Kippy, those airfares look reasonable... but if you're talking a circle... that means a number of places could serve as your arrival/departure point.

At least measure the airfares to Portland, Maine.

Furthermore, once you book airfare and know how much you have allocated to that, then you can determine whether Quebec City, Halifax, or both, will be your destination.

I myself don't mind the latest itinerary you have envisioned BUT I sense that others are correct in your kids not wanting to spend the whole time on the road like that.

Quebec City is considerably more "french" than Montreal, and enough so that you might find yourself having fun trying to communicate with someone who doesn't speak english.

If you end up having to narrow it down to one OR the other...

I guess I'd go for the Halifax one... particularly because with Halifax not being on the way to ANYWHERE, it is less likely that anyone will get back there again.

Besides, Nova Scotia is a great vacation destination all by itself.

All the locations you've listed are wonderful to visit...we've seen them all.

There is a "season" for icebergs and it's typically May and early June (i think), so you may be fortunate enough to see some icebergs or "bergy bits" if you go to Newfoundland. You likely will not see them off the coast of Nova Scotia. But you could go whale watching from Nova Scotia.

Newfoundland is a trip by itself unless you have more time than what you've allotted. It's sort of like including Bahamas in a trip to Florida. Taking a car on the ferry boat is a 12 hour tour from Nova Scotia.

If you want to be aggressive in your planning, you could do an open jaw trip. Fly into Montreal, or a US city nearby. Spend 2 days in Montreal, then drive to St John, New Brunswick (10 hour drive). Use this as a base for a few days to see the Bay of Fundy area (tidal changes).

You could then travel through Moncton and up to the Cape Breton area and down the ocean coast through Halifax. Continue your drive along the coast through Lunenburg and end up at Yarmouth where you can take a high speed ferry to Portland Maine. From there you can get a flight back to Atlanta.

Here's what your distances are like:
Plattsburg to Montreal- 62 miles.
Montreal to St.John, New Brunswick - 570 miles.
St. John to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia - 380 miles.
Cape Breton to Yarmouth - 436 miles.

It's a lot of driving, but you'd see some awesome sights.

Map it out on Google to see what your comfortable with, but save Newfoundland for the next trip.

To give you another idea: Fly into Buffalo, cross into Niagara Falls for a day. Drive an hour to Toronto and spend a few days there. Then drive 5 hours to Ottawa for a couple days. Montreal is then just 2 hours away, and then head back into the US and fly home from Plattsburgh.

Doesn't matter where you go...we're all friendly, and you'll be delighted to see any of the cities listed herein.

Enjoy!

I just finished looking for the cheapest way to get from Atlanta to Montreal after Delta fares went up to $670 minimum last week. I booked Atlanta to Burlington, Vermont with one stop for $240 ($99 each way + fees)through Air Tran. Hope this helps.