Visiting Canada 3rd week of July Montreal Quebec and Toronto
 

Hi, planning a trip from NY 3rd week of July driving in for about 6-7 days. Looking for recommendation what stops to make to do sight seeing. Planning on driving and hoping to visit the following places Montreal Quebec city Toronto and Niagara Falls. Looking to stay in the center walking distance price range for hotel no more then $300 a night. All recommendations on intenary and where to stay and go are truly appreciated. What is the best order on visiting some or all of the above locations. Looking for Hotel in the center city life.

Hi, planning a trip from NY 3rd week of July driving in for about 6-7 days. Looking for recommendation what stops to make to do sight seeing. Planning on driving and hoping to visit the following places Montreal Quebec city Toronto and Niagara Falls. Looking to stay in the center walking distance price range for hotel no more then $300 a night. All recommendations on intenary and where to stay and go are truly appreciated. How many days should we give each place and what is the driving distance between the locations. Main question is driving from NY what should be our first stop and going forward.

Have you looked at a map or a mapping website like Google Maps or Mapquest?

There is no way you can see all of these places in a week, unless you want to just breeze through them. Better to limit your trip to either Toronto and Niagara Falls, OR Montreal and Quebec City.

I agree that 6-7 days is good for Montreal and Quebec City, with perhaps a day exploring Quebec's countryside. I would recommend 3-4 nights in Montreal, 2 nights in Quebec City, and perhaps an overnight near Freighleighsburg which is wine country, or Magog a fun lakeside resort town. Trying to cram Toronto & Niagara in would be constant driving.
In Montreal, there are dozens of good hotels in the center of 'city life', like the Delta, Sheraton, Queen Elizabeth, etc. However, I find the plateau area with it's outdoor cafes, bars and shops more interesting and European feeling. The only big hotel on the plateau is the La Presidence.

I am not sure if you are coming from New York City, or somewhere else in New York State. You could drive through Buffalo onto Niagara Falls and Toronto which is about one and half hours from NF. Spend two nights in Toronto, drive to Montreal about six hours (?), spend two nights there, and then onto Quebec City which I think is about three hours drive. (Perhaps someone could verify driving times.) Spend the last two nights in Quebec City. In Canada the CAA, equivalent of the AAA do "TripTiks" which plan detailed, comprehensive auto routes within continental North America, customized to meet individual needs plus hotel accommodation. If you are a member of AAA it might be worth a call to them to help with your planning.

Thank you, very much this is a lot of help. I am driving from NYC would it still make sense to go through Buffalo I was thinking of driving back through Niagra Falls.

There is a border crossing from NY to Quebec at St-Bernard-de-Lacolle. Again, it would be helpful if AAA could map out a trip for you.

I also think that all 4 destinations in 6 or 7 days would be pretty difficult, a real whirlwind. If you do, it makes more sense to do a circle tour rather than go through Buffalo and back by (nearby) Niagara which is essentially retracing your steps.

What attractions/activities interest you? Toronto downtown is a little spread out, challenging to find one hotel location where you can walk everywhere especially with your limited time so pick your hotel based on proximity to your main interests. In Montreal you might consider staying in Old Montreal historic district, some nice boutique hotels and walking distance to the rest of downtown. In Quebec City, definitely stay in or very close to the Old Quebec Walled City historic district as this is the main attraction there (the Chateau Laurier is an iconic hotel you might look into). In Niagara Falls (Canada) - the Fallsview District has a row of high rise hotels on a ridge overlooking the Falls with spectacular views.

I mispoke above - meant to say the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City (the Chateau Laurier is in Ottawa).

Innak19,

As Cranachin and zootsi have pointed out, that's one marathon of a driving vacation you're proposing. Having roughed it out in Google Maps (link here: http://bit.ly/LRTP9a ), your driving times would be:
NYC-QC: 9 hours
QC-MTL: 3 hours
MTL-Toronto: 6 hours (if you're lucky)
Toronto-NF: 90 mins
NF-NYC: 7 hours +

So at best, your 6-day itinerary'd go something like this:

Day 1: dp NYC 0800 arr QC 1500
Day 2: dp QC 0800 arr MTL 1100
Day 3: Explore MTL
Day 4: dp MTL 0800 arr YYZ 1400
Day 5: dp YYZ 1100 arr NF 1230
Day 6: dp NF 1100 arr NYC 1800

If you go for a 7-day itinerary, you can add an extra day of exploring or else split the MTL-YYZ driving day into MTL-Kingston and then Kingston-YYZ. About 27 hours of driving alone in a 6-7 day trip. This doesn't allow for traffic, any construction along the way, border crossing time or gas/relief stops.

In any case, you're going to have minimal time to savour or even particularly enjoy any of the particular locales you plan to visit never mind anything in between (and there are a lot of interesting in-betweens).

Better to do either MTL+QC or YYZ+NF and save the other destinations for another trip.

HTH
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Hey, How many days are you planning on staying in Montreal? and what did you want to do while you are here?

Did you want to experience the nightlife? Go out to the nightclubs at all?? Are you coming with friends?

I am from Montreal, so maybe I can help..:)

DH and I are considering similar trip. We are flying to Toronto and out of Montreal. The flights are quick and direct out of LGA and under $300. We will go by train between cities. Parking a car is a hassle in cities. Amtrak can get you there, too, but it takes all day there and back. The train drops you right off in both cities, like Penn Sta.

I'm looking into a bus or other for a day trip to Niagra Falls. We went to Quebec City last year, but the train is easy from Montreal. Enjoyed QC a lot. We ate a lot of crepes - loved it.

I would skip Toronto unless there's something you really want to do there, and do Montreal and QC and maybe head out of the city and go north from QC for a day if you drive. It's beautiful. QC is fun.

I agree with most of the above. I think the thing you need to ask yourself is: Do you want a unique French Canadian experience? Then stick to Montreal and Quebec City. A day trip 45 minutes east of Quebec City to Baie St. Paul for it's quaint yet sophisticated small town atmosphere would round out the experience perfectly.(I've been quoted about this in Fodor's Montreal/Quebec City guide) There are galleries, very good restaurants and you won't regret it.

Montreal is bilingual city. For the most part everyone speaks both languages. You will find some more francophones and anglophones around the city. There are certain areas delegated to more of the french and/or english language. At the same time that is why the city is interesting. It's very true with the variety of restaurants there is always a cool experience on hand you can do.