Walk Quebec City and clear the fog inside the walls
FOG keeps the entire world map hidden until you walk it. Quebec City is one of the rare places where the historic core is small enough that finishing it is a real goal rather than a joke.
Upper town, lower town, and a cliff between
The old town is still walled, and you can walk the top of the fortifications most of the way round. Inside, it splits into two levels. Haute-Ville sits on the Cap Diamant cliff with the Chateau Frontenac, the Dufferin Terrace boardwalk and the Citadelle. Basse-Ville is at river level around Place Royale and the Petit-Champlain quarter.
Getting between them is the fun part. There is a funicular, and there is the Escalier Casse-Cou, the Breakneck Stairs, plus several other flights and the sloping cotes that switchback up the rock. In practice you spend the day going up and down.
Outside the gates the city loosens. Saint-Jean-Baptiste runs west along Rue Saint-Jean with three-storey wooden houses and outside staircases. Down the hill, Saint-Roch around Rue Saint-Joseph is the flat commercial district. Across the Saint-Charles river, Limoilou is a plain numbered grid, which after the old town feels almost restful.
A loop that covers both levels
Begin in Saint-Roch on Rue Saint-Joseph, then climb the Cote d Abraham or the staircase beside it up into Saint-Jean-Baptiste. Follow Rue Saint-Jean east, through the Porte Saint-Jean, and you are inside the walls.
Work the upper town lanes, come out onto Dufferin Terrace above the river, then take the Breakneck Stairs down into Petit-Champlain. Walk Place Royale and the Old Port quays, then follow the water round and back up. That is about six kilometres with two serious climbs, and it lights both levels of the old town plus the neighbourhoods that most visitors never leave the walls to see.
For a flatter, longer day, the Plains of Abraham stretch west along the cliff top from the Citadelle, and Grande Allee runs parallel with the government buildings. The promenade Samuel-De Champlain continues along the river below for several more kilometres.
Small enough to actually finish
This is the appeal here. The walled town is a few hundred metres across. Two unhurried days of turning down every lane will light up most of it, and unlike in a big city the remaining gaps are obvious and reachable. City percent climbs at a rate that feels almost unfair.
The catch is winter, and winter is long. Snow arrives in November and does not fully leave until April. Sidewalks in the core get cleared and locals keep walking, but the cliff staircases can close, the wind off the river bites, and a January afternoon gives you very few hours of light. That said, the old town in deep snow with the Terrace turned into a toboggan run is worth the cold.
The other thing to know is that this is a French city, not a bilingual tourist set. Street names, signs and directions are in French, and reading a route beforehand helps.
What FOG does
The world map starts entirely under fog. Streets clear only when you physically walk, run or ride them, and once clear they stay clear permanently.
No account, no sign-up, no cloud, no analytics, no ads, no tracking. The map stays on your phone, and you can export it. Background exploring keeps revealing with the app closed and the screen off, which matters in the cold when the phone lives in an inside pocket.
Exploring is free. A single purchase of USD 5.99, with no subscription ever, unlocks unlimited ranks, every character and history import from Google Timeline exports and GPX files. Ranks rise with area covered: Wanderer, Scout, Pathfinder, Explorer, Voyager. The collection includes 241 countries, 3,390 regions and 7,342 named places, and standing there is the only way to collect one. For any city you have walked, FOG reports the percentage you have lit up.
Questions people actually ask
Can you really finish the old town?
The walled area is small enough that two patient days will light most of it, and the remaining gaps are easy to see and go back for. The wider city is a much bigger job.
Is winter walking realistic here?
Yes, with layers. Core sidewalks are cleared and people keep walking all winter, but daylight is short in December and January and some cliff staircases close in the snow.
Do the stairs and the funicular both count?
FOG reveals wherever you physically go. Walking the Breakneck Stairs reveals that route. Riding the funicular is not walking, so plan to climb at least one direction.
Does the app need a signal or a data plan?
No account, no cloud, no sign-up. Everything happens on the phone and the map never leaves it.
Start with a dark map.
FOG is free to explore. No account, no subscription, and your map never leaves your phone.
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