Montreal & Quebec City
 

I'm new on the Canada board, not to Fodor's. Planning a trip to Montreal/Quebec City for July 11-14. We will be driving up from NY area, staying 2 nights in Montreal & 1 night in QC.

We plan to leave at around 6 a.m. & think it should take around 6 hours or so. Any suggestions for an interesting stop along the way, i.e. for breakfast/lunch? Must sees/good restaurant suggestions in Montreal? I haven't been there since I was a teen, many years ago, & my husband's never been there.

Thank you for your assistance.

6 hours sounds about right, but could be longer if there is a wait at the border (this is the busiest border crossing in Quebec). Lake George might be a good place to stop for breakfast, or you could have an early lunch in Plattsburgh. If it were me, I'd stop for breakfast in Lake George and have lunch in Montreal.

As for sights, there's Old Montreal, downtown, Mount Royal, boat tours, the Plateau Mont-Royal (great shopping). There are thousands of restaurants in the city, so you could let us know if you're looking for a cuisine in particular. There's the famous smoked meat (pastrami) at Schwartz's on Saint-Laurent and bagels at St-Viateur or Fairmount bakeries. If you like food markets, you could check out Marché Jean-Talon, which has many local producers, speciality stores and ready-to-eat food (sausages, calamari, smoothies, crepes, bhajis, fish).

Thank you, pavfec. This is very helpful.

I do this drive frequently, and to make it in just over 6 hours, I only stop once, to fill the gas tank, and I exceed the speed limit for most of the way. There isn't usually much traffic, unless you pass Albany around rush hour. However, it's impossible to predict how long you will wait at the border these days--10 minutes, or an hour? Once you get through the Adirondacks and approach the border (exit 33 on), watch your speed, because tickets are distributed freely--presumably to pay for all those extra border patrols.

Thanks, Lois.

Passports are all we need at the border, is that right? I haven't been to Canada is many years.

Passports are needed.

Passport requirement comes into effect at land borders at the end of 2007 (at airports at the end of 2006). While having a passport is a great idea, a birth certificate plus photo ID is acceptable until that law comes into effect.

Check out my blog for some really good restaurats...

http://richardab.typepad.com/iheartmontreal/