My family (2 40yos and a 14yo boy) will be in the Montreal area for 7-8 days in late June/early July. We're in the planning stages, and are trying to decide how to break up our trip. Any input would be appreciated.

We're thinking we'll spend 3-4 days in Montreal, and then rent a car and drive through the countryside somewhere. The somewhere is the problem. I'm a big city girl -- they're both small town boys. We're debating driving down into Vermont or Maine, or driving west to Ottawa.

We all love the outdoors, especially if there is water involved. Small rivers/creeks a big draw. Wildlife always a hit. Open prairie not as interesting as trees. (We're from the pacific northwest US/southwest BC area, so are pretty spoiled by nature.)

Not too crazy about shopping for shopping's sake. (And I'm assuming I'll get my fill in Montreal. Crafts moderately interesting if they're real and not touristy. Great food always interesting.

Offbeat activities are intriguing -- past favorites have included flying trapeze school in NY and canoeing through alligator-infested swamps in FL.

Any ideas?

Many thanks-
-Kat

I always figure the job of parents is to enjoy the things the kids like, when they are on a trip.

There is an excellent train museum south of Montreal.

In the world of cutting to the chase, for Americans from the Pacific Northwest, you'll see enough old historical buildings in Monteal to satisfy your needs. So you don't really need to go to Quebec City.

Which frees you up for Ottawa, one of the great cities for kids from 2 to 20.

It's full of parks, has a canal running through the downtown, has a lock you can ride through on a boat tour, and has a bunch of good museums with things of interest to teenagers, from airplanes to tanks to money to pioneer day stuff.

And if you are serious aboutthe wilderness, find a map and locate Algonquin Park, west of Ottawa. See if you can set aside a day for a canoe trip there.

Any serious hobbies?

BAK

Thanks!

Hobbies (with varying degree of seriousness) include curling, hiking, roller coasters, music, marble runs (kinetic sculpture), walking, and eating.

Shows, especially comedy, have been a hit -- our son loved Blue Man Group and Eddie Izzard, for example.

http://tinyurl.com/8utcn

This is the Montreal Tourism board site, you can see what the schedule is for the summer/year and there is a family catagory.
I use this site whenever we plan trips to Montreal. Hope it helps.
I second the Lachine Canal as a day for bike riding ( rent bikes close by) or roller blading or just walking..

It depends on what you want to do - Montreal is a 10+ for a great city experience, but if you also want to do some hiking and outdoorsy things, you might want to head down to Vermont or New Hampshire. New Hampshire in particular has unparalelled hiking opportunities at all levels in the White Mtn. National Forest. Vermont also has some great hiking, and is more bucolic whereas New Hampshire is more rugged. Another option would be to head to Quebec City (which is an amazing small city), and then on up the St Lawrence, where there are hiking opportunites up in the mountains that overlook the river. Heading west from Monteral to Ottawa (another great city!), the landscape is pretty much flat and rural, I wouldn't think the hiking would be as interesting.

Between Montreal and Ottawa, the terrain is flat south of the Ottawa River. North of the river it's quite hilly (the Laurentians and Gatineaus).

There's great hiking in less than 30 minutes from downtown Ottawa in Gatineau Park. Check it out: http://tinyurl.com/pqrdn

There'a whitewater rafting on the Rouge river, somewhere between Montreal and Ottawa.

Excellent lake canoeing at La Mauricie park, about 2 hours northeast of Montreal (north of Trois-Rivières and shawinigan). Wapizagonke lake is great. A very long and narrow lake, sometimes looks like a very wide river. There's good hiking there too, some of favorite forest hikes with some nice overlook on the Laurentian hills.

There's always Mont Tremblant, north of Montreal.

Just north of Quebec City Jacques-Cartier park has whitewater canoe and decent hiking. Rafting upriver with a private outfitter.

In my opinion, the best "countryside scenery" is in the Charlevoix region, but it gets a little far. Hautes-Gorges is great. L'acropole des Draveurs hike is fantastic. Grands-Jardins park has always been one of my favorite.

Most places will be crowded with tourists, locals on vacation. June 24th is St-Jean Baptiste (Quebec Day) and July 1st is Canada Day. Many in Quebec take the whole week off and head for the parks.

I would suggest you commit to a date in order to get the room you want in Montreal; specially if you happen to want the dates close to the beginning of the Jazz Fest and the F1 weekend. Things will get busy this year from June 23 and on.