Cranachin

Any idea which crossing(s) between Vermont and Quebec will be least crowded on the Friday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend?

I am going to Montreal from Boston, so I can use any of the crossings from I-91 over to I-87 (which I know is in NY!). I figure the I-87 crossing would be pretty busy, though.

FWIW, I crossed at Derby Line (through town) a couple of years ago on a Thursday or Friday in early August and we were the only car crossing at the time. We had stopped in town anyway and so were not avoiding the I-91 crossing, but I looked back at it when we got on the autoroute, and it did not seem to be very busy either. Of course, that was not the Friday of Memorial Day weekend!

I know I can look at wait times online if I have access to the Web when I am close to crossing, but I wanted to pick my route based on what generally would be the easiest crossing.

usroadman

My past experience has been pretty much what you've observed, that the small crossings that serve mostly local traffic are usually a lot less crowded than the major crossings, but of course you have to go out of your way down back roads to get to them, and since they are small it would only take a few "questionable" vehicles in front of you to slow things down (though I've never had that happen to me personally). And of course there's usually no way to know if the Interstate crossing is backed up until you get there. For myself though, I'd rather spend an extra 20 minutes riding through the back country than sitting in a line on a highway. So I personally would use either US 11 or VT-225 rather than I-87 (or I-89). I would bet anything further east is pretty good too (all the way to the US 5 crossing you took last time) unless someone else knows of a particular problem with one of them.

Cranachin

usroadman - I too enjoy the back roads, and US-11 and VT-225 have been getting serious consideration. Thanks for the input!

By the way, on my previous trip we crossed back into the US using A-173/US-201 into Maine, so I have only crossed the border once in any direction in Vermont.

Vttraveler

We usually use smaller border crossings in Vt or NY, and they usually have very short if any wait times. I don't think that many people from the US go to Canada from the US for the long weekend so the larger ones should not be much of a problem, either. Victoria Day is May 23 so the previous weekend is the long weekend in Canada.

Cranachin

Vttraveler - Good info to have. Thanks!

Vttraveler

Cranachin--I hope you have a great time in Montreal over Memorial Day. Note that the Sunday is Museum Day which is a nice event but means that museums are more crowded than usual. I am not sure what the "party" at the promenade des Artistes du Quartier des spectacles involves.
http://www.museesmontreal.org/en/Home_page.htm

Cranachin

Vttraveler - I was not aware of that when I first decided to go but have since discovered it. It looks like there will some enjoyable things to do. I hope I can choose wisely so as to avoid some of the crowds, but if not, c'est la vie!

Any suggestions for your favorites besides the Terracotta Warriors?

Vttraveler

I think the archeological museum Pointe-à-Callière in Old Montreal is excellent. The environmental Biosphere museum in the old geodesic dome from Expo is also interesting and there are great views of the city and the river from the top floor.
The main collections of the Fine Arts museum are free at all times (donations of course appreciated) so I am not sure how many people go there on Museum Day