margyb

Thanks in advance for any input I may receive. We arrive Montreal 10/21 and depart Boston 10/31. One tentative itinerary is:

1 night Montreal by airport
take train RT Montreal to Quebec City
2 nights QC
Montreal 3 nights
take train Montreal (Adirondack) to ???? (this is where I need help...which stop should we get off to rent a car?)
1 night enroute to Boston (Lebanon, NH maybe?)
3 nights Boston

It's pretty expensive to rent a car in Montreal and drop in the US...so that's why the train trip over the border.

Thanks again for any input....I'll continue searching the forums here, but I haven't been successful in finding any information for trips that include both Quebec and the states.

Margy

yk

Hi Margy, I don't think I can help, but perhaps you can clarify your question a little bit?

You're asking which stop you should get off the Adirondack, rent a car, spend ONE night on the road, then drive into Boston and drop off the car in Boston?

So your itinerary will look like:
10/21 arrive Montreal, stay by airport
10/22-23 Quebec City
10/24-26 Montreal
10/27 take Adirondack to US, get off somewhere to rent a car; stay somewhere overnight enroute to Boston
10/28-31 Boston

Is this correct? Here's the route map for the Adirondack. I'm not too familiar with the stops though:
http://www.amtrak.com/images/maps/adirondack.htm

Of course, one potential question is, which stops along the route have a car rental place on site or nearby?

dfrostnh

Pick the place that has the best deal on car rentals. At first I thought northern NY to get around top of Lake Champlain or take car ferry to Burlington. There won't be any colorful foliage that time of year. I don't think I would choose Lebanon even if you were just stopping for the night. The area near Rt 89 is all shopping plazas. Expect most towns along rt 89 to roll up the streets around 5 or 6pm esp a Tuesday night. Maybe Quechee VT if you wanted a pricey dinner at Simon Pierce or nearby Woodstock because it's a popular tourist spot. (very pretty, upscale small town). Concord NH is only about 1.5 hours from Boston. Stores close early like every place else but if you stayed at the Holiday Inn on Main St you could walk the downtown area. Close to NH History Museum. Some decent restaurants on Main St. Long walk to Red River Theater on South Main, an independent theater that should have some interesting films if you wanted to do something at night.

margyb

Thanks for your help YK & dfrostnh! Yes YK, I am trying to determine which destination on the Adirondack train makes the most sense to get off at and rent a car to drop in Boston. I have the route map for the adirondack train...and some of them have some sort of car rental, but I'm hoping someone can advise which stop might make the most sense.

Thanks!

Margy

Vistaphotography

I guess it depends on what you are looking for. I'm all about foliage but I would normally say the Ticonderoga stop but the ferry stops running after Columbus day. so...If you go further to get a rental car then you are moving further away from Boston... If you get off in rouses point NY then there is a Enterprise rent a car in St Albans VT (close by) And if you call they may pick you up.. at least that's what they say on the TV commercials.(802) 524-0001
Then you could drive down route 7 for a nice scenic ride through VT (tons of stops along this route) Then when you hit Mass border and hit route 2 you head east and at some point drive into Boston. I don't know what you are looking for or where you are coming from but since you are there you could take the train up into Salem (35 minutes and around 12$ round trip) This is the best way to visit Salem around Halloween to experience Salem and the station is right near the downtown... 2-3 minute walk. I hope this helps.

Jeff Foliage
www.vistaphotography.com
www.yankeefoliage.com

Ackislander

I like Vistaphotography's suggestion for car pickup. Depending on when you get the car, Burlington has lots of cheap parking and good places to eat downtown. I would then head east to drive down the Mad River Valley on VT 100, which is always scenic, then turn east to Woodstock for the night. Charm galore. With enough time, you could go north of 89 to Stowe on 100 before heading south.

You will have lots of time next day to go to Boston via Lake Sunapee on secondary roads before rejoining 89. Pretty drive.
By the way, gas is fairly rare along I-89 north of Manchester. I would check my tank before starting if I did not plan to see some of the small towns off the main interstate.