We are planning a trip to NYC and Montreal in August. Will fly into one of the cities , drive to next and fly out of the second city.

Is there a particular advantage to doing this one way or the other ? Flying into NYC from Honolulu (home) and out Montreal seems to be a bit cheaper.

Is it reasonable to drive this in 2 days , stopping one night in the Adirondacks ?

Thanks.

I used to do this trip with my parents as a child. in the year of the flood
so memories are dim, but you can certainly do it in an overnight. You could do it without stopping but may not want to depending on what time you start.

I can't think of a reason to do the trip one way or the other apart from cost. It's probably also simpler to fly from HI to NYC w/o immigration and crossing the border into Canada.

In August, there's horse racing in Saratoga Springs every day of the month except Tuesdays. http://www.nyra.com/Saratoga/refresh...date=8/01/2006

OR, if you like classical music, stop near Tanglewood

http://lenoxinn.com/2006tanglewoodhighlights.html

or for dance Jacob's Pillow

http://www.jacobspillow.org/festival/at-a-glance.asp

or

You can drive it in one day but why miss the Adirondacks? You drive through some beautiful areas just on route 87 north. A good middle place to stop is Lake George, Lake Placid or villages on Lake Champlain.

Vermont is beautiful as well but that would be a longer route and take another day if you want to see the sights.

It is all certainly different than Hawaii so have a wonderful trip.

We just did this trip last summer with our 2 1/2 years old daughter. We left from CT. Going up we stayed the night in Burlington, VT. Coming back we came down through the Adirondacks along Lake George and drove straight through so you could easily do either one. Straight through with a few stops was about 10 hours to Essex, CT.

Just a side note. We went up for a conference for my husband and we crossed the border in a remote border crossing on a back country road north of Lake Champlain. We were the only car there. We heard from numerous business associates of my husband's who crossed over on I-87 who said they waited at the border for two hours to cross. This was mid-week with no major happenings going on in Montreal.

Have you checked the rental rate? Most companies charge a huge drop-off fee for a cross-border rental.

I would base the decision on flight availabiity - NYC has tons of options but Montreal not many.

Also - the car rental drop off charge might be an issue - and the rental from Montreal to NYC might be cheaper overall since the Canadian dollar is still low.

The trip can easily be done in one day - have done it several times - but if you have the time do stop off in the Adirondacks.

Thank you for suggestions.

Yes, I am finding the drop-off fee for Hertz is $595. No other companies will allow cross-border drop that I have been able to find.

Are there any other options that you are aware of ? Thanks.

When we lived in NYC, we drove to Montreal every year. It is such a nice drive past the Lakes (Schroon and George) and into the Adirondacks..on the drive up, we would go straight through, stopping for lunch near Lake George..on the way home we stopped over at the Sagamore for a couple of nights.
It took us about 6 hours driving straight through..so one night in the Adirondacks will be all you need.
ps-book as soon as you decide, places book up so fast for the summer.
Have a good time, I love that area!

you might want to read this thread:
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...1&tid=34782410

An alternative might be the train NYC-Montreal (or vice-versa). Amtrak has a $60 fare (I picked April 15 at random), and it is a lovely ride at times, along the Hudson River and Lake Champlain. I don't know what policy, if any, they have about hopping off and hopping back on the next day's train, but it may be worth a look (www.amtrak.com).

Happy travels.

I have learned the drop off fee applies only if going from Montreal into NYC (for Hertz) ! The reverse would not incur a fee. I have learned much. Thanks for all the advice.

Do consider the train between NYC and Montreal. It is a stunning trip along the Hudson. (I have done it NYC to Saratoga) but hear the ride from Saratoga to Montreal is terrific as well. Relaxing alternative to driving.

Living in a suburb northwest of NYC, my wife and I have made the drive to Montreal a few times via 87.

About 6 hours to make the trip, however, this can vary (double) depending on the day of week, Holiday, etc...it took us 12 hours to get home once due to the mistake of leaving on Montreal on July 4th weekend in 2001, over 2 hours to cross the border. The following year we left and returned midweek, no traffic. In fact no other cars in front of us at Canadian Customs
..great!!....expect to pulled over and searched like we were (only 15 minute delay).

Avoid weekends. The 87 border is one of the busiest if not the busiest border crossing and 87 has heavy traffic on weekends in the summer; Fridays from NYC (TZ bridge) north to Saratoga and
Sundays from Saratoga south to NYC.

Saratoga to border and vice versa is usually fine.

Adirondacks and Vermont are well worth stopping and seeing. Old Port in Montreal is nice. View from top of Mount Royal is also nice.

Stay in NYC, rent a car in NYC, drive to Saratoga, drop off the car in Saratoga and catch the Amtrak Adirondack train to Montreal. You might have to stay in Saratoga the night because the train only runs once a day
and does have an hour stop at border also so everyone can be checked.

Quebec City is nice also, 3 hour train from Montreal, the VIP First Class is a great deal.

Have fun.

rmw-I should have mentioned that the 6 hour trip from NYC to Montreal is most likely possible with the Yankee behind the wheel
Most others will take longer ~lol~

It's only 380 miles from NYC to Montreal. But of course, it depends on traffic out of NYC, bridge across to Montreal, and the border. And where in NYC does one start - it can easily take an hour just to get out of the city.

But once on NYThruway/I-87, one can go at a pretty good clip. Cruising speed of 75-80 is pretty normal.

Cruising speed of 75 will get you no ticket, generally. Cruising speed of 80 will cost you, generally.

I tend to drive 75, just because I can relax a bit more than when I drive 80 and the overall time improvement doesn't seem worth the potential cost and delay while the trooper is writing the ticket. Also, be advised that troopers in NY will no longer be allowed to plea bargain your ticket to a lesser offense at your court date.

Just a side note, I would not recommend the Amtrak ride to Montreal at all. From what I know, they only operate one train a day on this route and it tends to be all day travel -- leave at around 8 in the morning and get in around 6 in the evening. Waste of time IMHO. The bus, although a lot less appealing, has numerous departures and has overnight departures as well if this would be convenient. Leave NYC at midnight, and get to Montreal first thing in the morning or something like that. Taking a train ride of 10 hours doesn't seem appealing to me when one can rent a car, take a bus, or even fly in less time. Just my two cents.

When I say "cruise" at 75-80, I use the term pretty broadly. No, you can't just set cruise control on and forget it. You definitely can get a ticket at that speed. And radar detector is illegal in Quebec.

Anyways, as for the train, I think it's one of the prettier routes in the whole AMTRAK system, and please, don't take an overnight bus. You'll need a whole day to recover from that.