Thinking about going to Montreal for 2 nights after cruise that ends in QC…. Thoughts?

[McFins]

Sailing in a couple of weeks from NYC to Quebec City.   DH and I will stay an extra night in QC after the cruise and then we have a direct flight from QC to NYC.   
Now wondering if it is worthwhile to take the train to Montreal, stay there a couple of nights and then fly home from Montreal (only thinking of it now as we see on this forum and social media sites that a lot of folks do such but some do so just because there are more flights out of Montreal than QC).    We have fully refundable flights  from QC to NY so we would not lose any money if we were to change.    Just trying to figure if it is worth the effort to find new flights and a hotel and things to do in Montreal at this point.  
Anyone have thoughts on Montreal they care to share?    We would not be looking to do any “excursions” per se in Montreal, just walk around the city, maybe a hop on hop off bus, sight see and go to restaurants.  

Thank you,  

 

 

 

 

[LHT28]

It would be  worth it  while you are  here in Canada  

You can take the train   & stay in Old Montreal  very walkable  & many things to see & places to eat

Get off at Montreal Central station  it is under  the Queen Elizabeth hotel

[Labanos]

Thats exactly what we did last summer after our New England cruise. We took the bus but train is also a good way. Montréal is so nice and we are glad we did, i would even call it a highlight on our trip.

 

We stayed in a hotel right between China town and the Old city.  Almost everything is walkable and in 2 days no need for excursions, just exploring the city.

[McFins]

8 hours ago, LHT28 said:

It would be  worth it  while you are  here in Canada  

You can take the train   & stay in Old Montreal  very walkable  & many things to see & places to eat

Get off at Montreal Central station  it is under  the Queen Elizabeth hotel

Thank you LHT ! 

[McFins]

2 hours ago, Labanos said:

Thats exactly what we did last summer after our New England cruise. We took the bus but train is also a good way. Montréal is so nice and we are glad we did, i would even call it a highlight on our trip.

 

We stayed in a hotel right between China town and the Old city.  Almost everything is walkable and in 2 days no need for excursions, just exploring the city.

Thanks Lebanos! 

[beach spring]

Our late May, early June Zaandam cruise actually ended in Montreal, so we spent three days there before flying home.  Our travel agent found us an Old Montreal hotel,  SpringHill Suites, which scared me at first, since it looked like we were entering from an alley.  However, all was good, great included breakfast, very comfortable.  Bonus, we could walk easily to many sites!  

If you stay over in Montreal I recommend a GrayLine Tour for 3 hours (ours was not a doubledecker) but had wifi and a bathroom, if that matters.  Our driver Norman narrated in both English and French, and he was terrific.  We made three stops for photos.  We saw and learned so much!

About three blocks from our hotel was the incredible Notre Dame Basilica at the Place d'Armes.  Had we known about it, we would have paid to attend the evening light show!  As it was, we attended the Sunday mass and that was wonderful, even if we didn't speak French!

Our other favorite place to spend time was the Place Jacques-Cartier for its open air ambiance, cafes, street performers, making us feel as if we were in a city in old Europe.

[McFins]

44 minutes ago, beach spring said:

Our late May, early June Zaandam cruise actually ended in Montreal, so we spent three days there before flying home.  Our travel agent found us an Old Montreal hotel,  SpringHill Suites, which scared me at first, since it looked like we were entering from an alley.  However, all was good, great included breakfast, very comfortable.  Bonus, we could walk easily to many sites!  

If you stay over in Montreal I recommend a GrayLine Tour for 3 hours (ours was not a doubledecker) but had wifi and a bathroom, if that matters.  Our driver Norman narrated in both English and French, and he was terrific.  We made three stops for photos.  We saw and learned so much!

About three blocks from our hotel was the incredible Notre Dame Basilica at the Place d'Armes.  Had we known about it, we would have paid to attend the evening light show!  As it was, we attended the Sunday mass and that was wonderful, even if we didn't speak French!

Our other favorite place to spend time was the Place Jacques-Cartier for its open air ambiance, cafes, street performers, making us feel as if we were in a city in old Europe.

Thanks Beach.  We decided to come home right after Quebec as we were unsure of the weather situation/impending storm.  However, we will keep this great info as we may decide to go to Montreal at another time.   Thanks!

[DuckTollerFans]

I'm just a couple weeks back from a road trip through Quebec.  We only stayed in QC about 24 hours - our first visit there, and 2.5 days in Montreal - where we've been a couple of times before. 

 

I would return to Quebec city in a heartbeat and stay longer. Such a lovely city and we barely touched on the things we wanted to do.

 

Montreal is a wonderful city but it is a large metro area vs how compact QC is.  We did take one of the Hop On/Off Grey line tours - able to use the pass for 2 days so we used that as our primary way to get around -- that and walking.  It worked out well.

 

And just now I see you stayed in Quebec. Hope you fell in love with the city like we did!

 

 

[McFins]

On 10/14/2023 at 12:13 PM, DuckTollerFans said:

I'm just a couple weeks back from a road trip through Quebec.  We only stayed in QC about 24 hours - our first visit there, and 2.5 days in Montreal - where we've been a couple of times before. 

 

I would return to Quebec city in a heartbeat and stay longer. Such a lovely city and we barely touched on the things we wanted to do.

 

Montreal is a wonderful city but it is a large metro area vs how compact QC is.  We did take one of the Hop On/Off Grey line tours - able to use the pass for 2 days so we used that as our primary way to get around -- that and walking.  It worked out well.

 

And just now I see you stayed in Quebec. Hope you fell in love with the city like we did!

 

 

Hi Duck.  We did love QC.  We did the  Hop On Hop Off bus which was very nice,    We also went to Montmorency Falls and really enjoyed our time there.   We found the people everywhere in QC to be very friendly and nice. 
 

 

 

 

 

[CCJack]

On 10/14/2023 at 12:13 PM, DuckTollerFans said:

 

I would return to Quebec city in a heartbeat and stay longer. Such a lovely city and we barely touched on the things we wanted to do.

 

Agree.   QC is a North American gem... under-appreciated by many U.S. folks.   Great place to spend a weekend.