jellybellymelly

Hi, there are 4 of us (3 of us in our 30s, and 1 elderly in late 60s), and a pet dog. Our trip is in the first two weeks of June 2022. We are interested in a mix of nature/scenery, wildlife, culture, cities and small towns. Short hikes are fine, but the elderly will not be able to manage long hikes. We are starting off in Boston and would be renting a car. We will depart from Toronto for our flight home. I set out an outline of my itinerary below. Would be grateful for any comments!

Currently, it is envisaged to be 1 night in North Hatley/Magog (open to other suggestions) --> 3 nights Quebec City --> 1 night Montreal --> 1 night Ottawa --> 2 or 3 nights Toronto (including Niagara Falls).

Day 1: Drive from Boston to either Manoir Hovey, a hotel in North Hatley, or Magog. Would Magog make more sense as there's more to see? E.g. Lake Memphremagog. The drive to Quebec City is too long, and we hope to break it up and spend 1 night somewhere along the way. Question: Are there any other suggestions as to where we should spend the night?

Days 2, 3, 4: Drive to Quebec City, spend 3 nights: with about 2.5 days, we intend to visit Old Quebec, Place Royale, Château Frontenac, Montmorency Falls, take the Quebec City Ferry for sunset views. We are also thinking of either a day trip to Île d'Orléans and Canyon Sainte-Anne, or a day trip to Jacques‑Cartier National Park. Question: Which would be more preferable?

Day 5: Drive to Montreal, spend 1 night:we intend to visit Notre-Dame Basilica, Old Montreal, Jean-Talon Market, and maybe Mont-Royal for views.

Day 6: Drive to Ottawa (with a stop at Parc Omega along the way), spend 1 night: we intend to visit Parliament Hill, Rideau Canal, ByWard Market.
Question: Ottawa is not a must-see for us (unless there are views otherwise), but we wanted to break the drive between Montreal and Toronto - do let me know if there are other places that we could possibly stop at. I've looked at Kingston and wasn't keen.

Days 7 to 9: Drive to Toronto, spend 2 or 3 nights: at Toronto, we intend to visit CN Tower, St. Lawrence Market, Distillery Historic District, Kensington Market, Nathan Phillips Square. We also intend to spend 1 full day at Niagara Falls (not intending to do many activities there, maybe 1 or 2).
Question: Should we do a day trip to Niagara Falls or spend 1 night there?

Daniel_Williams

Hi jellybellymelly,

An overall comment is that this will be a whirlwind trip to various places in southern Ontario and Quebec. You will only get the smallest of tastes of each of the places you go, but sometimes this is a good way to find out if you wish to return to a place.

Day 1: Drive from Boston to either Manoir Hovey, a hotel in North Hatley, or Magog. Would Magog make more sense as there's more to see? E.g. Lake Memphremagog. The drive to Quebec City is too long, and we hope to break it up and spend 1 night somewhere along the way. Question: Are there any other suggestions as to where we should spend the night?

Answer: I've enjoyed my visits to Magog. I would imagine there is more to do in Magog than North Hatley; this said, I've heard North Hatley and the Manoir Hovey is lovely but have no personal experience. For just one night, as really just a stop-off between Boston and Quebec City, I don't think it matters too much which of the two you pick.

Question: Ottawa is not a must-see for us (unless there are views otherwise), but we wanted to break the drive between Montreal and Toronto - do let me know if there are other places that we could possibly stop at.

Ottawa is an absolutely delightful place to visit. Great cycling, some terrific museums, stunning views of the Parliament buildings by the river, enjoyable pubs and ambience at the Byward Market, great cycling opportunities. I would certainly recommend Ottawa but it is less of a halfway point than Kingston between Montreal & Toronto. I'm not sure what you read that made you less keen on Kingston. Kingston has charm and some terrific dining; a Thousand Island boat ride is definitely worth considering if you stop there (there are boat trips out of Kingston and this past fall, I did an excellent one out of nearby Gananoque). In truth, with just one night in either Ottawa or Kingston, you'll only have time to do a fraction of the many things that both these cities have to offer; you won't have enough time in either to be bored of either. I'd probably pick Ottawa of the two for its really stellar visuals (presuming the present political crisis subsides), but you really can't go wrong with either.

Question: Should we do a day trip to Niagara Falls or spend 1 night there?

If you go to Niagara Falls, I'd spend the night in Niagara Falls unless you want to just keep things simpler for the day of your return flight out of Toronto. If all you want is to snap a picture of the falls, nearby Niagara-on-the-Lake and its wineries are also a worthwhile stop--overnighting would allow for a visit.

Best wishes and happy travels!

Daniel.

ParisAmsterdam

You do realize that the drop off charge for a rental car from Boston is going to be horrendous don't you? I'd look into getting from Boston to Canada by public transit and then renting a car. Or rearrange your schedule so you can drop the car in Niagara Falls, New York and bus back to Toronto.

Also, I am in my late 60s and am NOT elderly! LOL

jellybellymelly

Many thanks for the comprehensive reply, Daniel. We will likely stop at Magog en route to Quebec City, and will likely choose to stay a night at Niagara Falls as well, as we would be keen to visit 1 or 2 wineries.

ParisAmsterdam We do realise that there are probably only a few car rental companies that will allow a one-way drop off (I checked for our dates, only 2 companies actually), and even then, the prices are indeed high. We have also considered flying from Boston to Quebec City, but the flight itineraries are not ideal with long stopovers either at Montreal or NYC. I would suppose Boston - Montreal would yield more flight routes, but that means doubling back from Quebec City to Montreal.

zootsi

North Hatley & Magog are very nice but quite different. North Hatley is a somewhat secluded, quiet lakeside retreat, Magog is a busy little resort town with a European feeling lakeside promenade and park. They are only 1/2 hour apart however.
I would cut one night from Quebec City, and add one night to Montreal. Quebec City is beautiful, but quite small. You could easily spend a week in Montreal.
I would do 2 nights in Ottawa, 2 in Toronto. As Dan mentioned, Ottawa Is great.

CherylDewson

I would second this. I saw this post a few days ago and felt the same way, but didn't want to say anything cause OP wanted a small town experience. Montreal is a big city, but you could spend days wandering the streets of Old Montreal, with cobbled roads and phenomenal food.

Lots of old style hotels with beautiful architecture might give you that small town feel too.

jellybellymelly

Many thanks for the suggestions, we are open to allocating 2 nights each to Quebec City and Montreal. For Quebec City, do you think we could do Old Quebec, Place Royale, Château Frontenac, Montmorency Falls, all in about 5 hours (assuming we get there past noon)? We would then spend the next day on a day trip to Île d'Orléans and Canyon Sainte-Anne, or Jacques‑Cartier National Park.

Any suggestions for day trips we could do from Montreal?

zootsi

With 5 hours your first day in QC you could visit the falls, but why rush the first day. You could do the falls the next morning. As for day trips from Montreal, you are already spending some time in the Eastern Townships. I would devote my Montreal time to exploring the many interesting areas of the city.