Help with Montreal and Quebec City itinerary please
 

My husband and I (50's) and our 25 year old son are going to visit Canada the first week in June. We will fly from Minneapolis to Montreal and plan on renting a car. My husband can speak some French. We were in Paris last year and we got along quite well. We are in the early planning stages at this point. My husband is very interested in history and I love beautiful scenery. Our son loves everything. We all like to eat good food. Our main idea is to visit Montreal and Quebec City. I also wondered if wandering up toward Tadoussac would be a good idea or even doable in a week. Also was wondering if we should do Quebec City first and then Montreal so we would be closer to the airport to fly out. I have been looking at places to stay as I love to stay at B&B's or apartments. I need some advice on a good area of Montreal to stay in. There are so many choices of accommodations that I don't know where to start. We don't mind walking. Also how long should we spend in Quebec City vs. Montreal. We love to be on the move and we can pack a lot into a day. My saying is unless our brains are oozing out of our ears at the end of a day, then it wasn't successful. Thanks very much for your help.

With a week, I think Montreal, Quebec City & environs are plenty. Tadoussac is lovely, but for your first time to la Belle Province, while do-able, I probably wouldn't head that far north.

There are lots of ways of doing this: Montreal (4 days), Quebec City (3 days)... Montreal (3 days), Quebec City (2 days), Charlevoix or Laurentians (2 days) region if you want to have more of a scenery focus.

Montreal: I recommend staying in the Plateau Mont-Royal area. Go to Old Montreal, climb Mount-Royal, go to Ile-Ste. Helene, explore Boul. Saint Laurent, Saint Denis, Ave. Mont-Royal, rue Duluth, Prince Arthur, ... on foot, that's the way. Parc Lafontaine can be just magical on a glorious summer's evening. The Jean-Talon Market and Atwater Markets are worth a look-see. Bike the Lachine Canal out to Old Lachine on one of our ubiqitous Bixi bikes (or Becik-Vert).

Quebec City. Explore Old Quebec, both the Haute Ville and the Basse Ville (love the area near the Escaliers Casse-Cou/Place Royale), admire the view at the Terrasse Dufferin, take in the vibe at the Plaines d'Abraham (enjoy some of the paths for scenery). I recommend checking out the Parc Bois de Coulonge, a lovely urban parkspace.

Montreal and QC are great walker's cities. Enjoy!

DANIEL

Daniel - Thank you so much - this is exactly the kind of information that I am looking for. Will be doing some more research tonight on the topics that you mentioned. Thanks

In june you should really be able to enjoy the city by walking around all the different neighborhoods. (At this time of year it is not as pleasant...)

Old Montreal and the Old Port are very lively in the summer. The archeology museum gives a good background to the city's history and the Chateau Ramezay is another important historic site in Old Montreal.

On Île Sainte-Hélène you can visit the Biosphère, a museum of the environment, including the St. Lawrence river, inside the Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome from Expo. There are great views of the city from the top.

One of the amazing things about Montreal is the incredible ethnic diversity. This means you have lots of unusual food choices. We have tried lots of the restaurants reviewed in
Resto a Go-Go: 180 Cheap and Fun Places to Eat and Drink in Montreal By Sarah Musgrave, casual restaurant critic for the Montreal Gazette. Of course there are many excellent higher end restaurants, too.

The classic place to go for smoked meat sandwiches is Schwartz's Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen, www.schwartzsdeli.com. Montreal bagels are another must-try. There are two major rival bakeries, St. Viateur and Fairmont--try both and see which you prefer.
The big markets (Jean Talon, Atwater) are wonderful in the summer, full of tempting food.

Restaurants and cafes sport outdoor patios and tables.

the tourist office has a lot of good information on the different neighborhoods and offers a hard copy guide with good walking tours--check out the Plateau, Mile End and Outremont as well as downtown and Old Montreal:
http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/Discover-montreal

The tourist web site also has a listing of events and a promotional program for many of the major hotels called "Sweet Deal" which offers discounts for multi-day stays. In general, the hotels are much more affordable than comparable hotels in New York. In addition to the larger luxury hotels, there are boutique hotels and bed and breakfasts.

The Lachine Canal area has historic sites, boat tours, bicycle paths.

We have been going to Montreal for years and still have plenty of new places we want to see. For example, I am planning to visit the Museum Saint Gabriel, a 300 year old house, next summer.

