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Staying in Quebec’s Ice Hotel

Try Staying at an ICE Hotel

The ice hotel is such a fun experience and Hotel De Glace at Valcartier Resorts in Quebec, Canada is the only one in North America. But you there are a few things you should prepare for, some you expect and some you may not.

When you book your room at the Ice Hotel, you also book a room at Hotel Valcartier. This is where you store all the items that you bring with you. They told us that only 3% of people do not make it through the entire night in the ice hotel.

The Ice Hotel is open for visitors (those staying in the hotel and those not staying in the Hotel) to tour from 10 AM to 8 PM. Though they do block off the beds so that you cannot get on those if you are touring it.

1. BE SURE TO GET TO THE HOTEL BEFORE 8 PM

For me, this is a must, but something no one told me about. Because the hotel is open for visitors you can see the other rooms and the other rooms before heading to be. It is a bit of a maze in the hotel, though they provide you with a map and have them around the hotel. You want some time to check into your hotel room in the Village as well as tour the Ice Hotel before it is time to go to bed. There are also instructional sessions on how to stay in the Ice Hotel that you are required to attend before your actually head to your room.

2. YOU CANNOT GO TO YOUR ROOM IN THE ICE HOTEL BEFORE 9 PM

Because the hotel is open for tours until 8 you cannot get ready for bed until 9 PM. At 8 PM the staff bring out the sleeping bags to each room and open up the hot tubs and Saunas.

3. CHECK-OUT TIME FOR THE ICE HOTEL IS 9 AM

They mean 9 AM. Around 8:15 the staff comes around to wake people up. The last wake-up call is 8:45 to make sure you are out by 9 AM.

4. BE PREPARED FOR THE COLD

Yes, it is cold in the ice hotel, it’s made out of ice after all. This seems obvious, but the rooms aren’t heated. The temperature inside the hotel varies from 25°F to 32°F. But the hotel provides Tundra-rated sleeping bags that are good for temperatures up to -20°F. The sleeping bags have a hood on them to keep your head warm as well.

5. STAY HYDRATED, DON’T DRINK TOO MUCH ALCOHOL

You want to make sure your body has enough energy to stay warm all night, which means you need to be hydrated with a good meal. But when you have too much alcohol, your body struggles to regulate its own temperature which means you may overheat or get too cold. The sad part about this is there is a fun ice bar and they give you one drink coupon.

6. USE THE HOT TUB AND SAUNA BEFORE BED

Just like with any other good night’s sleep, you want your body temperature to be slightly elevated so you don’t spend time trying to get warm to get to sleep. The Nordic Hot Tub and Sauna are perfect for this, it is a fun experience to do this at night in the cold. But you’ll get ready for the hot tub and sauna in the room in Hotel Valcartier, meaning put on your swimsuit then head through the hotel to the Ice Hotel where there were 3 hot tubs and 2 saunas. We arrived at the hotel right after 9 PM and there was no one there for the 30 minutes we spent in them. One couple arrived around 9:30 PM, but we each had our own hot tubs. We used the Sauna to dry off after the hot tub and this was the best decision I highly recommend that order. Then we headed back to the Hotel Valcartier to take showers to get ready for bed before heading back to the Ice Hotel around 10:45 PM.

7. MAKE SURE YOU ARE COMPLETELY DRY BEFORE GETTING IN YOUR SLEEPING BAG

From head to toe, meaning dry your hair and make sure your socks are dry before getting in the sleeping bag.

8. BRING NON-COTTON SLEEPING CLOTHES

Because it is freezing or below outside of the sleeping bag you don’t want to sweat and if you do, you don’t want your clothes absorbing that sweat. Because then it may freeze on you and make you extra cold. The hotel recommends sleeping in synthetics like polar, lycra, nylon, or wool. Also, it is acceptable to sleep completely naked in the sleeping bag, the hotel washes them after every use. They also recommend you wear a hat all night, but we were a bit warm so we took them off.

9. IF YOU’RE CLAUSTROPHOBIC, CONSIDER SLEEPING IN THE HOTEL VALCARTIER INSTEAD

Before staying in these sleeping bags if you asked me if I was claustrophobic, I would have said no. But not I question that slightly. If you know you’re claustrophobic and don’t like it when you’re hands are not free then or your face is not covered then this might not be the experience for you.

10. THERE IS ARE HEATED PORT-A-POTTY TO USE THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT

The port-a-potties were pretty clean and warm, not too bad for late-night pee breaks. I told myself if I had to use it though, I was going to go back to bed because it was an effort to get into my sleeping bag. But I was able to make it through the night, which was nice.

