Niagara to Toronto to Montreal
 

What is the best way to get from Niagara to Toronto where we will be staying one night in early Nov? As we will probably be taking the train to Montreal from Toronto where in Toronto and Montreal should we stay? We hope to stay in Montreal for four nights and will be joining a one day tour to Quebec....not sure yet if this exists. Any suggestion would be great! We are in our fifties if that makes a difference.

We start by wonderinghow you get to Niagrara Falls in the firt place.

Regardless, if you have no car, therer are a variety of mini-bus shuttle services between Toronto and Nigara Falls, and your hotel can help set up one of these for you. Chances it would drop you at your hotel in Toronto.

Or take the big highway style bus from the Niagara Falls bus station to the Toronto bus station.

The best ways from Toronto to Montreal are Porter Air from the Toronto City Centre Airport (we call it the Island airport) or VIA Rail from Union Station.

STay in a downtown hotels and grab a cab to Union Station. Ifyou are travellinglight, you can walk to Union Station from many hotels, or take the bubway, but this is a pain at rush hour.

There are half a dozen trains a day from Toronto to Montreal. Two stations in Montreal -- doNOT get off at Dorval, and instead go downton to Central Station - Gare Central.

BAK

You can also get inexpensive flights from Toronto's Pearson International airport to Montreal. Air Canada has Toronto/Montreal flights almost hourly. To get the best fare for early November, book about 2 weeks b/f your desired departure date. The "regular" fare is $99 plus taxes each way but if you watch the fares, you can snag one for as low as $29 + taxes each way(rare). But, around $69 + taxes is more likely. Go to www.aircanada.com & plug in some dates to see what I mean. You can also go Westjet from Toronto to Montreal. Air Canada also does Hamilton, Ontario/Montreal runs( much more limited availabilty than from Toronto Pearson).

If you take the train from Toronto to Montreal, you should stay "downtown" in each city. The amount you want to spend per night will dictate exactly where you shd stay. So if you tell us, we can give you the names of specific hotels.

As for getting from Niagara to Toronto, you can take the train(www.viarail.ca) bus(www.coachcanada.com) or shuttle ( www.niagaraairbus.com).

Thank you both for your very valuable input...looking at paying around CAD200 for hotel, wow, will that let us stay downtown for convenience?

Hi, Kimmos: Try The Sheraton Centre Toronto(on Queen St West) or Holiday Inn on King St. in Toronto and Omni Mont Royal in Montreal(Sherbrooke St)
Hotel Le Germain(on Mansfield) in Montreal is also very nice but may be more than $200 in November.

thanks wow....would not be able to work that out myself, not knowing the areas at all to start with!

Hi, kimmos! Enjoy Niagara, Toronto & Montreal! Do you live in Niagara?

no, wow, we come from downunder....Aussieland. thanks so much for your great help as we know nothing about the area around NYC and Canada.

Wow! You will be a long way from home, kimmos! Are you flying to Buffalo & then driving to Niagara? I was wondering why your trip was "starting" in Niagara! ;)

wow, this has become a private conversation, yeah, you guessed correctly, am flying from NYC to Buffalo and prob taking a bus or cab to Niagara Falls. Thanks for your help... am sure I will be back for more later. On another topic, I have booked the Comfort Inn Midtown in NYC for first week of Nov, not realising that the Marathon is on. After I booked, have looked at some candid photos of the Inn and now feel that I dont really wanna stay there. Any suggestions for hotels in the same area but a bit better and yeah, costing a bit more? Thanks!

I don't know anything about the Comfort Inn Midtown in NYC. Maybe start a new post on the US board on that one? It may be difficult to find something during the Marathon.

A lot of people including several friends (and Gourmet magazine in its May 2006 issue on Montreal) recommend Le Square Phillips Hotel and Suites which is in a good downtown location and probably within your price range. (Prices vary depending on the season but are usually quite low in Montreal hotels early November)Having a suite for 4 days would be nice.
We like and usually stay at the Delta Hotel on Sherbrooke which should also be under $200 CND but it just has regular hotel rooms.
This past weekend we stayed at the Marriott courtyard with a tourist office "Sweet deals" promotion. (these are offers with many of the big hotels where the first night is a good rate and second night is half price. I don't think they work for 4 day stays) The Marriott downstairs public area was pretty basic but the suite was a good deal and had a great view of Mont Royal. It had a refrigerator but no real kitchen area, so probably not as good for you as Le Square Phillips