Is early June too early to see whales?

Dan and VTtraveler pretty much nailed it. I would also recommend staying in the Plateau area, especially if you enjoy b&bs and want to be immersed in the French culture of Montreal. Try and stay somewhere on or near Square St. Louis, which is a neighborhood of pleasant tree lined streets and scores of interesting restaurants (many are byob).
In Quebec City, there are several nice b&bs in the heart of the old city on Rue St. Ursule. Although Quebec City is extremely scenic, it is considerably smaller than Montreal, so spending the extra day in Montreal would be a good plan.
Tadoussac and the surrounding countryside are several hours north of Quebec City. It is a beautiful and unique area, and might be worth considering for an overnight - especially if you are outdoorsy type travelers. However, with a week there is plenty in Montreal and Quebec City!
Traffic around Montreal can get pretty heavy, so staying there before your flight back would be a lot less stressful.
Also realize you won't need a car while actually in Montreal, so you might want to return the car upon entering the city, then taking a taxi to the airport when you leave.

Thanks for the advice about the car. So we can take the subway everyplace we need to go in Montreal? Does anybody have any particular B&B's that they have stayed at that could be recommended. Have been doing research and there are a ton of them in both Quebec City and Montreal.

We did the same trip last summer, but we had longer time. We spent 4 days in Montreal, then 4 days in Quebec City, 2 days in Tadoussac, and then the last night in Montreal. We stayed in a B&B in the Plateau area. It is a great area and one which I highly recommend. In Quebec City we stayed in this B&B which was very nice:Maison Historique James Thompson. In Tadoussac we stayed at this place: Domaine des Dunes. Tadoussac is gorgeous. It was a wonderful trip. You will enjoy it! We rented our car at the end of our first stay in Montreal and only used it a little in Quebec City, but we needed it for the drive to and from Tadoussac and back to Montreal. It was cheaper for me to rent for a week and not use it than either renting for less time or taking a train.

kkukura - do you happen to remember the name of the B&B in the Plateau area? I wish we had more time as I would love to go to Tadoussac. My husband loves the history of the place and I love the scenery. Perhaps I will have to look at our schedules and see if we can eke out a couple more days.

I remember looking at the website before of the B&B you mentioned in Quebec City. They don't list their prices so I was a little leery. We hope to not pay much more than $140 or so per night.

Montreal has a great subway and bus system and I agree you don't need a car in the city. We have one when we visit because we drive from Vt but don't use it.

We stayed recently at Auberge de la Fontaine in the Plateau area right opposite Parc de la Fontaine. We paid $100/night including tax for a double with the Sweet Deals winter promotion. I am not sure what the summer rates would be. It is near lots of good restaurants on Duluth and Rachel streets. Many of these are BYOB. This hotel is also on one of the major bike paths in the city

I am not going to recommend the place we stayed in the Plateau area (Boulanger Bassin B&B). It was nothing fancy and it has been given many mixed reviews. It was fine for us though. The breakfast was very good; the owner was very helpful and friendly; the bathroom was clean but the room was more cluttered. The B&B in Quebec might have been 150 CAD, but I don't remember right now. I know if you email them they will give you a price. The house was very nice and that breakfast was delicious too!

Thanks a lot. I will start looking more in earnest and if I find a B&B I will post it and see if it is in a good location. Thanks for the info on the B&B you stayed in in the Plateau area. Does it take long to get to the old part of Montreal from the Plateau area?

hi yr477

The Plateau is a fairly big area, so it all depends where your start point and end point is. It's roughly 5 minutes (plus-minus depending which stop) by subway from the the 3 main Plateau subway stops (Laurier, Mont Royal and Sherbrooke) to the main Old Montreal subway stops (Champ de Mars, Place d'Armes). By bike or #14 bus, it's roughly 10 minutes from Parc Lafontaine to Old Montreal. Walking, it could take 20 minutes/ could take 50 minutes... depends where your start point and end point are in the Plateau and in Old Montreal(and how fast you walk).