11. THERE ARE STAFF ON SITE THE ENTIRE TIME

Staff walks the property throughout the night to make sure there are no issues. They also want you to let them know if you leave early before 6 AM so they are not waiting on to wake up.

12. BRING AN EYE MASK AND EAR PLUGS IF YOU NEED COMPLETE DARKNESS AND SILENCE

Because the walls are made of thick snow, kind of like an igloo, you cannot hear your neighbor, which I was surprised about. But the doorway, is just a curtain, which means if you are a light sleeper like me, you may hear people walking past your room at night. I did bring my eye mask which blocked out all the light from the white snow walls. It also helped to calm me down and help me get back to sleep.

13. KIDS CAN STAY IN THE ICE HOTEL

While I’m not sure how this went because we don’t have any kids, there were plenty of people who brought their kids down to the toddler age. They even give you added features to make sure the kids are comfortable in sleeping bags.

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10 Must Try Things In Quebec City During Winter

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Quebec is an amazing historic city with great architecture, tasty food, and captivating views. But remember there are so many steps, hills, and its winter in north Canada… meaning it snows a lot.

1. Self Guided Walking Tour of the City

Dufferin Terrace

The boardwalk along the Lawrence river that was developed in 1838. It provides amazing view of the Chateau Frontenac, the river, and Old Quebec. Beneath boardwalk are the remains of Fort. Louis, and there of skylights in the floor of the board walk where you can see perserved elements of the fort. They offer tours, but not during the time were spent there due to the weather.

Place Royale, Rue Notre Dame, and Notre-Dame-des-Victories-Catholic Church

This beautiful stone street is lined with pubs, coffee shops, historic statues, and the center piece is Place Royale with the Notre-Dame-des-Victories, a church dating to 1688 shortly after the first settlement of the French.

Quebec City Mural & Fresque du Petit-Champlain Mural

A wonder picture of what Old Quebec would have looked like at the time of the first settlement. This is wondrous and takes up the whole side of the building it is painted on.

Breakneck Steps (Escalier Casse-Cou)

The steps provide a picturesc view onto Rue Petit Champlain. The were built in 1635 and show no real signs of wear due to all the snow over the centuries.

Other Activities: Shop along Rue du Petit Champlain, Overlook the Lawrence River, Walk along Rue Saint-Louis

2. Take the Funiculaire du Vieux-Quebec

This electric cable car will take you from the lower street of Rue Petit Champlain to Dufferin Terrace. It is much better than hiking back up the many (and I do mean many) stairs to get back to the terrace. It is a very nice scenic view of the river. Two notes: it is cash only, so you need a few Canadian Dollars and it closes periodically for maintenance so plan ahead.

3. Visit Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac

Beautiful Castle hotel that is essential attraction that you must visit when going to Quebec City. You can stay at this hotel, but is very experience and many people said it was not worth the cost. I agree with this, you can still tour the Hotel, eat at the restaurants, shop at the cute boutiques, and just hangout in it’s breath taking lobby.

4. Tobogin SLide (Les Glissade de la Terrasse)

I sadly was not able to experience this slide due to the weather, it snowed 12inches the first night we were there, it took a day to clean the slide because it is done with shovels, and the other day it was a high of 10 degrees F, not the best for a slide. But looks so much fun I recommend it.

5. Try Quebec Cusine

Le Buche: Rustic restaurant with Quebec style food. One of there signature items is a deconstructed shepherds pie that was amazing. They also have maple candy over snow, such a fun shack.

Le Continential: This flambe experience was one of the highlights of the trip. The flambe is done table side so you see the chef making your protein from start to finish. I like variety and while they did not have a surf and turf option, simply asked for it and was able to get a few of the giant shrimp with a nice steak. And don’t forget the sauce! They make an amazing sauce for your protein using the flambe sauce and cream, I could have licked that plate. I also tried escargot for the first time, fun experience. One of the more expensive meals that I’ve had in a while, but so worth it.

Bistro St-Malo: This was a recommendation from our hotel and while I would not have picked it out on my own, it was great. The vibe was cute and fun, but the food was even better. This was the first time I had duck (on Poutine) and rabbit (roasted as a main dish). They were both very tasty and I highly recommend.

Chic Shack: Excellent burger spot, with great milk shakes, poutine, and cute drinks.

La Maison Smith Cafe: Local chain coffee shop with amazing croissants and smooth coffee.

6. Visit the Plains of Abraham and La Citadelle de Quebec

History of French and British Battles around Quebec City. The plains are hilly but beautiful and offer great views of the city. We toured the Plains of Abraham Muesum and learn a lot of the history of Quebec.

