Montreal and then what?

[annfi]

I posted a similar question a few weeks ago on the Holland America board

but this is probably the better place to post. We are still floundering

with our plans after the cruise. Booking the cruise is so easy and fun - the problem is what to do after! We are sailing one way Boston-Montreal.

Then have about 5 nights. Problem is that we have to get back down to Manchester airport to meet our daughter before flying home. Originally hoped to just rent a car and leisurely drive our way down but one way car rental

is too expensive. So, current thought is to stay 2 nights in Montreal.

Then maybe pick up a car and tour the Laurentians for 1-2 nights? Any suggestions for pretty town. I've read that Mt. Tremblant is a little "Disneylandish?" Then the tricky part. We have to drop the car "somewhere,"

I guess take a train or bus to "somewhere" and then pick up a car on the US side that we can drive to Manchester. Would love to see a little of Vermont.

Any suggestions on one night there would be appreciated. So, there you go.

If anybody has any ideas on any bits or pieces of this we would be most grateful. I guess one of the biggest questions is the transportation via bus or train from some point in Canada to some point in US. Ugggghh, wish we were just going back via ship!!!!!!

[grannynurse]

Hi,

I posted a reply to you on your earlier thread. We reversed our itinerary in 2005 because we wanted to see more of New England and the rental drop off fees were unreasonable. We got off in Boston, stayed overnight, drove to NH (approx 1 hour driving), went to North Conway in the White Mountains ( 3 hrs), drove to the summit of Mt. Washington, and slowly meandered our way down to manchester to fly home. Vermont is gorgeous. Driving NE is easy as distances are not overwhelming. I agonized over this decision. We looked at the same side trips you're considering. The train would be a good option but how much luggage will you have? That would be an issue for us. We don't pack lightly.

Having done the NY to Montreal in 2002, I disliked flying out of Montreal, didn't like the airport, long layover, and canadian departure tax. We were willing to do it again but then the rental dilemna came up. It just wasn't worth it. My friend took the bus from Montreal in 2002 but she lives in the Boston area and for her it was just transportation.

If we were to take this itinerary again, we'd start in Montreal. Manchester southwest fares are very reasonable, it's a passenger friendly airport, and we love New Hampshire. There are great sea food restaurants everywhere, even in the mountains, and it is not overly expensive.

Hope this helps,

GN

[annfi]

Hi GN, yes, thank you - I did see your prior reply.

I agree about Manchester airport. We have used it quite a bit

as we usually fly from the west coast on free Southwest tickets.

We needed to coordinate our plans with our daughter who we

need to drop and pick up in the Boston-Manchester area.

So, we kind of got "stuck" with this need to get back down from

Montreal to the Manchester area. I'm sure it will all work out somehow!

Thanks!

[grannynurse]

Hi again,

I just thought of something. What about driving west to Niagara falls. You could drop off the car in Buffalo and fly home from there. There are many beautiful places in Ontario and Quebec. 1000 islands area is wonderful. We did this trip in 3 days going to Montreal and loved it. The roads are great, nice small towns to stop over, great scenery.

Just a thought. I guess we cross posted, sorry.

GN

[jp2001]

The train is not an option from Montreal to Manchester but the bus is. Check out this Greyhound link: http://www.greyhound.com/scripts/en/TicketCenter/Step3.asp

They have a couple of departures everyday and it is a 6.5 hour ride, it's not too bad, especially if you take the late night departure, you can sleep and you will wake up in Manchester.

If you choose this option, I suggest that you simply rent a car for about 2-3 days and tour an area not too far from Montreal. I think you will love Quebec City enough that you will want to drive there before to go back to the US. We are 2.5 hours away from Montreal, you can take the train from Montreal to Quebec City or from Montreal to Ottawa and both cities are great for a 2-3 days stay. You then can go back to Montreal for your bus to Manchester.

If you want train information, try viarail.ca

Please let us know what you will do.

[Host Caroline]

Geez I'd take the opportunity to visit Quebec City for a couple of days.. Laurentians are lovely but you coudl spend a week in and around Quebec City.. so charming, historiical, so much to do and wonderful cuisine... You coudl do that and then go to Manchester.. not really that much back tracking (altho have not looked at map... I always fly to Quebec)

[MrsMoose2001]

Hi, I'm not sure I understand your problem, but I will try to help you out a little.

