milaedg

Hello Fodorites,

We were going to Italy last fall but was cancelled. Since we are not hopeful that it will be safe to travel to Europe this fall we decided to check out the two cities that offer some European flavor (keeping fingers crossed Canada will be welcoming visitors by Sept.); Montreal and Quebec City. And while we’re at it, see some of the highlights of NS, NB, and PEI. Why not. We are a (vaccinated) retired couple. We are interested in historical sites/buildings, enjoy natural scenery, hiking, culture, and local food, etc. I’ve done a fair amount of research and it appears that the trip will entail a lot of driving. We don’t really like 1-nt stays and going through the same routes twice, but it looks like these can’t be avoided. So we came up with the following itinerary. Your advice/comment(s) are much appreciated. Please let me know if we are short shrifting or wasting time on certain places.

Halifax 3nts/Lunenburg 1nt/long drive to Whycocomagh 1nt / Ingonish 1nt / Baddeck 2nts/ Take ferry to Charlottetown 2-3nts?/ Hopewell 1nt / Alma (Fundy NP) 1nt / St. John 1nt / Moncton 2nts / Miramichi 1nt / Long drive to Quebec City 4 nts / Train to Montreal 5 nts / Fly home

Why Whycocomagh? - short drive to Skyline Trail, Macintosh Brook and Lone Sheiling trailheads -we think we can do all three hikes in one day if we start early, and have time to drive to Ingonish.

Miramichi: overnight before or after spending a day at the Acadien historic village.

Where can we fit driving the Fundy Trailway Park? Pictures look amazing, we would very much like to drive through it.

If we were to break up the 7-hr drive from Miramichi to QC, where would be a good spot to spend the night?

Thank you!

thursdaysd

When I looked at doing that part of Canada, it also seemed to involve a lot of driving. However, why don't you take the train from Moncton to Montreal?

See: https://www.seat61.com/montreal-to-halifax-by-train.htm

milaedg

Thursdaysd: Taking the train from Moncton would mean backtracking to QC, then taking the train back to Montreal again for our flight home, wouldn’t it? Thanks.

thursdaysd

If you check the link I posted you will see that a bus meets the train at Sainte Foy for a 30 minute drive to QC, but it is very early in the morning. Can't you fly home from QC? Or start the trip in QC and fly home from Halifax?

tlc195

Regarding PEI.....if you take the ferry consider visiting the Point Prim Lighthouse since you will drive past it on your way to Charlottetown. While at the lighthouse plan your visit near lunch or dinner and go to the Point Prim Chowder House.

http://pointprimlighthouse.com



Is located at the end of the Point Prim Road, 10.9km ( 8 miles) west of Belfast. Built in 1845, Point Prim is P.E.I.'s oldest lighthouse. It's also the only round lighthouse on P.E.I., and one of only a few in Canada that are round and made of brick. It's located at the southeastern entrance to Hillsborough Bay, and built to guide vessels into Charlottetown Harbor.



http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/p...ouse-1.4207475

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...rd_Island.html



Make sure you call the Chowder House and make a reservation; the place is small and fills fast. The food is wonderful we have been to it at least 8 times and never had a bad meal. If it is a nice day ask for an outside table. The views from the porch are just wonderful. As you travel down the road to the lighthouse and the Chowder House the road will change from blacktop to red clay PEI road, when this happens you are close to where you want to be.

On the road to Point Prime stop at Hannah's Bottle Village a very unusual place. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...rd_Island.html

zootsi

If you want to experience some of the unique French/Canadian culture of Quebec, you might want to spend a night or two in the beautiful Eastern Townships, which are east of Montreal. About 2 dozen picturesque wineries, apple orchards, vast farms, small French speaking towns, hiking, and some of the best road biking trails anywhere. Look at fun little towns like Magog, Bromont or Sutton.

annhig

Those eastern townships sounds delightful but my experience of Montreal is limited to 4 nights and 3 days and it was too short a time to see it all; I'd love to go back.

I suppose what I'm saying is don't give yourselves too little time in Montreal.

cdnyul

https://gem.cbc.ca/media/absolutely-...epage_shelfnew

milaedg

Cdnyul: Thank you for the link but it is not available to play outside of Canada.

tlc195: I made note of all your recommendations. I’ve read quite a few of your PEI suggestions on another thread. Thanks.

My research convinced me five nights will be just right for us.

Sorry for the delayed response. I have been unable to visit the thread due to a family emergency. Thank you all for the responses.

tlc195

Milaedg,

You may want to read this news link to give you the latest on what is going on the island.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island

It is part of my daily reading of what is going on in the world. I really hope the island is open to the USA in 21 but not counting on it

NorthwestMale

My first impulse is that I can't sense a vibe that Canada will be widely open to outside visitors by September. It is a guessing game at best, and making big plans that wholly depend upon it seems rather bold.


