Canada - Montreal, Quebec, Toronto

[dthogue]

I know they are alot of Canadians on here and I was hoping for some help. We have decided as a family to visit Canada this summer as our family vacation and I have no idea where to start planning. We will be driving from Central PA and will have 10/11 days for our trip. We would like to finish our trip at Niagara Falls for at least a day. I'm not sure if we can make it to all three cities or maybe we should focus on two? Also not sure of the driving distance between the cities??? Any good websites for info?

Any tips on what to see, where to stay, places to eat, etc. would be greatly appreciated. We would be traveling late June/early July. It's me, DH and DD's (21, 19 and 13).

Thanks,
Tammy

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Also not sure of the driving distance between the cities??? Any good websites for info?

Did you check mapquest for distances? This would be a good place to start. If you only have 10-11 days, I think you need to consider limiting the cities visited to Toronto and Montreal. You will get the flavor of both English and French Canada.

I also suggest getting some good guidebooks. I recently visited Montreal and found Frommer's Montreal and Quebec City 2011 to be very useful.

 

[abbyndrewmom]

I know they are alot of Canadians on here and I was hoping for some help. We have decided as a family to visit Canada this summer as our family vacation and I have no idea where to start planning. We will be driving from Central PA and will have 10/11 days for our trip. We would like to finish our trip at Niagara Falls for at least a day. I'm not sure if we can make it to all three cities or maybe we should focus on two? Also not sure of the driving distance between the cities??? Any good websites for info?

Any tips on what to see, where to stay, places to eat, etc. would be greatly appreciated. We would be traveling late June/early July. It's me, DH and DD's (21, 19 and 13).

Thanks,
Tammy

I think you can do all 3, we live just outside of Toronto and did a 5 day trip to Montreal & Quebec City a couple of years ago. We spent 3 nights in QC and 2 in Montreal. Having said that we go to Montreal at least once a year so we knew exactly what we wanted to see. It will take 2-3 hours to drive from QC to Montreal and 4-5 hours from Montreal to Toronto. Niagara Falls is only 1.5 hours from Toronto. I would plan 3 days QC, 3 days Montreal, 2 days Toronto & 1 day Niagara Falls. That will still give you a couple of days for driving.

Quebec City is very historical, lots of old buildings, churches, historical sites to see. There are some nice parks outside the city and if you go a little further north you can go whale watching. Montreal is a big cosmopolitain city, lots of things to see and do everything from museums to amusments parks to art galleries and shopping. Toronto is also a large cosmopolitan city with world class museums, theatre, art galleries and restaurants. Toronto also has a large amusement park just to the North, Canada's Wonderland.

I would refer to Trip Advisor, frommers and fodor's website for hotel idea and things to do. Feel free to ask if you have any more questions.

Allison

 

[Gigi22]

Agreed with the PP. Also, might I suggest you go through Niagara-on-the-Lake? It is about 30 min. from Niagara Falls, and is a very pretty small town that hosts the Shaw Festival during the late spring to early fall. The area around NOTL is a major wine producing region.

Please note that, should you drive to Quebec City, the historic part of town is not really a good area for cars. There is very little parking in the historic area.

 

[ccoop]

I went to Quebec City with my DD13 and her French Class. It was a 10 hour drive from Buffalo. I loved it. We took a walking tour and saw so much. We spent 3 days and I could have stayed much longer. Differently stay in Old Quebec. I can't wait to go back. It is my favorite place I have been to in Canada.

 

[msmayor]

Remember that you will all need either passports or passport cards to enter/leave Canada by car.

In addition, contact your auto insurance company to make sure coverage is extended into Canada. Ours was, but we needed a special insurance card for Canadian authorities to review in case we had an accident.

 

[snoopybabe]

Years ago (22 years ) we went on a trip & drove from NYC to Montreal, then Tronto (to see the Expo) & then Niagara Falls. The drive from Monteal to Tronto was extremely long.

5 years ago we drove from VA to Ottawa, Tronto & then Niagara Falls. We enjoyed that trip immensley. I think with 10/11 days you would have plenty of time. There are some great museums in Ottawa as well as the capitol and just over there is Quebec which is French speaking. There also was a beautiful big park. I would say to have 2 days for Niagara Falls to go behind the falls & see everything.

July 1st is Canada Day so you could particpate in their celebrations. Also on July 4th you can see all the fireworks across the falls in NY.

Have fun planning.

 

[msmama]

I think 10-11 days is plenty of time. I did that, plus more, a few years ago.

What are your kids into? Are they more the adventurous type? Zoos? Musueums?

There's a cool drive through safari somewhere between Niagra Falls and Toronto. Toronto also has a nice zoo and a nice Science Museum. And there's a nice mall in the center of Toronto (with 3 DD's that's probably a must see, lol).

Personally, I didn't find Montreal that interesting. Maybe if we'd planned more, but just strolling through the city didn't impress me much.

I loved the old part of Quebec. And like someone said, you pretty much just park your car and walk.