Best wishes, Daniel

I was in Quebec City last August. If you have not seen it already, you can check out my trip report at http://www.fodors.com/community/cana...-surprises.cfm

Again, I'm thankful for all the input. I planned a Paris trip last March all from Fodor's help and it was a great success. I'm hopeful this will be as successful. Thanks -

http://www.bbselect.com/canada/quebe...mo-08.html#729

Wondering if anyone is familiar with this B&B. Also wondering if this is a fairly good location. Thanks -

Hello again yellowrose477

Location is lovely and reasonably good for exploring Montreal; you'll probably go to a little market on Roy corner Boyer if you need groceries. You're about 10-minute walk from Sherbrooke metro, which will get you into downtown, Old Montreal, Jean Talon & Atwater Markets by transit quite easily. You may seriously want to look into getting around by Bixi as well (you'll see the Bixi bike stations all over Montreal; you pick up the bike and can then return it to any other bike location), as you'll be right by the Parc Lafontaine bike path which is a part of the incredibly far-reaching bike path system of the city (and province).

Have fun (you'll be on the southern side of the park if you're there; I'm waving now from the northern side of the park :)).

Daniel

The location looks good especially if you want to explore Old Montreal as well as the Plateau area. If you end up staying there please report back on how you like this B & B.

We do want to explore Old Montreal. Wonder if I would want to be closer to the Metro though. The bikes sound like a great idea.

Hi yellowrose477

While the B&B may not be right on the doorstep of a metro, I would not rule out the B&B based on its being about 10-minute walk from the metro. 1) It's a pleasant walk to the metro along rues Cherrier, Sherbrooke or Roy from there. 2) There's also the #24 bus which runs fairly frequently (especially on weekdays) right along Sherbrooke that could take you to the metro and even downtown or Westmount.

Have fun deciding! Daniel

Thank you - spoke with hubby and he thought that a 10 minute walk to the subway is just fine. Especially if it is nice weather. I think I will contact them and see what kind of openings they have! I'm am starting to enjoy the planning. Don't you think the planning is 1/2 of the fun?

I think the location should be fine-- being near the park is worth having the walk to the metro.

An interesting museum in easy walking distance of the B & B is l’Écomusée du fier monde. It concentrates on the city's working class industrial history and is in a beautiful old public bath building. It might be hard to navigate if you don't speak French at all
http://www.ecomusee.qc.ca/industrialmtl.html

You should check out the events section on the Montreal tourist web site for the dates you are planning to visit. The city has many festivals during the summer

My husband does speak some French. We did fine when we were in Paris with his French. He enjoys having a chance to use it. I am going to spend some time today looking for B&B's in Quebec City. Can you pretty much walk all over Quebec City or do they also have a metro?

Yellowrose477

Planning IS a lot of fun, I agree. Much of what most visitors wish to see of the capital is within the quite walkable Basse Ville or Haute Ville sections of Old (Vieux) Quebec. Quebec City does not have a metro system, however they do have a metrobus that uses designated lanes; you probably won't need it, but their bus system is excellent by North American standards and has taken me everywhere I've desired to go in Quebec City proper outside of Vieux Quebec.

The website for the public transit system of Quebec City is the following (there doesn't seem to be an English-language version which shouldn't be too terribly surprising given that la Vieille Capitale (how we call Quebec City sometimes elsewhere in the province) is 95% French-speaking, but your husband can practice his French navigating the site if he wishes).

http://www.rtcquebec.ca/

Best wishes, Daniel

LeLajeunesse - If you had read my post - we are not planning on staying in a hotel. I have read your posts that you have left other people and have a strange feeling that you are advertising. Not supposed to do that on this forum.

Yellowrose, we often stay at a gite very close to here. Nice location - a short, pleasant walk to all the action and places to eat on Duluth and St. Denis - close to the Park and bicycle rentals - a short walk to the Metro. You can even stroll downtown from here if you enjoy walking. Walking to the old city from here is quite a hike, but can be done. Another plus is that if you have a car, parking is fairly easy in this area.
The only downsides I can think of is that Sherbrooke is a heavily traveled street, so you may hear traffic all night from your room. Also, there are no shops or places to eat in the immediate area, you have to walk at least a few blocks.

You are going to love Montreal and Quebec City! They are so beautiful and Canadians are such gracious hosts. Quebec City is very romantic and very much worth a visit but if I had to stay longer in one place, it would be Montreal - there is much more to do there....especially since you are traveling with your son.

I stayed in the Old City in Montreal at Petite Auberge Les Bons Matins. A wonderful B&B with a superior breakfast!

