Montreal or Quebec City?
 

If you had 3 days, which would you visit? While we will fly into Montreal, a friend told me to drive straight to Quebec City and spend all of our time there. What's your opinion? Thanks! <BR>

For a 3 day trip, that is a tough call. <BR>I enjoyed visiting Quebec; and I enjoyed Montreal. There are places of great interest in both cities. In Quebec, we enjoyed it for two days and saw what we wanted to see. I think you could easily spend a day seeing interesting places in Montreal and then a day or so in Quebec. <BR>What did your friend say you should see in Quebec? If you are there in the winter or early spring, the temperatures could be very cold, paticularly if you are from north Georgia! The temperatures we had a few days ago, when it was in the teens, are mild when compared with January in Quebec! And a lot of Quebec depends on being able to look around the city OUTSIDE! <BR>

On our first trip (four days), we stayed in Montreal and took the one-day Gray Line excursion to Quebec City. It's a three hour drive. The bus drives around to all the sights (including the waterfall), with interesting and amusing commentary. Then you are dropped off in the lower town for a few hours - plenty of time to walk all over the upper and lower towns, shop and have a leisurely lunch. For us, this was plenty. There is so much to see and do in Montreal, especially if the weather is nice. Also, most people in Montreal are bi-lingual, whereas mostly French is spoken in Quebec City.

While it is true that French is the language of Quebec, we found that the tourist office just outside the old city wall had very helpful bilingual staff. <BR>The museum for the Plains of Abraham Battlefield has a good bilingual presenation. And most of the restaurants around the city have at least one person who can get the job done in English. We ate at Louis Hebert, and the menu was in both English and French. We stayed a B and b, <BR>La Maison du Mesnil. The owner, Renee Thibault, knows English. She was very helpful; in fact, without her help, the visit would have been a little more difficult. And the B and B is very good. <BR>

P.S. I forgot to mention that the Fodor's Citypack Montreal is outstanding. The map included (full size) is one of the best I've ever seen (it even includes the bus routes!). I'm not plugging Fodor's either. I have an entire bookcase of tour guides. This one is truly spectacular. And, slim.

If you had to choose one over the other than I would opt for Montreal. Much more to do and quite cosmopoliton. Why not stay in Montreal and try a day trip to Quebec as a previous psoter suggested. Sounds like a good plan to me.

Take Donna's advice, maybe. I can't for the life of me imagine why someone would recommend a Georgian spend three days in Quebec City. Quebec City is good for a day, unless you have a deep interest in Canadian history. <BR> <BR>I say "maybe" in the first line, because, depending on the time of year, you might be better off taking a day tour to the Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal, rather than going toquebec City. Or you might be better off staying in Montreal. Quebec City, in February, if frezing cold, but beautiful. In the summer it is warm and beautiful. In March and April, it's just grey and cold. <BR>BAK <BR> <BR>

Thanks for all the advice! We will be going in summer, either over Labor Day or July 4th weekend (though I hear that the 2nd is Canada Day - is this a big holiday weekend for Canadians and will this make Montreal more or less crowded?) <BR>Unless I hear otherwise, I think we'll take the advice to stay in Montreal and skip Quebec City (I'm not sure if I want to spend 6 hours on a bus for a day trip). <BR>Anyone have centrally-located hotel suggestions (w/character, &lt; $100/night)? <BR>

Here's a vote for Quebec city. Check out my bit on Quebec City (my 3 day trip) at <BR>http://www.telusplanet.net/public/al...ravelpage.html

Actually, within 3 days, you have the time to do both. Montreal and Quebec City are charming, different cities, but, frankly, there is nothing much to see per se, just soak up the atmosphere. I would suggest : <BR>Day 1 : Montréal <BR>Day 2 : Montréal + bus ride to Québec City <BR>Days 3 : Québec City + bus ride to Dorval <BR> <BR>There might be more to see in Québec city as far as sightseeing is concerned, but it is very compact. Still, for an American, I think Québec City shouldn't be missed, since there is a very non-American feel to it (unless you are not attracted to things strange to your culture)