. The buses are also bright red with branding for Old Quebec tours so they are hard to miss.
There are departures here for the one hour express tour where you stay on the bus the entire time, and also for their hop-on hop-off services which drop visitors at different points around Quebec City throughout the day. I arrived about fifteen minutes before my 11 AM departure time and the guide and driver checked my name off a list and confirmed what language I wanted to hear the commentary in and I was free to choose any available seat. I went with the front seats on the top level for good views.
Bus seats and features
The seats are just typical hard plastic and the upper level is completely open to the elements so bring a jacket or hat depending on the weather. There are also safety bars on the sides and a small windshield at the very front which does limit the view a bit from the front seats. Leg room was a bit limited and there are no seatbelts. For visitors who want commentary in a language other than English or French, they do seem to have a headphone system that provides translations in a variety of other languages directly at your seat.
Quebec City Upper Old Town
The guide introduced himself on the loudspeaker system and the tour started exactly on time as scheduled. The first few stops were in the upper part of Quebec City Old Town, where there are lots of historic buildings, shops, restaurants and various parts of the 17th century fortification walls that surround this part of the city. This is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most complete fortified cities in North America. The guide would provide commentary alternating in English and French to make sure everyone could understand. The bus was mostly constantly driving, but would occasionally pull over and stop for a few minutes in front of sites of interest (like churches) to allow people to take pictures.
Quebec Museum of Civilisation and Cruise Boat Port
The bus descended through the steep streets of the upper Old Town to continue our journey into the lower Old Town and we passed by some of the major museums of Quebec City, including the Museum of Civilisation, which has constantly changing themed major exhibitions. There is also a boat cruise port in this area for embarking on AML cruises down the St. Lawrence to see Montmorency Falls and Île d'Orléans. I found it helpful to pass by these other activities to get an idea of what you might want to do after the bus tour ends.
Royal Battery
Down at the waterfront area, we also got another perspective on the Hotel Chateau Frontenac and passed by more historic buildings and shops. It really looks very European in some places. The Royal Battery park area has some historic information and cannons and it is a good place to sit down and watch the boats go by on the river, I returned here later in the day to take a break and have some ice cream.
Plains of Abraham and Citadelle de Quebec
The bus then started the drive slightly away from the Old Town to drive past the Citadelle de Quebec, which is the oldest military installation in Canada, built on top of the strategic Cap Diamant elevation. It is both an active military site and a National Historic Site of Canada, and you can typically visit on guided tours.
Next, we drove through the adjoining Plains of Abraham historic area which was once used as a battlefield in 1759 in an important conflict which shaped the future of Canada. It is now a large urban park with walking paths and lookout points, and if often hosts special events like concerts and festivals.
Quebec Parliament Buildings
As we started to near the end of the bus tour, we turned back towards the Old Town and drove past the Quebec Parliament buildings, which are the home of the National Assembly of Quebec and the Fontaine de Tourny out front. The summer was a nice time to visit, with lots of the gardens in bloom, there was also a protest going on out in front of the Parliament, so that’s always good to see democracy in action.
Quebec City Fortifications
For the last few minutes, the guide pointed out some more modern buildings and areas where special events and festivals were taking place throughout the summer. We also passed the famous Fortifications of Quebec National Historic Site, which is managed by Parks Canada and you can walk a 4.6 km path along the fortifications, this site is well worth a visit if you have time after the bus tour. Shortly after passing the fortifications, the bus returned to the starting point on time and we were able to disembark the bus.
Quebec City Hop On Hop Off Bus
The tour I did with Old Quebec Tours was an express one hour sightseeing tour where we just stayed seated and did not leave the bus at any time, we drove in a loop that started and ended in front of the Hotel Chateau Frontenac. However, they do also offer a hop-on hop-off service, where you want visit different sites throughout the day on the same style of bus, you just need to book different ticket for this service.
Final Recommendation:
Double Decker Red Bus Guided tour of Quebec City
I thought this tour provided the experience as described on the Old Quebec Tours website. I booked this tour as part of a package along with a guided walking tour of the Hotel Chateau Frontenac later in the afternoon and I had no issues contacting the company directly by email to reserve my places on both tours.
The website was fine to navigate in English or French, email communication and pre departure information was sufficient, I had no issues locating the bus in time for departure. The bus seemed reasonably safe and clean.
The guide was knowledgeable and easy to understand in either French or English and obviously experienced. The commentary was informative and sometime funny, and I didn’t find it inappropriate or political.
In terms of accessibility, there is a staircase to access the upper level of the double decker bus, but there did seem to be accessible seating on the main level if you can’t manage stairs.
Overall, I found this to be an informative activity on my fourth visit to Quebec City. Starting the day with a tour that showed the main attractions of the city helped me to plan out what else I wanted to do. Being on the bus also avoided strenuous walking up and down steep hills on a hot summer day so I didn't get overtired at the start of my trip. Overall, I felt the value was there with this guided red bus tour, especially as part of a package deal with the Hotel Chateau Frontenac Tour I did later the same day.
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On this 1 hour double decker bus tour, we drove past the Old Town, Plains of Abraham , the fortification walls and many museums, parks and historic sites with live commentary from a guide. Find out if I recommend this red bus tour with Old Quebec Tours in Quebec City.