7. Go Dog Sledding

This is a must do activity while in Quebec. It was the thing I was most excited for and it did not disappoint me in any way. There are so many options for dog sledding and some places treat the dogs and people better than others. Everyone I spoke to said Secret Nordic was one of the best place. They have over 80 dogs have rides 3 times a day during the winter. The trails were beautiful, with tons of trees, turns, and hills. We even saw moose tracks!

8. Visit Montmorency Falls

I was excited about seeing this amazing waterfall that is taller than Niagara Fall, but it was much better than expected. With your ticket you get admission to the top and bottom part of the fall. During the winter the falls partially freeze and so does the pool of water below so you can walk our on the snow covered ice and see the falls even closer. It was breath taking.

9. Stay at the Hotel de Glace (Ice Hotel)

If you’re headed to Quebec City you might as well take the 35 minute ride outside of the city to see the Hotel De Glace, it is the only Ice Hotel in North America. You can just visit or you can stay the night in one of their rooms, of course I had to experience staying the night and it was an amazing experience. If you don’t stay the night it is still a great place to visit to see the chapel, where people actually get married, the ice bar to great a drink poured in a block of ice, and tour the rooms. The theme of the rooms this year was, what happens in the night (lots of dream related rooms). That’s right you can tour the rooms from 10AM to 8PM because hotel checkin for guest is not until 9PM. For more details on staying at the Ice Hotel see this article:

10. Stay at Valcartier Resort

The resort was so fun and had options for the whole family. I should mention that the Ice Hotel is apart of the Valcartier resort and Hotel. For more on staying at the hotel see this article:

Bora Parc (Indoor Water park): The fairly large indoor water park offered many slide, tubes, a lazy river, a wave pool, kids area, and a hot tub. Enough to keep you occupied for a couple of hours. There was also a snack bar connected to it in case you get hungry.

Aroma Spa Nordic Spa: One for the best surprises of the trips was that I purchased the package that included to nights at the Nordic Spa for two. A Nordic spa is has aspects of hot and cold, meaning there is a hot tub and heated pool outside in the snow. Not only that but there was an Aroma Therapy steam room, cold bath, and sauna. This combination of activities made for a very relaxing couple of hours. When you arrive at the spa inside the hotel, you are giving a locker to store all your items at no addition cost. There are also a lot of indoor rooms to just lay out and relax in comfy chairs.

Winter Play Center (Snow Tubing): There a 24 tubing trails on this resort, each offering different levels of extremeness. But so fun and much easier that skiing. Only note is be prepared to walk, because the trails are very spread out.

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Try London: 18 Must Do Things for London

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I recently took my first trip to London with my husband, here are some do’s and don’ts from our experiences.

We spent 9 days in London and about 14 hours in Paris, there is definitely a point on Paris below, this was a good amount of time and while we did a lot we did not do all of the ‘top rated’ activities. One piece of advice that I’m sure we’re experienced on previous trips to large cities or may have read about, be prepared to walk! Even if you take the tube, bus, or taxi, you’re going to talk.

Must Do!

Take the Tube! And use an Oyster Pass

Not only is the tube a great way to get around London and it’s outskirts, it was kind of fun to see the different cars and stops. And if you’re going to take the tube more than a couple of times, the best thing to do is to get an Oyster Pass which allows you to ride unlimitedly for 7 days.

But watch out, it is only applicable for a certain number of zones. We took the train to Windsor Castle and needed to buy a separate ticket on the way back because the stop did not accept Oyster Cards. Also, do to Rail Union disputes there were a couple of days were certain trains did not operate, most of these were not in London proper, but could affect your travel to other places.

Windsor Castle

Don’t skip Windsor Castle! The train ride is a bit outside of London, but worth it. It is beautiful, has all the history (especially if you watched the Crown), great views, and you pass through a cute shopping area if you take the train.

Hop On/Hop Off Bus Tours

We were able to see the city without walking everywhere. After several days of taking the Tube and walking, it was nice to pull pretty close to a location and not have to talk up a ton of stairs from the underground. There were also great view from the second story of a double decker bus. But be prepared most of the busses are open air and they do not cover them when it is cold, blazing hot, or rains.

Tower of London

While it is not much of a large tower that we think of today, it is a pretty fun fort and it has great views of the Thames! During the time we visited they had the Crown Jewels display for the Queen’s Juliblee. No matter when you go there are always fun exbits and such great history. Fun fact: some of the Queen’s guards even live in the Tower of London and you can talk to them.