 

I live in Montreal.

 

For the Laurentians, you could visit both St. Sauveur and Mt. Tremblant in a day as you pass St. Sauveur on the way up to Mt. Tremblant. St. Sauveur is a cute town, with restos and a few shops. Mt. Tremblant is the same and the cute town would be St. Jovite right near Mt. Tremblant, same thing restos and some shops.

 

It all depends on what you want and how much travelling driving you want to do. You could probably drive from Montreal to Tremblant in 1-1/2 hours. We can do it as a day trip and still have time for a leisurely lunch etc. Many people from Montreal go up there for "day skiing" without staying over.

 

That said, you could take a bus to Burlington Vt and rent a car there if you want to have the comfort and leisure of having a car and visiting some of New England on your way to Manchester. Burlington Vt is approx 1-3/4 hour from Montreal not counting the boarder wait if there is one, if none it takes us 1-3/4 hours to get to Burlington Vt. And I would say Burlington is on the way to Boston as we always pass Burlington when we drive to Boston on the 89.

 

It all depends on what you want to see and do and where you want to spend most of your time. You can certainly see the Laurentians in one full day if you don't linger driving all the way up to Mt. Tremblant and back if you start early. You could visit St. Sauveur, St. Jovite and Mt. Tremblant and as I said if not lingering you could see all 3 Laurentian towns in a full day.

 

Quebec City is very charming, the old city is bigger than the one here in Montreal and one can spend a day walking around easily. Quebec City is approx 2 to 2-1/2 hour drive. I don't recommend that as a day trip. If you really want to see something very charming/picturesque, I would suggest spending more time in the Quebec City region. From Quebec City you could go to Charlevoix region, which is probably about another 2 hours from Quebec City. Now that is a beautiful area. I would say that is much nicer than a visit to the Laurentians. Many Montrealers consider St. Sauveur an extension of Montreal in many ways as it has become very honky tonk/touristy, cute, but still touristy. Charlevoix is much more picturesque and country style setting.

 

Vermont, that is another thing, for a cute town, other than Burlington, I would say Montpelier, the capital is nice and on the way down to Boston also Woodstock Vermont is a quanit town good for an overnight and that would be about 1/2 way from Montreal to Boston if I remember correctly. Actually Woodstock is on the Vermont NH border.

 

So you could actually do a bit of both. Hope this helps

[annfi]

Thank you thank you thank you! All of you are so helpful.

Hubby and I will try to sit down with maps this afternoon

and get back to you helpful folks with more questions I'm sure!

Thank you!

[bobbygirl]

Hi there! I live in Montreal and suggest that you visit the Eastern Townships. There's lots to visit and if you're a foodie, you'll be in heaven. Lake Brome duck, wineries, 4-star restaurants, homemade foods known as the "produits du terroir". I recommend staying in a BB or small inn for a couple of nights. There's plenty of nature things to do at Mt. Sutton & Mt. Orford as well as on Lake Brome, Lake Memphramagog and Lake Massawippi. The village of Lac-Brome has many lovely shops and crafts. You'll be just north of the 89 and 91 (Vermont). Check out the tourism website (it should be in English, but if not click in the upper left hand corner). You can order a free brochure in English. http://www.cantonsdelest.com/atrce/index.php

 

By the way, the Dorval airport (now know at Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau airport) has undergone extensive renovations and we no longer pay the extra tax at the gate (although it's probably hidden somewhere in our airfare!). We haven't had any problems travelling to and from YUL.

[annfi]

So many GREAT suggestions! Thank you! Charlevoix area truly sounds like

what we would LOVE but unfortunately we are realizing "we can't do it all!"

So, here's the new "thought" based on your ideas and suggestions.

2 nights - Montreal

2 nights - St. Jovite

2 nights - Vermont enroute to Manchester

And now I'm thinking for car rental,

do 3 separate contracts:

1) p-u/d-o Montreal 2 days (for touring St Jovite and area)

2) One way Montreal to Burlington, VT? - one way for a few hours

and eat the high rates

3) One way Burlington, VT to Manchester, NH for 2 days

Question, the Gray Rocks Inn in St. Jovite looks beautiful.

