Limoilou Neighbourhood

With its perpendicular roads and avenues, the district is organized along the same lines as New York. Going "up" 3^e Avenue, between 2^e and 16^e Rues, you'll come across a host of small shops you'll want to stop and check out: a gourmet grocer, bakeries, cafés, handicraft shops, art galleries, tea house, ice-cream parlour... Every summer weekend afternoon, 3^e Avenue  converts into a pedestrian-only street.

The Limoilou gourmet food scene is thriving. A number of young chefs are choosing to open up their restaurants on 3^e Avenue. On summer nights, the terraces are bustling with people greeting their neighbours amidst Limoilou's typically cheerful hubbub. The pubs and microbreweries keep the party going late into the night.

On summer Sundays, in the Limoilou public market, fill your shopping bag with delicious finds, which you can then enjoy in the beautiful Cartier-Brébeuf park, in precisely the same spot Jacques Cartier established his camp for the winter more than 450 years ago. You can also burn calories by jogging or pedalling along the Saint-Charles River in the enchanting bicycle path setting.

At the corner of 2^e Avenue stands an architectural and cultural curiosity: an old church that's been transformed into a circus school! In fact, you can see its canary yellow gable peering above the rooftops from quite a distance.

A Bit of History

Limoilou’s history is as old as Québec City itself. In fact, Jacques Cartier set up camp on the riverbanks in the winter of 1535. From that moment until the beginning of the 20^th century, Limoilou’s vocation was primarily agricultural. Then, it experienced a real boom in the industrial sector, attracting residents by the thousands.