driving from montreal airport -how far,how fast?
 

we will be coming into montreal via air in mid-sept. we're renting a car at the airport and then plan on driving along the seaway to n.b. and then back , seeing quebec city and montreal at the end of the time. the flight gets in about 4:30pm or so and i wondered given traffic and roads, how far south and southeast(toward the townships)you can get. and if there are places to stay about a 2 hour or less drive from montreal. the guide books i can find here in california don't deal with the small areas very well. just the main cities.

I'm a little confused about your itinerary: if you're "driving along the seaway to n.b.", you're not headed in the direction of the townships, you're headed towards Quebec City. If you're headed to New Brunswick via the shorter route south (VT, NH, Maine), then you would be headed towards the townships.<BR><BR>If it's scenario A, drive right to Quebec City for the night. If it's scenario B, aim for Burlington VT.. Both of these involve a bit more than two hours driving, but would be better stopping places IMHO.

Sorry Doreen, I kinda blew it there. If your flight comes in at 4:30pm, you should be on your way within the hour and you will be catching the tail end of the rush hour (bad time to cross the bridges or tunnel). In this case, you will need to be more specific about the route you plan to take, in order to get a more useful answer than the one I just posted above. My apologies...

Are you flying into Mirabel or Dorval?

hi diane, i guess i should have said the south shore(if that is what it is called)below the water. there is one town called magog and we thought one way to go was thru the townships, then up to the trans-canada for speed, over to the big right turn that goes down to edmunston(i can't find my one book now and hope the spelling is right). and then down to st.stephen, st. andrew, etc. and back via that to montreal and quebec city. i just can't find on any material here on what might be an hour or two south/southeast of the airport, on the southern side. we want to see montreal and quebec city at the end of the trip. hope this clears up some of the confusion(of which i have a lot with this trip).doreen

flying into dorval airport.

Several thoughts ...<BR><BR>If you arrive at Dorval and head south into Vermont and then down to Maine, and then along the US coast to New Brunswick, and then head from New Brunswick up the Atlantic coast into Quebec, and reach the St. Lawrence at Mont Joli, and then turn left and go to Quebec City and Montreal, you'll have driven in a big circle and seen a lot of beautiful scenery. That's what I would do.<BR><BR>And if you do this, you can leave Dorval and, fighting Montreal traffic at rush hour -- just relax and be patient and you'll get to your destination -- cross over the St. Lawrwence at the east end of Montreal via the Champlain Bridge and head to Granby or Sherbrooke.<BR><BR>This is in the Eastern Townships, and, in California terms, you might think of the Napa Valley. Small cities, summer homes, nice resturants and small hotels and inns.<BR><BR>If you do want to stay in Canada, cross the same bridge but head north-east on a different highway to St. Hyacinthe or, a bit further on, Drummondville, or you could go all the way to Quebec City.<BR><BR>The Magog route is quite a bit further south, and there's no point in going that far south if you want to get back to the south shore of the St. Lawrence and keep going to New Brunswick.<BR><BR>Depending on your jet lag, you might not find the trip all the way to the west end of Quebec City to be too far, assuming you arrive in Montreal at 1:30, California time.<BR><BR>There are lots of motels and hotels in the St. Foy section of Quebec City, which is at the west end of the city, easily accessible by a bridge across the river.<BR><BR>In New Brunswick, consider if you want to stick to the St. John River Valley (that's the road to Edmunston) or if there's something to be siad in travelling along the coast through Cambellton and Dalhousie. If you stick to the Canada-only route, maybe you can go down one side of New Brunswick and up the other side.<BR><BR>A Best Western hotel directory and a Choice Hotels directory would be helpful for your travels in Quebec and new Brunswick, too.<BR><BR>BAK

Doreen, driving down to Magog from Dorval, then heading back up to Highway 20 to go east is quite a bit of a detour and not very worthwhile if you just do it on the highway.<BR><BR>However, if you want to detour to the Eastern Townships in order to explore that corner of the province a bit more, I'd go with an excellent itinerary Louis posted for someone else recently, staring in North Hatley (not very far from Magog):<BR><BR>------ start of Louis quote -------<BR><BR>Take the A-55, Exit 19:<BR><BR>"...to North Hatley (Route 108 east). North Hatley is a very picturesque village by Lake Massawipi and a nice place to spend the night. Several B&Bs, inns and good restaurants. If you want to splurge (still cheap in US dollars!), have dinner at world famous Auberge North Hatley and even spend the night there.<BR><BR>Day 2 :<BR>Take route 108 East towards Stornoway. At Stornoway, take 161 south to Lac M&eacute;gantic. On your way there, you can drive to top of Mt M&eacute;gantic. There is an observatory (telescope) that is open to visitors. The view is very nice. Have a lakeside lunch at Lac M&eacute;gantic.<BR><BR>From Lac M&eacute;gantic, Take 204 east towards St-Georges-de-Beauce. From then on, you will be following the Chaudi&egrave;re River Valley. This is the route that Benedict Arnold (before he turned his coat) took in the ill-fated attempt by Americans to take Qu&eacute;bec from the British in the fall 1775. Picturesque villages and nice vistas along the way. If you’re interested in churches, the one in St-Georges-de-Beauce is very nice (and huge!). From St-Georges-de-Beauce, follow route 173 north to Quebec City. Nice vistas. Vall&eacute;e-Junction is a nice village along the way."<BR><BR>------ end of Louis quote -------<BR><BR>If I'm not mistaken, you could spend the night in L&eacute;vis at a hotel very near the people ferry across to Quebec City. This way you could get a tantalizing taste of QC and be not far from the highway for the next day's travel (or you could cross the bridge and sleep in St-Foy, as suggested by Brian).

Clarification:<BR>1st night - Magog or North Hatley<BR>2nd night - L&eacute;vis or St-Foy

thanks to you both, diane and brian. that is such useful and detailed info. also it has been so crazy at home that i forgot that i have the advantage in the time zone area; for us it will still be early. thanks for the reminder and all the locations. doreen

One more reminder while on the subject of time zones. New Brunswick and the rest of the Maritime provinces are one hour ahead (Atlantic Time) of Quebec and Maine (Eastern Time). They don't seem to do a good job of stating the time zone difference as you cross into NB.