liesel

Hello!

My husband and I (along with our two children ages 5 and 8) are planning a trip to Montreal and Quebec City the week of July 15th. We are in the process of doing research but wanted to reach out to those of you who either live in Montreal or QC or who have traveled to theses places.

We are thinking of staying in Montreal 4 nights and QC 3 nights. We will have a car. Is this a nice breakup of nights?

Any good recommendations for kids/family things to do?

Recommendations for areas to stay? We prefer the charming, quaint Inns/Hotels - so we were thinking Old Town in Montreal and Lower Town in QC. Thoughts?

Thank you so much for your help!

zootsi

4 nights in Montreal, 3 nights in QC sounds about right, especially if you have a car.
Kid friendly things to do:
Montreal -
At the old port you can rent family sized pedal carts, bicycles and roller blades to explore the long pedestrian promenade. There are boat rides also available, an Imax theater and lots more.
The Biodome at the Olympic park is lots of fun for kids, especially on a rainy day.
The Insectarium is just across the street from the Olympic park.
If you are a bicycling family, there are miles and miles of safe bike trails criss crossing the city.
There are all kinds of street fests and possibly fireworks going on throughout the warm months.
Jean Talon or Atwater markets are huge farmers markets with lots of free samples, cheese and food shops, etc.
Drive an hour East of Montreal to the Granby Zoo.
There are many charming small hotels in Old Montreal. You might also consider a large chain hotel in the downtown that has a pool (especially if it's hot!). The Plateau area is my own favorite, with lots of small restaurants, shops and quiet parks.
Quebec City-
Changing of the guard at La Citadelle.
Ferry ride across the St. Lawrence
Montmorency Falls
Observatory overlooking the old city.
Definitely stay in or near the Old City in QC - lots of small hotels and b&b's. Both upper and lower parts of the Old City are great.

girlonthego

My daughter and I stayed at the Hotel du Vieux in QC. It is a very nice small hotel. Breakfast comes in a basket on your door around 8 am. I would definitely stay there again. It is located on Rue St Jean.

Vttraveler

I think your division of days between the two cities makes sense.

In Montreal the Biosphère is another good place for kids--museum of the environment
http://www.parcjeandrapeau.com/en/bi...seum-montreal/
Pointe-à-Callière museum of archeology is very good
Our kids (boys) liked Fort Chambly east of the city
there is street theater, etc in Old Montreal around Place Jacques Cartier
On Sundays, the tam tams in Mt Royal park

In Quebec
Walking the walls and the Battlefields Park

If you are going to Quebec City, I would not put a huge emphasis on staying in Old Montreal.
You may find it hard to find family rooms at some of the older, charming places. Our family tended to go for the downtown hotels w/ swimming pools when our kids were young

liesel

Thank you all for the great replies! We are looking at hotels now and will be back with more questions if any arise.

liesel

Hi again,

In looking at hotels ... is there a particular area in Montreal that is considered a best location? We'd prefer to stay somewhere centralized so we can walk to most places.

Although I'd probably have more luck (with regards to family) at a hotel chain, we are going to try and stay at a unique and charming hotel.

From what we've read, QC is smaller so anyplace we stay (for the most part) is within walking distance to most places.

Thank you!

Vttraveler

You may well need to get two rooms in the older hotels
Montreal attractions are pretty spread out so you won't be able to walk everywhere. The metro system is very good. I would say you probably want to base yourselves in old Montreal if you want unique and charming, but maybe others will have different suggestions.

Vttraveler

One other thing your kids might enjoy if they are not from a big city with a similar neighborhood is Chinatown. It is adjacent to Old Montreal. There are lots of Vietnamese as well as Chinese restaurants
Little Italy is near the Jean Talon market mentioned in another post

zootsi

No one area is perfect - they all have their pluses and minuses. Old Montreal is the most picturesque, but is a bit isolated and very touristy. The downtown is the best for walking to other areas as it is central. It is the most 'big city' feeling neighborhood with department stores, underground malls, etc. The Plateau is the most 'authentic' feeling area, with strong French influences, lots of small cafes and restaurants. It is above the downtown, so quite removed from Old Montreal. You might want to look at the Hotel Chateau Argoat - small botique hotel in a very desirable area between the downtown and the Plateau.

girlonthego

We stayed near the Bell Center because we had tickets to a show that let out at midnight and we wanted a short walk. We stayed at the Loews, which was very nice, but far from everything you want to see and do. I will say that the hop on hop off bus is great and will get you from area to area to see the different sights. i agree that you probably want to be down near old Montreal. The chain hotels will give you the room with two doubles which probably what you want/need.

Also, we rode the subway to the Olympic stadium to see the women's world cup. The metro/subway was great and easy to maneuver.

cdnyul

Thinking of the children.

Two night in Ottawa, three in Montreal, two in Quebec City.


Mark

liesel

Thank you for the great feedback! I have had a hard time finding a smaller, charming hotel that has rooms/beds big enough for a family of 4. The few I reached out too, suggested I book 2 rooms, which we obviously don't want to do.

I may need to rethink where we want to stay - zootsi, I'm going to look into Hotel Chateau Argoat next.

Mark, we hadn't thought of Ottawa for this trip. I'll have to jump on their tourism site and check it out.

Vttraveler, we definitely plan on visiting the Jean Talon market and Little Italy.

Vttraveler

In the Plateau area the Auberge de la Fonatine might be another possibility. There are a few family rooms. One nice feature there is a room where you can store some food, get snacks, etc.

Downtown we like the Square Phillips Hotel & Suites.

EzekielH222

I traveled to Quebec City a few years ago during the summer festival, but not sure if it falls on the dates you are there. http://quebeccity101.com/category/places-and-towns/

This kind of gives you an overview of things to do in different parts of town. But the summer fest has a lot of things to do, hope you catch it at the right time.

http://quebeccity101.com/horse-carriage-ride/

ShebaInu

Thank you for this thread, great info. My husband and I along with out 5 year old will be traveling the same route during the same week. We are staying in 2 apartments rented though VRBO and taking the train from Montreal to Quebec.