Trip Advice for Toronto/Montreal/Ottawa Please

[westgrove]

Hi there,

In Sep this year DH and I are planning a WDW trip but as we live in England and the flights are sooo expensive we want to make the most of our time. We've decided to incorporate going to Canada for the first time!

We are in the early stages of planning (ie nothing except WDW hotel is booked yet). My thoughts are to fly into Montreal and stay for 2 nights, then get the train to Ottawa and stay 1 night then another train to Toronto for 4 nights before flying on to Orlando.)

I know there are endless websites about great things to do and places to go but I was hoping to go straight to those who know best so posted here for any tips/advice/ideas/places to go/food to eat!!!?

TIA! Laura

 

[Ted in Halifax]

May I suggest, more time in Ottawa? Looks like you have a week ... Depending on your preferences, I suggest 2 night Montreal. 2 nights Ottawa, 3 nights Toronto. Do you know the dates that you will be traveling?

Ted

 

[westgrove]

Hi
At the moment it's looking like we'd arrive in Canada on 21st Sep and leave on 28th.
We were considering staying in either Ottawa or Montreal only and taking the train just for a day to whichever place we werent staying in.
The extra day in Toronto was on the thinking we'd take a day out to go to Niagara Falls. We're completely flexible around where to go /stay I guess we need more research on things to do in each location.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

Ok ... Niagara Falls is a good choice. Also September is good, the weather will be excellent and the kids are in School. I understand the either or of Montreal or Ottawa. I've been in both cities within the last few months on business. More people from Quebec and Ontario will be on this forum in the next few days .. they will chime in the best things to do!

 

[yayasue]

I am in the Montreal area so I can definitely suggest things to do/places to go here. Can you give me more details on what you guys like to do?

 

[stefanospops]

Might I suggest that you conclude your Canadian trip with the night in Niagara Falls? From there you can fly from Buffalo to Orlando for far less money that you could flying from Toronto. And since you are already in Niagara Falls, you aren't far from the Buffalo airport at all.

While in Toronto there are many different things you can do and see. By then the new Ripley's Aquarium should be open at the foot of the CN Tower. The Toronto Blue Jays will be playing baseball, but if you aren't interested consider a tour of the ROgers Centre, our retractable domed stadium. There are plenty of shows, great restaurants and shopping all withing walking distance in the downtown core. Good luck!

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

also don't forget about taking a trip up the cn tower as well.

 

[westgrove]

I am in the Montreal area so I can definitely suggest things to do/places to go here. Can you give me more details on what you guys like to do?

We generally are into active/sight seeing holidays, we dont take much time to relax and we usually don't do anything super extravagant/expensive. We like live music, museums, shows, visting parks and areas of interest.

Thank you for the Buffalo airport idea stefanospops - I'll definitely go with that if its cheaper on our dates etc. We don't really watch much sport as a rule but I still really like seeing a baseball game as that would be quite different for us.

EastYorkDisneyFan - We definitely wanted to go to the CN tower but I had a good lok at the website today and am also going to try to get DH to agree to a meal at the retaurant there too!

 

[stefanospops]

If you do want to take in a baseball game just let me know. I have seasons tickets to the Toronto Blue Jays so if the dates line up I can certainly help you with that!

 

[bankr63]

Lots to do in Ottawa as well. We have some of the country's best museums here in the Capital. The Museum of Civilization is worth a visit for a great education on the peoples and history of Canada. It also has a world class Children's Museum if you have any younger folk in tow. There is a fantastic War Museum if you are into Militaria as well as the National Aviation Museum. Our Museum of Science and Technology is nice, but the Toronto Science Centre is better. We also have the National Gallery with a fine collection of works of both national and international renown. If you enjoy "boys behaving badly" be sure to visit Parliament and spend a bit of time in the House of Commons gallery for question period.

Dining options are plentiful - Ottawa has more restaurant seats per capita than any other city in Canada - we love to dine out!

If nature is your thing, the nearby Gatineau Park has many fine hiking trails. King Mountain is moderate hike with a very picturesque lookout over the Ottawa Valley. It is fascinating to watch the Hawks riding the updrafts just feet away from you.

September is a pretty good time visit all around. The temperatures are moderate; generally not too hot or cold. Rainfall is also moderate that time of year however. Hotels should be relatively good for availability unless we have a large convention in town, or there is a major event on.

All three cities are great - I am a native of Toronto, lived 5 years in Montreal (DDO), but have put my roots in Ottawa because of all the city has to offer.

 

[3princesshome]

I would definitely agree with a PP about checking into the possibility of flying to/from Buffalo. It is literally a 15 minute drive from the Buffalo airport to the Canadian border (the Buffalo/Fort Erie Peace Bridge crossing) and the price will be about half of what you'd pay to fly into/out of one of the Canadian airports - the taxes are just so much higher. If you choose to cross over the border at Niagara Falls (Rainbow Bridge crossing), it's about 30 minutes from the Buffalo airport - still well worth the savings and if you are interested in visiting Niagara Falls anyway, it makes sense. We live about 45 minutes from Niagara Falls and have visited often. You will definitely want to do the Maid of the Mist tour, and maybe one of the other Falls attractions. There is also Clifton Hill, which is full of somewhat tacky touristy attractions (wax museums, etc - all things that the kids love . One thing that we just did two weeks ago that I highly recommend is the Greg Frewin magic show. He is a world class magician who has his own theatre in Niagara Falls - it was about a 90 minute show (longer if you want to have dinner there first) and it was amazing. I'm not really a magic enthusiast, but this was an incredible show - you won't believe what he can do right before your eyes! Think of putting 3 women in a box, covering it, turning it around a few times, taking the cover off and the women have all disappeared and there is a giant tiger in the box! It was a fantastic show and the kids loved it.

 

[westgrove]

If you do want to take in a baseball game just let me know. I have seasons tickets to the Toronto Blue Jays so if the dates line up I can certainly help you with that!

That's great of you to offer thank you, I'll certainly catch up with you when we're booked if we find a date you may be ok for



Bankr3 - The walks and Civilisation museum in Ottawa definitely appeal to me and eating out is always a good idea!
There isnt as much variety in the uk for restaurants especially out of the big cities. There are places to go ofcourse but they are mostly chain restaurants and I like to go to a really good small scale place sometimes of which there arent many.

3prinesshome, We're not really into magic either but you obviously really enjoyed it so worth keeping in mind.