Is that a good choice? We are not looking for super expensive place.

Is there a town to walk to with restaurants and night life?

Thanks for your help. We're getting excited!

[annfi]

Well my brilliant idea of the one way car rental from Montreal to Burlington, VT

for a few hours is not a good idea at all! Drop fee is running $300 CAD!

Hmmmmm......

I'm really trying to keep it simple since we will have been on a cruise

and have some (one each) big suitcases. We'll try to pack light but jumping on-off buses, trains, etc........ohhhhhh, cruising is so wonderful!

[jp2001]

As I said in my previous post, I don't think you should go with transborder car rental. Just rent a car in the Montreal area and go tour St.Jovite or any other town you want to visit. Return the car to Montreal, take the bus and go to Manchester to explore the region. You could also opt to bus to Burlington and the car rental drop off fee from Burlington to Manchester is probably not as bad as the Montreal-Manchester one.

[MrsMoose2001]

I would not recommend Grey Rocks but that is just me. I was there 2 years ago for a weekend over labor day. Hubby couldn't drive as he had a foot accident and we wanted someplace close that I would not have to drive too far, and it was last min and without thinking we went as it used to be really good.

 

The food was awful, we had to take the food plan, something I never do but they left us no choice but I landed up not eating there after the first night and just paid extra to go into St. Jovite to eat in the restaurant. Since I'm not a breakfast person, I didn't care about breakfast, but lunch and dinner I ate elsewhere. The food was just awful in my opinion. If you can get it without food and really want to stay there, that's another story.

 

No you can't walk to any town restaurant, you will need to drive, it's not far, but you will need to drive to Mt. Tremblant or St. Jovite you can't "walk it" from Grey Rocks.

 

I would recommend takeing the bus to Burlington and renting a car in Burlington VT. If you want to get a US rental car because of the price. The bus terminal is not far from downtown Monteral.

 

For simplicity, I would say, stay in a Montreal Hotel and just drive up north for a day trip. It's 2 hours max to get to Mt. Tremblant (barring any traffic, just don't go at rush hour times). You could certainly see the area on a day trip.

 

The person who recommended the township is right, it is a nice area, and also very dooable for a day trip depending on how much you want to see.

 

Knowlton is a really nice cute town in the eastern townships. Nice restos and some shops. You could certainly drive from downtown Montreal and see it and come back to sleep in Montreal. No need to really stay over unless you want a more indepth stay in the townships.

 

There is no perfect solution and a lot depends on what you hope to see, want to see/do and how much you want to move around with all the luggage.

 

A lot depends on how much you want to drive, what your priorities are. If not dragging luggage around and in and out of hotels, is high on a list of priorities, I would say, sleep in Montreal and drive up north and even the townships for day trips.

 

Personally if you want to stay over somewhere else (other than Montreal) for a night or two . I would drive from Montreal to Ottawa and stay over in Ottawa and drive back. It's approx 2 hours. We have done it for day trips but you will have less time for sightseeing. We did day trips to Ottawa, about 2 hours each way, left at 9am and came back at 10pm. That is the capital of Canada, a really nice city and you would certainly have a lot to see there. The food is good, lots of choices, and hotels are available in all price ranges if you want a "sleepover". Or Quebec City, the same thing as Ottawa, although I would not do Quebec City as a day trip it's a bit further IMO.

 

But as I say it all depends on what you like to see/visit/do.

 

I don't know your real interests and if you want to do outdoor activiies like golf or whatever, but if just "looking". If you left downtown Montreal at say 9am, you would be in St. Sauver in max 1 hour, you could have a coffee, walk around the village and head up to St. Jovite, walk around have lunch browse the stores and heat up to Tremblant, about 10 min from St. Jovite, you could look around, even have dinner there and head back to Montreal. Mt. Tremblant is approx 1-1/2 hours from downtown Montreal (of course traffic accident can make it longer). You would have had a good look. Without the hassle of packing and unpacking and dragging suitcases in and out of hotels.

 

Then take the bus to Burlington VT and get a car rental there if possible.

 

I also forgot to mention that enroute to NH in VT if you are takeing the 89, you could stop and visit the village of Stowe, it's a cute village mainly for skiing but does get a lot of summer tourists as well.