Some restaurant recommendations in Montreal: L'Express (if you like tartare - it's not to be skipped here, the whole menu is wonderful, actually). Another restaurant is Au Pied de Cochon...simply to die for.

Enjoy your trip!

The Petite Auberge looks beautiful but is a little more pricey than we wanted to spend. What is the difference between staying in the Old City compared to the Plateau area? We would like to be someplace that you can go outside and walk to restaurants, bakeries, etc.

The Plateau and the Old City are both lots of fun, but vastly different.
The Old City is just that - a very old, cobblestoned streeted neighborhood of shops, restaurants and museums. Very charming, touristy, crowded. One of the oldest neighborhoods in North America. Somewhat like Quebec City, but on a smaller scale.
The Plateau is a 'real' neighborhood of shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, and quiet side streets. It's more French and ethnic than the downtown, and less touristy that the old city. Not as photogenic as the old city, but much larger and more interesting.
Both neighborhoods are great for walking, as is most of the city itself.

Both sound great - I love the old cobblestones and photogenic feel that you describe in the Old City, but then the plateau area sounds trendy and fun. So who votes for the plateau to stay vs the old city??

I think you were right first time with the Plateau. I prefer it because it is more vibrant, less touristy. I just got a new Fodor's guidebook for Montreal and Quebec and it suggests Hotel Ma soeur Anne and Casa Bianca B & B in addition to the Auberge de la Fontaine where we have stayed. But you would also be close enough to walk to restaurants and bakeries if you stayed at the B & B on Sherbrooke.

As zootsi says, Old Montreal is charming, and it would also be fine. It is close to Chinatown if you are interested in eating there.

http://www.envolquebec.com/chambres.htm This is a link to a place in Quebec City within the walls. It looks a little ornate - but the rooms look fairly large. Any opinions on location for me? Thanks

I loved the B&B in the Old City - you can't go wrong with either the Old City or the plateau. The Old City is definitely more touristy, I very much agree with the other posters who mention that. I was glad I stayed there on my first visit but have chosen to stay elsewhere in subsequent visits.

I stayed at the Holiday Inn near McGill University during my last visit (probably not what you are looking for - and honestly, not what I usually look for either) but it was clean, I got a fantastic deal and it was in a nice, central location.

Will you be in Montreal on a Sunday during your stay? If so, you must go see the tamtams at Mount Royal Park. It's a drum circle of sorts...lots of fun, great people watching too.

travfan222 - Why would you say that you were glad that you stayed in the Old City on your first visit?

I checked airfare flying into Burlington, VT as opposed to Montreal and OMG what a savings. Whereas from Minneapolis to Montreal is $505 right now, it is only $283 from VT. Am I understanding correctly that it is only about an hour to Montreal from Burlington?

Probably more like 1 1/2 hours to get to Montreal from Burlington, more to get to your destination in the city. There can also be delays at the larger border crossings at times although you can avoid this by getting off the main highways and using the smaller crossings. The Burlington airport is small and easy to navigate.

One thing that occurred to me about a choice of B & B in Montreal: Old Montreal would be more similar to Quebec City.

Driving from Burlington to Montreal is a piece of cake - about 80-90 minutes of mostly farmland. The border crossing can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 1/2 hour - it's usually worse coming back in, especially on a Sunday night. If you have any free time, Burlington is a very pretty and fun little city.

I think for the difference in price in air fare, we can't go wrong flying into VT. I have only driven through VT once was I was in my early 20's (which was a LONG time ago) as we went mountain climbing in N.H. So I would not mind seeing Burlington - maybe for the night before the flight. Thanks for the info :)

Yellowrose: The Old City was a great place for me to start. It's touristy - and I was a tourist! In subsequent visits I didn't feel the need to spend a lot of time there though; kind of a 'been there, done that' sort of thing.

I drive from Burlington to get to Montreal - Burlington's a great little college town to stop in. If it provides significant savings on your airfare, definitely go for it! A nice afternoon strolling up and down Church Street is fun!

Thanks for all the responses. I gain so much knowledge before a trip by all of your experiences and by those who live there. It's hard for me to look at a map of a strange city and know where we should stay. I think we will go through Burlington. My goodness, we will save almost $1,000 on air fare. That will pay for the rental car and then some! travfan222 so you normally spend the night in Burlington before your flight out?