Where to go in Quebec City: Village Vacances Valcartier [ Day 2 ]

mai kutsuna
May 15, 2020
5 min read

Updated: May 28, 2020

Late morning, making sure we wore warm attire, we headed to Village Vacances Valcatier with an Uber. Village Vacances Valcatier is a leisure/recreational center that has the largest winter playground in North America, indoor water-park( outdoor in the summer), a spa and the famous ice-hotel. It is located around 20 to 30 minutes away from Quebec City by car, and we had bought an online package (Winter Play Ground + Ice Hotel”Snow and Ice”) for $60.93 per person, in advance. One thing we learned with this trip is that Uber transportation is horrifically pricey and a round trip cost us around $100… Yeah not worth it. If we were to go next time, we would definitely rent a car.

After getting our wristbands at the entrance counter, we head to the winter playground. The place was pretty crowded filled with children and their family. When we got to the gate, we were told that we were not allowed to bring in any belongings (ie. bags) and that we had to put them in a locker. The thing was that the lockers were not included in the package and therefore cost us $8.70 plus tax! Not to mention the $10 deposit. For a couple of students who want to save as much money as possible, it was a great annoyance. The lockers weren’t even that great and we had to force all three of our belongings in one. So a word of advice; Bring your own locks!

We finally made it to the winter playground and wow it was massive! Snow slides everywhere. For a second I was worried that we might need to climb up but I assumed wrong, as we could see a long line for a unique looking ‘lift’. How it works it that you must first get your own snow-tube. There is a pile everywhere in the park, so you can easily spot it. Then, as you pull your tube by its string, you line up to head up. The ‘lift’ is like a conveyor belt of snow-tubes; when your turn comes, you sit on one of them (not yours)and while holding your own snow-tube, the conveyor belt drags you upward. Somehow the slope didn’t feel steep and dangerous and so I can say it is very safe for small children as well.

In the winter-playground, there are numerous slides with varying names based on their level. It’s steepness and length pretty much determines that. Each slide can be slid individually, but it was more common for people to interlock multiple snow tubes together as a group. This is allowed; each slide has a sign of how many people can be interlocked. This way, you can enjoy the slide all together as a group, and especially for kids this might be more comforting.

Our goal was to pretty much complete all the slopes, including group slides called “rafting” and “tornado”. “Rafting” is one where we ride a big tube in the shape of a raft. It was much scarier than the normal slides; in the normal tubes, you are pretty much stuck safely in the donut hole, but with the raft, you are actually sitting up on a seat only able to hold on with a rope at the sides. You also ride this with more people; we were merely three, so we joined another family. The “rafting” slide seemed to be much steeper and longer too. The “tornado” was an interesting one as well. You ride on a giant round tube, and as it descends, as the name might suggest, the tube will keep rotating. Personally, I preferred the “rafting” more than the “tornado”, as the “tornado” will leave you a bit dizzy and sick. Perhaps if you are prone to motion sickness like me, you would want to think a minute before riding it. But in any case, these two are a must ride in the winter playground. They are pretty popular, so I would recommend finding a right time when the line is less.

In our case, we decided to eat lunch early so when people actually go for lunch we had a chance. Also, a word of advice about lunch. The center has some shops where you could buy your lunch, but both the website and I recommend bringing your own packed lunch. For not only convenience but also it can definitely save a bit of money.

After a while, we decided to visit the Ice Hotel (Hôtel de Glace). The ice hotel is a running hotel with 44 rooms all made of ice. It is the first the only ice hotel in North America, and shockingly it only has a three-month lifespan before it has to be rebuilt every winter (January). Each room has different themes and the hotel also has a bar and a chapel. Because of its challenging maintenance, spending a night in the hotel is pricey (cheapest is $450), not to mention you will be sleeping on an ice bed with a sleeping bag. Therefore, we just signed up for a tour inside which I believe is enough to appreciate the interior. The hotel was much bigger than we thought and we were amazed by intricate designs. It was obviously cold, we can’t deny that, but an experience only possible there.

We spent our whole day in Village Vacance Valcatier. We were able to enjoy the sunset and the beautiful scenery as we head back up with the lifts. It was getting dark, but we were not entirely finished. The “Everest” slide was yet to be completed. This “Everest” slide is apparently the highest accelerating slide in north America with the steepness of 110 degrees and height of 33.5m. For a person who can’t ride roller coasters, this was a nightmare but we couldn’t go home without experiencing it.

Everything seemed so unsafe as we were not allowed to hold on to each other's ropes but instead each other's legs. This made us nervous but before we knew it we were pushed down. It was a FALL. Not a slide, a FALL. I could’t even scream. But it was over in no time, and we were glad we did it. However, this might not be suitable for small children, as we witnessed a family sliding and their small daughter thrown out of the slide. Yeah, pretty dangerous. This slide can also be enjoyed in the summer in which it becomes a pool slide so that could be fun to check out.

In summary, the Village Vacance Valcatier was a very fun experience. We thought it was pricey at first, but if you truly make the most of it, I think it is worth it. I probably experienced the best snow tubing facility so I am actually worried nothing can top it anymore! Just rent a car, bring your own locks and lunch and you are good to go :)