Toronto or Montreal?
 

We would like to travel to Toronto or Montreal with our two year old toddler in mid October. We are not sure where to go and where to stay. Any suggestions?
And thanks in advance.

Toronto is definitely the more kid-friendly of the two cities, with lots of child-friendly attractions, but with a 2-yr-old it probably doesn't matter all that much. It's got lots of museums, a worldclass zoo, a fantastic science center and so on, plus public transit is great.
Montreal too has great public transit but has fewer kiddie type attractions.

Toronto is also likely to be warmer than Montreal in mid-October if that matters. But for interesting and different I would choose Montreal any day. Toronto is a vibrant multi-cultural big North American City. Montreal is a city unlike any other in North America or the world for that matter.

Have you considered Niagara Falls/Niagara-on-the-Lake?

Montreal, hands down, while Toronto is comprised of a lot of different cultures it has little culture of its own and is significantly more expensive. Downtown Montreal has history on every street corner.

Z

To be fair, travelmaster, Toronto's unique culture is the fact that it is hugely multicultural. On the other hand I stand by my previous post which says that Montreal is absolutely unique.

Without a doubt, Montreal. It will be beautiful in mid-October with the fall colours. There is no other city like it in North America. Be sure to visit Old Montreal.

I live in Toronto and there are some great things to do here especially for kids but at age 2 really not an issue - but if you are looking for a different experience go to Montreal - lots of charm in Old Montreal - it's like visiting Europe. Mid October will be sweater weather and great for walking. Also a side trip to the Laurentian mountains would be beautiful as well (it's about an hour north of Montreal)

Toronto is both the cultural and finacial capital of Canada. Next to New York, it has the largest theatre scene in North America (third in the world), as well as countless number of excellent restaurants, museums, shopping etc. Toronto is very safe, friendly and multi cultural. it is a great walking city with many parks. You can visit Greektown, Little Italy, Chinatown, Little India, Yorkville (High end shopping), Queen Street (more eclectic, bohemian shopping) and the great Kensington Market. These, just to name a few, are great neighborhoods to visit. Also, to boost the tourism in Toronto after the Sars scare last spring, there will be excellent packages available for theatre and hotel tickets - you should check the web or your travel agent for these. You can't go wrong in Toronto.
Montreal is nice, but smaller and from my experience as well as my Canadian and American friends, the people there can be rude. Montreal is French and there seems to be a dislike to people who speak English. As you may or may not know, English only signs are banned, and if English is on any business signs, there must also be French, and the english letters must be smaller than the French letters. They actually have language police who go around measuring the letters and will charge the business owners if the English lettering is too large. There was a story on 60 Minutes whereby a pet store owner was threatened by an overzealous language policeman beacause she had a parrot that only spoke English.
I have only listed a few of the things to see in Toronto, there is too much to list. Enjoy Toronto - you will not be disappointed - and the people will appreciate you visit.

I love Toronto and Montreal and you can't go wrong with either.
Montrealers rude? Since when? I've found Montrealers to be among the friendliest and warmest people in any big city anywhere!

We have found Montreal to be one of the friendliest cities we have been to!
Having just gotten back from there, I can say that in 6 days, roaming all over the city , we were met with only polite and helpful people, many of whom helped me when I asked about French pronunciation, then they would apologise if their English was not good enough! Find someone in the US that would do that!
Montreal has a Chinatown, a Little Italy, a great area that I think is much like Haight- Ashbury used to be in San Francisco.The food is great, there are so many great hotels!
I have not been to Toronto and do plan to visit soon, but I do like Montreal :)

We visit Montreal fairly regularly and can't recall a single instance of rude behaviour. Obviously one can encounter rudeness anywhere. As for Montreal being French it is but English is a strong second. We have never had any trouble with communication in spite of our abysmal knowledge of French.

To return to the original question either city is worth visiting. Montreal might be of slightly greater interest because of its French (but really quite bilingual) character.

Thanks for all your replies.