Tower Bridge

When you get to the Tower of London you’re right there, might as well! Not only does it have awesome arcititure, it’s a working Draw Bridge! How may times can you say you’ve seen that?! There are time on the Tower Bridge website that list when it it will rise. The tour of Tower Bridge included a tour of the engine room, history behind the bridge itself, and a nice view from the top of the bridge. I was surprised to hear that many people get London Bridge mixed up with Tower Bridge, but apparently it’s a thing because of the grandness of Tower Bridge.

Visit Big Ben and Westminster Abbey

Big Ben and the Parliament Building can be seen from multiple angles, my favorite was from the Thames River or just the other side of the Thames, great photo opportunity. And right next door/across the street is Westminster Abbey. I had no idea so many people were buried in the floor of Westminster Abbey. And if you go at the right time you can catch a service and hear the amazing Organ.

Buckingham Castle/Changing of the Guard

Buckingham Palace is Beautiful! Unfortunately we went to London shortly after the Queen’s passing so our tour of Buckingham was cancelled due to all activities that took place thereafter, but they usually offer tours from the Spring to Early Fall. We did get to see the changing of the Guard, which was so fun and I can’t recommend this more. Be sure to get there early to find the perfect spot (but I’m honestly not sure there was one). There are so many moving parts and people soldiers coming from all angles, it’s hard to find the perfect spot. My recommendation is to stand in the middle where the fountain is because this way you can see most things, but not everything.

Hyde Park

It is a beautiful park with so many flowers, ducks, and even swans. If you make it to the pond around sunset it makes for a fabulous view. But aware there are many bike and scooters around the park, but they are not allowed in the park. We learned that the hard way!

Oxford

Yes, with a Caveat. My Husband loves C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien and I enjoy Harry Potter, so we each wanted to see a few things in Oxford. But there is so much more, beautiful chapels, amazing landscaping, and eye catching architecture. There are three way you can get to Oxford – Train, Bus, Rental Car. Neither of us had driven on the other side of the road, so we elected not to do this. Bus seemed like it would take a bit longer than the train, so we took the train. It was nice, not too crowded, and was only about a 15 minute walk from the center of Oxford’s campus.

Notting Hill

I LOVE this movie, so was not going to miss seeing the travel look shop! But the street itself was crowded and the travel book shop is very much a tourist attraction. The redeeming factor were the cute shops, street food vendors, and antiques. If you don’t love them movie, maybe try one of the other market, but if you love it like me, it was worth it!

Harry Potter World

I mean who doesn’t love Harry Potter!? Well I know there are a few of you out there, my husband is one of them, but me on the other hand I’m so here for it. This place was so much fun, like reliving all the movies at once. Be prepare for souvenirs to be thrust upon you at every point and it is a bit outside the city of London. But other than that, I highly recommend if you even kinda like the movies.

Take it or Leave

The following places I would recommend if you have time, but they would not be my priority

The London Pass

The London Pass by Go City was super convenience not to have to buy all the tickets separately and pay for them in advance. It allows to buy a consecutive day pass (you must use it in the consecutive days) and has pretty much all the “main” tourist attractions in London. Some places require you to sign up for the pass in advance, but for the most part you just walk up and so the pass and walk in. The only downside is that if we would have paid for the attractions separate from the pass we would have saved money. But the convenience aspect was worth in my opinion.

Tour down the Thames River

We took an Uber Boat tour as part of the London Pass and The Shard tickets. Had it not been included in the Shard ticket or the fact that we were tired after multiple days of touristy things and just wanted something relaxing I probably would not have done it. But it was a nice slow pace hour and you get to hear some history and see farther down the river without having to walk

London Taxi Ride

One of the things on my list was to take a London Taxi, it was expensive and simply a card ride. Nice to check it off my list, but I would save my money unless you’re looking for the Novelty and convenience aspect.

The Shard

Such a great view! We spent an hour here, mostly day drinking and sitting around because I wanted to get the most out of our money. This was included in the London Pass as well, but you need to book ahead, so we booked it the day before.

British Museum

We only made it to the British Museum near closing time, but from what I saw it was not quite interesting

Bletchley Park

This visit was for my husband who is a Computer Science nerd. I learned a lot of interesting things, but it was quite a bit outside of the City (a little over an hour train ride). I would recommend you if like the movie Imitation Game, otherwise, it’s probably not worth it.

Paris for a Day

Paris for a day for awesome and very tiring, which is why it is in the take it or leave it section. I think it was worth it to check it off my list, but I still want to go back and see more. We we only in Paris for about 14 hours, which included the Louvre, Arc De Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, and a lot of walking/subway rides. We took the Eurostar train from London to Paris under the english channel which was so fun and great to see a bit of the French countryside. But be aware the Eurostar does have delays and issues, we waited

We only saw one of the 4 major winds of the Louvre, the most important one which the Mona Lisa of course, but people are not kidding when they say you can spend multiple days there, especially if you enjoy art.