 

I would like to point out, I don't know when you are comming, but if comming during the last 2 weeks in July, don't wait, for a hotel up north especially, it's Quebec construction holiday and resort type places fill up fast.

 

Again, depending on your tastes and interests and how much you like to drive or mind driving, I would visit the Laurentians and sleep in Montreal.

 

For a sleepover night I would either visit Quebec City or Ottawa and return to Montreal by car and take the bus to Burlington Vt. and pick up the rental car there and continue on with the New England part of the trip.

 

It's hard to say because I don't know what you want to do. If you want to play golf, tennis, then certainly the Laurentians are a better choice.

 

As a final note, the Grey Rocks property is very nice, on a lake, I don't mean to turn you off, the property is very nice.

[annfi]

Thank you! You are really helping us nail this down - whewie - I will be

so happy to get this figured out. Last night I had nightmares about

buses and trains!

I really like the idea of just basing ourselves in Montreal and doing one or two

day trips. We've been married over 25 years and done a lot of traveling

and we love exploring the countryside and stumbling upon cute little villages

but I am now at an "age" where I like to know (ahead of time) where I am going to sleep at night!

Okay, so we'll take the bus from Montreal to Burlington, VT.

And the one way car rental is not so terribly expensive one way Burlington

to Manchester. And we'll do a little exploring of Vermont. Is the Lake Champlain

area nice?

Another question about the day trip to Mont-Tremblant area. It looks like

there are buses that go up there. Is that a feasible way to go for the day.

Can you hop on and off in the different villages. Is there frequent service during the summer?

Thank you!!!!!

[MrsMoose2001]

Hi, yes there is a bus that goes up to Mt. Tremblant but it's more like a "get to" than a sightseeing to the best of my knowledge. I don't know the schedules I'm sorry.

 

I do believe that there are sightseeing "tour buses" that leave from downtown Montreal and go up to the Laurentians with stops. I don't know the iteneraries or where they stop, but I remember seeing some advertised at one time, don't know if they still do it or not, but probably there is at least one and included a lunch stop. Don't know if that is your thing as you would be with a group of people and be on the schedule of the bus tour and eat when and where they stop.

 

If you want to explore a few villages like St. Sauver, St. Jovite, I would recommend the car. To the best of my knowledge there are no "hop on hop off buses" there. Most people who go up there have a car to the best of my knowledge. Same thing with the eastern townships, you need a car if you want to explore a few towns out there. North Hatley, Mempremagog (sp?) are nice as well and not terribly far from Knowlton.

 

Also on the way up north you have a village/town called St. Agathe, I haven't been there in years, but it's cute and just on the same road up to Mt Tremblant after St. Sauveur, before St. Jovite. For me, I could probably see all 4 places in one day if not lingering as the villages are not huge. A walk through St. Sauver in the "downtown" village is maybe 5 - 8 blocks at most. There are a few outlet shops and a couple small "strip type" (meaning not an indoor mall) malls on the fringe of downtown that you can drive to after downtown St. Sauver like 3 min by car, but as I say if this is not your thing that you want extensive shopping, then it's easy to see the village even with a "drive through". St. Jovite is the same thing, not huge, Mt.Tremblant would be the biggest in terms of hotels, restos and it is the largest of the ski areas in the Laurentians. If you want to see every shop and browse in all the stores then of course you need more time. But if just looking and walking, you should see a good part if not all of the villages.

 

As for the Lake Champlain area, yes it's nice, but again, I don't know what expectations you have. It's not much to do/see in my opinion, really if just passing through. I would say for a cute village, Stowe, and then Woodstock/Quichee are more picturesque. If I remember in Quichee there is some nature tourist spot that is very nice, just can't remember. Montpelier is also a nice town as it is the capital. I always stop there on my way down to Maine or Boston and eat at J Morgans which is in the hotel there across from the capital bldg.

 

Burlington has a nice "downtown" center with a pedestrian only walkway during the day with cute shops and nice restaurants.

 

I too like knowing where I'll be sleeping and never travel without reservations. Too risky especially during peak travelling times. If you are coming in the summer, it's busy up north, in the fall it's busy because of the leaf peeping and that includes vermont as well.

 

Just that you know, White River Junction is not a very picturesque town but it does have a lot of motel/hotel chains which is on the Vermont/NH boarder.

