Back from Montreal
 

I am back from Montreal. I stayed there for 6 days for the Jazz Festival and stayed 1.5 days in Quebec City. The jazz festival was great. However, if I were to do it again, I would attend more of the paid concerts and skip some of the free ones. I stayed at the Manoir de Alpes which was a great bargain. $115 CAD a night, adjacent to St. Catherine. Great location. Very clean. Courteous service staff. 1245 St. Andre. Website: http://www.hotelmanoirdesalpes.qc.ca/. Visit Cafe Cherrier for good food and nice ambience. Charming city.

Hello,

Sounds like you had a great time in Montreal. I noticed you also went to Quebec City.

My wife and are planning a couple of days in Quebec City with a possible jaunt to Montreal. We would like to do both but only have about 3.5 days to spend. How far is it between the two cities? Would you recommend renting a car to go between the 2 cities as well as in the cities themselves?

Thanks for your insights! -John

If you only have 3.5 days, I would recommend limiting your stay to Quebec City. It's a three hour train/car ride to Montreal from QC, which is not that far. However, you will need more than a day or two to enjoy all that Montreal has to offer. Typically, you would want to stay longer in Montreal than Quebec city because the former has so much more places to see.

As for renting a car, don't bother. One of the delights of Quebec City (and Montreal) is that it is a very walkable city. Most of the people driving were waiting in long lines of traffic while I and others were walking down Quebec City's quaint cobblestone streets. We did not use transit at all while in Quebec City and we were able to walk to all the sites we wanted. While in Quebec City, visit Le Cafe du Monde by the Old Port. They have traditional French food as well as other dishes. Their cheesecake brulee is scrumptious! Hope this helps.

We also just got back from the jazz fest. We had a great time, but the fest crowds were the biggest I've ever seen, and getting near the free performances involved weaving your way thru throngs of people. As usual, everyone was well behaved and enjoying themselves. We stayed at a b&b on Laval St., Bienevue B&B. A comfortable place in a very pleasant area.There are many other nice b&b's in this general area. As usual, le Jardin de Panos was our favorite place to eat. If you want to eat, drink, and be merry this byob restaurant is the place to do it.
As for places to stay in Quebec City, there are several inexpensive b&b's on Rue St. Ursine (spelling?), right in the heart of the old city.

I returned from Montreal last Monday myself after a great (but way too short) first time jaunt to the Halifax area.

My first two nights in Montreal were spent in the Novotel on rue Montagne.

It could have been a great stay but they unfortunately booked a bunch of prom bozos on my floor and on the second night (Friday) they were pounding on my door first at three a.m. looking for THE floor party, then a drunken friend of theirs phoned my room twice within a half hour. The second round of punks showed up a half hour later and again pounded on my door thinking I was the party room. I mean heavy pounding and shouting with absolutely no respect for others staying on the floor. The party was two doors down and one of them was a little violent and screaming and started fight in the hallway (at three-thirty a.m.).

I finally called reception who immediately sent somebody up and put me into a lower floor at three-forty five a.m. BUT it was a smoking room that smelled very horrible. I was told I would get a non-smoking romm the next day. After three hours of sleep I went to reception who informed me the only non-smoking room available was my original one! They wouldn't even give me a price reduction in lieu of this pathetic situation nor an apology. I paid a ludicrous $160Cdn with taxes for this place. Never again!

So I heeded advice from a poster on this forum prior to leaving and booked myself into the brand new Place Phillips, an absolute gem of a place for only $152 a night (next year I assume it will be in the $250 range after word gets out). I had a huge studio room, very high ceiling, super quiet in a great location off Square Phillips and only a couple of blocks from the Jazz fest site. If only I booked this earlier and not Novotel (which was too far west anyway).

The Jazz Fest site was too crowded to really enjoy, especially after a long day of walking in the heat so I've decided to visit more in the off season next time.
I really enjoyed the Plateau area for it's vibe and the more laid back feel of this place. Plus it was a little cooler up there. I will definitely stay around there the next time around as you get the feel of a real, unique neighbourhood.
A great city indeed, it's too bad the Novotel incident took away from it initially.