But beyond that, if I were starting out in Miramichi and concerned about breaking-up the 7-hour trip to QC... I think I would instead drive the whole circuit of the Gaspe Peninsula and maybe stay at Rimouski... and then be sure to drive through some of the local townships along the St. Lawrence, which means getting OFF of the faster freeway and driving through the local towns parallel to the river.

It is hard for me to get completely into "travel suggestions" mode after all of this time, but if you click on my name you'd find lots of threads started by others and regarding travel in the Canadian Maritimes, and plenty of good ideas within them.

milaedg

Thanks NorthWest. I have actually read quite a few of your recommendations on other threads. I have not booked anything but I would like to be ready to book flights/hotels when Canada opens up.

SirhanTheStrong

Can't speak for the Maritimes, but I live in Quebec so I can consider myself an expert.

There's a lot to more to do in Montreal than in Quebec City, I would say cut a night in Quebec City and add one on to Montreal.

If you're okay splitting the drive from Miramichi to Quebec City into two days, I second the recommendation of driving the Gaspé peninsula and spending the night in the town of Gaspé or somewhere outside Forillon National Park.

NorthwestMale

The whole reason the idea came up is because they were inclined to split said drive into two days.

trycke

Planning a trip is a great diversion, especially right now and it seems the OP is getting lots of good advice. I thought I would just mention that travel to any of the Maritime provinces has been restricted since last year and it doesn’t seem likely that people from outside the Atlantic bubble will be allowed to visit anytime soon. Currently, if you qualify to travel to an Atlantic province based on a set list of reasons, you have to quarantine upon arrival.
Perhaps Montreal and Quebec city along with the Gaspe peninsula would be possible. NB, NS, PEI and NL are most likely not tourist destinations for this summer.

milaedg

If 70% of Canadians are fully vaccinated by end of July, and you were a betting person, would you bet that Quebec, NS, and NB will be open to US tourists by fall?

NorthwestMale

NO !!

You'd bet heavily against it!


LOL - THE YUKON presently has the highest rate of new cases among the USA and CANADA combined. The surest way for the rest of Canada to match that, would be to open the borders to Americans.


No doubt opening the Canadian borders to Americans would equate to opening those borders to all travelers from throughout the world.

Consider that Fifty Thousand Brazilians have DIED of Covid THIS MONTH already and recognize yet again how completely dumb it would be to open Canadian borders to world travelers again.


* on the bright side, PEI has only today opened its borders to "vaccinated Atlantic Canadians".


It remains entirely possible that the entire world population will eventually experience Covid rates/deaths which paralleled the USA's in the beginning... but because Americans are generally wealthier, certainly more "free" than most, AND visited so often by non-residents, the USA was merely first to reach extremes.

IF Canada wants to speed-up its participation then sure, open the borders to USA residents. Hell, why not just vacate the border crossings and the little shacks on the prairies and beckon all Americans to come and speed-up the process? (I'm guessing that those deemed "undesirable" during other times are probably knowing a higher rate of Covid than is known to America's general population)

SirhanTheStrong

If Canada opens the border to American travellers again it's only going to be to those who can provide proof of second-dose vaccinations. And if case rates in Canada do start to go up as a result, you can guarantee the government will promptly close the border again.

Opening the border to unvaccinated travelers is still at least a couple of years away, at which point, hopefully most countries will have been fully vaccinated anyways.

maitaitom

We thought five nights in Montréal and four nights in Québec City were perfect. We took a day trip from Québec City to Chute Montmorency (a beautiful waterfall) and Sanctuaire de Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré (Chapter Eleven of the trip report ... link below). Also, try and get advance tickets to AURA, a light and music show that takes place in the evenings at Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal. Spectacular! Have fun.

https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/montreal-quebec-2019/

Sue_xx_yy

The PM has said there is a chance the US-Can border will open by mid August. That news came only on the 15th of July, so it is still quite new. A lot can change in a month, I would not take it as gospel.

Even if it is true, the trick will be to get agreement from the provinces on what will be accepted as proof of being fully vaccinated.

The federal gov only controls the Can-US border, it doesn't control inter-provincial borders. Different provinces have different entry requirements, even for other Canadians. This is expected to loosen as more Canadians get their second shot, but I would keep an eye on sites like this:

https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/heal...ellers-covid19

There will be similar sites for New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI. Google [province] covid travel restrictions and look for the dot ca suffix so that you know it is official.

I note you seem to be picking up the car in Halifax and dropping in Quebec. Did I understand that correctly? That will be a heckuva drop charge - you are crossing two provincial borders. Note that car rentals are expensive this year. The agencies laid off staff and cars during the pandemic, now demand is picking up and the claim is that supply isn't meeting it (yet.)