 

Think Salem without the tourist attractions (like the old houses etc) to go into for St. Jovite and St. Sauveur. That would be more in Old Montreal where you can go in to some old "homes" for a visit. which would be Chateau Ramezy and Maison Etinene Cartier (sp?)

 

Good luck and I hope this all works out for you.

[annfi]

Thank you! I feel like we have a "Tour book" in the making here on this thread!

And, of course, I promise to report back when we return.

We'll do the one day car rental from Montreal to tour the Laurentians.

We are not shoppers so we'll just enjoy the pretty sites.

And we are excited about Vermont now too.

I went to AAA today and got more maps and books on that area.

I can't tell you how much we appreciate your feedback and expertise.

We are now crossing over into the "getting very excited" feelings

rather than the "overwhelmed by booking logistics" feelings!

Thank you!

P.S. I work at home and am finding it very difficult to get any "work"

done. This CC forum is certainly addictive!

[MrsMoose2001]

Hi, I'm glad that I could be of help. Please don't feel overwhelmed. When we drove to Boston/Salem I think it was like 8 hours. Maine is about 7 hours with an hour stop for lunch in a nice resto and several short stops if no lineup at the border.

 

I'm sure you will have a fantastic time whatever you decide.

 

What time of year are you coming? There are certain times that are more busy than others. You must also remember that if coming in October, the weekend that you have Columbus Day is the Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend. Columbus Day in the USA is Canadian Thanksgiving(I'm American just live here for a long time as my DH is french canadian) so it's just something to think about that you know it is a holiday here as well.

 

The last two weeks of July is construction holiday so the city is pretty quiet but it is more busy in the townships and up north because that is a major holiday period. Even people on the fringe of "construction" and some really fringe or factory or whatever are on vacation at that time.

 

The first monday in August is an Ontario civic holiday so if coming then, Ottawa being in Ontario, some things might be closed and Montreal is usually busier on that weekend because people come from Ontario to visit here.

 

If you plan on visiting Old Montreal and if I can be of help, if you give me an idea of what you would like to see, perhpas I or someone else here can give you some more tips.

 

I'll check back to see if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

[JunPOA]

Wow - so much info to digest.

Hi,

 

Can anyone tell me what rental car agency is nearest the Cruise Port in Montreal that has shuttle service to their near by rental office? I am trying to avoid having to go to the airport branches:( .

I read that Avis has offices in Rue Metcalf on Catherine St. and also one at Plateau Mont Royal . Anyone have expereince with renting a car at the port while avoiding the airport brances, any recommendations?

 

Thx.:)

[MrsMoose2001]

I don't know if there are any rental agencies in the Old Port.

 

Avis on Metcalf near St. Catherine, I know where it is no problem, it's in the Downtown area, about 10 min away by cab from the docks. No where near the airport. Probably $10 cab ride

 

To the best of my knowledge most if not all car rental agencies have an office downtown (aside from their airport offices).

 

Plateau Mt. Royal is another "section" of Montreal, that is a further from the docks (also no where near the airport). It is the predominiately french speaking area and if you are renting a car I suggest staying in the "downtown area" as it is much closer to the docks and you will for sure have no problem with english.

 

Just please do be careful when you are "parking" here in Montreal. Many of the areas have "sectors" and you will see numbers in white on a red backgroud like "02" in white on red on street signs. These are reserved spaces for people who pay for stickers to park in these areas because they live there. It's all in french so be careful as all signs are in french (even in the tourist areas unfortunately) and many people don't realize it and get tickets and they are about $45 for a parking ticket.

 

Also they changed the meters in Old Montreal (dock area) and they are now till 9pm every night I believe and you will need change (canadian only) and they are only for 2 hours maximum.

 

I'm not sure about downtown, I know thursday and friday it's till 9pm for sure but be sure to check on the meter. And they use the 1700, 1800 etc for 5pm 6pm etc. 0700 is 7am and 1700 is 5pm as examples.

 

The days of the week will be in french only

dimanche - sunday

samedi - saturday

vendredi - friday

jeudi - thursday

mercredi - wednesday

mardi - tuesday

lundi - monday

 

I really think they should have it bi-lingual in tourist areas, but then again can't fight the language police (not a joke).