I was not prepared for the amount of steps up to the Arc De Triomphe, but the view was worth it.

The Eiffel Tower, was great, so much history and amazing views. A definite must do, but be prepared, even the “skip the line” tours have a long line. We waited about 1 hour with those, not so cheap tickets, but we did get to go up all the levels, which I highly recommend if you’re going to go, you might as well see everything there is to see.

If you’re looking for more fun things, watch-outs and food recommendations, take a looking at the following blogs.

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Jay Peak Vermont – Newbie skier insights and tips

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Can’t say enough great things about Jay Peak!

This was my third time skiing, my second time skiing on the east coast and I’ve “skied” once in Colorado. And as many people know it is very different skiing on the east coast over Colorado.

The first time I skied in Colorado, I let my friends talk me into not taking lessons because they were expensive, and they had gone skiing many times. So, they could teach me. I ended up with a torn meniscus.

But let’s get to why you came here… JAY PEAK. It’s about 4 hours from Boston if you take the straight shot.

We stopped in Lincoln and Conway, New Hampshire, to go through the White Mountains, I highly recommend this! While it is not as beautiful a leaf peeping season in October, it is quite amazing to see the snow capped mountains.

Jay Peak Resort is very nice, pretty much has everything you need for a several days stay.

Multiple restaurants (we ate somewhere different every night), ski and snowboard rentals, multiple lifts, a spa, water park, general store (lots of groceries and alcohol), movie theater, and ice rink.

There is not much of a town around the resort, but that didn’t affect our stay.

We stayed at the Tram Haus because of all the rooms have a kitchenette (I highly recommend this to save time and money on breakfast) and ski-in ski-out abilities.

Tram Haus is connected via a few tunnels, stairs, and indoor passageways to the water park, restaurants, and the general store.

But there are several other places you can stay on the mountain. Hotel Jay and Penthouse is directly connected to the water park, it is a little bit harder to ski in and out of than Tram Haus. Stateside hotel and the base lodge is on the opposite side of the resort from Hotel Jay & Tram Haus but also has great ski-in and ski-out access; this is also where you pick-up your skis if you reserve them online.

There are multiple shuttles to take you from one side of the mountain to the other, however, during high occupancy days, they can take a bit of time to get to you.

We took ski lessons, super helpful for my husband who hadn’t skied before. Jay offered a few different deals/packages when it came to lessons, lift tickets, and rental equipment… I recommend you look into those before purchasing anything.

On another note, the resort received over 2 feet of snow (Yep, that is right FEET) in 36 hours, this was amazing and made for great fluffy powder.

Which also made it a lot easier for me to ski, I’m not a fan of icy snow because I’m not the best at slowing down. Our instructor, however, said that the compact snow is the best to learn on, which were the conditions on day 1… day 2 was a different story, it was allll fluffy

Foodie Review of Jay

Alice’s table: A nicer dining experience, more romantic and pretty tasty – things like chicken, steak, etc.
The Foundry: Slightly more causal than Alice’s table, but the food was still a bit more on the expensive side – things like steaks, burgers, seafood, etc
Mountain Dick’s pizza: This is your typical pizza place with wings and thin crust pizza
Cafeterias: It’s pretty much what you think of when you think of cafeteria food. All the locations have the same, chicken fingers, burgers, hot dogs, soup/chili, and pre-made salads.
Howies… disclaimer we didn’t eat here. But it looked similar to the Foundry

What you should know about the rentals

If it’s your first-time skiing make sure you buy your goggles, whether it’s just a bright day or snowy day, they came in handy. And you can’t rent goggles.

The rental comes with skis, boots, a helmet, and poles.

I can’t recommend enough that you take your time trying on boots and follow the try-on guide that they have at the rental shop (if available). My shins and legs were killing from the way my boots fit at first. After a bit of googling and YouTubing, I figured out how to get them to fit a bit better… that was a game-changer!

What you should know before skiing

Make sure you do some leg workouts or cardio before going if you are not in the best shape.
- It was the workout of if you were in shape
Watch a few YouTube videos or read a few articles about skiing before you arrive
- Here are a few of my favs
Study the map of the mountain
- You want to make sure you don’t get on the wrong lift/one that you will never be able to ski down from
- You also need to know how to get back to your side of the mountain

Happy skiing and I hope you enjoy Jay Peak!

Visibility on the mountain on the last day

Where is Jay Peak?

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